Rachmaninoff on interpretationAs the talented student grows older he must seek within himself his interpretation. Does he wish to know how to play the cantilena of Beethoven or Chopin? He must feel it himself! Talent is feeling, the feeling that every player experiences in his innermost consciousness… It takes years of work to understand and think out […]
Rachmaninoff on the culminating point in performanceThis culmination may be at the end or in the middle, it may be loud or soft; but the performer must know how to approach it with absolute calculation, absolute precision, because, if it slips by, then the whole construction crumbles, and the piece becomes disjointed and scrappy and does not convey to the listener […]
Culture is our fuel“‘Culture is our petrol,’ says Toumani Diabaté, the Malian kora player who has collaborated with Damon Albarn and Björk, to name but a few. ‘Music is our mineral wealth. There isn’t a single major music prize in the world today that hasn’t been won by a Malian artist.’ ‘Music regulates the life of every Malian’, […]
Borodin transposingExcerpts from Borodin’s Prince Igor were to be performed by the Free College of Music. Rimsky Korsakov recalled: At this epoch, Prince Igor advanced slowly, but advanced nevertheless. How many prayers I addressed to dear Borodine that he might finally decide to orchestrate a few numbers for the concert! His numerous occupations at the Medical […]
Teach Me Your Ways, O Lord – Psalm 24 (25)Title: Teach me your ways, O Lord Text: Psalm 24 (25):4-9 Composer: Greg Smith Instrumentation: SATB and piano Product medium: PDF score and part Sample:
Bernstein on immersive performanceIt happens because you identify so completely with the composer, you’ve studied him so intently, that it’s as though you’ve written the piece yourself. You completely forget who you are or where you are and you write the piece write there. You just make it up as though you never heard it before. Because you […]
The RinkTitle: The Rink (Silent film soundtrack) Composer: Greg Smith Performer: Greg Smith Instrumentation: Piano Product medium: MP3 soundtrack Related products: – The Rink – PDF score TRACK LISTING AND SAMPLES: TRACK TITLE LENGTH SAMPLE 1. Papa and Edna 0:55 2. Lunch order 2:03 3. Cocktails 1:34 4. Kitchen scurry 0:25 5. The flirty Mr and […]
The first soundtrack: Snow WhiteThe first soundtrack to be commercially released was Disney’s 1938 film Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs. The songs were written by Frank Churchill (music) and Lary Morey (lyrics). The score was written by Churchill and Leigh Harline, with some additional music by Paul Smith. Although Churchill and Morey originally wrote 25 songs for the […]
A Swan (Ein Schwan) (Grieg)Title: A Swan (Ein Schwan), op. 25, no.2 Composer: Edvard Grieg Arranger: Greg Smith Instrumentation: Cello and piano Product medium: PDF score and part Sample:
Beethoven’s compositional processBeethoven was revising Fidelio when he wrote to Georg Freiedrich Treitschke (who was helping to revise the libretto) (1): Now, of course, everything has to be done at once; and I could composer something new far more quickly than patch up the old with something new, as I am now doing. For my custom when I […]