The importance of reading

“Whoever wishes to play well must not only practice a great deal, but must also read a great many books.”

– Johannes Brahms.

Cited in: Goss, Madeleine (1943). Brahms: The Master. New York: Hery Holt & Company, p.157


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The line and the harmony
Phrases have their own topography—they move forward with the line but also remain wedded to the ground with each change of harmony, and this is where the battle lies, why each piece of music grapples with its own destructive potential, why beauty is never what it appears to be. — Simon Tedeschi S. Tedeschi, Fugitive, […]
Lullaby for Edward
Title: Lullaby for Edward Composer: Greg Smith Instrumentation: Piano duet Level: Piano I – Level 1 (5 finger position, left and right hands) Product medium: PDF score & MP3 accompaniment track SAMPLES: (audio sample of accompaniment track only)
Recollections from Gallipoli
Title: Recollections from Gallipoli Text: Ellis Salis Music: Greg Smith Instrumentation: Tenor and piano Product medium: PDF score Sample:
Music and time
“There is also in this [nineteenth-century romantic] music an extraordinary sense of control over the passage of time; a moment will be held still as if suspended, and then released with a rush. Einstein has told us that time is relative, flexible and elastic; I have noticed these qualities whenever I have tried to play […]
Borodin transposing
Excerpts 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 […]
The Lord Upholds My Life – Psalm 53 (54)
Title: The Lord upholds my life Text: Psalm 53 (54):3-6. 8 Composer: Greg Smith Instrumentation: SATB and piano (unison verses) Product medium: PDF score and part Sample:
Joyous art
Art that feels like a duty is probably bad art. But most of the art industry is geared towards foisting that kind of art on us. Bad art changes over the centuries far less than we think. Today’s theory-heavy video installations are often modern equivalents of pompous and moralising Victorian paintings. It’s the joyous, uninhibited […]
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:  
Composing for elephants
Igor Stravinsky’s Circus Polka: For a Young Elephant to be performed by young elephants (a collaboration with American choreographer George Balanchine. It ended up being performed by older elephants – the main star being Big Modoc (41 years of age). Each elephant wore a join pink tutu. Source: Dixon, Gavin “Igor Stravinsky’s pachyderm polka”, Classic […]
Du bist die Ruh (You are my Rest) (Schubert)
Title: Du bist die Ruh (You are my Rest) (Op. 59, No. 3) Composer: Franz Schubert Arranger: Greg Smith Instrumentation: Trombone and piano Product medium: PDF score and part Sample: