Leopold Stokowski gave the Philadelphia premiere of Ravel’s Bolero as an “encore” at a Friday afternoon concert. The newspaper critics had all left the hall, and so once again word of mouth had to prove its effacy, for at the Saturday night concert, after the last number, the audience applauded with unusual fervour and would […]

“Knowing is not enough; we must apply. Willing is not enough; we must do.” Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, German poet and philosopher Cited at: QuotationsBook

Title: May the Peace of Christ Reign in your Hearts Text: Col. 3:12. 14-17. Composer: Greg Smith Instrumentation: SATB and piano Product medium: PDF score and part Sample:

Practising an art, no matter how well or badly, is a way to make your soul grow, for heaven’s sake. Sing in the shower. Dance to the radio. Tell stories. Write a poem to a friend, even a lousy poem. Do it as well as you possibly can. You will get an enormous reward. You […]

“The fact is popular art dates. It grows quaint. How many people feel strongly about Gilbert and Sullivan today compared to those who felt strongly in 1890?” – Stephen Sondheim, composer. Cited at: QuotationsBook

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:

“Pavarotti is like someone who has swalled a Stradivarious.” – Peter Ustinov Cited in: Jarski, Rosemarie (2005) Great British Wit.  London: Ebury Press, p. 203.

Music is a moral law. It gives soul to the universe, wings to the mind, flight to the imagination, and charm and gaiety to life and to everything. – Plato

Despite my respect for Saint-Saëns’ age, what he says about Chopin’s pedalling isn’t entirely true. I have very clear memories of what Mme Mauté de Fleurville told me. He (Chopin) recommended practising without pedal and, in performance, not holding it on except in very rare instances. It was the same way of turning the pedal […]

“Great occasions do not make heroes or cowards; they simply unveil them to the eyes of men.” – Brooke Westcott, Bishop of Durham, scholar, theologian Cited at Quotations Book