The Good Musician

All woodwinds, that is. The so-called woodwind quintet is a flute, oboe, clarinet, bassoon, and french horn. The latter, however, is frequently included in small chamber consorts, especially in the Baroque, as they play those lovely hunting calls and stirring royal fanfares.
The Baroque sonata form often contained a 3/4 or 6/8 meter movement, and horns would feature prominently. The horn can also sustain a pedal tone or sound the root of a chord to support the other four instruments.
There was lots ‘o repertoire written for woodwind quintet in the 20th century. There is a woodwind quintet nestled in …read more

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The last time I heard Mose Allison live was at the Continental Club in ‘85 or so. I discovered Mose at college in ‘63, and the first time I heard him on 33-1/3 vinyl I could have sworn he was black. I was astonished when my friend showed me the cover. As I listened more closely, I was amazed at his unusual piano style, a fusion of jazz and blues. He hums and grunts along with his piano solos, kinda like Glenn Gould does in his definitive Bach recordings.
It’s a distinctive style that no one has been able to …read more

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It’s been a little over ten years since Margaret Hillis, the indomitable conductor of the Chicago Symphony Chorus, passed away. I met her at a Chorus America convention in the late 80’s, and was suitably awestruck. She had complete control over her chorus, and more, the CSO as well. My mom attended a performance of the Beethoven Ninth Symphony, and Sir George Szolti was the director at that time. Sir G was taken ill, and Ms. Hillis filled in with only a few moments notice. Mom said it sounded just as good, if not better, than the Szolti version. Hillis …read more

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Not so very blue, yet an important river, whatever color it may be.

Here’s Herbert von Karajan wafting down The Blue Danube Waltz.

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This is cool. Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky wrote the 1812 Overture to commemorate the battle that broke the back of the French invasion under Napoleon. It was commissioned for the completion of the Cathedral of Christ the Saviour, which Tsar Alexander II meant as a memorial for the battle.
Tchaikovsky considered it crap. A sell-out. None-the-less, it is one of the most played compositions since its introduction to the US in the 1930’s.
Somehow, probably because Arthur Fiedler and the Boston Pops featured it on a Fourth of July concert, thinking the bells and cannons a nifty way to observe the …read more

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John Cage composed music that regularly transgressed the boundaries of convention. A pupil of Schoenberg and Cowell, Cage came into his own during the 1960’s while teaching at the U of Illinois. He invented the prepared piano, a compositional technique to alter the sound of a single or several notes by using non-conventional items directly on either the strings or felt hammers, such as thumb tacks, or erasers placed between or among the piano strings.
For instance, you could assign an octave in the middle range the instructions: place thumb tacks on the hammers of the black keys from middle …read more

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Budapest is an old dowager, still grand, but crumbling about the edges. Many old palaces, homes, and historical buildings have been sold to other countries in order to support the country’s administration and government.
If the general municipal buildings are a bit shabby, the cathedrals and churches are kept in excellent repair and more likely to receive funds for renovations. Singing in these venues was a joy. Hungarians take their religion and accompanying music very seriously, and we are the beneficiaries of their love for both.

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Castle Hill, Budapest, Hungary. The largest spire is the Basilica of St. Mattias, one of the venues where AVAE was privileged to perform.
A bit of background
The Danube River separates Buda (west, Castle Hill) and Pest (east, government and commerce). Built in the first century B.C. by Celts, the Romans occupied the town as the eastern border of the Roman Empire. In the fifth century, Goths and other peoples on the run from the Huns overran the Roman defenses. These in turn were routed by Ostragoths and Huns. The name Attila is still popular today.
Over the following centuries, Buda and …read more

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Photo by The Good Musician
The Austin Vocal Arts Ensemble (AVAE) recently completed a ten day concert tour of Central Europe. Under the direction of Dr. Kenneth Sheppard, twenty some-odd singers and various kids, moms, and significant others flew from Houston to Budapest, Hungary, with a short layover in London Heathrow Airport. Destinations included Szent Endre, Hungary; Bratislava, Republic of Slovenia; Prague, Czech Republic; Meissen, Dresden, Leipzig, and Frankfurt, Germany. We’ll examine each destination in a series of posts.
What does the Good Musician take along for a whirlwind experience of a lifetime? Well, the packing process begins well before departure, taking …read more

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Lois Perkins Chapel, on the Southwestern University campus, was a little bit of heaven for serious music lovers last Friday evening. An enraptured audience participated in a Cathedral Evensong service much like Felix Mendelssohn would have experienced. Bishop Joe Wilson celebrated with a slightly abridged version of the 1853 Anglican Book of Common Prayer, and the audience enjoyed a sonic and cerebral treat in the performance of new scholarly editions and rarely heard Mendelssohn works for chorale, boy soprano, and organ.
Organist John Schmidt chose the Sonata in A Major, Op. 65, No. 3 as the prelude to the evening. AVAE, …read more

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