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Where to curse the orchestra
The following is an account of the conductor Hans von Bülow: Bülow’s close relationship with his Berlin audience was not achieved without some stress and strain along the way.  At a Philharmonic concert in January 1892, a half-dozen latecomers, who had been held up at the cloakroom during the intermission, made a noisy entrance in […]
A little poem by Mozart
Dearest Stroll! good old troll! you sit in your hole drunk as a Mole! – But you’re touched in your soul by music’s sweet flow. – Mozart, in a letter to Anton Stoll Cited in: Spaethling, Robert (2000) Mozart’s Letters; Mozart’s Life.  London: Faber and Faber, p.438.
You Are A Priest For Ever (Setting II) – Psalm 109 (110)
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:
Memories (The Boy and the Heron)
Composer: Joe HisaishiArranger: Greg SmithTitle: “Memories”, from The Boy and the HeronInstrumentation: Piano Solo This item is available from Sheet Music Direct and Sheet Music Plus.
Silence, expression, and music
From pure sensation to the intuition of beauty, from pleasure and pain to love and the mystical ecstasy and death—all the things that are fundamental, all the things that, to the human spirit, are most profoundly significant, can only be experienced, not expressed. The rest is always and everywhere silence. After silence that which comes […]
George Gershwin on American music
George Gershwin, a pioneer of the fusion of jazz, musical theater and classical idioms, wrote two essays on the significance of jazz for American music: THE great music of the past in other countries has always been built on folk-music. This is the strongest source of musical fecundity. America is no exception among the countries. […]
Leif Ove Andsnes on Beethoven
“I feel a real need for Beethoven now.  It’s such important and spiritual music: it gives you strength, it gives you comfort. It’s just great!” – Leif Ove Andsnes, pianist. Source: Jessica (2011) “Top of the World”, Pianist, Issue 60. p.13.
Dance of the Knights (Prokofiev)
Title: “Dance of the Knights” from Romeo and Juliet (op. 64)Composer: Sergei ProkofievArranger: Greg SmithInstrumentation: Cello and pianoProduct medium: PDF score and part This item is available at Sheet Music Direct and Sheet Music Plus. Sample:  
World order
“The world is not to be put in order; the world is order, incarnate. It is for us to harmonize with this order.” – Henry Miller, American writer and painter
To burn with desire
“To burn with desire and keep quiet about it is the greatest punishment we can bring on ourselves.” — Federico García Lorca, Blood Wedding and Yerma A. Flores (ed.), Great Spanish Plays in English Translation, New York, Dover, 1991, p.441.