Tune in at 12 a.m., Monday, June 3rd, and hear the Gypsy Scholar present the 1st installment of the Orphic Essay-with-Soundtrack series, “May Day Carnivalesque.” Coming off the last musical essay series, “Beltane / May Day: A Holiday for Pagans & Workers,” this related, followup musical essay series (“May Day Carnivalesque” not designating a particular holiday on a particular date, but rather a prominent carnival type festival that originated on May Day and can be qualified as carnivalesque) begins with going into how the traditional May Day festivities that fostered “collective joy,” particularly those that became socially transgressive to the established order (“the world turned upside-down”), eventually evolved into organized social revolts all over Europe, and thus were suppressed in the premodern period. The musical essay then moves forward to the collective manifestations of carnivalesque demonstrations in the 1960s, focusing in on two major political theorists of that time in order to introduce the concept of “total revolution.” Be sure to check out the “May Day Carnivalesque” webpage, which is dedicated to this musical essay series, at revradiotowerofsong.com.
Program Update: This extended musical essay is now available for listening on the “Archived Musical Essays” webpage, along with the corresponding playlist on the “Program Playlists” webpage, on the Tower of Song website.
