By Jacob Stockinger
There The Ear was, sitting at home the other afternoon earlier this past week and listening to Wisconsin Public Radio’s afternoon music program.
And I thought I heard “On Wisconsin,” the contagious rah-rah fight song for the Badgers in all kinds of sports at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.
Now that song is of course a favorite, but I would hardly call it classical music, though it is undeniably a classic as far as The Ear is concerned.
So I listened to the host when she identified the piece and the composer.
It was the lovely Sonata for Clarinet and Piano in E-flat Major, Op. 167, by the 19th-century French composer Camille Saint-Saens (below) who, along with Gabriel Faure, is one the most under-appreciated of all classical composers.
Am I the only one who thinks that the main theme of the sonata, a theme that gets repeated several times, even in different movements, sounds a lot like “On, Wisconsin”?
Here are the two different melodies.
Or are they different?
Take a listen to the two YouTube videos that are below.
Decide for yourself.
Then please use the REPLY or COMMENT section to let me and other readers know what you think.