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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I’ve been reading Sounding the Inner Landscape: Music as Medicine by Kay Gardner. She references Saraswati, the Hindu goddess of music and the sciences. I once had a teacher who said that music was like mathematics in technicolor.
Gardner also illustrates the relationship of the chakras to the overtone series. When you produce a pure tone, either vocally or instrumentally, it sets up vibrations that are strong enough to be heard, occurring mathematically on a vibrating string. Going from the root to the octave, the fifth, fourth, third, and so on…
This is one of the most effective, quick warm-ups for …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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This was on the wall of a rehearsal room I recently inhabited.
1. Thou shalt attend thy rehearsals with steady faithfulness.
2. Thou shalt not touch graven metal with thy bare hands.
3. Thou shalt not take thy sharps and flats in vain.
4. Remember thy performance dates and keep them holy.
5. Honor thy director that thy days be long upon the land.
6. Thou shalt not covet thy neighbor’s bell assignment.
7. Thou shalt not tap thy foot with exceeding loudness.
8. Thou shalt not steal thy neighbor’s pencil.
9. Thou shalt return thy bells to their …read more

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From the February ‘08 issue of eSkeptic comes a feature from Will Dowd entitled

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The Good Musician loves great film music. Growing up with 50’s musical extravaganzas through the evolution to electronic and digital of today, I’m aware that what I hear in the movies is just as affecting as what I see. A great music and sound staff can pull a mediocre movie up to a decent one. Even though I have more than five favorites, I’ll try to be the Good Blogger and keep it short and sweet.
1. Kiss Me Kate (1953) Howard Keel and Kathryn Grayson look fabulous and really wail on the Cole Porter score.
2. Psycho (1960) Pretty much the …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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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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King Wenceslas (Szent Vraclav) statue, Wenceslas Square, Prague, Czech Republic.
Photo by TGM.
Prazska Muzejni Noc
Web designers: Czech out this gorgeous Web site!
Anniversary of 5th Prague Museum Night, a collaboration among the National Museum, Prague Public Transport Company Inc., and Association of Museum and Galleries of the Czech Republic. 25 cultural institutions and 51 sites were involved. Happens on Thursday evenings. Admission and transportation are free, except for a free will donation to two national sites.
The evening also includes concerts, recitals, movies, theatre, and dance performances, public readings, lectures, and guided tours.
Wouldn’t it be wonderful if every city in America …read more

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