Dekoven Presents: Super OTW!

January 26, 2016 8:13 AM

DeKoven, who generally used only his last name, tended to wax enthusiastic over every piece of music he selected for play. He characterized many of them as ''OTW,'' Out of This World. OTW was only the bottom step of a set of escalating accolades which included ''Super OTW,'' ''Super Super OTW,'' and occasionally ''OTG'' (Out of This Galaxy), ''OTU'' (Out of This Universe) and ''OTC'' (Out of This Cosmos). Other phrases DeKoven used included "Remember, even a 3 by 5 inch index card can be used as a post card!" or at the conclusion of a broadcast when soliciting donations for his ''Barococo Society,'' he would always remind his listeners when addressing their letters ''....please skip the Sir or Mister when mailing me. Just capital DeK-o-v-e-n. I see this as an anachronism, especially in the Arts.'' He also reminded listeners that ''I am a lone wolf...'' about his endeavor...

And now, we give you the incomparable DeKoven, maven of the Baracoco...

And now, my somewhat less than exhaustive research of the rather sparse information on DeKoven online:

Wikipedia: DeKoven...

Bach Cantatas Website: OT - DeKoven Presents and his "Barococo Society" Broadcasts

SLNYTO: Seymour DeKoven Dies at 81; Classical Music Show Host

The Classical Music Guide Forums - DeKoven & the "Barococo Society"

A program of baracoco music, Seen and Heard International: A Run--Through the Barococo

An LJ remembrance: Every now and then, when I listen to our classical music station, I remember this great guy, Seymour DeKoven, who did a radio show about classical music. I had been meaning to look him up on the Web, in particular, in hope of finding some recordings of his show: Debido_Shodo: Dekoven

Another:Sustainable Music: DeKoven and Popular Classical Music

And an alternate history of the origin of the term Barococo

More memories, from the Dekoven Family website: An unofficial Seymour DeKoven page

tl/dr: A man, highly informative, hightly opinionated, a distinctive voice, important to the Baroque Revival of the late 20th Century, unknown to many, well remembered by those who heard him. The University of Wyoming (!) has 600 of his programs in its archives. Online, there is all of one on YouTube.

posted by y2karl (8 comments total)

But the guy sure did not like grand opera!
posted by sammyo at 8:18 AM on January 26, 2016

Oh wow. I'd never heard of him until this moment. Excellent post! Thanks for this.
posted by zarq at 8:22 AM on January 26, 2016

*demurely nods*
posted by y2karl at 8:38 AM on January 26, 2016 [2 favorites]

Oh man, based on the description I went into this surely expecting him to be a YouTube personality. Funny how things remain the same no matter how much they change.

This is awesome, gonna listen through my lunch break - thanks!!!
posted by mayonnaises at 9:39 AM on January 26, 2016 [1 favorite]

Excellent find, great research, lovely post. Definitely Super OTW, possibly Super Super OTW.
posted by benito.strauss at 10:29 AM on January 26, 2016

Listening to this for a bit now, and it's the music my Dad would listen to in the car while we were out running errands on the weekend. It's a great memory.
posted by benito.strauss at 10:39 AM on January 26, 2016

Great stuff! ("...or, God forgive me, even top Wagner...") I have to admit, the omission of slow movements would annoy me too, but I guess one can always listen to more staid shows if one wants the full Monte(verdi).
posted by languagehat at 12:16 PM on January 26, 2016

Wow, the first link had been viewed 81 times when I looked it up two weeks ago. Now it is up to 957. What an incredible feeling of power this gives me. Or, at least, what an incredible feeling of meh.
posted by y2karl at 2:19 PM on January 26, 2016 [2 favorites]