A poet is a nightingale

A poet is a nightingale who sits in darkness and sings to cheer its own solitude with sweet sounds; his auditors are as men entranced by the melody of an unseen musician, who feel that they are moved and softened, yet know not whence or why.

Percy Shelley, A Defence of Poetry, 1821

Posted

in

by

Greg

Tags:

,

Featured Content

Rustic Dance
Title: Rustic Dance Composer: Greg Smith Instrumentation: Piano Product medium: PDF score SAMPLE:
In Memory of Those in Paradise
Title: In Memory of  Those in Paradise   Composer: Greg Smith Instrumentation: Cello and piano Product medium: PDF score SAMPLE:
The meaning of American Pie
When questioned about the meaning of American Pie, Don McLean would quip. “It means I’ll never have to work again.” Rob Walker, “Don McLean on the tragedy behind American Pie: ‘I cried for two years’”, The Guardian, 22 October 2020, https://www.theguardian.com/music/2020/oct/22/don-mclean-american-pie-its-meaning-family-deaths-tragedy-60s?CMP=Share_AndroidApp_Other
Chopin and touch
If a student played with excessive tone, Chopin would say “What was that? A dog barking?” Source: Carter, Gerard (2008) The Piano Book. Ashfield: Wensleydale Press, p.68
Blessed Are They Who Hope in the Lord (Setting II) – Psalm 1
Title: Blessed are they who hope in the Lord (setting ii) Text: Psalm 1:1-2, 3, 4, 6 Composer: Greg Smith Instrumentation: SATB and piano Product medium: PDF score and part SAMPLE:
Practising at every opportunity
The conductor Stokowski was co-conductor of the San Francisco Symphony Orchestra.  He was rehearsing his own orchestration of Mussorgsky’s Pictures at an Exhibition.  The orchestra, however, was used to playing Ravel’s exuberant orchestration. Charles O’Connell recalled: “In the midst of the rehearsal, one of the second violinists busied himself practising the Mendelssohn Violin Concerto, which […]
Widmann on Brahms
Widmann, a Swiss poet, describes Brahms’ performing at the piano: The broad leonine chest, the Herculean shoulders, the mighty head which the player sometimes threw back with an energetic jerk, the pensive, handsome brow that seemed to radiate an inner illumination, and the Germanic eyes which scintillated with a wondrous fire between their fair lashes […]
The Lord will Bless his People with Peace (Setting II) – Psalm 28 (29)
Title: The Lord will bless his people with peace (Setting II) Text: Psalm 28 (29): 1-4. 9-10 Composer: Greg Smith Instrumentation: SATB and piano Product medium: PDF score and part Sample:
Cry Out With Joy and Gladness – Isaiah 12
Title: Cry out with joy and gladness Text: Isaiah 12:2-6 Composer: Greg Smith Instrumentation: SATB and piano (unison verses) Product medium: PDF score and part SAMPLE:    
A very specific error indeed
The following is an account of the conductor Hans von Bülow: The newspaper critics Bülow continued to despise because of their self-importance, and he lost no opportunity to expose their musical ignorance.  On one occasion, Bülow, at a public rehearsal in the Philharmonie, remarked upon a printing error in the second horn part of the […]