Diderot on good music

“Good music is very close to primitive language.”

Denis Diderot (Elements of Physiology, 1875)

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Orchestra/Concert band
Concert band
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:
Mozart on rubato in adagios
In 1777, Mozart visited Heir Stein in Ausburg (1). According to Mozart, Stein had stated that no-one has ever played his Piano Forte as well as I have, and, besides, I always keep correct time. They are all wondering about that. They simply can’t believe that you can play a Tempo rubato in an Adagio, […]
Quiet minds
“Quiet minds cannot be perplexed or frightened, but go on in fortune or misfortune at their own private pace, like a clock during a thunderstorm.” Robert Louis Stevenson, author  
Fantasia on “I Saw Three Ships”
Title: Fantasia on “I Saw Three Ships” Composer: Greg Smith Instrumentation: Trombone and piano Product medium: PDF score and part Sample:
I Will Walk in the Presence of the Lord – Psalm 115 (116b), Psalm 114 (116a)
Title: I will walk in the presence of the Lord Text:     – Psalm 115 (116b):10, 15-19 (R. Psalm 114 (116a):9)     – Psalm 114 (116a):1-6, 8-9. R. v.9. Composer: Greg Smith Instrumentation: SATB and piano Product medium: PDF Score and part Sample:
Adequate musicians
How do you rate your music? We’re not good musicians.  Just adequate. Then why are you so popular? Maybe people like adequate music. – Interviewer and the Beatles. Cited in: Jarski, Rosemarie (2005) Great British Wit.  London: Ebury Press, p. 203.
The musician’s role: maintain our trust in the world
“I feel that tolerance, love and social harmony can and should be the by-products of an artist’s way of life and creation.  I would like to believe that beauty and truth, two great disciplines, when combined as they are in music, where order is based on self-restraint and a better understanding of repose, will lead […]
Music as an emotional science
Music sets up a certain vibration which unquestionably results in a physical reaction. Eventually the proper vibration for every person will be found and utilized. I like to think of music as an emotional science. — George Gershwin Daniel Albright. Modern and Music: An Anthology of Sources. Chicago, The University of Chicago Press, p. 388.
Blessed the People the Lord has Chosen (Setting II) – Psalm 32 (33)
Title: Blessed the people the Lord has chosen (setting ii) Text: Psalm 32 (33) Composer: Greg Smith Instrumentation: SATB and piano Product medium: PDF score and part SAMPLE: