The past few days, we have enjoyed unseasonably warm weather. 70 degrees and up in late November? Crazy. Crazy but good. Winter is right around the corner, and it seems the nicer the weather is late in the year, the worse people expect winter to be. It’s amazing how many people I’ve come into contact with who praise the lovely weather, only to follow it with, “…but it’s going to be a tough winter.” Jeez–why not just enjoy the day?
11/27/11 Believe it or not…
It may seem hard to believe, but Beethoven’s Violin Concerto was not a big hit in it’s day. It wasn’t until many years after Beethoven’s death that the work was championed by the great violinist Joseph Joachim, and it was his “star power” that got people listening to this work, which had been terribly neglected.
Beethoven knew he had written a masterpiece (very few composers were as confident about their music as Beethoven), but was unhappy that the concerto didn’t catch on. A publisher suggested that he rewrite the work as a piano concerto. After some negotiations, it was decided that Beethoven would write the work as piano concerto, and the two versions would be published together, the idea being that it would get the work heard by a broader audience. It didn’t work. However, the piano version of the work is certainly worth listening to, even though it is rarely performed. Beethoven left the orchestral portion of the work intact, and rewrote the solo part for piano. We’ll hear this interesting work on this week’s “Toccata,” Sunday evening at 6. Also, we recognized the birthday of the great German pianist Wilhelm Kempff this Friday. We’ll hear Kempff as composer with his Piano Sonata. Hope you can join me!
Giving Thanks…
Of course, Thanksgiving, a uniquely American holiday ( I hear they also have a Thanksgiving in Canada), is a day when we should all reflect on the blessings we all enjoy. Well, we shouldn’t wait for the last Thursday in November to do that. Too many of us (myself included) think more about the setbacks in our lives than the things we take for granted that, in many other countries in the world, are little more than pipe dreams. In some countries, people have to travel through war zones to cast a vote in a local election. Here, people won’t go out to vote if it’s raining. That’s just one example. Yes, there are plenty of setbacks in life, but when they happen, try to imagine if there is someone in the world who has it worse. Probably won’t be hard. Oh, a little self-pity is OK, but just a little. It could always be worse. We all have something to be thankful for every day.
Those were the days…
This morning, I played some music from Menotti’s “Amal and the Night Visitors.” It was an opera commissioned by the NBC network for television. At that time–1951–NBC had an opera department. I also remember when Vladimir Horowitz made his historic return to Carnegie Hall, the concert was aired on the CBS network. I remember being at my grandmother’s house (we called her “babcia”–Polish for “grandma”) and everyone was gathered around the old black and white television to witness this historic recital. My family is not musical. I’m the first one to ever take any music lessons. Nobody played anything, or ever had any other musical training. Despite that, they appreciated great music as well as the importance of the event. So did the CBS network. They devoted prime-time airtime for the concert. I remember the NY Philharmonic’s “Young People’s Concerts” with the great Leonard Bernstein as a regular feature. Variety shows like Ed Sullivan carried classical performers on a regular basis. I remember seeing Itzhak Perlman a number of years ago.
You don’t see anything like that on network television anymore. PBS has its “Great Performances” series which will air a concert or an opera on a regular basis. That’s about it. With over 200 channels to choose from, finding anything like classical music with any regularity is like looking for Xanadu. It’s there somewhere, but you’ll probably never find it. This is progress, I suppose.
My guilty pleasures…
I admit it–I love video games. My first video game system was the Mattel Intellivision system back around 1981. The most popular system at the time was the Atari. The Intellivision was a more technologically advanced system, but compared to today’s video game systems, it now looks laughable. In it’s day, though, it was something. Then the Nintendo system came out, and the Atari and Intellivision went the way of the dinosaur.
Now, while I love gaming, I am very particular about what I play. I avoid the army-style “shoot-em-ups” (called 1st person shooters, in the parlance) and the fighting games. I prefer the fantasy based (sword & sorcery) games and the puzzle solving games. I like games with a good story, but that also give the player a lot of leeway to move around (called “open-ended” as opposed to “linear” in the parlance).
I know–what’s a grown (ok–old) man doing playing these kids’ games? It’s escape. For an hour or two, there are no bills, no cleaning, no protest rallies, no politics–no NOTHING. A little escape is a good thing.
A little time off…
It’s good to be back. I don’t take much time off, actually, and usually find myself in a “use it or lose it” situation with vacation time. Unless I have a specific place to be (other than work), I don’t even think much about time off. I suppose if I didn’t like what I do, I might think a lot more about it, but, truth be told, I do love my job. A lot of people say that, and I often wonder who they’re trying to convince. Maybe they think the same thing about me when I say it. I don’t know. All I know is that I really do love what I do, and as a result, don’t think much about time off. I suppose I should, though. Even when you love what you do, it’s good to be away from it for a while, if for no other reason than to reinforce the fact that you do love it. Of course, sleeping in a bit doesn’t hurt, either…
11/20/11 A long walk
According to the old story, the young J.S. Bach walked 100 miles from Arnstadt to Lubeck to study with the great Danish-born organist and composer Dietrich Buxtehude. Well…there’s a bit more to it than that. Bach started out on foot, but almost certainly got rides from passing wagons and carts. Not unusual in those days. People don’t pick up hitch-hikers these days. That’s how I got to high school. But I digress. Bach actually went in search of a job. Buxtehude had announced his desire to retire from his very prestigious position of organist at St. Mary’s Church. Bach found out when he got there that to get the job, he had to agree to marry Buxtehude’s oldest daughter–the last one still single. Bach didn’t take the job (neither did Handel, who has passed through months earlier), but he did stay and study with Buxtehude for several months. There’s always more to the story. This week (November 20) we’ll hear some organ music by Buxtehude along with a 20th-century piano concerto on Toccata. Hope you can join me.
11/13/11 Jumping to conclusions
We have become accustomed to hearing music by Spanish composers played on the guitar. We often associate the guitar with Spain, but it’s interesting to note that until Fernando Sor arrived on the scene, the leading guitarists in Europe were Italian, and the instrument was associated with Italy. Many Spanish composers with whom we often associate the guitar didn’t even play the instrument. Granados, Albeniz, deFalla, and Rodrigo. Granados and Albeniz wrote almost exclusively for the piano (both were renowned virtuosi), and da Falla mostly for orchestra. Guitar music by these composers are transcriptions. Joaquin Rodrigo, on the other hand, was a pianist, who wrote quite a bit of music for the guitar, much at the urging of the great Andres Segovia, and the famous Romero family. His guitar concertos are so well known, that it is easy to forget that he wrote for other instruments, including the piano. This week (November 13) on Toccata, we’ll hear his “Concierto para piano y orquesta.” Hope you can join me.
More social networking…
Recently, someone started a rumor that Ruby Dee, actress, writer, activist, and very nice person, had died. The rumor spread so fast that people like Jesse Jackson and other well-known “tweeters” had to step up and deny the rumor. I’m reminded of Mark Twain’s comment, “reports of my death are greatly exaggerated.” That was before the internet. Now, someone can start a rumor, and before long the whole world is talking about it. It has happened on a smaller scale, with devastating results. Careers have been damaged or ruined, families broken up, and lives lost due to suicide. It’s a bit scary the power that this amazing technology gives to those who care to abuse it. The use of this technology carries with it great responsibility. It’s one thing to have a bit of fun, tell a joke, make a point, or even whine (where DID people go to whine before Facebook and Twitter?) a bit, but saying clearly malicious things in unacceptable. Even if the piece is true, posting something on Twitter or Facebook is a craven sort of substitute for confronting a person directly. Spreading malicious things about an individual that are false should warrant a prison sentence. Just sayin’…
School Music
Last night, I was Master of Ceremonies (narrator) for the 2011 Baltimore County Honors orchestra, Choir, and Band concert at the Meyerhoff Symphony Hall. What a night. I felt truly honored to be a part of it. Over 250 students from Baltimore County High School music programs audition for the honors concert, then have one weekend of rehearsal before the concert. Guest conductors from college music departments around the country come for this event to lead the various groups. They make amazing music.
In an era of ruthless efficiency, where math, science, and other high-tech subjects seem to trump anything remotely associated with the humanities, it gives one a lot of hope to see a high school music program that is so successful. Baltimore County is in a “changing of the guard” situation right now, with a new County Executive in office, and a new Superintendent of Schools to be named. Let’s hope that they continue to place a priority on this and other programs for the arts. The value of these programs may be unquantifiable, but it is also immeasurable.