Monday, March 24, 2008

Back after a week

I'm back after a week of no computer access!

Sunday, March 16, 2008

Mission: OSU Winter 2008 Commencement!

Today I am playing principal horn with the OSU Symphonic Band for the OSU Winter 2008 Commencement. The hours are long, but the pay is decent and I get to play some band repertoire, which, although it may not be my favorite repertoire in the world, is good for me.

I look at it as a great opportunity for high-pressure sightreading learning! It should be great. And the highlight of the day is playing Elgar's Pomp and Circumstance about 20 times consecutively! :D

Friday, March 14, 2008

Student question: Balancing difficulty of rep

I had a music student at the recent fine arts festival I attended ask me the following question: "Should I choose a really difficult piece of music for a festival which I might not play WELL, or should I choose an easier piece that I can play WELL, but it might seem easy?"

I replied that I think that a balance is what must be found. But that is absolutely difficult to do. As a judge of music I think that I would like to see a student be secure in a performance and play well, as opposed to making it through a piece "on the seat of their pants." Maybe I'm wrong...

My opinion...when it comes down to it, I prefer to hear a solid performance which may sound "easy," rather than an unstable performance of a more difficult piece--regardless of the age or level of the performer.

Thursday, March 13, 2008

On the road again...

I am traveling to Zanesville, OH this afternoon to my brother's fine arts competition. He is singing a vocal duet and is competing in some academic testing competitions as well!

I think I have officially picked a theme song for the past few days and in honor of my computers illness (you can listen to two versions of it above and read my post about it here)... Samuel Barber's Adagio for Strings. I love the mournful harmonies as they slowly wash over the sound setting. What beauty we have in music. Life would not be anything close to what it is today without music.

I have been listening to the Beethoven String Quartet Op. 127 recently. I think I am going to post on it either later today or tomorrow. It is already in the player above if you would care to give it a listen!

Wednesday, March 12, 2008

My digital absence...and thoughts on that

Well, I haven't posted in a while. Reason: my laptop LCD screen panel officially "gave up the ghost." Not a pretty picture. I will spare you the gruesome details of its tragic demise, but I will say that it just up and decided to turn off for no reason (after turning a dim reddish color). The Dell technicians said the light bulb burnt out, and that you can't change the lightbulb. A whole new LCD screen panel is needed. Let me just say... it is A LOT OF $$$$$$.

So I have resorted to using the computer labs in my dorm and around campus to check my email, Facebook, and grades (I'm in the midst of finals week as well...what a treat...). Not much else is going on with anything cyberspace related. This is unfortunate, but it has been an interesting experience for me. I found that I did have a little bit of digital withdrawal. People always say "what would it be like if we didn't have computers?" Well let me say, I know how that would feel.

It is quite stunning how much we are "connected" to the internet and digirada on an hourly basis. And I even have access to labs and such where I can at least keep some access to the digirada world going...but I originally felt somewhat lost. I think it will be good for me to 'tough it out' for a few days before I get somewhat of a more stable digital presence again. All the more time for practicing and such! Yay! :D

I will try to post somewhat frequently, but maybe it won't happen....

Monday, March 10, 2008

The REAL music

I admire people who admittedly do something simply because they love to. It says a lot about someone and their character and passion for something if they do it simply for love of it.

There is now an orchestra called the Really Terrible Orchestra. The New York Times wrote an article ("And the Band Played Badly") about the endeavor to join together a bunch of admittedly bad instrumental players and perform works of music. Now they are a smash sensation and their concerts in Scotland and England are always packed to capacity! (As the musicians say, perhaps too it is because they offer concert-goers a few free glasses of wine before the concert).

Music is such an inspiring force of art and it inspires me when I hear of groups of people who are inspired by the music regardless of talent level. I also must say that this encouraged me to perform music for the love of it--not because I'm paid for it, or because it is "what I do", or because I admire the lifestyle of musicians, etc. It is all about the joy of the music and the love with which people have for it.

So bravo to the Really Terrible Orchestra!

Saturday, March 8, 2008

Winter Blizzard '08



So we've definitely had some fiesty winter weather in Columbus this past weekend. These photos are from the OSU Columbus campus. I think we definitely had 20+ inches of snow!

Friday, March 7, 2008

Horn A-N-T-I-C-S



So as a horn player, I feel that I can offer some input about what this chap can do.

It truly is impressive what he can do. As he says about his video, he claims to have the "unofficial" world record for the largest range on the horn. I'm not sure about this, but it is pretty high and low. Overall, quite impressive.

I am curious as to the methods he uses to obtain his range. There are ways in which a player can "cheat" to obtain higher and lower notes. I am not trying to belittle this fellow, but it does make me question how he obtains such a large range.

Always question...this is what true learning is!

Thursday, March 6, 2008

Vaughan Williams 'On Wenlock Edge' & Shostakovich 10!

The concert the OSU Symphony Orchestra played last evening went very well. The orchestra played both pieces with attention to details that we hadn't even been able to rehearse. Perhaps it is the adrenaline rush of playing for an almost-full house of people that makes one get "in the zone" and have a super-high level of concentration.

Regardless, it went well and we received a standing ovation for the Shostakovich Symphony No. 10. Mr. Blosser, the tenor, sang Vaughan Williams 'On Wenlock Edge' very well and sounded very, very good.

The picture here is of my fellow colleagues in the orchestra. From left to right we have: Margaret Tung, principal horn; Steve Reeves, third horn, Maestro Haddock (behind me), conductor; Me, second horn; Jared Jodrey, assistant principal horn; Holly Lewis, fourth horn. These are the people that I make music with almost every day and they all played fabulously last eve. Bravo to you my fellow colleagues!

Wednesday, March 5, 2008

Upcoming OSU Symphony Concert

The OSU Symphony Orchestra, Marshall Haddock conducting, is performing the following program next week:

Vaughan Williams: On Wenlock Edge (featuring C. Andrew Blosser, soloist)
Shostakovich: Symphony No. 10

Details are:

Wednesday, March 5, 8:00 PM Weigel Auditorium

For more, see the OSU School of Music homepage.

The concert should be outstanding!!

Monday, March 3, 2008

Some upcoming improvements for the blog!

As was mentioned in blogging class today, my blog could be improved by....

1. moving the "subscribe to me" button higher up and into a more accessible area
2. perhaps linking back to previous posts which may be relevant to the current topic
3. customize the background image of the blog itself--it looks too "standardized"
4. change the colors and layout of the two Google Ads windows on my site to fit better with the color scheme, etc.

So...

1. Fixed!
2. Will do it in the future!
3. Working on it!
4. Will figure that one out after I decide on #3!

Thank to my blogging classmates for their invaluable input!

Sunday, March 2, 2008

A Living Composer: Eric Whitacre

One of today's great composers, Eric Whitacre, is here in Columbus today and tomorrow.

His choral music is some of the absolute finest being written today. He also has written some fine works for instrumental ensembles as well.

October is a piece he wrote for winds. I have included it above in the music player for your listening edification. It was inspired by his emotions and feelings that he has during the fall month of October. A very appropriate setting!

There are two things which I supremely love in Eric Whitacre pieces...his chords and his melodies. They both are fantastically beautiful and deserve a listen. Here is a link to his website for further listening and information.

Hope you enjoy it!

Saturday, March 1, 2008

Mendelssohn: Hebrides Overture

I have decided to post about the Hebrides Overture because it is such a great work! I have included a link to the music so that you can hear it as I critique it.

Mendelssohn: Hebrides Overture (3 min. clip)
Audio Source: ©2004 Chandos Records Ltd. www.chandos-records.com

I like this piece because of the rolling melodies in the strings in the opening (which this clip doesn't have, but you hear about 30 seconds in). It paints a picture in my mind of the ocean. It is a pretty place that is peaceful most of the time, but there are points where waves and storms do occasionally come ashore.

This piece was written by Felix Mendelssohn in 1830. His inspiration comes from his visit to
a cave called Fingal's Cave on the island of Staffa, located amongst the Hebrides archipelago, near the coast of Scotland. He was quite impressed by this visit and penned his musical impression of the place!

This piece was one of the first of its kind...a piece of music written for the express purpose of simply setting a mood. It depicts feelings of peaceful loneliness and then at other times great turbulence. He revised this piece several times and this is his final version.

It is quite a wonderful piece and I hope you enjoy!

A refreshing recital!

So I went to hear a clarinet and basset horn recital Friday evening. It was performed at the OSU School of Music Hughes Hall. The performers were Amanda Joos, clarinet; Jon-Patrick Thompson, basset horn; and Lin-San Chou on piano (all fellow colleagues of mine in the School of Music).

The program was an evening of all Mendelssohn. I really appreciate Mendelssohn's music. Whether it is his fantastic symphonies, his beautiful overtures (Hebrides comes to mind), or his lesser-known works. Marvelous writing. His counterpoint (the way he writes his duets) is really quite fine.

The instrumentalists were excellent as well. JP played the unwieldy, beastly basset horn extremely well. I have no experience playing the basset horn, but from other performances where I have either heard or played with basset horns, I am quite sure that it is a cantankerous instrument on the best of days. JP worked very hard and has a great technical facility/skill for playing the basset horn. Amanda played superbly as well--displaying great dynamics and technical fluency as well. Bravo to both JP and Amanda!

I was refreshed by this concert. The music was lively and passionately played by all involved. It was a fine example of some great chamber music!