Listening Journal

SPEIGELBERG PLEASE ACCEPT THIS BLOG!

2006-05-08T12:48:00.000-04:00

..okay....so..its about 12 an a half...or 45 minutes late........ crap..

My blog is on Elise Balzer's recital..it was AMAZING!..I didn't really know much of her rep. so i cant comment on it Other than her emotional performance was stunning. When she performed Liu's two arias from Turandot, she almost cried and moved me to tears as well. You could hear the sobbing in her tone and see the tears welling in her eyes and yet she still produced glorious sounds. It was one of the best emotionally charged recitals i've been to. especially since she's graduating and is Barbara's last voice major ever. damn depauw politics

2006-05-08T00:22:00.000-04:00

Well I finally remembered to do this blog, which is funny because it's our last one.
This week I spent a lot of time listening to string quartets by Dvorak because I got the idea fixed in my mind that I would analyze one of these for my theory paper. This seemed like a good idea because Dvorak is one of my favorite composers and I really like string quartet, so clearly I should write a ten page paper about one.

I chose to write about Op. 96 nicknamed "The American" but I'm not going to blog about it right now because i have to get a paper out of this so I better save my thoughts. The piece I almost chse is Op. 51. This quartet is much more lengthy than Op. 96 and also much more characteristically czech. As in Dvorak's Symphony 9, Dvorak strives to capture American folk music in quartet no. 12. In quartet no. 13 (op. 51) Dvorak's nostalgia for his homeland is much more distinct because rather than trying to mix his influences in the piece he is much more grounded in the folk music of the Czech Republic.

My favorite movement is the third, "Romanze. Andante con moto" because of its lyrical melody and beautiful line that is passed from voice to voice (or instrument to instrument if you will) This work is overall very memorable in beautiful.

Joel Elliot's Recital

2006-05-07T23:59:00.000-04:00

This week I attended and participated in Joel Eliott's Senior recital on Sunday evening. As someone who enjoys a very ecclectic selection of music, I thoroughly enjoyed his recital as the collection of music was quite diverse. His first piece was a classical selection for piano and trombone. It was very modern and the harmony was quite different than what I am used to hearing. The second piece he played was on piano, and to my surprise, he is quite an accomplished pianist. The third and fourth songs were written by Joel himself and performed (and sung) by him on guitar. They were more folk-oriented and very cheery, giving the recital a nice intermission between the more difficult classical and jazz selections. The last 3 songs were straight from the real book (juju, in a sentimental mood, and nutville), and I participated in this section of the recital. It was very fun and entertaining. Thompson has very nice acoustics and we were able to jive as a combo very nicely. Overall, the performance was very different from what would normally be played at a senior recital and it was a breath of fresh air for me.

Chicago XXX

2006-05-07T23:53:00.000-04:00

So, I got the brand new Chicago studio album, Chicago XXX, as one of my birthday gifts over spring break, and I'm definitely glad that I did. This is Chicago's first album of new original material in over a decade, but it was worth the wait.

The album starts out with their new hit single "Feel." This is the first single to feature Robert Lamm's lead vocals is quite a long while. Lamm is one of the few remaining original members of the band, and is the writer of such hits as "25 or 6 to 4," "Saturday In The Park," "Colour My World," "Questions 67 & 68," and "Does Anybody Really Know What Time It Is?." He is in perfect vocal form on this album. His smooth baritone grasps the listener from the start. He even shows off some belting, quite impressively.

The next song is "King Of What Might Have Been" which features Jason Scheff's maturing tenor voice. Scheff replaced the legendary Peter Cetera in the late 80's, and really started out as a pure imitation of him. However, on this album, he really shows his own creative edge. He also sings on the tight harmonic track, "Caroline."

The vocalist who really dominates this album is the epic Bill Champlin, who replaced Terry Kath after he died. After Cetera left Chicago, Champlin was the one who generated the most hit material, including "Look Away," "I Don't Wanna Live Without Your Love," "Chasin' The Wind," "You're Not Alone." On this album he soars with "Why Can't We," "Already Gone," "Lovin' Chains," and "Better."

What makes this album great is that it sounds like a mix of the styles of the early Chicago and the later Chicago. This isn't just an album filled with ballads, which is what they resorted to in order to live in Cetera's shadow. They have a lot of upbeat jazzy and funky tunes. This may be due to leadership shown by Lamm and Champlin. They have a lot of modern pop tricks in their sound, probably thanks to producer Jay DeMarcus. All of the instruments sound great as usual. Chicago prove themselves as true professional musicians yet again.

Mozart +Woodwinds= you know

2006-05-07T23:37:00.000-04:00

So yeah, probably the only people understand the title are Jessi and Corinne, but I thought it was funny. I'm writing tonight on the piece I'm analyzing for the theory paper: Mozart, Sinfonia Concertante in E-flat major K. 297b. I think one of the most interesting things about this piece is that there is great controversy as to whether Moazart actually wrote it. I should probably say that is is attributed to Mozart. Anyway, it's still music, and where there is music, there is analysis...

The three movement work is for oboe, clarinet, horn, bassoon, and orchestra. I really like this piece as a whole, and the performance I have of it is amazing. A double exposition, first by the orchestra and then the soloists, opens the first movement with a somewhat jarring offset of meter. Although I guess if you are really paying attention the meter is still present. The way the soloists' sounds are woven together is usually a sort of call and answer, with a lot of unison and sequences. There are couple of place with an Alberti bass pattern in both the clarinet and bassoon.
The second movement is an adagio with intensely lyric falling patterns in first the bassoon, then clarinet, ending up in the oboe, which hands the melody to the horn. The solo parts really are fairly equal in how often they have the melody versus background parts.
The last movement is a theme with variations, and probably my favorite movement of the entire work. An orchestral interlude is in between each variation. A bouncy theme in the oboe seems to get mouthed off by the clarinet in the first variation, like a child back-talking a parent. The second variation is led by the bassoon with a legato line, interacting slightly with the horn.
The third variation brings it back to the clarinet, moving into triplet rhythms. A dolce fourth variation is dominated by the oboe, almost sounding menore. The fifth variation brings us back to duple with slured eighth notes in oboe and clarinet.
The sixth variation opens with flare on an oboe run which weaves with clarinet runs. The seventh variation is a duet between the horn and bassoon at first, moving into the clarinet. The ends of the phrases are owned by the oboe.
The eighth variation is a figural variation in the oboe with eigth notes interjected into the theme. The ninth variation opens with an impossible horn run to which Corinne says "Who are you?" It is reminiscent of the sixth variation. The tenth variation is again dolce with suspension sequences in the oboe against the rest of the quartete. This variation is extended by two measures compared to the rest. The final variations are in a triple meter, seeming to skip to the end of the piece. They alternate phrases between the oboe and clarinet for the most part. The last variation starts slow and then accelerandos to the end.

Tosca

2006-05-07T23:27:00.000-04:00

Is AWESOME! And now that I"m getting good at the Italian language it's even more awesome cause I can understand most of it, without reading the subtitles. I think Puccini is a genius. He uses motives to represent each character and presents them in a very subtile way. Which rocks! My favorite part musically and dramatically is when Tosca kills Scarpia. There is this gorgeous dramtic music that just swells and takes over the drama. I love when music and drama can match so well. Music can create such mood swings too. For instance: At the end of the opera Tosca thinks that her lover Cavodossi is going to be fakely executed, but he is really killed. At first the music is all hopefully and rather casual, but as Tosca realizes that Cavadossi is really dead the music quicly changes with the realization. It is a beautiful and horrific moment in the opera.

Jesus Deserves ALL the Praise!

2006-05-07T23:11:00.000-04:00

I know the title to this blog seems a bit strange...but contextually, when you realize that this is the last blog I have to write...ever...i think Jesus deserves some praise...if not all of it (lol). As much fun as i have writing these dumb things, i think I'll enjoy not having to write them much more. Um...so, yeah

Last week, I said I was gonna write about the "classical music tour" i was taking...highlighting the Austrian stop I was supposed to make. Scratch that...because I wasn't all that pleased with what I heard. Instead, I'm gonna take a brief moment and talk about a little German Romantic Piece that I enjoy analyzing for this dumb paper due Wednesday: Dichterliebe (by Robert Schumann)

There are 16 movements...(i know...*cringe*...). At this point, i've gotten to about half of them, but tomorrow, I'm gonna make a HUGE push to get to the rest. I've read the texts for all of them, and am quite impressed. The cycle on the whole is about love, through the eyes of a poet (hence the name Dichterliebe ~ Poet's Love). From the beginning, the poet is happy because love has found him, but by the end, he's upset and deep in sorrow because love has left. (very sad).

The music is quite interesting, and the cycle is one of the most famous of its kind. Interesting enough, though is the fact that many of the movements are ridiculously hard to analyze, because they're so short...but we'll work on that for Wednesday!

Happy Blogging!
James

Mozart - JUST SAY NO TO CATHOLICISM!!!!!

2006-05-07T23:01:00.000-04:00

I'm in a cynical mood right now. Very bad weekend, you know the whole deal, Michael's depressed... yadda yadda yadda....And to tell you the truth, I would've rather had a root canal than sit through the mass I saw the orchestra and chorus perform today. Nothing against the performers or anything, it just didn't tickle my fancy. I'm sure it was kind of rude that Joel Elliot and I both dozed off half way through, but I could not stay awake.
I did recognize a few things from the mass, like the terms that I learned in music history. It was also nice to have a printed transcription of the words so that you could see what people were saying. I also found it odd that both Professor Crouch and Smith wrote a commontary about performing the piece. I think that helped the audience realize the complexity of setting something like this up.
I also didn't know that there were solosits during the mass. I figured it was like people singing the kyrie, gloria, etc... but this was premiered as an actual performance piece.
The reason why I didn't like the Mozart mass was because I just really don't get entertained by vocal music. A lot of it seemed to blend together because it was all in sequence. No offense to the performers or anything (I can only imagine what you think of some of the crap that I play) but I just don't like it. The only part I enjoyed was the duet between Liz Hartnett (despite her walking stage front while the orchestra was still playing and you could hear her shoes) and another mezzo. The imitative counterpoint they sang was beautiful and really impressed me.
It was rather interesting to hear what an old-school style mass was, but I would've been more entertained to hear some Gregorian chant out of my music history book.
It also amazes me that people could be that into religion than to sit through all of that every Sunday (I may be uneducated about this, but it's a mass right? so therefore I thought it was played at the service, right?) Anyway, it was the last recital that I needed credit for and that's that folks! From now on I'll stick to Carmina Burana for my choral selection.

Last post...i think

2006-05-07T22:39:00.000-04:00

Trisha's Recital- May 5, 2006
Trisha started her recital off with Bach’s aria, “qui sedes ad dextram Patris” from Mass in B Minor which showed off her voice and Amanda’s piano playing. She then sang a song cycle of gypsy songs in German by Brahms. They were quite short and I especially liked the one about the roses.
"S’manie implacabili" from Cosi fan tutte opened the second part of the recital..it seems like I’ve heard this piece sung a ton lately. It has a showy recicitive and the aria is very memorable, but it’s Mozart so what do you expect.
Next Trisha sang a Poulenc song cycle, Le Bestiaire, which was delivered quite well. Much character is needed for these songs and Trish certainly told the stories through her eyes. They were very short pieces which didn’t make a whole lot of sense to me, they went from one about dophins to one about a grasshopper, but were pretty cute. Paper wings, a song cycle by Jake Heggie was next. These also didn’t seem like they had any relevance to each other either. But each individually was really funny and tonally very interesting.
The program ended with two musical theatre pieces, Stars and the Moon from Songs for a New World and then the last piece, Trish sang with Sarah Fox, “For Good” from Wicked. Pretty much the whole audience was in tears.
Overall it was a very assorted and emotional program.

Mozart 40

2006-05-07T22:30:00.000-04:00

So, since I spent a bit too much time this weekend with Mozart 40, I am going to give you a preview of the piece. The piece is interesting to analyze, for three out of the four movements in this symphony are in sonata form. Without giving too much away about the content of my paper, each of the sonata form movement really is formed in a different way. It is interesting to see the ways in which Mozart has taken a relatively strict form and changed it to make it accessible yet interesting in three movements. It is also very interesting to see a second movement in sonata form. I really like this form for a slow movement; it allows the thematic material to get beyond simply a statement when you have three distinct shots at it in the expo, develop, and recap. This symphony is one of his later and is arguably the most famous symphony that he wrote. The piece was originally written without clarinet parts, but it is evident he revised the score at a later date to accommodate his clarinetist friends. There are parts of this work that, if heard out of context, you would believe were from the sometime in the romantic period or perhaps later. Each of the movements has a different emotion associated with it with a range of emotions within each of these movements. Ok, I think that is enough…I don’t want to repeat what I have said in my paper, so yeah. This is a very cool piece and according to Jessi, “it gets in your head really easily" and she would know since I subjected her to it a few times.

Beethoven Op. 28 and me

2006-05-07T22:13:00.000-04:00

I realize that I have all ready blogged on the first movement of this piece, but I've listened to the last three movements much more fully this weekend than probably any piece all semester. The second and third movements are both composite ternary form. The third movement is a fun one- Sonata Rondo! Of course, I dont want to reveal too much of what I wrote in my paper, but I'm willing to share a few interesting tidbits.

First of all, Beethoven does not leave the tonic key of D major in this work. Usually the second movement will be written in the dominant or something, but all Beethoven does is change the mode. The second movement is in d minor.

Also, it is well documented that the second movement of this piano sonata was Beethoven's favorite and he would play it for himself all the time. It's also the least "Pastoral" of the work.

Another interesting thing, is the phrase length in the first movement. Beethoven uses
ten measure long phrases, which is a rather uneven number.

Lastly, I learned (from analyzing and from Corinne) that Sonata Rondo form is a lot harder to analyze than it seems. Transitions can be longer than you think, and that you should not choose a symphony to analyze... especially one with three movements in sonata form. you're likely to spend hours and hours on one movement, cursing the composer to no end.

crazy death music...but freakin awesome

2006-05-07T22:07:00.000-04:00

I listened to the new TOOL album that came out Tuesday. It is quite simply amazing. Along with the polyrhythms and great lyrics, this band adds so much more than anything I've ever heard with metal music. I'm not a huge fan of dark metal or "death" metal but this is easily one of my favorite bands and forms of music I've ever heard. Their innovativeness preceeds anything that will ever be played again. No one can recreate music like this. Even if you don't like the style of music, all of you should have some sort of respect for the talent that each of these musicians have. Use it to get motivated for finals...

This site really hates me

2006-05-07T21:30:00.000-04:00

So as some of you may know, I haven't been able to access the site in weeks. BOO BLOGGER!! Anyway, I will put my last post up with pride. German Lieder are funny. They all sound similar. While I was sitting in the German diction recital on Wednesday, I realized that all of the songs sound similar (except for James's song from Tannhaeuser, which was very well done). Most of the German Lieder we sang were from the same time period (Romantic), with a few classical and 20th century, and I realized then and there that one can tell the era just by listening (I probably should have realized this during music history, it would have come in handy). I also realized that Schumann sounds different than Schubert who sounds different from Brahms. One can tell which songs are Schumann, Schubert, or Brahms just from listening. The three have very different styles which all fit into the style of Romantic Lied. Many of the songs are strophic or in rounded binary or ternary. Mine was rounded binary. Good times. Singers, yay last diction concert EVER!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Mozart Rocks My Face Off!

2006-05-07T21:20:00.000-04:00

Ok, I know some people don't like Mozart, but I do! So you know I had tons of fun performing his Mass in C minor this afternoon. Not only was it a great honor and experience being a soloist, but also being able to perform it. I felt we did pretty well on it too.

I know Mozart used a lot of inspiration from Haydn (or was it Handel? I always get those two mixed up). You can tell by the way he uses pattern runs in the "Cum Sancto Spiritu" and "Osanna" movements.

Another cool thing about Mozart with this peice is how the orchestra reiterates what the chorus sings. Very much like part doubling. I think he used that to highlight certian texts and passages. The use of his text painting is wonderful.

I found my favorite movements were the "Kyrie" and "Qui tollis". "Kyrie" has such a beautiful yet tense melody and sound. Unlike most Kyrie movements I've heard which are light and simple, this one really grabs your attention. And when the soloist sings, than you get the sweet little light melody, like an angel coming out of the group to plead for them. But than it goes right back to that tense melody in the end. Than the "Qui tollis" I feel is the most intense of them all. I mean, you've got two choirs singing at once, making you not sure where to listen with the same intensity and energy if not more. And to add more tension, the orchestra plays those dotted eighths and sixteenths.

All in all, it's a beautiful peice of music and I love listening to it! (and singing it!)

Mozart definitly rocks my face off!

the complete atomic basie

2006-05-07T19:19:00.000-04:00

one of my favorite albums of all time, I spent some time relaxing to count basie's "the complete atomic basie"

Every single track on the album is great, swinging like crazy. The opening track, the kid from red bank, is a huge up-tempo tune that, again, swings like crazy. The count has a solo, one that proves simplicity is bliss. He uses only 3-4 notes and sounds great doing it.

My favorite track on this is "splanky." I played this at a jazz camp at eastern illinois university. a simple, medium paced tune, the melody is really spectacular.

Everything on this album is wonderful, solos, time, swing, balance, trumpeters...wow.

Trisha's Recital...

2006-05-07T18:46:00.000-04:00

It's always a little sad when a Senior does their recital as they know it is normally their last performance as a soloist at DePauw. HOwever, Trisha Wells' recital took that sadness to a new level. For reasons that I won't talk about in this blog, it was VERY hard for Trisha to be able to perform with her mom in the audience and yet it was awesome that she did.
In my opinion this recital was the BEST that I've ever heard Trisha sound. Amanda (Trisha's accompanist) was outstanding, as usual. They were very much together throughout the entire recital. The format of the repertoir was much alike any of the voice recitals, with all four of the common languages (English, German, Italian, and French). I felt that Trisha's German and French diction was especially good, and her musicality was great. Her acting was very good, however there were times when she tried to do all of her acting with her eyes rather than her entire body. The last piece of the first act that Trisha sang, Dinah's Aria - Bernstein, was beautiful and I felt that it was a GREAT piece to end with.
Trisha ended her recital with a duet from Wicked (For Good), which she sang with Sarah Fox. Before this piece began, she made an announcement to her mom that it meant the world that she was here for her last recital at DePauw. At that point, (Before the music even started) many of the people in the audience were crying. If you don't know this song from "Wicked", the words are very powerful and especially meaningful to Trisha and her life right now. Trisha began the song very beautifully, but when it was time for Sarah to come in, she couldn't do it. SHe was crying and it was very hard for her to sing. Everytime Sarah would lose it, Trish would grab her hand and sing to her. It was very sad and yet as the song went on they did hold it together and sang this piece excellent. By the end of this song about 80% of the audience was in tears or even sobbing in some cases. It was a very sad and upsetting experience, but at the same time, a VERY well done job by Trisha Wells.

last blog!!!!

2006-05-07T18:42:00.000-04:00

So this week I listened to some Gilbert and Sullivan, more specifically the Pirates of Penzance.
The first time I ever heard this music I think I was about 5 or 6.My parents are friends with a couple that belong in some theater group that likes to put on Gilbert and Sullivan shows adn used to do them in the theater at University of Chicago.

I think my favorite song is "I am the very model of a Modern Major General" The recording I have is a little slow compared to others I've heard, but it still is an impressive piece. The lyrics are very clever, even including a jab at H.M.S Pinafore, G&S's previous operetta.

Maybe this is a strange thing to notice, but some of the songs sung by the females are somewhat similar to some Andrew Lloyd Webber writing, especially of Phantom.

The story line to Pirates is pretty strange, the main character Frederic was given as an apprentice to a band of pirates as a child when his nurse misunderstood her orders of apprenticing him to a pilot. The story takes place on his 21st birthday when he is released from his servitude. It turns out that he hates the pirate life and only has worked for them out of a sense of duty and plans on turning them in. He then falls in love iwth the major general's daughter and plans to turn the pirates in and marry her, but then the pirate king points out that he was born in leap year..so instead of turning 21 he really just turned 5, and therefore must stay with them until 1940.I don't want to ruin the ending, so I'll stop there.

so yes. last blog. yay.

so i forgot my blog again.....

2006-05-02T12:19:00.000-04:00

but I am going to avoid writing about the band cd...even though i could write lots...

This week I listened to a little Puccini, all of the great Puccini opera arias to be exact. A year ago I would have cringed at the thought of sitting down and listening to a bunch of arias, but I've learned tolerance.

From a few conversations I've had with "normal" people about opera. It seems that to people who don't know music, Puccini is a favored opera composer. While I had the cd going my roomate started pretending to sing along to "Nessun dorma' from Turandot. The arias are all highly emotional and I think that appeals to the general public. And after listening to these I started to realize that I heard a lot of them show up in movies.

so yeah. Puccini=good times.

2006-05-01T03:45:00.000-04:00

Hey, Sorry this is a little late but I listened to a lot of music this week and couldn't decide what to write about...Anyway, I listened to the Barber Violin Concerto performed by Perlman and the Boston Symphony. I hadn't heard the third movement but it was crazy. I couldn't really tell if I enjoyed the movement because of how crazy it was or if I just have such a great deal of respect for anyone that can play it that well, or both. But, it was cool none-the-less and the first movement still continues to be one of my favorite violin concertos.

Opps...

2006-05-01T00:16:00.000-04:00

I know this is late and I'm sorry! I just remembered that I had to do it! This weekend has been nuts!

Well, I really don't know what to write about this week since I really haven't listened to anything new. Well, except for Zombies from the Beyond. I did tech crew for that show this weekend, so I've been hearing that music non stop for the last 2 weeks with rehearsals and performances.

What a crazy musical. It's suppose to be a parody on 50's pop culture, and a cross between a really bad b-list 50's sci fi movie and b-list musical. It's actually pretty funny. There are many sexual inuendos however. But anyway, the music involved is ridiculous. You can tell is really is inspired by the 50's. Every song has a corny melody and there was only 2 pianos involved. There's a shoo-wop song called "In the Stars" which of course embodies your typical 50's ballad or sad song with even a verse spoken, there's a dance number that involves one of the main woman characters and all the men do a song and dance called "Blast off Baby" and a tap dance song called "Atomic Feet". What I found interesting was that they made the villian or the alien, Zombina, into a coloratura soprano. All of her songs were very operetic which is different.

All in all, the music was crazy and interesting with a bunch of chromatisism that drove me nuts most of the time because I felt it didn't sound right and there was quite of range of notes as well.

2006-05-01T00:07:00.000-04:00

Jen Chapin is one of my favorite singers. She doesn't necessarily have a beautiful voice, but it has a really cool edgy quality to it while still being enjoyable to listen to. I also really like the lyrics to her songs because they actually have enough depth to them to make me stop and think about them. Her album Open Wide, which I listened to this week, is especially cool because it is just Jen Chapin singing and Stephen Crump playing the bass. There are no other instruments accompanying her at all. I didn't even know that this could work, but it actually does quite nicely because it adds to the pensive quality of her lyrics and the afore mentioned "edginess" in her voice. I will admit that by the time the album is over, I've gotten my fill of this particular sound, and am ready for some music with a little more texture to it than just voice and bass, but all in all this album provides a nice change of musical scenery.

Memoirs of a Geisha

2006-05-01T00:03:00.000-04:00

So, I listened to the soundtrack to the film Memoirs of a Geisha. It is absolutely beautiful and I recommend it for everyone!!! I usually do not like just instrumental or orchestral music, but I would be content to go to a live performance of this without the movie playing in the background. In fact, I've put it on my mp3 player. However, it makes sense with the movie and plays an essnential role. Each main character has an instrument that basically is their musical equivalent. The cello is Sayuri, the young geisha and it represents a bittersweet innocence..and a very lyrical yet melancholy violin is the Chairman which is her love interest.
The orchestra also makes use of traditional japanse instruments such as the Shamisan, this one long 13 stringed instrument that can be tuned at will, gongs, and these long wooden flutes. It really has an ineffable effect and it really has to be listened to to fully enjoy. It's one of the best scores done for a movie that I've ever heard. People praised titanic and lord of the rings, but this beats them all...because it holds so much more meaning,

Sgt. Pepper

2006-04-30T23:51:00.000-04:00

Well, driving home last night I randomly chose to listen to Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band by The Beatles. I'd have to say that this is definately my favorite of all CDs by the Beatles. In fact, one song, Within you Without You is literally the song that sparked my interest in Indian music and is the reason for me pursuing my trip to India this past January. There is so much good music by the Beatles it's rediculous to think of how they could come up with all the stuff they did.

Getting Better is a really nice song with a really cool bass line. Nice and upbeat, I like it.
She's Leaving Home is actually based on a comic strip that one of the Beatles read in a newspaper, and is literally word for word based off the comic. It's still really cool though.
Benefit of Mr. Kite has some really weird words, and is based off an advertisement for a circus in Penny Lane (read the lyrics... you can't make that stuff up)
Within you without you.... AMAZING! The Beatles loved their trip to India, especially George, and a lot of his songs have Indian influences. I remember listening to this song as a kid and loving the sitar and tabla present in the song. It resembles Hindustani music quite a bit actually. Stronlgy suggest listening to this one.
Finally, A Day in the Life is one of the greatest songs ever written. The lyrics are very deep and the music is equally as cool. The last chord was played on 4 pianos!

Not only is the music cool from the Beatles, but the lyrics are equally as cool. It's so cool to think that somebody could come up with as many meaningful lyrics as they did. Sgt. Peppers in my opinion was their best CD, so definately check this one out!

"The Mission"

2006-04-30T23:47:00.000-04:00

In honor of the Film Music class watching The Mission, I thought I’d blog about the movie soundtrack. Alas, I have not seen the movie, but there are awesome oboe solos in this.
The opening track, “On Earth as it is in Heaven” has a baroque feel with harpsichord, ethnic vocals and oboe. The theme played by the oboe returns in other tracks, providing continuity throughout.
“Falls” keeps with the overall African feel, considering the film is set in Africa. Strings give an aerial feel to this track, giving the sensation of being in the air.
“Gabriel’s Oboe” is essentially the oboe theme with calmer accompaniment in vocals and murky strings.
“Ave Maria Guarani” is a rendition of Ave Maria with an African twist. A capella choir provides a more formal feel to this track.
“Brothers” is a low register flute solo with harp and strings accompaniment.
“Carlotta” is a guitar solo with strings accompaniment.
“Vita Nostra” has recorder playing the “Gabriel’s Oboe” theme, very similar to “On Earth as it is in Heaven” except with recorder.
“Climb” gives a calmer feel with quiet strings. “Remorse” takes these strings and adds tension and bassoon to the texture. A high register oboe solo ends the track.
“Penance”, another track of tension, is dominated by a chromatic motive.
“The Mission” begins with a flute solo, followed by horn and strings in the Mission theme.
“River” returns the percussion and vocals from “On Earth as it is in Heaven” and develops them further, considering there is no oboe solo above them.
“Gabriel’s Oboe” makes a return visit opening with a bassoon solo and then transitioning into the oboe solo.
The remainder of the soundtrack is relatively the same, finishing with “Misere”, a child vocal solo.

Classical Tour Around the World

2006-04-30T23:00:00.001-04:00

So I am now in possession of a box set of 10 cd's highlighting classical music from certain countries called "Classical Journey". It's a huge collection of different pieces from all kinds of composers. One thing that's great about these cd's is that there's a lot of well-known stuff, which makes them more interesting to listen to, especially because I recognize a lot of what's being played. Yesterday I listened to the first volume "Austria"...i really enjoyed this one! Here are some highlights for you:

Mozart's Symphony No. 40 (Molto Allegro)
* I really liked this piece...seeing as how it's one of his more famous symphony movements. I'm really upset because of the fact that now that I'm in Musicianship...i can't just listen to a piece...i find myself listening to form and whatnot. I always take notice of returns of motives and such. (i guess that's culture for you!)

Strauss's Waltz - The Beautiful Danube
* EVERYONE is familiar with this piece...and if you say you're not...you're a terrible liar. I couldn't help but think of a spring scene, with dancing nature and whatnot...i don't know why. Strauss just has that effect on people sometimes, i guess

Mozart's Eine Kleine Nachtmusik
*One of my favorite pieces by Mozart. This "sonata form" (god, musicianship is ruining my life!) piece is a VERY famous piece, and I like it a lot. When I was in high school, the orchestra did this piece, and since then, I've been in love with it. Something about strings just makes me love it even more!

Haydn's Symphony No. 94, 'Surprise' (Andante)
*I think this piece is rather familiar...seeing as how i recognized the main theme, but I can't remember why I know it. Oh well, it's haydn. I like his melodic line for some reason. It's really easy to listen to and get lost in!

So those pieces are just a highlight of the cd that's an hour and a half long. Next week, I plan on listening to the next installment: Hungary!

choosing new rep

2006-04-30T22:51:00.001-04:00

Well now that proficiencies are thankfully finished, I got to begin looking at new repertoire for the summer and next semester. I spent about 2 hours listening to different pieces (thanks to Naxos) last night and found some really good stuff.

The pieces that I chose, (after listening to many) include: Brahms Op. 118 Intermezzo in A major (I believe this was on a quiz earlier in the semester...), Beethoven Piano Sonata No. 3, Rachmaninov Etude- Tableaux, Op. 33, No. 9, and Chopin Nocture No. 5 in F# major.

I've wanted to play this Brahms intermezzo since the first time I heard it and every time afterwards. I can't say anything else about it other than it's probably one of the most beautiful piano pieces I have ever heard.

I chose this Beethoven sonata for a few reasons. Firstly, it begins in C major (that's an easy key to play in...). Secondly, I like the statement the FTA makes. Finally, I also want to do one of the Beethoven sonatas that not all the other piano majors have done (AnnMarie is the only one that's done this one since I've been here).

Listening to Rach is always extremely enjoyable and I've found that I especially like the Etudes- Tableaux. This one is my favorite.

Finally, the Chopin Nocturne balances out the C major Beethoven Sonata being in F# major (also assisted by the C# minor Etude-Tableaux). This nocturne is also more jazzy and playing the Bennett, I've found that I really enjoy playing in that style more and more.

Of course, all these have to be approved by the higher up (Dr. May Phang) but if I work on them now or later, I'm just excited to get new repertoire period!!!

Jazz Band Concert

2006-04-30T22:51:00.000-04:00

This week the jazz ensemble had a concert with a guest trombonist Eric Zimmerman, an incredibly accomplished and talented musician. Not only was he a pleasure to play with, his technical facility on the trombone was astounding. He made the trombone sound as if it were a trumpet, hitting incredibly high registered notes. Even though he only appeared on three of the songs, he was the highlight of the production. His solo on "Night in Tunisia," (one my favorite tunes) was so gracefull and full of color. He used harmony that I would not expect a trombonist to use and held high notes to accentuate the color of the chords. My only complaint would be that he was a bit of a showboat. Although he was the most technically gifted trombonist that I had ever seen, he tried to use a bit too much flash and cliche quotes (within his solos) to capture the awe of the audience (though I must admit, I wish that I could play like him).

"Zombies From The Beyond"

2006-04-30T22:46:00.000-04:00

I saw "Zombies From The Beyond" on Saturday night. The singing was excellent, especially Liz Hartnett's soaring soprano. The musical is sort of a parody on 1950's sci-fi movies, and the musical achieved campiness in every facet: acting, choreagraphy, set design, light design, and sound design. The music was clearly early 50's rock-inspired: complete with tons of I-vi-IV-V progressions. Also, the instrumentation was quite interesting. It featured only two keyboards, played by Sarah Masterson and Keith Teepen. However, Keith's keyboard part was originally intended for accordion, which was the only voice he was directed to use.

The lead cast was comprised mostly of upperclassmen women and first-year student men. The men acted more as a chorus than the Zombettes, which I found interesting. My only real complaints are that the production lacked any quality tap dancing, which I know that the show is supposed to feature, and that the music lacked solos by baritone vocalists, which is the most common vocal type in rock music.

Beethoven blog from last week (would not post)

2006-04-30T22:38:00.000-04:00

In honor of Shua analyzing Beethoven’s Symphony No. 7, I decided to listen to it this week. I have a recording of the Vienna Philharmonic playing it on my iTunes and it, of course, was very well performed. Like myself, Beethoven also liked this symphony quite a bit, saying that it was his “most excellent symphony.” This symphony is quite accessible to listen to relative to a few of his other symphonies. The first movement starts off slowly before moving into the vivace section. Like many other first movements of symphonies, this movement is in sonata form. Beethoven seems to like the slower beginnings to his symphonies, taking a few minutes to even state the rest of the theme for the rest of the movement. In this movement, it takes around four minutes to get to a place where we hear hints of the theme for the rest of the movement. It is only then that he moves into the vivace section. This movement has some of the best horn excerpts of any of his music, writing perfectly for the sound and the logistical aspect of the horn. Good choice Shua. The second movement is almost haunting. Again, while looking at the background of this symphony, I found it interesting that Wikipedia reported that some of the musicians in the Philadelphia Orchestra played this movement when they received notice that a colleague or former musician of the orchestra died. This movement drips with the quiet emotionality that makes this movement so powerful. I also found it interesting that it became common tradition in the nineteenth century to repeat this movement. I wonder a bit why that decision by conductors was make; the piece is sufficiently long and accessible the first time around. Hmmm….Spiegelberg, what do you think of them messing with the form of the symphony? The third movement is quick and light, as was common with scherzo trios. The last movement, like the third, is quick. Perhaps this is why conductors liked to repeat the second movement. The fourth, like the first, movement has some of the best horn excerpts that Beethoven offers in his symphonies. This symphony is quite accessible and is a blast to listen to. I would definitely recommend listening to the recording of the Vienna Phil; there is something about listening to a recording with a full section of the Viennese horn players that is really exciting and is as Beethoven intended.

Copland and band

2006-04-30T22:36:00.000-04:00

I decided to listen to a bit of Copland this week since we recorded Fanfare for the Common Man this weekend in band. I believe that the recording that I have is of the Minnesota Orchestra (although I am not positive about that because my iTunes did not list the performing ensemble). In conversations between the conductor of the piece’s premiere and Copland, the conductor was quoted as saying, “Its title is as original as its music, and I think it is so telling that it deserves a special occasion for its performance. If it is agreeable to you, we will premiere it 12 March 1943 at income tax time". Copland's reply was "I [am] all for honoring the common man at income tax time". Copland also explored other titles such as Fanfare for a Solemn Ceremony and Fanfare for Four Freedoms in writing this piece. The recording, besides being of a professional group, had a few differences in the interpretation of the piece than our band. The tempo of the piece was, overall, faster. The timbre of the ensemble was darker than our ensemble, which is typical of MN Orch, however the trumpets were surprisingly bright in this recording. They usually do not have all that bright a sound, so perhaps this was intentional for this piece; either the conductor or Manny must have wanted that style for the piece. The piece is stylistically very typical of Copland, which utilize many open intervals with 4th and 5ths. Also, the use of brass and percussion is quite typical of his music; he tends to write in a very high tessitura for wind instruments. Although I really enjoy listening to all of the pieces on this recording, it is really fun to listen to a piece done by a professional group that you too have recorded just to listen to the differences between the levels of playing.

15 hours of the war requiem

2006-04-30T22:25:00.000-04:00

So. I'm writting my Mass class paper on Benjamin Britten's War Requiem. And this weekend I'm fairly sure that I've listened to it for over 15 hours. Its a gourgeous piece of music, but it is starting to get a little old.
One of the most interesting features that I've come to apricate is the use of the tritone as a figure of stabilty. Throughout the piece the tritone is usued to establish a key area, which I don't quite understand entirely, but as I listen to this piece more and more the idea is growing on me. The tritone is often presented in a very straightforward manner however at times it is hidden. One such example is one phrase ending on a C# and the next sung one beginning on an F. I really love how it apears so often and in so many varieties.
After listening to this for so long I'm also starting to find myself become more and more liberal and more and more pacifist. I guess Britten knows how to impact people with his music.

band recording

2006-04-30T21:46:00.000-04:00

So after listening to the band recording Lux Aurumque and Blue Shades for five hours, I might as well write about these two pieces.
Lux Aurumque is a piece by Eric Whitacre which is originally a choral piece. It used no percussion but was beautiful and very flowing. The band sounded excellent playing this piece and it went by quickly. T
he next piece however was really fast and difficult to get perfect. Blue Shades written by Frank Ticheli sounded so fun to play. Parts of the piece sounded like James bond music and other parts were extremely jazzy. There is a really neat clarinet solo in this piece which took like an hour to record, but I enjoyed listening to it. All in all, I think the band has a really good cd coming their way and they deserve it because that was hard work.

eric whitacre

2006-04-30T20:55:00.000-04:00

Thanks to the university band and the pirating skills of david doud, I have been turned on to whitacre, a very innovative new `composer. His music is full of dissonance, extended chords, and great harmonies. In the band, we just recorded "lux arumque" a choral piece set for band which embodies the above techniques he is known for. After listening to his new album, cloudburst, I am amazed at the colors and pictures he paints in his music. The only complaint I do have about him is that although his music is peaceful and calming, a lot of it sounds the same. He uses a lot of 2nds, 4ths, and 6ths, but without normal chords, a lot of this doesn't have the same calming effect. Other than that, I strongly reccommend checking him out, hes new (even on myspace) and im sure we'll be hearing more of his work

as always,

AJ

Sarah Fox...

2006-04-29T15:59:00.000-04:00

Today I went to Sarah Fox's senior recital. It was EXCELLENT! Sarah and Amanda gave an amazing performance. Jim Muetzel also played the flute for a piece and did a very nice job. Sarah's recital was actually almost an hour and a half, and not once did she seem tired. She had a lot of fun repertoir but at the same time very difficult repertoir. The song that impressed me the most was the piece that Jim performed with her. It is called "Ah! vous dirai-je, maman" on a Theme by Mozart. There were constant runs at a very fast pace, and many very high sustained notes. It was very impressive and I was a bit surprised that she didn't perform this piece last.
Her program began with Handel and moved to Heggie, Strauss, and Offenbach. THen there was an intermission, which was probably much needed for Sarah. During intermission Sarah actually changed dresses and Trisha Wells appeared with her for the first song after intermission. Together, they performed "Black Swan" from The Medium by Menotti. The second half of her program consisted of works by Mihaud, Strauss, Rorem, Copland and ended with Ravel. The ending piece was very nice and Sarah was really in character. My favorite piece of the entire concert was probably the Doll aria by Offenbach. Sarah stayed in character the entire piece and was very funny. She pretended to be a doll for the entire piece. This was also a very difficult piece as there were high high high E flats in this piece. It was very obvious through out this entire concert that Sarah loves what she is doing, works very hard, and was very well-prepared. I was very impressed!

this didn't work earlier, here you go...

2006-04-24T10:09:00.001-04:00

Today I listened to a variety of different albums by stan getz. I thought I'd spend some time devoted to listening to his style, feel, and choice of notes. I love his smooth lyrical style of playing, It almost put me to sleep a couple of times. I love how he stays in the changes instead of playing like coltrane and playing anything but the chords written on the page. He never gets boring and his solos all make sense harmonically. I like how stan started to integrate the latin style in his music, it adds a whole new dimension to his sound. overall, if I've learned anything, its that a soloist can play in the changes at all times and find other ways of keeping the listener interested into what he or she is playing without having to reharm the whole tune...

AJ

this didn't work earlier, here you go...

2006-04-24T10:09:00.000-04:00

as the perfect conclusion to my weekend....i forgot my blog..

2006-04-24T09:58:00.000-04:00

sooo here i go. Sine this was a rough weekend I spent a good portion of it listening to the Beatles. My Beatles playlist is about 11 hours long...

So I don't think I could ever have a favorite Beatles song because there's just too many. but some that I really like came on.

Martha My Dear: This one's off the White Album. I like it mostly because of the "honkey-tonk" style of the piano.

I'm Looking Through You: From Rubber Soul probably comes close to being a true favorite. Again, it's not the happiest of lyrics but the music is upbeat. I think I like these just because they're different...but not acid tripped out different.

Real Love: Real Love is from the second anthology set. John wrote it sitting at his piano back in 79 I think using just an 8 track. After recording Free as a Bird they found this track and remastered it and had Paul help fill in the weak spots in the tape. It's a little ironic that he's singing about finding "real love"and after his death his old bandmates are finishing the song about the love that caused them to break up in the first place

okay I'm done...sorry it's not the best blog ever....

Vienna Phil

2006-04-24T07:35:00.000-04:00

Vienna Phil

2006-04-24T07:33:00.000-04:00

Recording and such

2006-04-24T07:23:00.001-04:00

As the band prepares for the recording project coming up next weekend, the concert Sunday was quite an interesting experience. We played four songs that will be on the CD- Zion, Lux Aurumque, Brooklyn Bridge (featuring Randy Salman on clarinet) and Blue Shades.

Zion was a little off. It sounded ok, I think, but the music was not fitting together as well as it has in rehearsals. The piece is hard, but we have never played it like we did yesterday. Everyone was following Dr. Pare' but each section was following him in different ways. It really threw me off. Needless to say, we got through it and moved on to Lux Aurumque, possibly the most beautiful piece ever written. It was originally written by Eric Whitacre- originally for choir, but he rewrote it for winds. The whole piece is based on suspensions and although it's rather simple technically, it's very difficult musically. You have to play so softly, with a rounded sound and getting the response that you need from your instrument at that volume is hard.

The horn ensemble played a piece next- it was pretty cool, it started all chorale like and moved into this jazzy, snap your fingers, tap your foot, or just get up and dance section that continued to the end. After that, Prof. Salman came on and we played Brooklyn Bridge. It's a very long piece. Some parts of it are really cool, I especially like the second and fourth movements (South and North). Prof. Salman does a really good job with the piece though. As Dr. Pare' said, Prof. Salman feels the pull in both classical and jazz styles and that makes it really easy and fun to work with him.

The sax quartet played next with Prof. Salman filling in for Gabe on tenor. Then we finished the concert with Blue Shades by Frank Ticheli. That's another of everyone's favorite- it's very jazzy. I like that it mixes so many different sections- you can play really loudly and fast, but then there's slower sections and it's challenging in that sense.

Next weekend is going to be very long, but I think we're up for it.

311 - Live

2006-04-24T00:47:00.001-04:00

Great CD.... 311 is a punk rock band from Omaha, Nerbraska... and are surprisngly proud of it. In fact, one of their songs is even named after Omaha (Omaha Stylee, which is a pretty cool song) It's especially weird since one of the members is Mexican. Anyway, this CD is a live recording of one of their tours when they played in New Orleans... when it still existed. Much of the album is taken from the four CDs previously recorded to this. Probably the most amazing song on the cd is "Applied Science" which features a 5 minutes drum solo by their drummer, Chad Sexton. Sexton was a member of the Cavalier Drum and Bugle Corps after he graduated high school and this song really shows off his talent as a drummer. His style is very clean and uses a lot of bass drum. Every fill and beat is so rhythmically clean it's a really cool style to listen to. Needless to say, the common crowd of 311 is mostly stoners... I hate to admit it but it's true. So the last few songs are a bit more mellow as the contact highs set in to the entire audience... I kid... not really but hey, god bless liberal culture.
311 is pretty cool to listen to, they kinda sound like a mix between rock and punk music with a little bit of influence from Sublime. You should definately listen to some of their other albums to, earlier stuff is better though, now they're starting to become sell outs. Boo!

Recital...

2006-04-24T00:20:00.001-04:00

On Friday I went to/ played for Lindsey and Kyle’s junior recital. It was an excellent program. The program switched back and forth as Lindsey would sing a set of songs and then Kyle. They began the program began with Italian pieces, then to German. After the German there was a short intermission. The second half of the program consisted of a set of French pieces and then ended with the English. I performed her one (big) musical theatre piece. It was called “I’m not afraid” by Jason Robert Brown. The main two accompanists were Amanda Hopson and John Clodfelter. They did an excellent job throughout the entire program. They did a very good job of making all of the pieces within this hour, flow into each other. The only negative things about the concert were just because the performers were nervous. John and I noticed a couple of times that Lindsey would jump in too early or skip a measure but we were able to follow her. Over all, as I know (just doing my proficiency), it is hard to keep the stamina and focus for a performance for a half an hour and they BOTH did an excellent job with the entire performance.

Recital...

2006-04-24T00:20:00.000-04:00

Mel Lewis--------------Austin Johnson

2006-04-23T23:41:00.001-04:00

This week I listened to a CD by Mel Lewis and Thad Jones called Consummation. The First track, Dedication, is an up-tempo jazz tune with a big band. However, the tune begins and ends as a ballad, creating a nice exposition and development throughout the track.
The third track, called "Tiptoe" was another that caught my attention. The drums and band work together to create a feeling of "tiptoeing" so to speak. The piano especially plays an important role in the creation of this feeling as it jumps in lightly and very rhythmically similar to count basie.
The CD also has an incredible version of "A child is Born," a beautiful and melodically incredible song. The band sounds amazing and induces a euphoria within the listener.
The last few tracks are funk-oriented and groove to a T. The band is so tight that the soloists are able to reach out and experiment. The sax solos do exactly that, experimenting with harmony and polyrhythmic lines throughout the course of the solo.
Overall the CD was quite a treat, as I am a huge fan of both funk and jazz. Moreover, a CD that integrates the two is even better in my book.

Mel Lewis--------------Austin Johnson

2006-04-23T23:41:00.000-04:00

"Wrapped Around Your Finger" by The Police

2006-04-23T23:31:00.001-04:00

The Police are one of the most famous bands in rock history, and had one of the shortest runs in accomplishing this. Formed in the late 70's and ended in the mid 80's, The Police had an array of unique, chart-topping hits. Comprised of vocalist/bassist Sting (who's real name is Gordon Sumner), guitarist Andy Summers, and drummer Stewart Copeland, The Police created a style mixed in jazz, raggae, new wave, punk, and progressive rock.

They changed the face of pop music at the time, which inspired similar bands like The Outfield and Mr. Mister. They disbanded at the peak of their career, shortly after finishing a sold-out world tour in support of their number one album, Synchronicity. The members of the band barely got along, and Sting yearned for creating more complexly layered music. Synchronicity definitely featured the most dense arrangements in the band's history, and it also contained three top-ten hits, "Wrapped Around Your Finger," "King Of Pain," and "Every Breath You Take."

"Wrapped Around Your Finger" is unique in several ways. The beat is non-aggressive, but very strong. The chord progression is purposely repetitive to display a yearning groove, except when the song reaches a climax toward the very end. The lyrics are masterful and easily show Sting's talent for poetry. The bells in the background give the piece a bold statement. The intimacy between the bass and guitar provide a subtle tone of subdued passion. The chilled color of the drums is perfect, and the loud backbeat that is played after the climax makes the piece one of brilliance in arrangement. This song displays The Police at the height of their fame and at the end of their career as a band. Both the studio and live recordings act as time capsules of the era. They capture the cool and overwhelming sensation that The Police gave to so many people. The Police are synonymous with popular music of the 1980's. Synchronicity is the reason why. You can even see it by simply looking at the album cover.

Country Music

2006-04-23T23:31:00.000-04:00

So my best friend Amanda was here this weekend, and she loves country music. So she made me listen to it alot. And I think it's starting to grow on me. My boyfriend likes it alot too, but I grew up as a avid country hater.
It's very simple, and usually boring music. It really all sounds the same. All the same one five one chord progession. All the same instruments. All boring.
But I realized this weekend, country music isn't about the music. It's about easy, fun lyrics that you can always count on being able to sing, because the melodies are all very similar.
Country music is about singing along, usally not musically at all, and usually not with very much talent.
Country music is about having fun. Not having to really pay attention to the music, and just having fun.

Lindsey and Kyle's Recital

2006-04-23T23:26:00.000-04:00

Lindsey and Kyle put on a fantastic recital last friday. Both of them are excellent singers with incredible expression. I especially enjoyed the last piece, a duet between a husband and wife about what they find annoying about each other. If you had never met the two and saw only this you might not think they were such good friends. But perhaps they are so comfortable with each other they feel free to act with each other. So, even though they probably don't read these, Congrats Lindsey and Kyle on a rockin recital!

j-i-l-l s-c-o-t-t

2006-04-23T22:46:00.000-04:00

Alright! hooray for remembering to blog two weeks consecutively.

This week...Jill Scott...She's an artist out of philadelphia and has more of a neo-soul, spoken word, r&b, jazz style.....hm..i suppose there's a lot in there..but they all blend pretty well to create her one distinct sound and whenever you hear a Jill Scott song you know its her and not just by her voice.

There's always a strong bass line and beat to her songs that complements the way she punctuates her phrases especially when she does her light version of scat.

She's an artist that really has experimented with her voice and know how to use all the different colors of it and she uses her entire range which is impressive for a popular music artist. She does more than just belt or sing light and breathy, it's clear that every sound and tone and timbre she makes is controlled and she keeps it from falling into one category. she keeps herself from being classified as just a powerhouse ballad singer or easy listening voice or jazz singer or r&b..she can use all those.

What I think her best quality is though is that she's not afraid to use her spoken voice with music and but that on a cd. and its not cheesy like it is on most albums where they talk all low and breahty before they actually sing some sappy love song or one full of sexual innuendos. Hers is her poetry which is blended with the music so its not just someone speaking over music but it in itself is the song.

Kudos jill scott

2006-04-23T22:45:00.000-04:00

Recently in one of my classes we watched the opera Giulio Cesare by Handel. This was a very long opera. One of the interesting things about it is that were three parts in this opera written for castratos. All three of these parts were played by counter tenors in the production that we watched. Cesare was one of these parts, and it was very strange to how regal he looked and know what a strong character he was supposed to be and then hear him sing in such a small, high voice. It is quite unfortunate that we will never be able to hear what this part would have sounded like with the full strength of a castrato's voice behind it (not that it is in any way unfortunate that such barbaric customs no longer exist). The counter tenor voice fit Ptolemy much better because he is a much weaker character.

I loved listening to Cleopatra whenever she sang. She had a beautiful voice and an engaging stage presence. I also loved her character because when things weren't going her way, she stand up for herself instead of sing long whiney arias. I also greatly enjoyed watching and listening to Cesare once I had adjusted to his voice. My favorite part was when there was a break from the plot of the opera while had a musical duel against a violinist.

There were, however, some less than enjoyable parts to this three hour opera. Cornelia was the most ridiculous character because all she did was despair and try to kill herself throughout the entire opera. Her son Sextus, written for and played by a woman, was also ridiculous because he would sing long arias about how he was going to kill Ptolemy, but every time he got near him, he would somehow manage to mess it up. I don't know if this character bothered me so much because he was so stupid or because the singer who played him was so incredibly bad a playing a man. I'm sure her voice was very lovely, but I couldn't concentrate on her singing at all because I was too busy being frustrated with what I was watching. If I had been listening to a recording, my reaction to this particular person probably would have been completely different.

Proficiencies

2006-04-23T21:40:00.000-04:00

So, Prof Speigelberg,

You missed the great opportunity to hear me sing through my proficiency Saturday morning, but that doesn't mean that I can't describe it for you for this week's edition of "blogging".

Of course, I sang the required 8 pieces...in the 4 required languages...so that's not a surprise!

Ruscelletto Limpidetto (Tomaso Albinoni)
-This quick baroque piece is fun to sing. It's a nice ternary piece with little ornaments and such. I find this piece to be a good opener, because it's got a good feel to it, and it's fun to sing

Chi Sprezzando (Georges Frederic Handel)
-The second Italian piece I sang was from the Brockes-Passion. This was in contradiction to the first piece, in that it's very slow and solemn. It talks about despising the highest good accumulating sin and whatnot...but it's still a good one. An interesting fact about this piece, was that it's in 6-4 time, which is always fun to count

Ein Madchen oder Weibchen (Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart)
-I'm too lazy to find the "oomlaut" (spelling) for this song, but I'm sure you'll figure it out. This aria is Papageno's final aria in The Magic Flute, which is light, happy and fun. One of the hardest things about this song is its strophic-ness (i.e. 3 verses that are exactly the same...with different words) that made it horrendous to memorize. All in all though, it's a good one

Standchen (Franz Schubert)
-and again...there should be an "oomlaut"...but anyway. This song is easily one of my favorites this year. in english, it means "serenade", and the whole piece is a man singing to a maiden in the window, pleading for her to come, make him happy. Even though it is in a minor key, the piece's words are romantic and positive. While this piece was my favorite, it was also one of the hardest ones, because of the re-occuring high notes. I still like that one anyway.

Mai (Gabrielle Faure)
-a fun song about springtime...I liked this one a lot. Out of all the pieces, this one was the last piece for me to learn...maybe a week and a half before proficiencies? I like Faure's music a lot, and this song is no different. It's so positive of a song!

Beau Soir (Claude Debussy)
-in contrast to the first french piece, Debussy sweeps in with his slow moving piece about appreciating the beauty in the world before we die. One of the hardest things about this piece is the accompaniment, which beats in triplets, while the melody I had to sing is in constant eighth notes. The three-versus-two aspect makes the piece melodious and awe-sounding, and that's why i like it!

With joy the Impatient Husbandman (Franz Joseph Haydn)
-the oratorio of the day, this piece is by far the most fun to perform. There's something about pulsating runs that make me happy when I'm singing. I don't know why I like runs...but there's a feeling you have when you make it successfully to the end of run that one can't explain!

Arise My love (Richard Hundley)
-to round out my proficiency, I sang a piece that Hundley adapted especially for Professor Irwin. This one is quite slow, but has a middle section where I'm free to let go and sing really loud and full (which is quite easy for me...seeing as how I'm a dramatic baratone)...but i like it anyway

So that's my proficiency!

Stan Getz

2006-04-23T19:11:00.001-04:00

Stan Getz

2006-04-23T19:11:00.000-04:00

I Love the 80's!

2006-04-23T18:51:00.000-04:00

So, I realize that I didn't do one of these last week! Opps! Sorry, it slipped my mind with being at home for Easter.

Anyway, that's not what this blog is about. I have actually found myself listening to a bunch of 80's songs this week. It started with me doing picture slideshows for my brother's open house and I was looking for music to use. I came across of few like "Girls Just Wanna Have Fun" by Cyndi Lauper, "Footloose" by Kenny Loggins, "Wake me Up Before you Go-Go" by Wham and I used them. But then I found myself finding more that I just wanted for my collection.

Now don't get me wrong. I love 80's music. I've always been a fan. It's so fun and I think a lot of it is the best dance music ever, especially the whole Footloose album. It gets me in a really good mood. It's also really great music to listen to when you working. I noticed that a lot of them keep the strong beat on 2 and 4, which could just be a characteristic of 80's rock music.

THE 80'S ROCK!

Baroque Rites of Spring

2006-04-23T16:57:00.000-04:00

I really enjoyed listening to the pieces the Chamber choir sang on Thursday which were from the Baroque era, well some of them were. The first piece they sang, Revecy Venir du Printans, by Claude LeJeune was an appropriate and happy song about the coming of spring. The chanson was very typical for it’s time, and contained polyphonic voices coming together frequently at cadences The melody was very repetitive and catchy. I was particularly interested in their second piece, Crucifixus by Antonio Lotti because Prof. Crouch said Lotti was majorly influenced by the stile antico, created by Palestrina, which I’m writing my music history research on. Just as he mentioned, it was a sacred piece which was polyphonic and contained many suspensions. Laslty, Au Miserere mei was a chant which a quartet singing in the back balcony of Meharry. The quartet would sing a beautiful refrain and then the rest of the chorus would respond in a Gregorian chant-like response. It was gorgeous but it repeated so many times with different lyrics that it got a bit repetitive. A three movement Bach motet, Singet Dem Herrn was next. It sounded very difficult for such a small choir to be divided into so many parts, but it was beautiful. After that 15 minute piece you could tell everyone up couldn’t stand there another minute, but it was worth it.

Chamber Trio Recital

2006-04-19T21:14:00.000-04:00

I just heard Shostakovich's piano trio and Brahms trio in C major. It was performed by Dan Rizner, Eric Edberg, and May Phang. The Shostakovich was great and very dark considering it was written during Stalins reign. You can hear the drama created throughout the piece and really visualize what was going through his head during the composing of the piece. I had heard the Brahms before but it was performed well. If you havn't heard the Shostakovich, do a backround check on it first and then listen. It blew me away.

oops tornados threw me off

2006-04-18T11:53:00.000-04:00

I forgot to post....my bad. However, this weekend I did a lot of listening to james brown to keep me from going crazy in the car while I was going through the tornados. I find it so interesting how a man with so little melodic and harmonic material can keep his music so interesting. No matter how repetitive the music, the group is always swinging and I commend him for this. Not just anyone can play funk and really make it swing. (the energy level probably has something to do with the fact that he was on a lot of cocaine...) nevertheless, I have yet to figure out what keeps his music driving. Anyway, I don't really know what else to say about him other than him, I can't go into any form issues because there really is none....

sorry for the boring (and late) post

AJ

gotta go practice for proficiencies....

2006-04-17T01:09:00.000-04:00

Hmm so I'm a bit late on this one...

There were many concerts and recitals in the previous week, but I think I'll do a CD of Albinoni Concertos...yet more oboe?

Concerto for Oboe in D minor- Having worked on this concerto I know it relatively well. I really enjoy Albinoni's use of sequences in his composition, they are literally everywhere in the work. The second movement is very placid, while the third movement is in an energetic 6/8.
Concerto for Two Oboes in F major- I know everyone is thinking of that joke about getting two oboes in tune and shooting one of them right? Anyway oboe duets are incredibly vibrant and really fun to play. The two lines usually move in similar motion in arpeggios or in, of course, sequences.
Concerto for Oboe in C major- This concerto would be a good way to start a recital. This concerto is joyful, bright, yet simple. A few technical spots provide that excitement for the performer.
Concerto for Two Oboes in G major- This is one of my favorite pieces in all of the oboe repertiore, partially because of the recording I have. The first oboe enters with a sparkling scale, followed by the second oboe in echo. The two lines then intertwine to form a contrapuntal network of echos and sequences.
Concerto for Oboe in B-flat major- Common to Albinoni's concerti, this one has a jubilant first movement followed by an adagio in minor. The work ends with a triple meter allegro, most likely to please the audience with a dance-like movement.

Smash Hits of the Early 90's

2006-04-16T23:27:00.000-04:00

So it's been a while since I've last blogged, I'm thinking two or three weeks. It's just so hard to remember to do it. (Here's a fantastic blog that COULD make up for ALL the blogs i missed!)

So this weekend, my house had it's formal. We went to Clifty Falls State Park, which is in Madison, IN (about 3 hours south of Greencastle).

Now, while I had an awesome time, the DJ we had wasn't the best I've experienced. He was rather old, and his selection of music was...well, old as well. A large majority of his music was from the early 90s, which, while I love going down memory lane every now and then, wasn't exactly the best choice of music to be played.

Some of the "hits" he played included "Shoop" by Salt n Peppa', "Mambo no. 5" by Lou Begga, and "Wannabe" by the Spice Girls.

Each and every one of these songs hold a special place in my heart, because I can remember the first time i heard these songs...some time in middle school...and I remember all the fifth, sixth, seventh and eighth graders jammin to the music of the times.

Good times were had by all, but I think the 90's have passed us...and the "feel good" times should go away...asap

Adios!

Mozart Concertos

2006-04-16T23:14:00.000-04:00

Since one of my proficiency pieces is the first movement of Mozart’s Horn Concerto No. 2, I have been doing a good amount of listening to our friend Mozart. His concertos were written for his friend and virtuosic horn player, Ignaz Leutgeb, from Salzburg. If you ever get to purchase some horn music, be sure to get the edition that includes the remarks to his friend in a few of his movements (Schirmer prints it I believe). They make the music much more amusing when you reading insults like “Try this you ugly pig” (or something to that effect) next to a challenging run. Suddenly the piece becomes quite a bit more amusing. On the first page of the movement of the concerto that I am playing for proficiencies, Mozart wrote “Leitgeb Esel” (or “Silly ass Leitgeb”). You can hear his sense of humor throughout the piece both in the horn part and throughout the orchestra.

The first movements of the concertos are in sonata form. The piece that I am playing for proficiencies follows this trend. These movements can generally be characterized by their virtuosity in the horn part. The second movements are usually marked Andante or Romance and are slower and show off the sound of the horn through long lyric phrases. The last movements are almost always in 6/8 and rondo form. These pieces seem to bring us back to the origins of horn music, emulating the horn calls. The simplicity with which Mozart wrote was perfect for the horn and its sound. These pieces have become forever a part of the horn player’s repertoire.

No discussion of the Mozart horn concertos would be complete without Shua’s response every time he hears one of Mozart’s concertos in Eb (or in any key for that matter). Shua hypothesizes that Mozart was too lazy to change the key of the concertos (this should have been very easy since everything was natural horn then) and so obviously the correct response is “Mozart, you lazy bastard.” Thank you Shua for your timely addition to my blog.

"Miracle World" by Adam K. Hilkert and Timothy L. Fox

2006-04-16T22:48:00.000-04:00

This is an epic ballad written by myself and Tim Fox for our musical "CYAHPIT." This is the number where the characters Elmo and The Vandyman, our tragic hero, sing a duet. In our playwright's production, in which Tim and I are the directors, Elmo will be played by Dan Burke and The Vandyman will be played by Chris Simerman. They both start out singing the melifluous melody. Then they harmonize together on the bridge with a heavily chorded backing vocal line under them. Next, they harmonize the melodies together with contrasting lyrics, written by Tim. Finally, they end on a grand finale outro, which ends on a high 'f', sung by Elmo, which is a Counter Tenor line.

I listened to this piece over and over again while revising it in Finale, and while Tim wrote lyrics for it. The music is inspired by that of Amy Gaither-Hayes, wife of Dr. Andrew Hayes, which is the brand of light christian rock. The lyrics are permeated with innuendo and wit. Tim's charm is written all over the piece, and is altered by the clarity of yours truly. It is a smooth ride into the world of pure genius. So, make sure that you see it in live performance at the Playwright's Festival, during the first weekend in May!

Evelyn Glenni - Greatest Hits

2006-04-16T22:41:00.000-04:00

For those of you who dont now who Evelyn Glennie is, she is one of the most widely known mallet soloists of rour current day. The thing that is the most amazing... is she's legally deaf!!! I've been listening to her Greatest Hits CD quite regularly lately because I've played a few of the songs on this CD and it's always nice to hear them being played.... correctly. Some of the key songs that I suggest you listen to are Rhythm Song (song I auditioned at DPU with), Flight of the Bumblebee, Marimba Spiritual, and the finale of my sophomore jury, MICHI!! Her performane of Michi is absolutely amazing. She takes full advantage of the composers marks to improvise on the given melody, and what she is able to do with the acoustics and harmonies on the marimba is aboslutely mind boggling. I've been able to figure out some of the things that she is doing and I've incorporated them into my own performance of the piece. As well, rhythm song is hauntingly melodic... yet again it's amazing how she can judge the level of volume she's playing at when she's deaf. Evelyn Glennis is an amazing musician and my hat goes off to her for all that she has achieved. I strongly suggest you listen to a few of her songs from this album and really keep in mind that she's deaf... You'll be absolutely amazed.

Emily German...

2006-04-16T22:38:00.000-04:00

On Saturday April 15th, Emily German gave an excellent recital, accompanied by Stephanie Gurga. Her program (aboout an hour long) consisted of works by Pergolesi, Brahms, Debussy and Korngold. It was quite obvious that Emily and Stephanie spent a lot of time together as all of their entrances and endings were right together.
As an accompanist myself, I was really listening to Stephanie and she was doing an excellent job. Her musicality through-out the entire recital was amazing, and her voicing was also incredible. At many times I felt that Stephanie was into the music more than Emily. Unfortunately, that was one down fall of Emily's. Many times throughout the concert it seemed as though she did not want to be there. She was very quick to begin and end all of the pieces and she just didn't seem to really be into them. This obviously could be nerves, but it just seemed that she was not very enthused to be there or about the repertoir.
My favorite piece of the recital was the Sonata in G minor by Debussy. I felt that this was by far the most musical piece of the entire recital and Emily and Stephanie were working very well together on this piece. Overall I thought this was a great recital I just thought that Emily could be a little happier to be there!

James Galway

2006-04-16T22:33:00.000-04:00

So this week I listened to James Galway's cd "Meditations". My mom is James Galway obsessed and is always asking me when I'm going to be able to play like that...which doesn't help at all, but at least she's interested....

anyways. I have a bunch of his cds but this one is my favorite as it doesn't have his usual cheesy pop-ish tunes.

My favorite piece on the cd is Rodrigo's "Fantasia para un gentilhombre" (fantasy for a gentleman). I would love to have the chance to play this someday. The emotion in it is so high and then use of instrumentation is very complimentary to the moods portrayed.

Of course, it's not a Galway cd without the Pachelbel cannon. This version of it is pretty decent and therefore not as monatanous as it can sometimes be.
My favorite thing about James Galway is the arrangements he makes and/or finds for flute. This cd has Chopin's Nocturne In E flat, Op. 9 No. 2 on it and the arranging is really well done.

The cd is nice to listen to because it spans music from Vivaldi and Handel through Mozart and Schubert up to Debussy. I guess if you don't like listening to flute music then you wouldn' t enjoy it, but it was a relaxer when I was driving back to school through tornados.

Final Concerto Concert

2006-04-16T22:30:00.000-04:00

WOOO ORCHESTRA!

The final concerto competition was last Wednesday- congrats to all the winners!!! The concert was amazing.
Started with Nathan playing Beethoven. He did quite well, I was impressed. See Keith for further comments.

Stacey sang a piece in English! which was nice. The piece was amazing. I got goosebumps. literally. The piece was called "Ain't it a pretty night" and I immdiately noticed that Stacey's dress was like the night too! I thought that was a very mood-inspiring touch, whether she meant to do that or not.

Ann Marie played Medellsohn's piano concerto in g minor. This piece was the one i was most familiar with for two reasons: 1. Keith played it last year and 2. I accompanied Ann Marie for the preliminaries and finals. She played amazingly. Talking to her afterwards, we were reminisicing about all the rehearsals we had and the story line we made up for the piece. I could tell she was really in the zone until this one scale she missed a few notes and it threw her off for a measure or two. But she got right back on. WOO ANN MARIE!

Keith played the same concerto that Nathan did. They both played it very well, and it never ceases to amaze me how the same piece can be interpreted so differently. I was upstairs listening to Keith warm up/ play through everything/ freak out 15 minutes before the conert started. There was one particular part in the cadenza that I thought Keith played really well. Maybe it was just because hearing it with Nathan, I didn't like the interpretation he had as much, but there's a part in the left hand that jumps around a lot. Keith plays it with a lot of bounce and it puts much more energy into the piece.

Liz sang a beautiful German song. I think her stage presence is superior to most other vocalists here. She takes the character of her piece very strongly and it really engages the audience. Even if they dont understand what she's saying.

Brett closed the concert with Gershiwn. His piece reminded me of video game music- pretty freaking cool. It was a lot harder to hear the piano over the orchestra in this concerto and that was a little disappointing. But the parts that could be heard (which was the majority of the piece) really did remind me of a video game. I really liked it.

All in all, concertos rock. and I'm rather disappointed that I wont be here next year. But oh wait, I'll be in Vienna. That makes it ok.

Little Earthquakes

2006-04-16T22:27:00.000-04:00

So...i feel the need to blog....becaaaaause it's been about 3 weeks...

This week - Tori Amos's "Little Earthquakes"..one of the best debut albums ever put out by an artist. She's absolutely amazing..writes and play all her own music. and she only plays those pianos that have the extra bass notes on them that are black...Bosen..something or other....anyway..she has a distinct style and voice.. and she is just a phenomenal lyricist.
"China" - an ethereal sounding piece with soft piano that has chimey high passages and constant sound of strings that are somewhat dronish...this is about as close to a ballad that she gets ..china is used a metaphor for the distance she feels from her loved one..she says...how can you expect me to love you when you build a great wall around you..
"Happy Phantom" - the best song on the album...just a carefree somewhat nonsensical song that sings the praises of just living your life freely and without regret... "they say confuscious does his crossword witha a pen"..."if i die today i'll be the happy phantom..and i'll go chasin the nuns out in the yard.." "i'll get a ticket to the universal opera with Judy Garland taking Buddha by the hand"... the piano part is what makes this song what it is as well...its kind of parlor ragtime is..with a steady pattern in the base and lots of quick syncopated rhythms in the right hand...
"Leather" - i picture this song in a cabaret setting..she keeps her voice lower and more breathy and the beat being kept in the bass....the constant chord chord chord chord..it seems like a simple piece at first with just the piano her voice and low strings..but then an electric guitar shows up to had some texture and syncopation
"little earthquakes" - it starts off with a slow rumbling sound...always with piano..but this time there's timpani that beats out a constant dotted quarter, eighth, quarter, 2 sixteenth note pattern...the the eruption comes when she adds like a small chorus to her sound and strings and electric guitar string eighth notes that teeter on do ti do ti do ti do over the more powerful drums and she repeats again and again..give me my life give me myself again
"me and a gun" - this song is very haunting..she sings it acappella and it's in a minor key with a folksongish feel to it.....its her artistic representation of what she went through as she was getting raped. (tori amos is a spokesperson for R.A.I.N.N)....."these things go thru your head when a man is on your back...and you're pushed on your stomach...."...this is really a song that needs to be listened to first-hand...
"silent all these years" - in my opinion..this song is the prettiest piano melody she's written ..off beat chords over a constant blur of arppeggios in her left hand....and there's also actual chimes in this one ..i really cant seem to get the meaning of her words in this one..."but what if i'm a mermaid in these jeans of yours with her name still on them.....sometimes i hear my voice and it's been silent all these years"....from the ourburst that comes in the middle of the calm of the music..when she is practically banging on the piano and belting..and saying "years go by and i still keep waiting"..its someone who's had something done to them for a long time that they just dont want to deal with anymore and need to find what it takes in them to say something
"winter" - the chorus is the most beautiful part of this song and the only part i really pay attention to.....whew..i am sleepy...

Starsailor- On the Outside

2006-04-16T20:36:00.000-04:00

So a friend suggested I listen to the band Starsailor, an Indie rock quartet from the UK, so here are my first impressions as I listened to their lastest album “On the Outside”:
“In the Crossfire”-same rhythm, harmonies, and instruments as Coldplay’s “Yellow”, I thought I was actually listening to Coldplay at first
“Counterfeit Life”- could not understand the lyrics, percussion too overpowering; used the same rhythm as “In the Crossfire” and do not vary the rhythms at all
“In My Blood”- drastic change in mood; does not start with the overpowering percussion and just contains a very simple 3 or 4 note melody; backups repeat the lead after every line in the refrain like in a gospel song
“Faith Hope Love”- good lyrics, lead sounds like he shouting throughout the piece, does not show a good quality to his voice and kind of painful to listen to
“Way Back Home”- uses a synthesized organ sound which makes the song unique and contains a descending bass line throughout the piece
“Keep Us Together”- call and response between soloist and backup
“White Light”- a little too repetitive of everything…lyrics, melody, rhythm, ect but the beginning shows off the soloists vocals and is a neat intro
“Jeremiah”- more laid back song with acoustic guitar and sythesizer

following suit: proficiencies

2006-04-09T23:44:00.000-04:00

So I saw that other people were doing this and thought it was a good idea.

Mozart-Concerto for Oboe in C Major, K314: Allegro Aperto
This is one of the powerhouse concertos for oboe; every orchestra audition has this. Perhaps the most terrifying moment in the entire movement is the first entrance: a C-D trill followed by a C sixteenth note scale rising to float upon a high C for 4 measures. One of my favorite things about this movement is the cadenza. Many oboists have written their own cadenzas, and I've heard a couple really good ones, in particular Nancy King, Berkhard Glaetzner, and John de Lancie.

Handel-Sonata for Oboe in C Minor, HWV366: Largo, Allegro
One of the most fun pieces to play on my program, these two sonata movements have greatly encouraged and improved my ornamentation and improvisation skills. Baroque ornamentation is something that I greatly enjoy but have struggled with due to my belief that I can't think on the spot when it comes to music. The Largo is majestic and dark, followed by a spunky yet troll-like Allegro.

Schumann-Three Romances for Oboe and Piano, Op.94: Nicht Schnell
This is the third of the Romances, all of which are amazingly musical. At first glance the Romances do not look at all difficult. But wait until you try to play them. The intense musical stamina needed to play any of these is unbelievable, yet the result is awe-inspiring. My favorite recording of the Romances is by oboist Allan Vogel, whose phrasing and playful time perception add even more character to the movements.

Martinu- Concerto for Oboe and Small Orchestra: Poco Allegro
Finishing off with a technical piece, Martinu was what I played for the concerto competition. I first started working on this piece last semester when I made the switch from the first to third movements in preparation for both concertos and proficiencies. I really think I made the right decision. This movement is so rhythmic and dance-like, with a creamy cadenza center. I wish I'd had time to prepare both cadenzas; I'll only be playing one of them. My favorite moment of the movement is the measures preceding the oboe entrance, consisting of incredibly syncopated and somewhat disorienting strings and piano. My preferred recording was done by Zbynck Muller, a czech oboist.

Well there you have it: my proficiency program.

2006-04-09T23:41:00.000-04:00

This week I decided to listen to and write about "Songs for a New World." This a musical, but it doesn't have any cohesive plot line, just the general theme of people facing life in different ways. I love listening to and singing along with this album. I would never have thought that a musical without a plot line could work very well, but the music does such an excellent job of carrying the show, that I don't even miss having a linear story to follow. In my opinion, the composer shows a lot of versitility with his music. Each song has its own sound and style. He has written a couple of hillarious character pieces for this show, one of which is sung by a very fed up Mrs. Claus. He also has some very intensely dramatic music as well as some sweetly insightful songs. It all comes together very well. One of the things I enjoy about this recording is knowing tha the composer, who was in his early twenties when he wrote the show, is playing the piano for the entire show. I think it's even cooler to listen to something if you know that the composer is taking an active role performing the music.

Avenged Sevenfold!!!

2006-04-09T23:40:00.000-04:00

I have fallen in love with a new rock/punk from New Orleans! Avenged Sevenfold has been around since the late nineties but their new album, City of Evil, is absolutely amazing. First off, just listening to some of the crap their drummer doe is intimidating. I can only imagine how fast his chops are, because this guy goes crazy throughout the cd. The first song that I heard, Bat Country, pretty much sold the album for me. The entire song is extremely fast and extremely busy. Seriously, the drummer switches up the style so much it's almost funny to think of the ideas that were going through his head when he was making up the part for it. Plus, flashback- the guitar solo sounds seriously like something out of the Nintendo game, F-Zero (that's right, old school Nintendo!) Beast and Harlot takes the same theme, and so does my other favorite song, Trashed and Scattered. I can only imagine what these guys are like live, I'm sure the crowd is an 'aggressive one' to say the least. The album isn't all hard rock stuff, the song Seize the Day is a little more low-key and is semi-balled-esque. I suggest if you like bands like AFI, Green Day, or 10 Years to download or buy this cd. Plus, if you have a cell phone where you can download ringtones to download the clip from Bat Country. I did and it makes me happy to get phone calls now because I get to hear a little of this awesome song.

Brent Mason: Hot Wired

2006-04-09T23:35:00.000-04:00

This week I listened to a CD created by a studio guitarist who works out of nashville. He is actually good friends with Sandy Williams, which is how I was originnally introduced to him.
The CD starts out with a bang with a track called Hot Wired. It is bluegrass oriented song, playing off the I and IV chord throughout the entirety of the piece. It actually sounds very country-esque but is very technical in nature. The artists on this track (especially the piano and guitar) have incredible technical facility.
The second track is a jazzy version of a 12 bar blues with a I VI ii V turnaround and a few other alterations. It's a great track and really displays Brent's incredible facility and knowledge of the neck. He is very quick and definitely can play jazz. I especially like the piano solo, which is very up beat and makes me think that I am in some pub down south listening to jazz oriented bluegrass (with a little country influence). I can't put a finger on the exact style of this music, but I like it.
The CD definitely shows off Brent's incredible talent and versatility throughout different styles of jazz/country. The Fifth track is a very hip swing with a sound similar to "you've got a friend like me" from the movie toy story, except without the vocals.
The rest of the CD consists of more instrumental guitar-based songs ranging from smooth jazz to nifty renditions of old folk songs. Overall I was quite pleased and hope to actually steal some licks from Brent, as he is an incredible musician. As a guitarist I am quite impressed with the CD and most likely will be listening to the CD for awhile. If others were to listen to the CD, they may not find as much interest but to me this was defnintely my bag.

Tuba and Horn Pieces brought to you by the CSO

2006-04-09T22:07:00.000-04:00

My friend reminded me about this CD that I had after he went and heard the CSO this past week. The CD I have is of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra’s principal wind players playing some of the most famous solo repertoire for their respective instruments. The CD is called The Chicago Principal First Chair Soloists Play Famous Concertos. The piece that I guess you could say intrigued me most was Vaughan Williams’ Concerto for Bass Tuba in F minor. It is performed by Arnold Jacobs who played with the CSO for 45 years. He is widely known for his breathing techniques and teachings in addition to his performing career. All of the movements are virtuosic, however the third movement is played brilliantly. The concerto is considered one of the most challenging in the repertoire and Jacobs has mastered it in this recording (we wouldn’t expect anything less from Jacobs though). I think that the first movement would be an interesting topic of conversation with Vaughan Williams just to see what he was thinking about while composing this piece. I know that he originally looking to compose the piece for a vocalist before writing it for tuba, but it would be interesting to know what he was imagining during this movement. Although I enjoyed listening to this movement again, my favorite part of this movement is definitely his cadenza. It really seemed to sum up the mood of this movement very well in a way that was, for lack of a better word, very tuba-esque. It was perfect. My favorite movement would have to be the second movement. It was very much in the style that I think of when I think of the other works that Vaughan Williams composed. The melody, despite its low range, seems to float over the orchestras sound. The tessitura of the tuba never seems to be a problem in terms of balance for the soloist and orchestra. With such a low tessitura, it can easily become problematic for the soloist to get over the orchestra, but I think that a quality recording team and an unsurpassed tuba player in combination with the CSO have made every phrase balance perfectly.

Although this recording has two CDs and all of the pieces are truly extraordinary enough to do an entire blog on, the other piece I wanted to write on was Schumann’s Konzertstuck in F Major for Four Horns and Orchestra (you could probably see that selection coming from a mile away). While at the Interlochen Arts Camp, three other horn player friends and I would meet and try to play this piece at 8:00 in the morning. Needless to say, it is relatively hard on the chops, especially of the high player, at anytime of the day much less at 8:00 in the morning. It is an incredibly demanding and yet invigorating piece. Although I would not recommend trying to play it at 8:00 am (especially when you should be sitting in Theory or Musicianship class with Spiegelberg that time anyways), we had a blast trying to play it. Anyways, even upon first listening, the composer can quickly be identified as Schumann, for it has the flowing melodies (usually in the top horn) and the natural energy of Schumann. The accompaniment that he composed provides a huge amount of energy that would otherwise be hard to maintain for the horn players in a piece like this. The horn part alone is exciting, but the accompaniment really makes this piece both realistic to perform and a joy to listen to. Even Schumann said himself that “It seems to be one of my best pieces.” I would just like to put it out there that I second that.

Byron Stripling...

2006-04-09T21:15:00.000-04:00

I went to indy today to hear one of the greatest trumpeters alive today: Byron Stripling. He played with ensembles from purdue, the concert was a tribute to new orleans, they did mostly american songbook and louis armstrong tunes. I don't know what im going to write because his playing made me speechless. His attack, tone, charisma, flexibilty, technique, and his singing isn't half bad either. He played louis armstrong on broadway in the show "satchmo" and so he has his louis impression and trumpet playing down perfectly. There was a portion of the 2 hour concert that just the choir and the glee club sang doing old show tunes and I couldn't sit still because there were a bunch of squares on stage that probably have never heard frank sinatras version of "I've got you under my skin" before they did the concert this afternoon....and if they did, then they didn't listen very closely because it was way too stiff and almost operatic. Once byron got back on the stage, I couldn't do anything but sit in awe of his performance; I couldn't move a muscle in my body. There was a point during the louis armstrong medley (during "what a wonderful world") That I almost started tearing up. I couldn't believe it. I haven't been so inspired and in awe at a concert in a very, very long time. Sorry I have to cut this blog short, but I was so inspired to practice after this concert that I can't sit here any longer, I have to go play.

me.

Proficiencies- everyone's favorite word

2006-04-09T21:11:00.000-04:00

I'm playing Chopin's second Ballade along with Beethoven's Pastoral Sonata (Op. 28) and have listened to a recording of each every day for the last week. The Ballade is the most technically difficult piece that I have ever played. I can best describe it in one word- schizophrenic. It begins in F major with a very flowing melody and continues in this adagio for a number of phrases. After a pianissimo, arpeggiated F chord, the piece break into a frantic, presto section that uses a solid 6 octaves of the keyboard. Presto continues for a little over two pages before transitioning easily back into the flowing melody from the beginning. The melody does a little fake out before breaking into two lines that push the tempo but then returns immediately to the adagio. This adagio section repeats the first, in two different keys and then retransitions into the presto section once again. The presto this time modulates into a minor and moves directly into the coda. The coda is very flashy and has 5 different motives that move through it before ending on a... FRENCH +6 chord (ab, f, and d#) this resolves to a i6/4 V i to end the piece in a minor.

While we were discussing sonata form I had a good time trying to analyze the sonata from memory. This sonata is nicknamed "Pastoral" for a good reason. It paints a very moving line and the listener can very well hear the nature that is expressed throughout the piece. The exposition begins in D major (there is no introduction) There are two themes before moving into the development, which is in G major. The first theme is developed and then retransitions into D major through a pattern played first in B major, then in B minor. a vii07 chord leads to the recapitulation. There is also a two line coda that meanders around in the first theme in D major.

These two pieces are each challenging in their own way and the recordings that I listened to are all amazing. Listening to different recordings of these pieces always gives me many different ideas about how to perform them. My favorite recording of the Chopin ballade was played by Esther Park (Van Cliburn winner in, I believe 2004?). The best recording of the Beethoven that I found was on Naxos- played by Anton Kuerti.

"I'm gonna fight you, Steve"

2006-04-09T20:51:00.000-04:00

This week's listening theme was the soundtrack to the movie "The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou." If you haven't seen this movie than my title has no meaning to you, but the movie is absolutely hilarious so you should probably go watch it. I really enjoy this soundtrack because the CD pretty much contains songs by David Bowie, covers of Bowie songs rewritten into Brazilian Portuguese by one of the actors in the movie (Seu Jorge), and J.S. Bach. The other artists on the CD are wild card tracks containing a little bit of everything from Iggy Pop to Sigur Ros to Mark Mothersbaugh.

Wes Anderson, who directed "The Life Aquatic" I well know for the detail he puts into scoring his movies. When asked about music in an interview with The Onion, Anderson stated "That’s just always key stuff for me. Some of the ideas are kind of inspired by the songs, and I always want to use music to tell the story and give the movie a certain kind of mood. That’s always essential to me. "

Probably the greatest accomplishment of this soundtrack is that the mix of music really captures the fine line this movie walks between a "mockumentary" and a flat out cartoon. All of the aquatic life in the film is not only animated, but also completely made up in general with species like the "Hermes Eel" named so because it's animation was based off an Hermes scarf pattern. The mix of classic rock music, music altered to catch the Jacques Cousteau feel of the movie (the movie parodies Cousteau's documentaries), and music specifically composed for the movie gives a perfect balance of mood between comical, what the audience expects, and completely off the wall...just like the movie.

Overall, I find this soundtrack to be completely enjoyable both when it is in the movie and when it stands alone.

The Alma Mater, "A Toast To DePauw," performed by Dr. Stanley Irwin and the DePauw University Band

2006-04-09T20:33:00.000-04:00

This past Saturday was a very busy day for me, and it was a day where I couldn't help but be drenched in school spirit. Among the things I did were to represent the Tiger Pep Band at the Organizations Fair, to represent the school in an admissions panel, play with the University Band, and socialize with a mass amount of alumni at our annual Frank Norris Pig Dinner at Phi Gamma Delta. At the Organizations Fair, I listened to both the recording of the Alma Mater, "A Toast To DePauw," and and the Fight Song, "Here's To DePauw," on endless repeat. These recordings, both made by the University Band on the Timepieces album, document the beginnings of the Tiger Pep Band.

This year, the Tiger Pep Band celebrated it's 10th year anniversary. Before the pep band existed, the University Band was required to play at football and basketball games. This requirement existed because the DePauw Marching Band was no longer present. Dr. Craig Pare', who was the new the director of bands, prestigiously took the band to games, and did so in great numbers. All of the alumni that I have met from this period, and every period after, speak very proudly of their fondness to Dr. Pare'. Eventually, Dr. Pare', along with alumnus Jason Dibbler, founded the student-run Tiger Pep Band, and it still runs to this day proudly under the direction of yours truly.

The recording of the Alma Mater stirs up feelings of spirit, pride, gratitude, and respect. And what better performers than the University Band and longtime voice professor, Dr. Stanley Irwin. The music contains a consistent, unison rhythmic pattern played by all instruments. Unlike the Fight Song, the only percussion part is for bells. The Fight Song is driven by the percussion section. The brass and woodwinds move in dense control, like a Bach chorale for organ. Dr. Irwin's bass-baritone voice sublimely fits into the texture, and his operatic vibrato gives the piece an almost tearful spirit. It makes the listener understand why DePauw alumni are so proud of their school. This is especially apparent when Dr. Irwin utters the words "Hail Old Gold throughout the land." The harmony works from the bass function up. The sustained horn notes at the ends of phrases also adds to the dominating sense of pride. The band emulates the sound of a brass choir. The bells, which double the melody, give a sense of happiness to the tune. The Alma Mater is very special to all DePauw alumni, and that emotive quality is preserved in the recording.

A Toast To DePauw
Written by Vivien N. Bard '17

To Old DePauw we toast today,
And raise our voices high
We'll honor thee and loyal be
And praise thee to the sky.

Let ev'ry son and daughter stand
United e'er for thee,
And hail Old Gold throughout the land,
Here's to you, Old DePauw.

Kelly Clarkson- Breakaway

2006-04-09T20:30:00.000-04:00

Upon first listening to this album, it reminded me a lot like Avril Lavigne. Looking in the cd insert, I noticed that the first song on the album, “Breakaway” was actually written by Avril. Most of the songs on the album have more a rock/pop feel compared to prior Kelly Clarkson songs.

Most of her songs are ABABCB and then fade out in the end. For example “Walk Away” consists of a verse, chorus, verse, chorus, bridge, and then final chorus. In “Walk Away” the verses are each binary.
Overall, the album is pretty good. All of the songs have a catchy melody and to have so many hits on one cd is pretty impressive for artists nowadays.

Nigel Kennedy

2006-04-09T19:12:00.000-04:00

So today, while doing my Italian homework (so oggi, mentre faccio io Italiano compiti) I listed to Nigel Kennedy's greatest hits cd. (io ho ascolato di Nigel Kennedy's il piu grande 'hits' cd.) He is a violinst whom I really like. He plays alot of arragements, include Satie's Gymnopedie's and Debussy's "La fille avec les cheveux de lin." My favorite piece on his cd is an orginal called "Melody in the Wind." It has an incredibly catchy tune. My favorite part about it are the ambient sounds thrown in about half way through. I really like ambient sounds in music. It makes it more aplicable to life, and still simultaneous, highly sureal. Maybe that's why Radiohead and Badly Drawn Boy are two of my favorite artists.
Anyway, check out "Melody in the Wind," sometime, it's beautiful, and highly catchy.

Justin Avery-Future Father of my children!

2006-04-09T16:36:00.000-04:00

So, I found a Justin Avery CD that I've had but never listen to so during Spring Break I popped it in the CD player and gave a listen...now I can't stop listening to it! It is AMAZING! He is a genius! Every song is so catchy and different that you can't help but sing along.

I've known Justin a long time. He graduated from my high school in like '98 I believe and attended Western Michigan University where he graduated in Jazz studies. He was apart of Gold Company there and the Gold Company Sextet. He's been working professionally as a singer, dancer, musician since he was 14. He's been writing and performing his own music since high school. His senior year, he released his first CD, "Undecided". Since then, he's released 4 other CDs with his newest released last year, (the one I've been listening to) "Whatever Comes to Mind"

His musical influences for his music have been artists such as Stevie Wonder, Prince, the Beatles, Earth Wind and Fire, and Steely Dan. You can definitly hear these influences in his songs.

He has a great variety on this CD, from Jazz to Rock to R & B to Ballad. He is a very versatile performer. His lyrics are also great and at times, funny. Some of my favorites are "Mr. Amnesia", "Man in a Business Suit", "Cell City Mode", "Love on You" and "Far too Young for Me". He does all his own vocals, including background, plays piano and some guitar. His voice is to die for and so incredible! He has an amazing falsetto! He can sing higher than me!

Justin Avery is definitly the next best thing to Jazz and to contempary music today! He has such a fresh sound and wide range, you wouldn't know where to place him. He is also a huge local celebrity in my hometown of Traverse City where he grew up. Everyone knows of him. I've even worked with him a couple of times through the high school! I definitly want to have his babies! :P

I highly recommend checking out his website! They have sound clips of songs and a video of the last concert he just did called "Icons"! Check it out! http://www.justinaverymusic.com

Copland...

2006-04-08T15:19:00.000-04:00

This week I listened to piano music of Copland, Creston, and Zucker with pianist Peter Vinograde. Copland works included: Passacaglia (which I am playing on my proficiency) and Piano Fantasy. Creston works included: Seven Theses, Op. 3 and Metamorphoses, Op. 84. The only Zuckerman piece was On the Edges.
I mainly listened to the two Copland pieces. Both pieces have MANY tempo changes throughout the entire piece. The Piano Fantasy seemed much more atonal than the Passacaglia. It is about a half an hour long and has very harsh, dissonant harmonies with very little melody at all. Many times through the piece the tempo is very free. All of the piece is based on the ten tone row that you hear easily at the beginning of the piece. This piece and the Passacaglia are obvoiusly very virtuostic and very difficult to play. The Piano Fantasy alike the Passacaglia is very contrasting in rhythm, dynamics and the overall mood of sections. Copland wrote The Piano Fantasy between 1955 and 1957 which was much later than the Passacaglia (1921-22).
The Passacaglia was dedicated to Mlle Boulanger during his first two years of study with her. The main theme of the Passacaglia is introduced in the beginning in the bass as expected, with no other harmonies, only played in octaves with both hands. Then the left hand plays the theme about 3 or 4 more times, but with the right hand doing other things. After that there are about three lines of simple descending arpeggios that move right back into the same theme in the left hand, but this time the right hand has two different melodies or voices going on at the same time. After this there is a great tempo change and a new melody/theme played. After this section the main theme is altered very much, but definately brought back, switching between hands. The end (or last 2 1/2 pages) is constantly building, with bigger chords and the tempo constantly increasing. In this ending section the melody is still going on but in an amazing way. For the last page and a half it goes into 3 staves, with the left hang playing both the bottom two. The main theme is still going on in the middle staff, with big chords and octaves going on in the right hand and the other part of the left hand. This is my favorite part and also the hardest part to play of the entire piece. The very end of the piece is a constant build up of octaves going all the way up the piano with an accelerando all the way to the last 3 big G# minor chords.
The Passacaglia is an amazing piano piece and is one piece that has really changed my mind about 20th century music.
I felt that Peter Vinograde did an excellent job with all of these pieces, however, I disagreed with a few things that he did in the Passacaglia (only because I have been working on this piece constantly with May Phang).

No idea if we need to do this, but daylight savings/storm messing up my computer screwed me over

2006-04-03T00:20:00.000-04:00

So after I get back from the craziness that was tornado-city in Greencastle, my internet on my laptop no longer works. Hoorah... So I had to find a computer to do this on, even though I'm not sure if we need to do it.

Anyway, my cd for this week is Rage Against the Machine - Battle of Los Angeles.

I love Rage, it's too bad that the lead singer was an arrogant jerk and left the band to form his own (they have yet to release something either) This was their third album release and the trend that was set with the first two still follows. The lyrics are very politcally charged and are very radical towards the government. My favorite songs are Testify and Sleep Now in the Fire. There's really no differentiation in the lyrics, but the music is different. A lot of their songs tend to sound the same, but the variety of musical styles is fairly broad. Voice of the Voiceless and Born of Broken Man are two such examples. Their styles are very simple but exhibit many different qualities of alternative music. Since there were only three other posts but mine I'm going to assume we didn't have to blog, but just in case there's mine. My mind is shot... Loathing juries... I want summer to be here. Yarg....

so I took a road trip...

2006-04-02T23:11:00.000-04:00

...and one of the cities I hit was New York.

While in NY I got the chance to see Fidelio at the Metropolitan Opera. Now you have to understand that im not a huge opera fan, but it was awesome. I bought a $20 standing room only seat and sat in the 5th row. (in my jeans and sweatshirt) The cast was awesome, the scenery was awesome, and the pit was awesome. Everything about the show was flawless. I don't think that I have ever come out of a performance of any kind without hearing flaws or other mistakes, but the show was perfect. The soloists were never out of tune, character, or time and I was sitting on the edge of my $175 seat. The pit was the same: complete perfection. Again, coming from and instrumentalists who didn't find value/appreciation in classical music until the last year and a half, I'm amazed 1) that I went to see it to begin with, but 2) because I really, thoroughly enjoyed myself. I could sit and talk about the music and how each piece was unique, but I could go on for ever and you still wouldn't get the same understanding until you go.

with that said,

Go to the Met.

Im not really sure if we were supposed to do this this week......

2006-04-02T19:36:00.000-04:00

But here I go....

So while I was home I went through my parents cd collection, not a whole lot worth taking there...but there were a few things. During the drive back to school I ended up listening to a John Williams cd with all his stuff from 1969-1999. I never really think much about John Williams and his compositions. After you spend your whole day getting your head stuffed full of everything from Bach to creepy Harry Partch, you really don't want to think about the music thats written for the movie you're watching.

Although we may not learn about him in 20th century lit, he really is an important composer of our time. I know people who still use the Jaws theme to help them remember a minor second. His music is great because it makes you feel something. Most of hte movies that he writes for are fantastical, Star Wars, Jurassic Park, Hook,... and when you hear the music it really catches you up in the story and for the 2 hours or whatever that youre watching the movie you forget that it's not real.

I have unpacking to do. but I really think we overlook film music in general sometimes and I think John Williams is probably the best composer of film music that we have today.

Do we do one this week?

2006-03-27T01:31:00.000-05:00

Well, it's Spring Break but since I forgot to do mine last week I'll do it tonight just in case. I recently purchased the new cd by 10 Years entitled The Autumn Effect. This band is new and just released this new album and it is absolutely amazing. Their new hit single Wasteland has topped the charts for a few months now and I love the song. They're a fairly new age metal band and their singer has a unique voice, like a mix between Maynard from Tool and the lead singer from Earshot. They kind of sound like a mix between Breaking Benjamin and Earshot. I like them. I recently heard their new single, Half Life, on the radio and it's absolutely amazing. the entire album is very diverse and I reccomend it to everybody who likes new age rock.

Whisperings

2006-03-26T18:32:00.000-05:00

Since this week I had m0st of my midterms, I did a lot less listening and a lot more stydying. I can not study in silence however, so I took advantage of of the iTunes Radio station "Whisperings." These are piano solos with no othe rvocals or instruments. This ended up being a very good idea for studying because I didn't get distraced by ther music pretty much at all. The music on "Whisperings" is very uninteresting and best compared to what we consider "elevator music." As much as I didn't want to like it, it was perfect to study to. Sometimes you just need something a little less than interesting.

The station also had the habit of playing a couple of really boring songs followed by something either well known or suprisingly entertaining. It was pretty cool to listen to the station for long enough, and just when I wanted to turn it off, a piano duet in 5/4 filled with Neopolitan chords would start playing (that actually really happened) So overall good to study to and also to zone out to... even if it's not as exciting as what we have to listen to for class.

Muse: Absolution

2006-03-24T16:17:00.000-05:00

This week I listened to Muse, a British alternative rock band from Britain. The songs I listened to were from their newest album “Absolution” which was released in 2003. My favorite song on the album, “Time is Running Out” starts out with a really neat bass line which is repeated throughout the song. There are also really neat guitar riffs in the transition between the refrains and choruses. The lyrics of the album are pretty depressing, about the world ending soon, however there are interesting words that give character to the piece such as “asphyxiated”, “fixation”, and “elation” and definitely a lot of text painting is used. The next song, “Apocalypse Please” features a piano which they make sure not to cover up with their strong guitar and percussion. I suggest you listen to the album; it’s different, and good.

early morning vh1

2006-03-20T08:58:00.000-05:00

Letting vh1 do my music selecting for me...figure it's a good way to see some new stuff....and not be bothered with choosing music.
"upside down" - jack johnson: love his new song even though it's for a children's album soundtrack that accompanies the movie Curious George. I'm sure speigelberg you will be taking your youngins to see it so you might hear this mellow, acoustic guitar (true to jack johnson style) song, thats simple melodically and repetitive, but not too long and is in a happy key
"unwritten" -natasha bedingfield: i don't too much like her voice.it's obvious that she makes it raspy on purpose and her style isnt really distinctive from other pop artists out there although i think she'd consider herself as some throwback to the sixties flowerchild mentality based on her dress and the lyrics to her song. The song gets annoying as well cause there's maybe one and a half verses and the chorus is repeated about 8 times
"beautiful" -james blunt: he's credited as having an angelic voice....i must disagree...it's very pinched and whiny and shaky..which is probably why he doesnt hold a note more than a beat or two...but..i guess that doesn't matter when you were "a captain in the british army".
"speed of sound" -coldplay: i like coldplay but dont ususally like their over electronic sound..which is what this song is...i really appreciate it when it's just the lead singer and his piano with back up acoustic guitar and vocals..
"black horse& cherry tree" -k.t. tunstall- she calls her style "blusey folk girl rock stomp"....right....well i've taken a listen to her cd and this is the only song that carries that gumbled genre.....she's a scottish artist and i dont really think she should be dabbling in blues or rock...as she doesnt int he rest of songs on her album...she's just a pop artist similar to Dido...and this song where she's trying to be different is so cliche with use of drums and heavy guitar and singing with a pushed raspy voiced about a country love theme
"black sweat" - prince: I love prince...not because i like all his songs..but there are a choice few of his singles that i could listen to over and over..this being one of them because he's an old artist that is true to his style...this song sounds like what he might've put out in the 80's with the synthesized drums as his only accompaniment and this high siren that plays in the chorus. its great cause its not repetitive and the suggestive lyrics are great
"photograph" -nickelback: i hate this song..i hear it too much..it's long and talks about life in a small town...i just dont really like rock..
"the real thing" -bo: so this is a guy from some season of american idol..and it's obvious why he didnt win.he does that annoying thing where it sounds like he's sighing at the end of every phrase..blech..watching this vh1 i realize how many of the songs sound a like..he's trying to be this pop rock guy and sounds just like the lead singer of nickelback..
"be wit you" - mary j. blidge: like how they spell the title? people do really say it that way..anyway..she's another artist that has been around for years and has always remained true to her style..just a rough r&b sound..thats realyl soulful...its a good love ballad..more urban and not popish

Gershwin

2006-03-19T23:54:00.000-05:00

So this week I decided I would just make notes about each piece

Rhapsody in blue
Jazz clarinet solo starts with the theme, accompanied by brass and other woodwinds at first followed by strings
Solo transfers to muted trumpet and then to the solo piano
Full orchestra enters with theme at forte volume
Piano takes over with awesome virtuosic playing in classic Gershwin style
Bass clarinet joins for a short while to add countermelody
Orchestra enters again as a sort of transition for the piano
Melody sweeps/stutters in strings
Almost a darth vader moment where the melody sounds "star wars"-like
Then the well-known part with the motive Delta stole to advertise their friendly skies

An American in Paris
Happy, cartoonish melody
Orchestral introduction has dotted rhythms
Accented dissonances
Very active melody, vibrant
Tempo slows
many wind solos
Texture becomes more agitated
Much use of hemiola
Texture moves back and forth between agitated and calm

Cuban Overture
Definite Hispanic taste at the beginning
Fast wind runs
Percussion backdrop- Maracas and congas
Oboe, wind solos
Trumpet solos

Variations on "I got rhythm"
Orchestral Introduction
Theme- piano
Var I-dotted rhythm piano with sax playing theme
Var II-descending octaves
Var III-smooth triple meter, waltz-like, very unrecognizable theme
Var IV-similar to I and II with added trills and more accented dissonances, asian influence
Var V-orchestral variation with woodwinds, piano cadenza on theme
Var VI- alternating piano and brass, finality with just piano
there may have been more or less variations, but this is what I counted by ear

Rhapsody No. 2
melody dominated by brass when piano is not present in the texture
clarinet duet in the middle with syncopated piano accompaniment
piano goes into a cadenza with scalar patterns

well, that's it for this week

2006-03-19T23:52:00.000-05:00

I decided to write about the group Les Yeux Noirs this week. They are a group from France. They play"gypsie" music with Yiddish, French, German, and Italian influences. It's definitely some of the most interesting music I've listened to in a very long time. Gypsie music is a little on the rare side around here.

The rhythm of this music is very dynamic. It's almost impossible to listen to without dancing or at least tapping your foot. It's also a lot of fun to hear all the different cultural influences mixed together. The more I try to pick them out, the more difficult it becomes, especially with the songs that don't have any singing. It all just sort of blends together and becomes its own sound.

It's difficult to distinguish all the different instruments they are using sometimes. I recognize the more familiar ones like the violin, but some of the others that I'm not as used to hearing, I'm not always sure about.

One of my favorite songs is funny because there's a point when they start using the instruments to have a conversation and to make animal noises. I have no idea how they get some of the sounds that they do out of their instruments, but it's really cool because what they are "saying" seems to make sense even with out words.

This particular recording is live and listening to the audiences reactions gives me the impression that as fun as it is to listen to a recording of this music, it would be amazing to experience it in person. You can hear the people in the background getting into the music. They clap, and whistle and start singing along. There's even one song where the band ends the song and the audience keeps clapping and singing the song because they're not ready for it to end. I think that that would be an unbelievably cool experience.

Cello Concerti Afternoon

2006-03-19T23:29:00.000-05:00

This afternoon, I had a burning desire to listen to a cello concerto (no idea why), so a scanned my iTunes for appealing pieces. I found a recording of Yo-Yo Ma playing the Dvorak and Elgar concerti among others.

Dvorak’s cello concerto begins with the winds and strings passing the melody between them with quite a few notable wind excerpts, especially in the clarinet. The cello then comes in after about four minutes when the theme has been well-established by the orchestra. The timbre of the cello on this warm melody is, at times, a stunning combination; they fit each other perfectly. The timbres of the clarinet and horn throughout this movement in combination with the cello are brilliantly orchestrated. All three instruments naturally have very warm sounds in relatively similar tessitura.

The second movement, like the first, starts out with a clarinet solo which is then joined by the cello and background winds. This movement is my personal favorite, for it combines the strengths of the wind section with the cello sharing the melody and providing harmony throughout the movement.

The third movement starts off quietly with the horns coming out of silence and the orchestra joining and consequently increasing the dynamics. This movement has the fire and intensity which we have not heard to this degree in the first two movements. Dvorak said of this movement that in response to his friend and cellist desiring to change the movement, “The Finale closes gradually, like a breath, with reminiscences of the first and second movements; the solo dies away to a pianissimo, then there is a crescendo, and the last bars are taken up by the orchestra, ending stormily. That was my idea and from it I cannot recede." This is just what he does and the juxtaposition of the quiet ending of the cello and the loud ending of the orchestra is perfect for this concerto, for it ends with the both the emotional impact of the dying away of the cello as well as the intensity provided by the orchestra.

It is almost needless to say, but Yo-Yo Ma mastered both the Dvorak and Elgar concerti. Similar in many ways for they were written, in the grand scheme of things, relatively closely together, however Yo-Yo Ma brings out the beauty in both of them.

"Countdown" by Lindsey Buckingham

2006-03-19T23:08:00.000-05:00

Let me start this entry by saying that Lindsey Buckingham is my musical idol. He is an amazing guitarist and singer, and he is a genius when it comes to songwriting, arranging, producing, and recording. He is most famous as the frontman of Fleetwood Mac, but he's also had an illustrious solo career. Several years ago, "Countdown" was the song that introduced me to this solo career.
Buckingham is often compared to to his idol, Brian Wilson. And when you hear the dense intricacy of layered melodies, countermelodies, and rhythms in every one of his songs, you can see why. "Countdown" is very straight-ahead and much simpler than the majority of Buckingham's songs. However, one thing that separates it from other Buckingham tunes is that it was the first single he released after he left Fleetwood Mac, (Buckingham would later reunite with Fleetwood Mac in 1997. He is still with the band today.) Obviously, the choice of Buckingham's post-Mac first single would be a hard one. Especially since Buckingham lead Fleetwood Mac to be the best selling band of all time. Fleetwood Mac has sold more than 30 million copies with their Rumours album alone. I believe the reason he chose "Countdown" was because of it's repetitive catchiness and optimistic attitude.
There are several things that separate Buckingham from other mere rock musicians. One of which is his guitar playing. He has developed a very unique style of finger-picking which gives him the power of 3 guitarists. With his thumb he plays a bass line. With his first two fingers he plays a mid line. With his bottom two fingers he plays a treble line. As a songwriter, he has written more hits than most bands can accomplish in their entire career. These include songs such as "The Chain," "Go Your Own Way," "Big Love," "Holiday Road," "Peacekeeper," "Tusk," "Go Insane," "Trouble," "I'm So Afraid," "Never Going Back Again," "Second Hand News," "Family Man," "World Turning," and "Soul Drifter" just to name a few. As a producer, he is responsible for the sound that gave Fleetwood Mac their most successful albums of their career such as, Fleetwood Mac, Rumours, Tusk, Mirage, Tango In The Night, The Dance, and Say You Will.
However, I think the aspect that displays his talent the most is that on all 3 of his solo albums he performs all of the musical elements. He plays every instrument. He sings every vocal. Of course, he has a guest artist here or there, playing one line, or singing one element, but the majority of his songs are entirely performed by himself. "Countdown" is one of these songs. What is even more impressive about this is from a recording standpoint. Buckingham is such an amazing recording engineer that he mixes the sounds together in a way that you can't realize he is the only performer. This is even the case from a vocal standpoint. He is so good at speeding tracks up or slowing them down and recording on top of them that he can change the timbre of sounds without losing the sense of pitch and harmony. This is the method he uses for getting backing vocals that sound like different people, both male and female sounding. This is also how he gets his extremely high guitar solo on "Countdown" to sound so unique without giving you a headache.
Buckingham is also a pro when it comes to mixing in subtle and repetitive lines into his songs that the standard listener would not notice unless they purposely listen for it. In "Countdown," there are tons of intricate, melodic backing guitar lines that are smoothly layered into the mesh. There are also repetitive percussion rhythms on shakers, cowbell, tambourine, and congas that subtlely go unnoticed. This "Wall of Sound" subconsciously adds to the extreme catchiness, which is already made by the chord progression, lyrics, lead guitar lines, drum pattern, and vocal lines. The "Wall of Sound" technique was created by hit producer Phil Spector. This was passed on to Brian Wilson. Buckingham morphed it into a style that is totally his own, and that has appealed to huge, mass audiences around the world, selling more copies of single albums than his own idols, The Beatles and The Beach Boys. "Countdown" is a great symbol to his success and groundbreaking innovation.

Countdown
Written by Lindsey Buckingham

I'm waiting on the countdown
Sitting in the shade
Things about to turn around
How the madness fades

Oh, I've been waiting on the countdown
Things about to turn around
And now I'm out of the lost and found
Just waiting on the countdown

Right through your fingers
Time slips away
Oh, this feeling lingers
Right here I'm going to stay

I've been waiting on the countdown
Things about to turn around
And now I'm out of the lost and found
Just waiting on the countdown

So I'm sitting in the shade
Under the dreaming tree
Now the madness fades
Right here I' going to be

Oh, I've been waiting on the countdown
Things about to turn around
And now I'm out of the lost and found
Just waiting on the countdown

Kind of Blue

2006-03-19T22:41:00.000-05:00

It's been a while since i really sat down and listened to some jazz, so I decided to pull out Kind of Blue. This cd has the Miles Davis quintet playing "So What", "Freddie Freeloader", "Blue in Green", "All Blues", and "Flamenco Sketches."

I like this cd because it's not difficult to listen to. As many jazz classes as I might take and as hard as I might try...some of it I just don't get, like some of Miles' later music, but this I like.

"So What" is one of my favorites. My senior year I got to play with the jazz band because they did Chick Corea's "Spain" and so I ended up going to all the competitions with them and our combo played this. It's a good song to get the listener into the cd because of the repeating "so what" line.

The next track, "Freddie Freeloader" when it begins almost sounds like a continuation of "So What" In general This whole cd just has a nice relaxed feel to it and is easy to listen to without having to focus on what's going on in the music too hard.

The last track is "Flamenco Sketches". I really like this song, almost as much as “So What”. To me this would be a great song for a movie. It would fit in one of those scenes where the guy is walking down the street at night in the rain and the lights are all lit up and everyone’s walking around in pairs and he’s all alone. I think this song being last was a good way for the album to wind down after the more upbeat beginning of “So What”.

So that was my jazz listening experience. Now I guess I had better go back to attempting my theory homework......

Rantings After a Night of Theory From Hell

2006-03-19T22:32:00.000-05:00

I went to the University Chorus concert today. First of all, congrats to all the participants. You guys sounded pretty good! The concert consisted of four works by Mozart (fitting since it is the 250th anniversary of his birth- which Prof. Crouch also remarked on), a piece by Jake Heggie- for soprano section, a piece for the men's choir, and then three pieces transcribed for choir. From the first half of the concert, I enjoyed the Mozart piece that featured a live oboe. Steven Maijala. The piece was called Quis de Comprehendat. Steven sounded amazing. The oboe sound just floated above the choir.

The second half of the concert took on a different tone. The women's choir sang the Jake Heggie piece that they performed when he was in residency here. The men's choir sang a piece about Captain Morgan... which was rather funny but I thought was more of an easy filler than anything else- in unison, etc. Kudos to them for doing it memorized though. It made me laugh. Finally, the last three transcribed pieces were really good. They were all done a capella and had a rather nostalgic feel. The Battle of Jericho was my favorite piece of the whole concert. It featured each of the different sections- including Ralph with the tenor section, was more upbeat, with a catchy rhythm, and had weird disonant chords that were sustained. Very cool.

Again, nice work all you choir people.

Ziegler

2006-03-19T21:13:00.000-05:00

Im not one to usually post on music school concerts, but tonight's performance by Matthias Ziegler blew me away. In his performance, ziegler included many different types of flutes including the contrabass flute and a flute he has been developing himself. All of his pieces were original compositions except for his encore, Well you Needn't by Thelonius Monk. He was able to get songs out of the flute that I've never heard before. To do this, he put microphones on the inside of the flute so that we could hear the little nuances that a floutist is trained not to let sound such as air and key stomps. Not only did he mic the instruments, but he had a looping device as well so that he could play and record something and then play over his loop, and then play over that...etc. He says that there is a whole orchestra within a flute and after tonight I certainly believe it. He manipulated sounds by singing pitches while playing others (making chords), using an almost "beat box" type style of tounge and percussion, and also by using his new instrument which combines the mouthpiece of a flute with a vibrating membrane.

I still cannot get over the sound and style of this concert, if I could've afforded a $15 cd, I would bring it to class...but sorry, AJ is poor.

Godspell

2006-03-19T20:56:00.000-05:00

I can't remember if I wrote about this album or not. I might have mentioned it but not written about it. Well, anyway, I was listening to this album earlier this week because I was practicing the dances to them. I know it sounds silly but I was. Plus, I just love listening to it and singing along. What am I talking about, I sing along to everything I listen to.

Well, I had never heard the music to this show until last summer when I did it and I have to say that Stephen Schwartz is the man. Even in the 70's, he had a recognizable style and flare to his music. After hearing this musical, you can pretty much tell what other musicals he's written. Of course, Godspell has been around for a long time and is probably one of the more popular Schwartz musicals to date, with the exception of Wicked.

Godspell is based on the book of Matthew, telling the story of Jesus' life and teachings in a fun, clowning around, song and dance way. The first act deals with all his early teachings of love thy neighber and brother, keep good deeds done to yourself. The second act than deals with Jesus' last few days on earth, from his encounter with the Pharisees, the Last Supper, his crucifixtion and finally, his resurrection.

All the characters represent the disciples of Jesus and each has their own personality. Each character also has their own musical number which explains or emphasis' one of the teachings of Jesus. All of these songs are very catchy and upbeat, with the exception of Second Act which is more serious. Possibly the most recognized song from this show is "Day by Day", a repeatitive song that grows with each new repeat. The theme never changes and the chorus parts add more to the melody. It starts out very slow but gets faster and more upbeat throughout. I think the reason why it repeats so much is because Schwartz was trying to get the point across that with each new day, we should always look to God.

There are quite the dance numbers in the show as well. Very upbeat and rockin'. "Bless the Lord" is the first big dance number and is the song I sing in the show! This song has a big gospel feel to it as well as a rock and roll. It has a form of question and answer between the men and women parts and between the soloist and the cast. Tons of fun and definitly a showstopper. "Light of the World" is very much a 70's disco song. It certianly has the feel of one.

The ballads in this show are very beautiful and very moving. They are so full of emotion even if they do have a simple melody. Although, the song, "By My Side", which is sung at a point in the play where Judas goes to the Pharisees and Jesus knows he will be leaving them soon, is full of melodic tension, especially between the two women singing it, which are supposed to represent the two prostitutes Jesus' saves. It is a very beautiful song.

This is a great show that I feel stays true to the story of Jesus and his teachings. The music is great and it's so fun to watch and perform. You know you've done your job when the audience comes out crying, in a good way of course. I can't wait to do this show again!

Songs for Athene-Chamber choir concert

2006-03-19T20:27:00.000-05:00

“Lay a Garland”- a piece in eight parts by Robert Pearsall, full of melismas and very polyphonic; ends on a PAC

John Tavener pieces:
“The Lamb”- I don’t think there was a time signature; the rhythm was based on the text.
It was a really neat piece where the sopranos sung the first phrase and then the altos sang with them in an inversion of the first phrase. The third phrase that the sopranos sang was in retrograde.
“Funeral Ikos”- much of this piece was in unison, the words are very important, but depressing
“As One who has Slept”- about the resurrection of Christ
“Song for Athene”- sung at Princess Diana’s funeral was beautiful. The basses were a drone throughout the piece and the rest had simple melodic, but it was very dramatic. This piece also didn’t contain a time signature.

“He will Gather us Around”- this Jake Heggie piece stood out in the program for it contained very jazzy rhythm and harmonies

“A Prayer for the Captive”- This was a traditional Shaker hymn which Prof. Edberg improvised on his cello, it gave me goosebumps

The program as a whole was remarkable, but very somber and the lighting changes in Thompson made the pieces very dramatic.

Bach's B minor mass

2006-03-19T20:19:00.000-05:00

Welp. It's mass class getting the best of me. I'm listening to Bach's B minor mass just because right now. I'm a dork. I'm going to concentrate on the Gloria. The first part of the Gloria, Gloria in excelsis deo, is very regal and typically Baroque sounding. It is set with a small chamber orchestra and full chrous. This section goes right into the Et in terra pax, a much slower section. Still with full orchestra, but now in minor and without the bounce of the first section. The next section, Laudamus te, is a soprano solo. It is very full of ornaments, and very lively. The Gratias agimus tibi is parodied almost exactly from an earlier Bach chroale, (which I have sung!.) This is a beautiful sweeping choral setting. And speaking of parodies, almost the entire mass has been parodied. It's almost as if Bach was compling a greatest hits highlight mass. The Domine Deus is a pastoral sounding duet between soprano and tennor. This whole Gloria is an arch which points to the Domine Deus. It is interesting that Bach choose a simple little pastoral duet to be the center of his whole Gloria! The Qui tollis peccata mundi is sung by full chrous and is slow and beautifully cromatic. I love the flute soaring over the chrous. ahhh. nice touch Bach. The Qui sedes ad dextram Patris is an alto with oboe d'amore solo. It's very flowing and lovely. It has a lot of short little motives and the oboe and the alto weave in and out of each other. The Quiniom tu solis santus is a bass solo and very regal sounding. It has bassons and a coranet (I think...) This goes right into the Cum Sancto Spritu, which is very lively and pretty. It's full chrous again to end out the very long Gloria section.

It's so hard to remember to do these!

2006-03-19T12:32:00.000-05:00

So fortunately, I remembered that I'm supposed to do a blog this week, because last week was such a struggle...that it just didn't happen. Another fortunate thing is that I'm pretty sure I'll be the only one to talk about "The Colorado Quartet".

Yes, the Colorado Quartet...4 ladies who play string instruments as a group. I went to the recital at 7:30 Friday evening...and was not released from my seat until 9:30. While I enjoyed the music; I must say that the recital itself was a bit lengthy. The four women (Julie Rosenfeld [1st violin]; D. Lydia Redding [2nd violin]; Marka Gustavsson [viola]; and Diane Chaplin [cello]) played only 3 pieces: Haydn's Quartet in D Major (op. 50, no. 6); a contemporary quartet by Katherine Hoover, titled "The Knot" (quartet no. 3), and finally Schubert's Quartet #14 in D minor, more aptly titled "Death and the Maiden".

I'm always excited to hear stringed instruments, because their tambor is so unique. I like the light feel/texture from strings, as opposed to the heavy/full texture that one generally hears in brass quartets/quintets (whatever). {although i like both, mind you}.

I don't really remember much about Haydn's quartet, because it was first; and let's face it, there was A LOT of music after it, so it was easily forgotten. I'm sure I liked it, because it was rather tonal and somewhat predictable (which i like in music).

The second quartet was my least favorite because it was quite chromatic and had parts twisting and inverting minor seconds and major sevenths (it was not all that pretty). While I saw the musical value, I've decided that atonal music and I are not friends.

Finally, Schubert's "Death and the Maiden" was just one thing...LONG. Each movement easily could've been 10-12 minutes. I tried to use my new-found musicianship skills to pick out sections (i.e. A B A C A), but there were SO MANY sections that I had to give up. While I did enjoy the themes of each section, there was so much between them that I just lost the lustre for the music. I think that song could've made a recital in itself (almost).

um...so, yeah...that's what I did friday night...good times!

Nicole Nordeman

2006-03-19T11:29:00.001-05:00

This week I listened to the CD of: Nicole Nordeman. She is a contemporary christian singer. This CD is only her on vocals accompanied by a full orchestra and piano. The CD is called, This Mystery. The tracks I listened to are: This Mystery, Tremble, Fool for you, Help me Believe, Small enough, Lookin at you, As, Home, Please Come, Every Season, and Why. My favorite two songs on this CD are Every Season and Why. I have performed both of these songs at my church at home with two vocalists.
Every Season is an amazing song with piano and strings. She talks about how every season comes back to God and how he has created everything. Throughout the song, each verse is another season and how something different of that season shows his presence. The really cool thing about this song is that the music and intensity of the song constantly grows, until the last season of Winter. It ends with winter, with the lyrics, "So it is with you, and how you make me new with Every Season's change".
Why is also a really nice song with piano and strings. In this song she is asking her Dad why Jesus had to go through the crusifixion and how so many people could be so horrible to one man. This song also tends to constantly be building with the lyrics and the music. Very much alike to Every Season.
This is an amazing CD that I think anyone would enjoy.

The Outfield's Music

2006-03-12T23:49:00.000-05:00

I thought that I would add more to my list 80's rock song blogs. This one by a band which is similar to Mr. Mister but sounds very much like The Police, The Outfield. This was a 3-piece band fronted by bassist/vocalist Tony Lewis, who is often compared to Sting (who is also a bassist/vocalist). The other steady member was guitarist/keyboardist/backing vocalist John Spinks. The drummer position shifted around, but the original drummer was Alan Jackman. Their band name came from their love for baseball.
The Outfield had a good number of hits, including: "Everytime You Cry," "Your Love," "Since You've Been Gone," "Winning It All," "All The Love," and "Alone With You." They definitely followed a formula which included prominent drum beats, intricate 2-part harmony, and lots of reverb. However, they were a pretty solid band with great vocals.
Also, it's interesting how little known they are, despite their large amount of hits, which had a very good amount of radio play. The only explanation I can think of is the fact that the majority of their hits were on their debut album. After this album, not only did they change drummers, but their sound drastically changed. This sound wasn't quite as popular as the first, and this was probably why they went down. However, one would think that they would still have a solid fan-base, but I guess we'll never know exactly. They are still performing and recording today, and that in itself is respectable.
But let's not condemn them. They were extremely popular at their prime, much like Mr. Mister and The Police. However, they're music was much more accessable than Mr. Mister's, and they were much more popular. The Police's longevity may only be because of their expertly timed breaking up and Sting's legendary solo career, (which in itself may only be great because of The Police's falling out). The Outfield did not dispand. They pursued on and changed sounds. Sometimes this works to a bands favor and sometimes it does not. However, you can never predict where popular entertainment will move to next.