“Opera in English, is about as sensible as baseball in Italian.”
Peter, Lawrence J. (ed) (1977) Quotations for Our Time
– H. L. Mencken, twentieth century American journalist, critic, and satirist.
The logic of opera in English
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Success is a staircase
“Success is not a doorway, it’s a staircase.” — Dottie Walters
First we make music“…the nature of music is inherently social. Blackburn argues, ” … we need to remind ourselves that music in itself does not exist. Despite evidence to the contrary (scores, analytical charts, music stores, CD shelves, etc.) music exists only in performance. … It is therefore a social and political act.” The performance of music corresponds […]
Impromptu (Sibelius)Title: Impromptu (Op. 97, no.5) Composer: Jean Sibelius (arr. Greg Smith) Instrumentation: Trombone and piano Product medium: PDF score and part
LullabyTitle: Lullaby Composer: Greg Smith Instrumentation: Piano Product medium: PDF score Related products: – Lullaby (mp3) SAMPLE:
Prayer of Thanksgiving to the TrinityTitle: Prayer of Thanksgiving to the Trinity Text: St. Catherine’s Dialogue on Divine Providence Composer: Greg Smith Instrumentation: Concert band (Flt. 1 & 2, Cl. 1 & 2, Alt. Sax., Ten. Sax., Bar. Sax., Trpt 1 & 2, trb, tub., perc.) Product medium: PDF score and parts Related products: – Prayer of Thanksgiving to the […]
The Battle of the SommeTitle: The Battle of the Somme Composer: Greg Smith Performer: Greg Smith Instrumentation: Piano Product medium: MP3 download (25 tracks; 73:00) Related products: – Full score (PDF download). 80 pages. Background: In 1916 France was struggling to fend off German occupation. It had become apparent that to break the stalemate Britain may need to increase […]
Air IVTitle: Air IV Composer: Greg Smith Instrumentation: Piano Duet Level (Piano I): 1.2 – five finger position extended to 6/4 through to octave (left and right hands) Product medium: PDF score & MP3 accompaniment track (Audio sample of accompaniment track only)
The work of the individual“The work of the individual still remains the spark that moves mankind forward.” – Igor Sikorsky, Russian aviator
The development of keyboard techniqueBefore the time of Bach, keyboardists would often only use the middle three fingers of each hand and tended to keep their hands flat. Bach taught his students under the new principle of using all the fingers. Beethoven asked his pupils to curve the hand. Source: Marek, George (1969) Beethoven: Biography of a Genius. London: William […]
Beethoven’s compositional processBeethoven was revising Fidelio when he wrote to Georg Freiedrich Treitschke (who was helping to revise the libretto) (1): Now, of course, everything has to be done at once; and I could composer something new far more quickly than patch up the old with something new, as I am now doing. For my custom when I […]
