“Music must be given to those who love it. I want to give free concerts; that’s the answer.” -Sviatoslav Richter, pianist Bruno Monsaingeon: Introduction to Sviatoslav Richter — Notebooks and Conversations p. XX. Cited at: Wikipedia

Greg Smith’s experience as a composer and chamber musician means that he is comfortable scoring in a variety of styles and instrumental forces: – chamber (e.g., piano, cello and piano, string quartet) – choral – orchestra – wind orchestra Greg can arrange in a variety of styles, from classical to jazz. Contact Greg Smith ARRANGMENTS, […]

Prokofiev and his family moved into a small top floor-apartments in Paris.  Prokofiev spent much time practicing a revised version of his second piano concerto (which was to be premiered 8 May 1924).  The apartment manager demanded that Prokofiev cease playing.  His wife Lina recalled Prokofiev’s response: All right then, you don’t want to hear […]

In the early 18th century, the standard of Italian opera performances had become somewhat questionable. In 1720, The satirical writer Marcello offered some advice to those involved in opera performance: [The opera performer] will hurry or slow down the pace of an aria, according to the caprice of the singers, and will conceal the displeasure […]

“If you would hit the mark, you must aim a little above it; Every arrow that flies feels the attraction of earth.” Henry Wadsworth Longfellow (1807-1882), American poet.

Music theatre writer Oscar Hammerstein loved to play games.  His nephew recalls: There’s a family story about his game-playing. I can’t vouch for its authenticity, but it rings true. He was playing a very informal game of bridge with two of his collaborators, the composers Jerome Kern and Sigmund Romberg, and someone else one afternoon. […]

I remember a few years ago being at a summer academy in the south of France, with Dominique Merlet. The whole atmosphere was great there, as we were a group of like-minded people, keen to learn, work and share ideas in the gorgeous setting of a little medieval French village. The concert at the end, […]

We read books to find out who we are. What other people, real or imaginary, do and think and feel—or have done and thought and felt; or might do and think and feel—is an essential guide to our understanding of what we ourselves are and may become. A person who had never known another human […]

Nora Guthrie, Woody's daughter, once told me a story about a reception she was at where Bob Dylan was in attendance. The business people there were quietly commenting on how unsociable Dylan seemed to them, not what they imagined an encounter with Dylan would be like. When that observation about Dylan's behavior and disposition were […]