Men of genius“Men of genius are often dull and inert in society; as the blazing meteor, when it descends to earth, is only a stone.” Henry Wadsworth Longfellow (1849), Kavanagh, London: George Slater, p.49. https://books.google.com.au/books?id=i8ENAAAAQAAJ&pg=PA1#v=onepage&q&f=false, accessed 4 September 2021.
A matter of tempoBruno Walter, Friedrich Buxbaum, and Arnold Rosé were to perform Erich Korngold’s Piano Trio in D in 1910. Korngold was only 13 at the time. These three great musicians were to remain Korngold’s devoted friends and admirers, and they frequently performed his subsequent works. Previous to this performance, Bruno Walter had known of the boy’s […]
Life experience“Knowledge about life is one thing; effective occupation of a place in life, with its dynamic currents passing through your being, is another.” – William James, American philosopher and psychologist W. James, Essays in Pragmatism, United Kingdom, Free Press, 1970, p. 113.
Self expression“My interest lies in my self-expression — what’s inside of me — not what I’m in.” – John Turturro, American actor Cited at: QuotationsBook
The technique of conducting“Technique is communication: the two words are synonymous in conductors.” – Leonard Bernstein, conductor, composer and pianist. Cited at QuotationsBook.
Rorem’s affinity with French music“Bartók’s music as a whole is a music I never think about when its not around. It’s impeccable, it’s theatrical, it’s even great. It dazzles, thrills, horrifies, sometimes irritates, but also moves me. But I’m not touched by it, as by, for instance, the outset of the quartet by Ravel – Ravel, supposed to be […]
Liszt on BeethovenLiszt on Beethoven’s music, in a letter to Wilhelm von Lenz in 1852: To us musicians the work of Beethoven parallels the pillars of smoke and fire which led the Israelites through the desert, a pillar of smoke to lead us by day, and a pillar of fire to light the night, so that we […]
Environmental soundscapesIn the 1960s, the Canadian composer R. Murray Schafer founded the World Soundscape Project at Simon Fraser University. The research group explored the sonic environment. Later projects would include The Vancouver Soundscapes of Canada (1973), European Sound Diary, and Five Village Soundscapes. In his book on the subject, The Tuning of the World, Schafer wrote […]
Your Words, Lord, are Spirit and Life – Psalm 18 (19)TITLE: Your Words, Lord, are Spirit and Life TEXT: Psalm 18 (19): 8-10, 15 COMPOSER: Greg Smith INSTRUMENTATION: SATB and piano PRODUCT MEDIUM: PDF score and part SAMPLE:
Abstraction IITitle: Abstraction II Composer: Greg Smith Instrumentation: Piano Product medium: PDF score SAMPLE:
