For me, one of the ultimate goals of a performance is to make pieces come across as something new, something unexpected and fresh. As soon as you start working with historical instruments, you are jeopardising this aspect. It is very difficult to get away from that; some performers manage it magically, but I don’t see […]

Igor Stravinsky’s Circus Polka: For a Young Elephant to be performed by young elephants (a collaboration with American choreographer George Balanchine. It ended up being performed by older elephants – the main star being Big Modoc (41 years of age). Each elephant wore a join pink tutu. Source: Dixon, Gavin “Igor Stravinsky’s pachyderm polka”, Classic […]

Title: Deereeree the Wagtail, and the Rainbow Text: Aboriginal dreamtime legend. Based on the account by Catherine Langloh Parker. Composer: Greg Smith Instrumentation: Voice, Flute, 2 Clarinets in Bb, Cello and Piano Product medium: PDF score and part Sample:

TITLE: Lord, Heal My Soul TEXT: Psalm 40 (41): 2-5, 13-14. R. v.5 COMPOSER: Greg Smith INSTRUMENTATION: SATB and piano SAMPLE:  

Title: Abstraction XII Composer: Greg Smith Instrumentation: Piano Product medium: PDF score Sample:  

Carl Philip Emanuel Bach recalled his father’s (Johann Sebastian) talents as a musician: The exact tuning of his own instruments, and of the whole orchestra, had his greatest attention. No one could tune and quill his instruments to his satisfaction; he did it all himself. The positioning of an orchestra he understood perfectly. He made good use of […]

O, how wonderful is the human voice! It is indeed the organ of the soul! The intellect of man sits enthroned visibly upon his forehead and in his eye; and the heart of man is written uponhis countenance. But the soul reveals itself in the voice only; as God revealed himself to the prophet of […]

A violoncello piccolo is a violin-sized instrument tuned like a cello.  It is held horizontally, slung from a from a strap over the shoulder lika guitar.  Some of Bach’s cantatas specifically written for this instrument.  It is possible that Bach wrote the cello suites for the instruments (no instrument was specified on the manuscripts). Source: […]

“The best music is the music that persuades us that there is no other music in the world.” – Alex Ross, music critic  Cited in: Ross, Alex, “From Classical to punk”, Limelight, January 2011, p.29.

“We find a world of emotions and ideas created with only the simplest of materials.” – Laurence Lesser, cellist Cited in: Siblin, Eric (2009) The Cello Suites. Crows Nest: Allen & Unwin. p.3.