Perceptive Insight 16

"I occasionally play works by contemporary composers, and for two reasons. First, to discourage the composer from writing any more, and secondly to remind myself how much I appreciate Beethoven." Jascha Heifitz

Perceptive Insight 15

Conductor Sir John Barbirolli equated contemporary music to "three farts and a raspberry, orchestrated." He wasn't far wrong in many cases.

Brahms? Oh... HIM.

[There's a video: If you're reading this on facebook click on 'view original post' below. If you're reading this in an email, click on the title above]

Do you like the music Brahms wrote? Have you even heard of Brahms? You'll probably recognize some of his music if you heard that, at least. In the growth of 'the symphony' he immediately followed Beethoven, and had a hard time doing so. Brahms' first symphony took 20 years to compose and was often referred to as "Beethoven's 10th" (Beethoven wrote 9 symphonies).

A preview to an LSO concert series last season reveals what orchestral musicians think. In this video find out what Andre Previn considers "insane", and what Tchaikovsky thought of his contemporary! Most revealing:

Perceptive Insight 9

"Berlioz is France's greatest composer, alas. A musician of great genuis, and little talent."
Maurice Ravel

"Ode to Hen" by Vincent Beer Beethoven

My youth-orchestra/ percussion ensemble buddies Jonathan and Graham are now brewery film stars! This is:

1. Classic.
2. Typical.
3. SO MUCH FUN!

Love it, guys. Well done, Jon.

(Click here if you can't see the video on Facebook)

Important classical music

On Facebook this morning a dear college friend asked what we thought were some important pieces of classical music: "A question for all you musicians out there.. In your opinion, what are a couple of the most important or profound classical works? This is either from your perspective, from the composers perspective in relation to their body of work, or from a historic perspective as an influence on the development of classical music."

I was genuinely STUNNED! At first, it was real hard to narrow down, second, not repeating the multitude of answers already posted was tough (actually, couldn't do it), and third, the incredible range and reasons for my answers impressed even I! Not only that, but I ended by stupidly saying "Let me know if you want more"! ???????? Am I really that geeky? (Don't answer). I could go on and on and on and on and on and on with this list, but she only wanted "a couple". Failed at that, too. I love it, though. This was a FUN exercise. Thank you, Sally!

SPB's list:
Milhaud - La Creation De Monde (classical+latin=jazz before Gershwin did it);
Copland - Appalachian Boing;
Shostakovitch - Festive Ov (You can be depressed, repressed and Big Brothered but still write joyful music);
Coates - Calling All Workers (Woah!);
Beethoven - 7:2 (You can be deaf, mad and smell but still write expressive music);
Glass - anything;
Part - Cantus In Mem... Ben... Britten, or Ravel - Bolero (both incredible 'exercises');
Sure about Ives? He was an insurance agent, and an organist to boot.
Risky Korsettes Off - Scheherezade (orchestration);
Kodaly - Hary Janos Suite (love the opening sneeze);
SOUSA! (Ok, there's a reason his songs and operas didn't survive, but you don't HAVE to mention them);
Prokofiev - Peter & the Wolf;
Mozart - Feeeeegaro (ov &/or opera);
Janacek - Katya Kabanova (a bit sad, though).

How would YOU answer that question?

The Quotable Stephen P Brown

Melissa: "Did you hear they're coming out with a musical about the Addams Family?"
Stephen: "I'm still waiting for 'Tom & Jerry, the Musical'."

What a birthday weekend treat! Melissa and I singing at Carnegie Hall with some friends (and a couple hundred strangers), along with a world famous composer (John Rutter)! It was a terrific day.


This is for my sister. Sorry we didn't eat at 'your' cheescake deli, but we'd already ordered


Melissa in front of the building
(She shines up real nice, right?)


M doesn't like this pic.
I do ;-)


GREAT PIC!


Here we are waiting to enter through the stage door (Not my first time, but here I was fully dressed BEFORE I went in!)


And here we go...


Melissa & Dena in the green room


Twould be nice to have some pics of the stage/ performance, but Carnegie is a union hall and the concert promoter didn't arrange for any photos to be taken (plus, it would cost a fortune!)

John Rutter's Magnificat

There aren't many choral singers who haven't heard of John Rutter, yet most are probably unaware of his impact on the British and American choral scenes. The carols, anthems, arrangements of hymns, etc is immense. And his concert works display an incredible intelligence and a style of expression that remains unmatched. On top of that, he's had tremendous success as a performer and recording artist, particularly with his own group The Cambridge Singers and his own record label, Collegium Records.

Melissa and I were invited (as part of Jacksonville Chapel Choir - thank you, John!) to sing for Rutter at Carnegie Hall this weekend. Didn't take much for us to say yes, primarily because this will be the first time we both will have performed on the main stage (Stein Auditorium). And we'd both heard of Rutter, even though neither of us knew his MAGNIFICAT. Melissa was particularly looking forward to this work as her Catholic schooling made her memorise Mary's Canticle. I hadn't got a clue.

So, we bought the CD, got the vocal score and lo, enjoyed something quite sparky and unexpected. Little were we prepared for the composer's perspective on the piece, and it was honestly refreshing to be a part of something that had to be perfect. There was no room for error, "just sing what I wrote" made Melissa and I gurgle with excitement, and the sheer fantastic voicing, progressions, text, anger, placidness, expressions, dynamics, phrasing, & quality reminded me that great music is still worth delving into in incredible detail... I'd forgotten.

I shook Rutter's hand. He shook his teacher's hand, who shook his teacher's hand, who... so apparently, I'm five handshakes away from shaking BEETHOVEN'S HAND! Oh, and during a rehearsal break, the three of us chatted about Rochester, Charles Dickens, Latin America, and how men's fashion is so predictable!

And I want to compose again. And I want to conduct professionally again. And play the piano, remind myself how to read scores at the piano, etc, etc. It's happening to some extent, and I am LOVING IT! Who know what the future holds.

An international 'International Music Day'

I dreamt/dreamed up a new project today. Nothing new, you say. True, but unlike the 780 billion others ideas I've budgeted (now why's that darn figure STUCK in my head, I wonder...) this one is exciting. What do you think?

While studying my list of 'national days' I noticed a distinct lack of music and performance related material. Lots of medical and tons of political, with a smattering of sports, but in over 1,000 national recognition days, not one music. But then google came to the rescue - there's the International Music Day. Heard of it? Nor me. October 1st, and I presume every year. It's coordinated in Australia by the International Music Council. Heard of it? Nor me. More interestingly, it's promoted/ supported/ funded/ cajoled/ whatever by UNESCO, or UN-ESCO, the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization. Heard of it? Right.

I don't know if UNESCO supports things like a Japanese University handbell choir playing a spanish song composed by a Frenchman, but I'm really glad they'd like to help people celebrate music on an international scale: even more kudos to the late Lord Menuhin (oh, for a peerage) for suggesting it.

So... my idea? [Tom Peters would love this: full of Excellence, Talent, Design, Implementation, Branding, Marketing to Women and Boomers]...

There are seven continents.
Let's host seven concerts
over the next seven years,
producing seven CDs and
seven DVDs,
each with seven pieces,
and why not produce seven documentaries for youtube, too?

The concerts, held on Oct 1 2009-2015 on a different continent, would have a piece composed about or by someone from each of the seven continents. My first program might look like this: Copland Fanfare for the common man, Ginastera Dances from Estancia, Ifukube Japanese Rhapsody, Westlake Antarctica Suite, Akpabot Three Nigerian Dances, Milhaud La Creation Du Monde, and Whitehead The improbable ordered dance. Of course, let's hope UNESCO is willing to help me find the $200000 needed to fund each show! Oh, and if you're wondering WHERE the concert on Antarctica will take place? LOL - I actually did some homework, and we'd probably charter a cruise ship and rent a small chamber orchestra from Oceanbound!!