The fire of knowledge“When teaching, light a fire, don’t fill a bucket.” – Dan Snow, television presenter. Cited at QuotationsBook
An author’s perogative to be critical“A writer is unfair to himself when he is unable to be hard on himself.”— Marianne Moore, American poet Donoghue, Denis (1988) Reading America. University of California Press, p. 244
Abstraction XIVTitle: Abstraction XIV Composer: Greg Smith Performer: Greg Smith Instrumentation: Piano Product medium: MP3 recording Related products: – Abstraction XIV (PDF score) SAMPLE:
My God, My God, Why Have You Abandoned Me? – Psalm 21 (22)Title: My God, my God, why have you abandoned me? Text: Psalm 21 (22): 8-9. 17-20. 23-24. R. v. 2 Composer: Greg Smith Instrumentation: SATB and organ Product medium: PDF score and part Sample:
Britten on composing“Composing is like driving down a foggy road toward a house. Slowly you see more details of the house – the colour of the slates and bricks, the shape of the windows. The notes are the bricks and mortar of the house.” – Benjamin Britten. Cited in: Jarski, Rosemarie (2005) Great British Wit. London: Ebury […]
Alleluia! Sing to Jesus (Hyfrydol) – SATB, brass, and organTitle: Alleluia! Sing to Jesus (Hyfrydol) Composer: Rowland Prichard; arr. Greg Smith Text: Rev 5:9; William C. Dix Instrumentation: SATB, brass (hrn, tpt, 2 tb), and organ Product medium: PDF score and parts Samples:
Gillparzer’s tribute to Beethoven…He who lies here was possessed. Seeking one goal, caring only for one result, suffering and sacrificing for one purpose, those did this man go through life… If there are some of us who can still feel a sense of total dedication in these fractured times, let us meet at his grave. Has it not […]
Music is richer than words“If I could express the same thing with words as with music, I would, of course, use a verbal expression. Music is something autonomous and much richer. Music begins where the possibilities of language end. That is why I write music.” Jean Sibelius, in an interview with Berlingske Tidende, 10th June 1919. Cited at: www.sibelius.fi […]
The cleansing power of music“Take a music bath once or twice a week for a few seasons, and you will find that it is to the soul what the water-bath is to the body.” Oliver Wendell Holmes, American physician, lecturer and author.
The state of opera: 1720sIn 1720 in Italy, opera was largely dictated by the egos of the singers, rather than considering the text, or the composer: The satirical writer Marcello wrote that the opera composer will hurry or slow down the pace of an aria, according to the caprice of the singers, and will conceal the displeasure which their […]
