“Melody is the essence of music”, continued he; “I compare a good melodist to a fine racer, and counterpointists to hack post-horses; therefore be advised, let well alone, and remember the old Italian proverb – ‘Chi sa piu, meno sa – Who knows most, knows least’.” The Reminiscences of Michael Kelly, 1826. Cited in: Marshal, […]

Title: A Child is Born in Bethlehem. Five Christmastide arrangements for piano by Greg Smith Arranger: Greg Smith Instrumentation: Piano Product medium: PDF score Contents: A child is born in Bethlehem (Danish melody) High from the tree's green top (E. Horneman) In a basement black as coal (C. M. Bellman) Lovely is the blue sky […]

Leonard Bernstein and Mildred Spiegel attended the Boston Symphony Orchestra season in 1933. They sat, she remembers, in the second balcony “under one of the male Greek nude statues.” One evening, during a standing ovation for the orchestra’s music director, Serge Koussevitzky, Lenny “just sat there” clapping very softly. “What’s the matter,” I asked, “didn’t […]

My love for Schubert is a very serious one, probably because it is no fleeting fancy. Where is genius like his, which soars heavenwards so boldly and surely, where we see the few supreme ones enthroned. He is to me like a son of the gods, playing with Jupiter’s thunder, and also occasionally handling it […]

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

In 1920s Soviet Russia, musicians experimented mirroring the political state: “Just as the government didn’t need a tsar, so the orchestra didn’t need a director,” says Pyotr Aidu of the School of Dramatic Art, which will revive the long-dead form at a premiere concert Thursday. Miriam Elder, “1920s Orchestra Without a Conductor Revived”, The Moscow […]

In 1866 Brahms and the violinist Joachim gave a concert tour through Switzerland.  One of their concerts was in Aarau. After the program, Brahms and Joachim went to a tavern, where they opened several bottles of the best vintage Swiss wine, including the popular vin mousseux of Lausanne.  Brahms felt decidedly genial. “How did we […]

TITLE: Let the Lord Enter (Setting II) TEXT: Psalm 23 (24): 1-6. R. vv.7, 10 COMPOSER: Greg Smith INSTRUMENTATION: SATB and piano PRODUCT MEDIUM: PDF score and part SAMPLE: