“How important is it to catch up with yourself? There are enormous forces lurking in each person, but many people die without having discovered this. Of course it was clear at first glance that Mozart was a genius. But we don’t know whether anybody suspected the great gifts of the young Wagner. Nobody could guarantee […]

In Halina Rodzinski’s book Our Two Lives she describes how on the very first day Artur Rodzinski came to assist Stokowski in 1929, his boss immediately restyled his hair without a part and combed straight back from the brow.  “That’s how a conductor should look,” said Stokowski, pointing Rodzinski at a mirror in his dressing […]

American composer Aaron Copland on the role of film music: I was very fascinated by the medium because a composer can be a real help in the making of a film. The way you can prove that, of course, is to see a film before the public has seen it, in the studio room, and […]

He was a wonderful teacher. He is extremely articulate and very demanding. He made no concessions to my age. In my first lesson, I was playing a Schubert piano sonata, and the first chord took 20 minutes. I played it again and again, and Brendel wandered around the room saying: “No, balance of sound wrong […]

People are mistaken thinking that the creative artist uses art to express what he feels at the very moment of experience. Joy and sorrow are feelings expressed retrospectively. Without any particular cause for rejoicing I can be immersed in a mood of happy creativity and, conversely, I can produce, when cheerful, a piece saturated in […]

The future direction of music demands that musicians today lose themselves in technology and learn from their mistakes. In the past, musicians tended to view technology as a nuisance—something someone else did so they could be left alone to create. But technology and music are merging rapidly—forcing musicians to view software as part of their […]

The one bee in my bonnet is over-pedalling, and I give my students a hard time about that. It’s the lack of being able to play a true legato with the fingers.  People rely on the pedal for that, and the pedal is not there for that.  The pedal is for putting the gloss on.  […]

Title: You are a priest for ever (Setting ii) Text: Psalm 109 (110): 1, 2, 3, 4 Composer: Greg Smith Instrumentation: SATB and piano Product medium: PDF score and part Sample:

Title: Turn to the Lord in your need (Setting II) Text: Psalm 68 (69): 14, 17, 30-31, 33-34, 36, 37 Composer: Greg Smith Instrumentation: SATB and piano Product medium: PDF score and part     Sample:

“A jazz musician is a juggler who uses harmonies instead of oranges.” – Benny Green, British saxophonist Benny Green (1975) A Reluctant Art: The Growth of Jazz.  Books for Libraries Press, p. 16.