A Question for the Readers

I realize that not many people may read this blog as of yet, but if you do, I would like to extend an offer to you!

If you have a question about music in general, a specific song or instrument, or a specific topic that you would like to know more about, please post a comment with such information and I will do my best to address them and give you all the information that I am qualified to give!!

Hope to hear from you!

A Wave of Warmth for the NY Philharmonic

The NY Philharmonic has performed its concert in Pyongyang, North Korea. The article in the NY Times is very interesting and informative.

It seems that the concert was well-received by the North Korean people. The final song, "Arirang", a North Korean folksong brought many tears to the Korean audience and the members of the Philharmonic.

As a musician in this country, it is encouraging to see this response from the people of Korea. As I've stated before, classical music is a universal language and can say a lot by itself.

New header graphic

I just used Photoshop Elements to create a quick, little simple graphic for the blog header. It is simple, yet aesthetically interesting, in my opinion.

NY Times: 'China and the Philharmonic, in Harmony'

A reader sent me a link to this article in the New York Times which I found very interesting. I had already commented earlier about the controversial decision of the NY Philharmonic to play a concert in Pyongyang, North Korea shortly. This article give an update on the NY Phil's tour of Asia.

It sounds like there is much cultural education and sharing occurring and it is good to see that between two nations who have traditionally not gotten along very well.

CSO Concert Review (2/22): Elgar, Britten, Saint-Saens

I went last evening, amidst the ice and snow, to hear the Columbus Symphony play the concert aforementioned on this blog.

The Elgar was played well. The rolling melodies were well placed and well played. At times, the transitions seemed a bit confused, but the structure of the piece overall was well executed.

The Britten Serenade was quite fine. The horn player, Gene Standley, played well. The opening of the piece is considered some of the most difficult written for natural horn (a horn consisting of pure tubing...no valves and notes are "approximated" by the movement of the right hand inside the bell of the horn). The high passages in movements two and three were spectacular. The entrance came out of nowhere in the highest extremes of the horn's register. The singer seemed to struggle a bit with pronunciation and diction. Dynamics could have been exaggerated by the singer a bit more as well.

The Saint-Saens Symphony No. 3 'Organ' was a great, thunderous conclusion to the concert. The organ playing was good and the conductor seemed to be most familiar and comfortable with this piece. I appreciated his strict enforcement of the soft dynamics during all of the pieces, but especially on the Saint-Saens.

Overall, the concert was spectacular and well-received by the audience! Bravo to our fine musicians of the CSO! For more about the CSO, see the blog Proud Supporters of the Columbus Symphony Orchestra.

"Another Good One Gone"

Another great conductor of a past era in European orchestral history, Gunter Wand, has passed into the history books. Click to read the Guardian's obituary page.

This man had a reputation for fiery and angry outbursts, yet he was renowned for his conducting of Bruckner and Schubert. He was mainly known for his conducting in England and Germany, but he is best known here for his recordings with the Chicago Symphony.

As John Drummond, the author, puts it, "Despite the challenge of his unpredictable temperament, few conductors of our time have come closer to a deep understanding of either Schubert or Bruckner. Putting up with the insults was almost always worth it in the end."

Britten and Saint-Saens tonight!

Just a quick word of preview. On Friday and Saturday nights this weekend, the Columbus Symphony will be performing:

Elgar: Introduction and Allegro
Britten: Serenade for Tenor and Horn (Gene Standley, one of my previous teachers, is playing horn)
Saint-Saens: Symphony No. 3 "Organ"

Performances are at 8pm both nights and are in the Ohio Theater downtown. Student ticket prices are $10 at the door, as always, if you show some form of educational ID.

It should be a great concert!

Orchestral planning for the future

I found an article in the Philadelphia Inquirer about how the Philadelphia Orchestra has started planning and catering to the different subscribing audiences. It is a definite must-read.

Perhaps changes by world-renowned groups such as this may reshape the way in which orchestra concerts are traditionally given. In my personal opinion, some of what they say is acceptable (like showing soloists and featured instruments on a live video screen), but others...like after-concert schmoozing sessions for singles, are a bit too much. A lot of these "fringe" activities and people might begin to lose sight of the art and go more for the show than the art. If our society has reached the point of valuing the show more than the art, then we are truly in a regrettable state!

But many orchestras are facing either catering to subscribers with fringe benefits or flat-out extinction.

Juilliard set to begin football program!!

This article has got to top them all. Click to read the CBS Sportsline story!

By 2010, Juilliard, the world-class conservatory is going to have a football team! But wait, it gets even better! Heading the search committee for a head coach will be the world-renowned cellist Yo-Yo Ma.

The idea is for Juilliard to give its musicians some actual "rough and tumble" experiences in hopes that it might make them better performers in the concert hall. A noble experiment!

But what about all of those phenomenally talented musicians whose outer appendages are essential to their musical skills? For instance, what if a pianist mangled his hand in a tackle? Or what if a brass player got his teeth knocked out? Or what if a violinist broke their arm?? All questions that bear some serious thought...

The article was written well and contains many musical puns which will make even the most sober of readers crack a smile!

Blog redesign!

I've been putting a lot of time into working out a stunning new 3-column blog design.

It is about 60% done. Right now I am trying to ensure a safe transfer/process in moving the changes to this more complex "dots" blogger template.

Perhaps it will work...and maybe not!

Click here to see my experimental blog and the basis of a new three-column design.

Strauss: Till Eulenspiegels Merry Pranks

I thought that today I would introduce a piece which I practice frequently and is a neat piece. It is a musical depiction by Richard Strauss of the German legendary character and his pranks.

The opening solo is a french horn solo (which is what I play) and is heroic at times, yet comical and deceptive. As I play this solo, I think of a young teenager sneaking around playing practical jokes on people. If you listen to the full piece, at the end you can hear Till be brought to justice for all his pranks (but Strauss leaves us wondering if he escapes...check it out!).

Hope you enjoy the clip!

Beethoven gone Mahler!?!

I was quite interested as I read this article in the NY Times.

It is about the endeavor of the Curtis Institute of Music to teach the Beethoven String Quartet, Op.95 to everyone in every subject this year. It is an interesting idea...having all students study the same piece. I would be very interested in hearing the outcome of such an endeavor, but time will tell.

I found this review to have a lot of insightful comments about the way in which the Curtis orchestra handled a Beethoven piece transcribed by Mahler. These two people's names carry different ideas entirely, and having them blended would be a unique concert indeed.

Happy Partita!

To honor the holiday--Valentine's Day--I want to discuss a piece that I am currently "in love with." First, some background on...Bach's Partita No. 3 in E Major for Solo Violin.

The word "partita" sounds like a party word or some other word indicating raucous frivolity. According to Grove's Music Dictionary (a musicians "bible" of musical definitions and history).

It defines "partita" as: "A term used at different times for a variation, a piece, a set of Variations and a Suite or other multi-movement genres."

I enjoy the Bach Partita No. 3 in E Major. My favorite artist playing this piece is Hilary Hahn. The recording I have posted in the player above is not Hilary Hahn, but it is outstanding anyways!!

What I enjoy most about this piece is the precision and acrobatic flexibility of the piece. This is the sound of absolute perfection to me. Nothing more, nothing less. I enjoy the clearness of the violin's tone as well. Its timbre is beautifully used in this piece. The technical skills required to play this piece are a result of years of playing and excruciating attention to detail by the performer. The other thing I "hear" when this piece is played is the absolute devotion to discipline by the musician. This piece is the result of effort, determination, and hard work.

Happy listening!

The 'Hierarchy' of Musical Notes

These are the most common notes used in music. The quarter note is a standard note. A half note is worth two quarter notes and a whole note is worth four quarter notes! The smaller notes are the eighth and sixteenth notes. An eighth note is half the value of a quarter note and the a sixteenth note is half of an eighth note (and thereby a quarter of a quarter note).

If that didn't make sense right off the bat, then read it again. You can always post with comments and questions if you need further explanation!

A Time Signature

What is a time signuature in music? Perhaps when you hear a time signature your mind goes scurrying off to astronomy class or a science-fiction movie!

A time signature in music is something which a performer can look at and instantly tell how the music is generally laid out and what the basic rhythm of the piece is going to be.

A time signature looks like a fraction and occurs at the beginning of a piece and and then in the middle of a piece of music only when switching to or from another one. So...a piece could start in tempo A and then switch to tempo B, and then back again to A or to a whole new tempo C!!

The fraction part is quite easy to decipher. The top note tells you how many beats/pulses there are in one solitary measure. The bottom number in the "fraction" tells you what type of note the beat/pulse will equal.

Example: the most common time signature is 4/4 (the line would not be present in real music). The top number 4 means that there are four main pulses in each measure. The bottom mote indicates that quarter note is equal to one of the four pulses in the measure. This means that there are four quarter notes in one measure. Still with me?

Example 2: lets consider 6/8. What does the top note tell us? [answer: there are six beats/pulses per measure] Now what does the bottom note indicate? It indicates that an eighth note (half of a quarter note) gets one beat. There are 6 eighth notes per measure!!

Tomorrow I am going to attempt to post about the hierarchy between the different "notes" so that any confusion that exists can be cleared up!!

Timbre...

As I got to thinking and listening to the two versions of Samuel Barber's work (see previous post), the one thing which really stands out to me as being different is the timbre created by the strings vs. the voices.

Timbre (tam-ber) is a hard thing to define. Dictionary.com defines it as:

1.	Acoustics, Phonetics. the characteristic quality of a sound, independent of pitch and loudness, from which its source or manner of production can be inferred. Timbre depends on the relative strengths of the components of different frequencies, which are determined by resonance.

2.	Music. the characteristic quality of sound produced by a particular instrument or voice; tone color.

The overall colors of the sound is what makes these pieces each uniquely good. Some songs which are done by more than one group encourage people to say, "well I like Mr. X's version better than Mr. Y's." In this case each piece makes a solid case for itself.

Hope that makes sense...let me know if it doesn't!

Barber's Adagio for Strings

It's a piece that is a favorite of movie soundtrack composers. But did you know where it first came from?

This famous piece was actually a second movement in a string quartet, written for two violins, one viola, and one cello. It was such a sensational hit that Barber ended up rescoring it for full string orchestra and called it the "Adagio for Strings." He also made an arrangement for mixed voices. This version is much the same as the string orchestra version, except that the name changed to Agnus Dei.

It is hard to say which version I like better...string orchestra vs. mixed voices. I will say though that each has its own intensity and emotional content. It is the same notes, but the medium is so much different that hearing the two versions, one gets a sense of two different ideas/emotions that are portrayed.

This is the beauty of music and the uniqueness which it inherently has.

I have posted the string orchestra AND the mixed voices versions for you to hear and decide upon yourself!

New York Philharmonic: Next stop...North Korea!?

In a bold and brash move--reported in a recent article in the Washington Times--Maestro Maazel and the New York Philharmonic are planning to stop in Pyongyang, North Korea to play a concert on their upcoming tour of Asia.

This decision has brought forth a firestorm of anger and criticism from many music and human rights critics because of North Korea's current regime and its record of human rights violations.

Maestro Maazel has thrown out a weighty statement which says, "People who live in glass houses shouldn't throw bricks, should they? Is our standing as a country — the United States — is our reputation all that clean when it comes to prisoners and the way they are treated? Have we set an example that should be emulated all over the world? If we can answer that question honestly, I think we can then stop being judgmental about the errors made by others."

I found his comment thought-provoking, yet disagreeable. The US may not have a pristine reputation and we may have made mistakes, but we certainly aren't starving our population and letting them die without aid. North Korea also supports terrorism and funds terrorists abroad with weapons shipments and money. They also are agressively pursuing a nuclear weapons program. Not the most desirable of places for the NY Phil to play.

The Maestro claims that "I thought I was making music and stretching out a welcoming hand to folks who might not have been believers of the regime under which they were living. I feel this way certainly about North Korea." I believe that the Maestro has the right idea, but went about this the wrong way. Perhaps asking the State Department if the orchestra might travel to this country might have been a better course of action.

I do believe that music is an international language and must be shared with all. Music enlightens and inspires, and as artists, it is our job to bring this to whoever will listen. But traveling to a rogue nation like North Korea shows unfounded support for a regime of dictatorship and repression of human rights.

The NEW Sousa Band!

Tonight I got to go see the NEW Sousa Band perform in concert at the Ohio State University School of Music Weigel Hall. Appearing with them was the OSU Marching Band (TBDBITL!).

It was great to hear a group full of symphony musicians, college teachers, and military band performers play the classic works of Sousa, Gershwin, and many others from yesteryear! Their playing was enthusiastic and skillful.

What a great evening of FUN music! I've added a favorite to my player above--Stars and Stripes Forever!!

My song of the day!

Today my theme song was Boccherini's 'La Boccherini la Musica Notturna Delle Strade Di Madrid No. 6, Op. 30' [String quartet in C]. Have a listen above! The theme starts at 4:18 into the track above.

It's a happy, rollicking theme! It is full of life and playfulness and today was a soggy, nasty day outside and it smacks of the exact opposite.

Have a listen and hope you enjoy!

A Symphony of SILENCE...and only 31

During the past several Columbus Symphony concerts, the intermission has come to an end--a SILENT one at that. All that remains on the stage are the 31 musicians who would survive the drastic cutback of the Columbus Symphony. Just seeing how few musicians remain is sobering. But these 31 musicians sit there stare at the floor or at their music with blank expressions on their faces. A few chat with each other, but mostly there is SILENCE . In a place of music, there is none. It is most unsettling and a possible foretelling of the future.

Then, just as the house lights dim, and the conductor prepares to come on stage, these 31 musicians start applauding--as the musicians whose jobs are at stake take their places. Then there are a few brief moments of scattered warming up and the concert resumes.

Seeing this story told in SILENCE and size is an experience that must be seen to fully comprehend. For the many who have asked and are asking what this SILENT intermission is all about, now you know the story. Hopefully those of you who see this will proudly support the musicians and do all that is necessary to preserve the Columbus Symphony Orchestra.

Siegfried Horn Call

This is a horn "call." It is this rustic and authentic sound which first brought the horn from the forests to the concert hall. This excerpt ("clip") is from an opera by Richard Wagner. In the opera, a singer puts a horn to his face and pretends to play this, while the real sound is being produced from a horn player watching the singer from backstage via TV. It takes a tremendous amount of practice to play this by yourself, but even more so when you have to take all your cues from a TV picture of the actual person. This horn player does a tremendous job of playing it. Her accuracy and efficiency is impeccable! Enjoy!

Golijov & Schumann CSO concert!

Just back from the Columbus Symphony Contemporary Music Festival (CMF) concert with Mr. Golijov, our guest/featured composer. For those who are unfamiliar with the CMF, the OSU School of Music and the Columbus Symphony team up to bring in a famous, living composer of new music and they have a week of classes/concerts/etc. with the composer. Last nights concert features two works by Mr. Golijov--Last Round and Three Songs for Soprano and Orchestra. The works were played very well and were amazing works. Mr. Golijov said that he likes his works "to go straight to the heart. My music is written to show life!" His music did absolutely that. It was very good. Soprano Jessica Rivera sung well and the CSO played very well. I appreciated the enthusiasm with which they tackled the new works which were very difficult and technical. The last piece on the concert was Schumann's second symphony. Excellent performance of it. Bravo to all the musicians and artists involved.

I was disappointed by the lack of people at the concert. It is shameful to see so many seats open and not have them filled...perhaps one day people will once again realize the true value of our fine arts.

Jazz night!

I went to a coffee shop in German Village this evening to see my friend Jason play with his jazz quartet. The group was quite good and there were a lot of people who turned out for the evening! The event is free and the coffee and food was great! I learned a lot about the jazz genre and its unique forms just by going and listening for 2.5 hours. It was nice to come out of the classroom with an academic understanding of the forms and then hear it actually "come alive." The group sounds great, and they plan to start playing there regularly...so consider coming out for them!