My third piano lesson … Lesson Three: Commitment. OC Music & Dance blog, July 31, 2017.
Neglected Symphony: Symphony No. 8 by Ralph Vaughan Williams (1955)
Here’s another in my occasional series. I love the use of bells and percussion in this piece. Sir Adrian Boult conducts the London Philharmonic Orchestra in 1972.
Miscellany
(News and views from around the internet.) Legendary baseball announcer Vin Scully narrates Copland’s “Lincoln Portrait” at the Hollywood Bowl…. Here’s why orchestras tune to a pitch of A 440 Hz…. Singing in a choir is good for your health,
Audio: Stravinsky: Andante
Stravinsky’s music is often thought of as a relentlessly bold, spiky and angular, but he also wrote in gentle pastels. Here’s one such piece, his Andante for piano four hands (which I’m learning at the moment). And now listen to
Lesson Two: Practicing your cares away
My second piano lesson … Lesson Two: Practicing Your Cares Away. OC Music & Dance blog, July 24, 2017.
Thoughts While Attending the First Symphony in the Series My Wife Wanted to Buy
This is both funny and, if you’re a classical music lover, kind of sad. Well, at least this fictional fellow (who is all too real) gave it a try. From The New Yorker. Essay by Kirk J. Rudell, read by
Beethoven’s ‘Eroica’: Opening chords
This video presents a chronological survey of the first two chords (E-flat major) of Beethoven’s “Eroica” Symphony, as heard in recordings from the 1920s to the present day. You will notice not only different tempos, but also different tunings (the
Not just a walk in the park: The multi-layered life of Pacific Symphony cellist Bob Vos
By JAYCE KEANE Like many of Pacific Symphony’s musicians, cellist Bob Vos is married (to Vivian, a pianist) and has a child (a 3-year-old boy, Wesley). And while many musicians in the orchestra have additional music gigs, Bob is a
Poll: Listening devices
Listening habits have changed drastically in the last decade or so. I grew up collecting records that I bought at record stores and playing them on a record player while sitting down in front of it. Now we’re more portable,
Audio: Martinu: ‘Thunderbolt P-47’
What a fun piece this is — Bohuslav Martinu’s “Thunderbolt P-47.” It was written in tribute to the great fighter planes that helped to win WWII by the Czech emigre composer in 1945. It might make a nice addition to