What is an artist?“What is an artist? An artist is a tortured being who, when he opens his mouth to scream, only beautiful sounds emerge.” (Or something like that.)… Do I believe this at all? It was John Cage who first exposed us to this gorgeous phrase. In 1945? Cage the Romantic? Ned Rorem (2000) Lies: A Diary […]
OpportunitiesNo man can tell what the future may bring forth, and small opportunities are often the beginning of great enterprises. — Demosthenes, Ad Leptinem, 162 Harbottle, Thomas Benfield (1897) Dictionary of Quotations (Classical). London: S. Sonnenschein & co, p. 51. Digitally archived at https://archive.org/details/dictionaryofquot00harbiala/page/511/mode/2up, accessed 12 September 2021.
The nature of music“A verbal art like poetry is reflective; it stops to think. Music is immediate, it goes on to become.” – W. H. Auden, English Poet Auden, Wystan Hugh (1988) The Complete Words of Auden, Princeton University Press, vol. 3, p. 251.
This music is too hardIn 1862 Brahms went to Vienna: Although he been in Vienna only a few weeks, Brahms was already making a name for himself. After the first performance of his First Serenade, Hanslick wrote more favorably, calling the work “one of the most charming of modern compositions.” A few months later, the leading Viennese orchestra played […]
FocusConcentrate all your thoughts upon the work at hand. The sun’s rays do not burn until brought to a focus. – Alexander Graham Bell Orison Swett Marden, (1901) “Bell Telephone Talk”, How They Succeeded. Boston: Lothrop Publishing Company, p. 38. Digitally archived at https://archive.org/details/howtheysucceeded00mardrich/mode/2up, accessed 11 September 2021.
Beethoven’s contestIn 1800, an improvisation contest occured between Beethoven and the pianist Daniel Steibelt. It was agreed that Prince Lobkowitz would sponsor Steibelt and Prince Lichnowsky sponsor Beethoven, the improvisation contest to take place in Lobkowitz’s palace. As the challenger, Steibelt was to play first. He walked to the piano, tossing a piece of his own […]
Lord,When Your Glory Appears (Setting II) – Psalm 16 (17)Title: Lord, when your glory appears (Setting II) Text: Psalm 16 (17): 1, 5-6, 8, 15 Composer: Greg Smith Instrumentation: SATB and piano Product medium: PDF score and part Sample:
The necessity of the serial methodBoulez declares: “Any composer of our time who has not felt the necessity of the serial method is worthless.” Omit the word “not,” and I agree. Ned Rorem (2000) Lies: A Diary 1986-1999. Cambridge: MA: Da Capo Press, p.69.
Maurice Ravel: Menuet sur le dom d’Haydn; Menuet Antique; Pavane pour une infante défunte; SonatineRavel’s style — elegant, and refined — was highly influenced by eighteenth classicism (e.g., Mozart) and the early French keyboard composers (e.g., Couperin). Stravinsky once described Ravel as a “Swiss watchmaker”, due to Ravel’s attention to detail. Ravel wrote: “I never put down a work until I have made absolutely certain that there is nothing […]
The line and the harmonyPhrases have their own topography—they move forward with the line but also remain wedded to the ground with each change of harmony, and this is where the battle lies, why each piece of music grapples with its own destructive potential, why beauty is never what it appears to be. — Simon Tedeschi S. Tedeschi, Fugitive, […]
