The People's House

Considering that one's social graph is not uniformly distributed among the general population, but rather concentrated around a small number of highly-connected nodes, I think it is fairly safe to say that 100% of my readers fall in the lower 99%.  Recent posts on NPR's Deceptive Cadence blog discuss the widespread perception of opera as exclusive to the 1%, the super-rich.  And yet here you've come, my commoners, to where I like to share my thoughts on that very topic.  Responses to the posts ranged from accusations of opera being outdated and out of touch to those blaming Hollywood for the false stereotypes.  Many people pointed to their personally penurious positions and penchants for opera as evidence against the stereotype.  I'll take the argument a step further.  You will find few institutions more egalitarian than the opera house.

ToreAmix

I write a blog post on remixes, and in less than a week I discover a perfect example of a high-concept remix album being released by Tori Amos.  I confess I am not familiar with her discography, but I gather that her latest album, Night of Hunters, is an exceptional one.  You can listen to it in its entirety for free at the link, presumably until the release date of September 20.

Remix

To my readers:  Apologies for the extended hiatus.  As it turns out, finishing and defending a dissertation drains one's energy for composition more than I anticipated.  After my momentum was lost, it was hard to pick up the pencil, as it were, through travels, moves, job searching and so on.  But I can only go so long without exercising my creative muscle, and so I am back.  And today my topic is the remix.

Quicklink 4

Just a single link for you today.  Life has been incredibly busy since my last post.  It will continue to be very busy for the next month.  But I can at least squeeze in posts like this one.  I came across this fun piece in the blog I've mentioned before.  I don't really agree with a couple of his examples as being "metal," but certainly you can imagine a heavy metal cover of any of these pieces.  In fact, you can imagine heavy metal covers to a lot of classical pieces.  Compare the opening to Rachmaninoff's Piano Concerto no. 2 and Muse's Space Dementia, and you'll hear clear similarities.  Or check out Epica's album, "The Classical Conspiracy" for several cool rocked out versions of classical music.  What classical pieces would you like to hear remixed into heavy metal or sound metal to you in their own right?

Grad School Allegory

Some friends of mine and I recently watched a DVD of a production of the opera, "Dialogues of the Carmelites" (1957) by Francis Poulenc based on the Martyrs of Compiègne.  It's somewhat modernist, being almost completely in recitative with occasional ensembles.  Unfortunately, the DVD forewent subtitles since the production used the English libretto, but can anyone ever understand a soprano in any language?  I understand the libretto is deep and thoughtful ("Dialogues..."), so I'm sorry we missed out on that.  Still, it ends with a most heartbreaking scene.  I could not stop thinking about it, so I looked up a few different productions of that scene on YouTube and decided I liked this one.  Watch it once and tell me it doesn't move you.  Yes, that is the sound of a guillotine that repeats 16 times for these 16 nuns.  Listen to the texture of the music thin down from chorus to quartet, trio, duet, solo.  It's tragic!

And then I realized it works as an allegory for our sad lives as PhD students.  Read on for my translation.  And excuse the sacrilege.  It's just satire.

Quicklink 3

This is somewhat old news now.  Anthony Tommasini, classical music critic for the NYT, started the year posing the question, "Who are the 10 greatest composers in history?"  The subsequent articles and videos are thoughtful and present something of a quick tour through music history.  The rest of the articles are listed here in reverse chronological order.  The final list is announced here.  It's just for fun.

Here's a story that demonstrates why one must be thoughtful if one is to command an international audience without inadvertently insulting people.

Virtuosity

A belated post....

Today, I will explore the notion of virtuosity and what it means to me.  Let's start with the Oxford Dictionary Online's (ODO) definition of a virtuoso: "a person highly skilled in music or another artistic pursuit."  Seems simple enough, but when talking about new words or ideas, I find it instructive to consider the edges.  No one would argue against applying the appellation to Yehudi Menuhin, Arthur Rubinstein, or Jacqueline du Pré, so heaping more praise on them does little to clarify anything.  But what about soloists less celebrated?  Do they deserve the designation?  Is skill all that matters or does depth of expression make a difference?  What about dancers, authors, or painters?  Why are we more likely to proclaim a poet a genius than a virtuoso?

Quicklink 2

I haven't given you a real post since before Christmas, and all I have to offer today is a couple of fun links.  My apologies.  I'm working on a couple of posts, but they're taking more research to complete than I expected.  I haven't been feeling particularly inspired to write about simpler topics.  See, I have this other writing project that has to take priority for some reason....

So today, here is a cartoon that proves I'm not alone in a sentiment to which I've twice referred before.

Second is a lovely video of the winner of an online competition for young musicians.  She'll get to perform in Carnegie Hall and feature in NPR's "From The Top" program which features pre-collegiate musicians from around the country.  I share this in part because of a joke I recently heard: What do you call a person who hangs around musicians?  A percussionist.  That's what's so great about this.  How often does anyone, let alone a kid, get to demonstrate this level of proficiency in a percussion instrument?  How many professional female percussionists do you ever see in orchestras or as soloists?  (I can only think of Evelyn Glennie who also happens to be deaf.)  And how often does anyone look at a percussionist alongside a slew of violinists, pianists, cellists, etc. and decide that the percussionist is more talented?  Brava!

Keep this young lady in mind as we'll be considering her in my next post.  I'll try to get it up in the next week or two.  But really, I need to be making better progress on my other endeavor....

Happy New Year

Happy New Year, folks.  Something something auld lang syne.  This blog is still young and impressionable, so maybe this is a good time to tweak its direction.  Anything you'd like to see more or less of?  Do I link too many YouTube videos?  Do you even watch them?  I aim to please.  You know what would please me?  If you come up with illustrations, examples, or counter-examples of the things I mention here, especially from music that's not classical, share them with me!  I would love more dialogue.

In parting, here's a tune to bid farewell to the old year: Chopin Piano Sonata No. 2