THE JAMES BURKE MUSIC COLLECTION (music found in Mr. Burke's television programs) page 1 - page 2 - page 3 - page 4 The following is an e-mail provided by Bill Pyne on November 11, 2007, regarding music he has identified from the Connections 1 series: - - - Thanks to Ms. Baker for turning me on to Benjamin Britten. He turned out to be a minor gold mine. In "Connections" episode 2, "Death in the Morning", the ominous, haunting music heard when the name "Enola Gay" is revealed on the B-29 is the end of the first movement from Britten's "Sinfonia da Requiem", opus 20, (also referred to as the "War Requiem"). I think the version used in the series is a mid-1970s recording with Andre' Previn leading the London Symphony Orchestra. As soon as you hear the first note of the "Requiem", you'll know you've found the correct composition. It's been re-released on CD by EMI. I got mine at a local Border's bookstore. Earlier in the same episode, the rousing strings heard when Burke ascends in the hot-air balloon is from Britten's "A Young Person's Guide to the Orchestra". WARNING: don't rush out to buy this piece hoping to enjoy several minutes of similar music. What is heard in this scene is nearly the entire development of that particular theme. In episode 7, "The Long Chain", the scene that begins with pouring "useless" coal tar into the Thames is accompanied by a portion of Paul Dukas' "The Sorcerer's Apprentice". The final episode, "Yesterday, Tomorrow, and You", opens with a lengthy segment from Carl Orff's "Carmina Burana". A another segment is heard duing the tournament scene in episode 3, "Distant Voices". In fact, snippets from "Carmina Burana" appear throughout the series. I'd love to know the piece of music used over the closing credits in several episodes, including "Thunder in the Skies", "Countdown", and the final episode. More Britten, maybe? Or perhaps somebody could exlpore the music of Alan Hovhaness. This is only a hunch, but the swirling strings in whatever this music is sounds like a technique he used in some of his compositions, and I know Hovhaness recorded with several orchestras in the United Kingdon during the 1970s. Bill Pyne Tampa, Florida