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'."

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.

trying to "bully" British songwriters

I've been devoid of interesting topics to blog about, except plenty of whining [In case you don't know, Bliss 9 - an arts festival on Apr 3 is cancelled].

The BBC have been reporting on a hot topic and this latest post inspired/ angered me to share something: I still really do hate British music unions and professional associations. One reason I left the UK was to rid myself of their imperialism. (I'm a royalist, but these unions go WAY too far). For example, the Performing Rights Society is accusing Youtube/Google of holding songwriters hostage. This article is a perfect demonstration of how the British sabotage a successful image, thing, product, service, by over-pricing it. Why do orchestras need public support? No-one would be able to afford the tickets prices. My answer: reduce the number of orchestras. In London, for example, fill concert halls with two or three major professional groups instead of the 12 that are struggling now.

The current debate isn't even classical - it's mainstream. We Brits are good at charging $10 for an item and when a salesman comes along and sells 500 times the number we were expecting, we now want to charge $75 for the same item. Please. Get a life. Increase the musicians'/ songwriters' income REALISTICALLY, not exponentially. Make more money by selling more products. Increase the price too much, and no-one will buy, which is EXACTLY what's happening right now: Youtube doesn't want to buy and broadcast mainstream music videos because the PRS is asking too much money - I wouldn't want to buy, either! AND, inconceivably, this is NOTHING NEW! Wake up, fellow Brits. Smell the pollution you're creating!

Good luck. I don't get royalty checks anymore, and in this instance, I support Google. In fact, as my own music video production gets underway, perhaps I'll pursue my own agreement with Youtube/ Google and bypass the unessentials...