Structure and disharmony

“I need to start from the assumption that the world of spirit is ordered, structured by its very nature, that everything  which causes disharmony in the world, all that is monstrous, inexplicable, and dreadful … And the formula for world harmony is most likely linked not to the blurring of evil but to the fact that, when drawn into a harmonious picture of the whole, even evil changes its function.  By complementary interaction the negative elements cancel each other out, and as a result something harmonious and beautiful is born.”

  • Alfred Schnittke, Soviet composer.

Posted

in

by

Greg

Tags:

,

Featured Content

Music in the very heart of noise
I frequently hear music in the very heart of noise. — George Gerswhin Goldberg, Isaac, and Garson, Edith. George Gershwin: A Study in American Music. United Kingdom, F. Ungar Publishing Company, 1958, p.139.
Vladimir Horowitz on encores
”You see,” he said, ”I have a very substantial program, and after a substantial program, you can’t play a substantial encore. You play a little … ” at this, he strummed the air with his fingers, tinkling an imaginary piano. ”It is,” he said, ”anticlimactic.” Clyde Haberman, “3,500 Japanese Applaud Horowtiz for 14 Minutes”, The […]
I dream …
“I dream, therefore I exist.” —August Stringberg, A Madman’s Defence (Le plaidoyer d’un fou)
Shaw on the cello
In the nineteenth century, the cello was regarded as an important solo instrument.  George Bernard Shaw wrote in 1890 “I am not fond of the violoncello: ordinarily I had as soon hear a bee buzzing in a stone jug.” Siblin, Eric (2009) The Cello Suites.  Crows Nest: Allen and Unwin, p. 71.
Performers
I Will Walk in the Presence of the Lord – Psalm 115 (116b), Psalm 114 (116a)
Title: I will walk in the presence of the Lord Text:     – Psalm 115 (116b):10, 15-19 (R. Psalm 114 (116a):9)     – Psalm 114 (116a):1-6, 8-9. R. v.9. Composer: Greg Smith Instrumentation: SATB and piano Product medium: PDF Score and part Sample:
The Lord is my Shepherd – Psalm 22 (23)
Title: The Lord is my shepherd Text: Psalm 22 (23)     Related settings:     – I shall live in the house of the Lord (Psalm 22; Greg Smith) – SATB and piano (PDF score) Composer: Greg Smith Instrumentation: SATB and piano Product medium: PDF score and part Sample:
Instrumental stereotypes
Insider jokes are not just for White House Correspondents’ Assn. Dinners or ESPN kibitzers or Academy Awards emcees. They also crop up in discussions about symphony orchestra musicians — a society unto itself. There are jibes and even sober-minded studies that characterize personality types according to the instruments they play. Who are the string players? […]
The tone of the piano at the turn of the nineteenth century
In 1796, the piano maker Johann Andreas Streicher sent Beethoven one of his pianos as a gift.  Beethoven's reply sheds some interesting light on the tone of the piano at this time: There is no doubt that so far as the manner of playing is concerned, the pianoforte is still the least studied and developed […]
Hilary Hahn on the “story” behind the music
I think the back stories [behind the creation of a work] are interesting … But for me the first aim is to look at the notes, and see how I might interpret them … No offence to the media, but I’ve seen stories told about people I know – and about me – that are […]