“In 2007 Italian cellist Mario Brunello climbed to the summit of Mount Fuji and played selections from Bach’s cello suites, declaring that “Bach’s music comes closest to the absolute and to perfection.” Source: Siblin, Eric (2009) The Cello Suites. Crows Nest: Allen & Unwin. p.6.

Leonard Bernstein and Mildred Spiegel attended the Boston Symphony Orchestra season in 1933. They sat, she remembers, in the second balcony “under one of the male Greek nude statues.” One evening, during a standing ovation for the orchestra’s music director, Serge Koussevitzky, Lenny “just sat there” clapping very softly. “What’s the matter,” I asked, “didn’t […]

“It takes less time to do a thing right than to explain why you did it wrong.” – Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, poet

“I can’t understand why people are frightened of new ideas. I’m frightened of the old ones.” – John Cage Cited in: Richard Kostelantez. Conversing with Cage (New York : Limelight Editions, 1988).

Title: Beauty Around Us Composer: Greg Smith Based on text by: Bernhard Severin Ingemann Instrumentation: Piano Product medium: PDF score     Related products:     – Beauty Around Us (hymn version)     – Beauty Around Us (easy piano version)     – Beauty Around Us (mp3) SAMPLE:

Title: Sleeping Beauty Waltz Composer: Pytor Il’ich Tchaikovsky Arranger: Greg Smith Instrumentation: Cello and piano Product medium: PDF score and part Sample:

Sometimes, I’ll work through it, and sometimes, you know, you might have to make a couple of test bottles or test wines, and it helps you get closer.  But if I don’t stop, I might get on the machine here and make five tracks, but I know that they’re not really worth anything.  I’m just […]

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 […]

I. Dolce II. Allegro assai III. Andante un poco IV. Presto Prior to J. S. Bach, the harpsichord in ensemble music was primarily a means of harmonic support. The harpsichordist would read from a figured bass—in other words, the part was rarely written out in full. Bach raised the level importance of the harpsichord to […]