With music and stories for Thanksgiving, host John Birge creates a thoughtful, contemporary reflection on the meaning of the holiday. This year, a grateful tribute to the great writer Nora Ephron, with a warm and funny highlight of her Giving Thanks visit last year.
New for 2012: original Thanksgiving music in the studio with pianist Jacqueline Schwab, heard by millions for her piano music for Ken Burns' "The Civil War." A Thanksgiving blessing from Baxter Black. And a visit from poet and former NEA chairman Dana Gioia. For listeners in the kitchen, on the road, or relaxing after the feast, Giving Thanks provides the perfect atmosphere for Thanksgiving: the warmth of great music, and truly memorable words.
Two Hour Program
Hour I
- Traditional: We Gather Together — Boston Pops/John Williams (Philips CD 454391)
- Bach: Cantata No. 29, "Wir danken dir" (We Thank Thee): Sinfonia — Tafelmusik Baroque Orch (Tafelmusik CD 1001)
- Dana Gioia on his childhood Thanksgiving
- Telemann: Tafelmusik Book III: Bergerie — Tafelmusik Baroque Orch (Reference CD 2101)
- Nora Ephron remembers Thanksgiving, and reads "What I Will Miss"
- Siegfreid Ochs (attrib. Handel): Dank sei Dir, Herr ("Thanks be to Thee") — Takako Nishizaki, violin Polish National Radio Symphony (Marco Polo CD 223586)
- Traditional: We Gather Together — Peter Barnes: The Invitation | Jacqueline Schwab, piano (Studio recording)
- Richard Strauss: Sonatina No. 2, "The Happy Workshop": 2nd movement — Orpheus Chamber Orchestra (DG CD 445819)
- Mozart Laudate Dominum — Joshua Bell, violin | Orchestra of St. Luke's (Sony CD 97779)
- Dana Gioia on gratitude and humility, and reads his poem Words
- Traditional (arr. Dale Warland): Simple Gifts — Dale Warland Singers (Gothic CD 49243)
- Copland: Corral Nocturne — London Symphony Orchestra/Copland (Sony CD 42430)
- Baxter Black Goat Thanksgiving
Hour II
- Godfrey Ridout: Fall Fair — Edmonton Symphony/Uri Mayer (CBC 5069)
- Dana Gioia on the worst and best Thanksgiving, and reads "Prayer at Winter Solstice"
- Morten Lauridsen: Sure on this Shining Night — Conspirare (HM CD 907534)
- Traditional: Thanksgiving Suite [Wondrous Love/Come Thy Fount of Every Blessing/For the Beauty of the Earth]
- Traditional: Psalm of Life — Jacqueline Schwab, piano
- From Kerouac's "The Dharma Bums," Chartres Cathedral story; Psalm 104 — Read by Charles Laughton (Capitol LP TBO 1650 (out-of-print)
- Traditional (arr. Stephen Paulus): We Gather Together — Dale Warland Singers (Gothic CD 49243)
One Hour Program
- Traditional: We Gather Together — Boston Pops/John Williams (Philips CD 454391)
- Dana Gioia on his childhood Thanksgiving
- Nora Ephron remembers Thanksgiving, and reads "What I Will Miss"
- Traditional: We Gather Together — Jacqueline Schwab, piano (Studio recording)
- Dana Gioia on gratitude and humility, and reads his poem "Words"
- Baxter Black reads "Goat Thanksgiving"
- Dana Gioia on the worst and best Thanksgiving, and reads "Prayer at Winter Solstice"
- Traditional: Psalm of Life — Jacqueline Schwab, piano
- From Kerouac's "The Dharma Bums," Chartres Cathedral story; Psalm 104 — Read by Charles Laughton (Capitol LP TBO1650 (out-of-print)
- Traditional (arr. Stephen Paulus): We Gather Together — Dale Warland Singers (Gothic CD 49243)
