A successful day“If I have been of service, if I have glimpsed more of the nature and essence of ultimate good, if I am inspired to reach wider horizons of thought and action, if I am at peace with myself, it has been a successful day.” Alex Noble, cited at Brainy Quote
To be a good playerBach was once complemented on his organ playing: “There is nothing remarkable about it. All one has to do is hit the right notes at the right time, and the instrument plays itself.” Quoted by Johann Friedrich Köhler, Leipzig, after 1776. Hans-Joachim Schulze, ed. Dokumente zum Nachwirken Johann Sebastian Bachs, 1750-1800. Bach-Dokumente, III. 1972, no. […]
Lord, Heal My Soul – Psalm 40 (41)TITLE: Lord, Heal My Soul TEXT: Psalm 40 (41): 2-5, 13-14. R. v.5 COMPOSER: Greg Smith INSTRUMENTATION: SATB and piano SAMPLE:
Blessed Are They Who Dwell In Your House – Psalm 83 (84)Title: Blessed are they who dwell in your house Text: Psalm 83 (84): 2-3, 5-6, 9-10. R. v.5 Composer: Greg Smith Instrumentation: SATB and piano (unison verses) Product medium: PDF score and partSAMPLE:
Part of the bigger pictureLeopold Stokowski conducted the American premier of Berg’s opera Wozzeck in 1930 (a joint effort of The Philadelphia Orchestra, the Phildelphia Grand Opera, and Curtis Institute). Abram Chasins recalls a rehearsal: I attended his second rehearsal with the orchestra in the pit and singers on the stage. After some twenty minutes of singing and acting, […]
The art within“Only art experienced within, in which the personality plays a creative role can be of interest …To achieve this, those of you who are not already in this sense dead, must die an expiatory death of all superficiality, of all that you have already learnt, of all encumbrances and of all that is false. Then, […]
Abstraction XVIIITitle: Abstraction XVIIIComposer: Greg SmithInstrumentation: PianoProduct medium: PDF scoreRelated products: – Abstraction XVIII (mp3 audio) Sample:
Guiding concepts of artistic creation“…few of us talk and write about the bigger picture of how our musical and tactical efforts are guided by three distinctly non-musical concepts that don’t get talked and written about often or openly enough: positive vision, abundant thinking, and a sense of self-worth. Thanks to technology, we now live in a world of vast […]
Air IITitle: Air II Composer: Greg Smith Instrumentation: Piano Duet Level: Piano I – level 1 (five finger positions, left and right hands) Product medium: PDF score & MP3 accompaniment track (Audio sample of accompaniment track only)
A mushroom anyone?…everybody was possessed by the Russian passion for gathering mushrooms. Rivalries ran high, mushrooms were counted and compared, their beauty was discussed. Rachmaninoff was an early riser and often went alone for a walk in the woods. He used to return contented and start teasing (he was a great teaser). One day he badgered us […]