Hough and Schnabel on piano rollsI want to believe in piano rolls. The idea that we can insert an object into a present-day piano and hear long-dead pianists and composers perform again as if they were in the same room is a tantalisingly attractive prospect. It has a magical aura about it. But, I’m afraid, it’s a conjuring trick, or […]
Mastery“Mastery passes often for egotism.” — Johanne Goethe, German author Johanne Goethe (1906) The Maxisms and Relfections. Translated by Bailey Saunders. New York: The Macmillan Company. Digitally archived at: https://www.gutenberg.org/files/33670/33670-h/33670-h.htm, accessed 12 Setpember 2021
Try, try, try“Try, try, try, and keep on trying is the rule that must be followed to become an expert in anything.” – W. Clement Stone, American businessman
Julius Asal on the exploring darker emotionsWhen I was younger I read a lot of Kafka and Büchner: I’ve always been drawn to the darker side of things, and I think that part of the beauty of what we do as artists is to dare other people to explore it too. I wish the listener to invest something. Showing up to […]
Handel’s speedy methodMorrell gave Handel the words of Cleopatra’s air “Convey me to some peaceful shore” in Alexander Balus, he cried out “Damn your Iambics!”. Morell offered to change them to trochees and went into the next room to do so, only to find about three minutes later that Handel had set them as they stood.” Dean, […]
Through teaching we teach ourselves“It is by teaching that we teach ourselves, by relating that we observe, by affirming that we examine, by showing that we look, by writing that we think, by pumping that we draw water into the well.” —Henri Frederic Amiel. Swiss philosopher, poet & critic. H. F. Amiel, Amiel’s Journal, trans. H. Ward, London, Macmillan […]
What is imagination?What is Imagination? We talk much of Imagination. We talk of Imagination of Poets, the Imagination of Artists &c; I am inclined to think that in general we don’t know very exactly what we are talking about. Imagination I think especially two fold. First: it is the Combining Faculty. It brings together things, facts, ideas, […]
The piano, as distinct from the harpBeethoven on the development of the piano as an instrument in its own right: There is no doubt that so far as the manner of playing it is concerned, the pianoforte is still the least studied and developed of all instruments; often one thinks that one is merely listening to a harp. And I am […]
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.
All the Ends of the Earth – Psalm 97 (98)Title: All the ends of the earth Text: Psalm 97 (98):1-6. R. v.3 Composer: Greg Smith Instrumentation: SATB and piano Product medium: PDF score and part SAMPLE:
