The Well-Tempered Ear
What classical music is good for studying, reading and writing?
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By Jacob Stockinger
It is about to be Finals Week here at the University of Wisconsin-Madison and in many other places.
Little wonder, then, that The Ear recently read a good story about the role of of music in studying.
It was written by a student journalist for The State Press at Arizona State University in Tempe. It covered more kinds of music than classical, but it had some good comments about the ability of music and its various components — melody, rhythm, tempo, text — to focus one’s attention or to distract from the necessary focus.
Here is a link to the story, which also includes 100 music selections from mixed genres:
It got me to wondering what classical music do you readers like for studying, reading and writing — if you like it at all for such serious and intense tasks.
The Ear tends to love listening to Baroque music — especially Vivaldi violin concertos and Bach harpsichord concertos such as the one in the YouTube video at the bottom — and to chamber music and solo piano music.
So, what music do you like to listen to when you are: studying? reading? writing?
Do you have a favorite style, or favorite composer, or favorite pieces?
The Ear wants to hear.
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A biopic about Vivaldi is in the works
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By Jacob Stockinger
The baroque master and violin virtuoso Antonio Vivaldi (1678-1741, below) composed the most recorded piece of classical music of all time: “The Four Seasons.”
The work was composed around 1720 and published in 1723, but because Vivaldi died in poverty and his music fell into obscurity, it was not rediscovered and recorded until 1939. And scholars are still finding manuscripts and rediscovering works by the prolific composer who has some 500 concertos and 40 operas to his credit.
The Roman Catholic priest with flaming red hair who was admired by J.S. Bach and who taught at an orphanage for girls in Venice, Italy, has been the subject of numerous biographies, critical studies and even novels, including mystery novels.
But now — after a 20-year delay since the script was completed and submitted — Vivaldi is about to hit the Big Screen in a biopic.
Last year saw “Maestro” about Leonard Bernstein and his wife. And a movie about opera diva Maria Callas is in the works with Angelina Jolie in the title role.
It seems a trend that might perhaps help attendance as concert organizations still are struggling to recover from the Covid pandemic. One wonders if we will see more Vivaldi programmed in response to his increased visibility and publicity his music will get thanks to Hollywood.
For more background and details, here is a link to the story on Classic FM:
Which is your favorite of the four violin concertos that make up “The Four Seasons”?
And what about Vivaldi’s other pieces, including the glorious “Gloria”?
The Ear particularly likes Vivaldi’s concertos for two violins. It is in A minor, RV 523, and you can hear the first movement played by Simon Standage and Collegium 90 in the YouTube video at the bottom.
Do you recommend a particular work by Vivaldi?
What is your favorite piece — choral, operatic, instrumental — by The Red Priest?
The Ear wants to hear.
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FREE birthday bash for Johann Sebastian Bach is this Saturday in Madison
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By Jacob Stockinger
The Ear thinks of this week’s Bach Around the Clock — which runs March 6-10 — as a double celebration.
The primary one is to mark the 339th birthday of composer Johann Sebastian Bach (below, March 20, 1685-July 28, 1750), whom many consider to be the Big Bang of Western classical music.
The second celebration is to honor the late Madison violist Marika Fischer Hoyt (below), who with help resurrected Bach Around the Clock in Madison after it had been dropped by Wisconsin Public Radio.
Talented, hard-working and congenial, Fischer — who died a year ago of cancer — was a fixture of the local music scene. She was a member of the Wisconsin Chamber Orchestra and spent 20 years playing in the Madison Symphony Orchestra. An outstanding chamber musician, she also helped found and played in the Ancora String Quartet.
An avid proponent of early music using period instruments and historically informed performance practices, Fischer Hoyt helped found and play in the weekly free Just Bach concerts. She performed regularly with the Madison Bach Musicians and with an early music string group she helped found, Sonata à Quattro.
Here is a link to a complete schedule on the BATC website:
The Ear thinks Marika would be very pleased and proud of this year’s event.
It will feature Bach’s original choral and instrumental music in many genres and transcriptions. Soloists and groups of varying sizes will take part. And Bach’s music — so central to the repertoire and all levels of musicianship — will be performed by students (below are members of the Suzuki Strings), by amateurs and by professionals (in the YouTube video at the bottom) — making BATC a truly community-wide celebration of Bach.
The hours for the Birthday Bash concert, which used to run 12 hours, have been cut back to a reasonable and accessible 10 a.m.-5 p.m. at St. Andrew’s Episcopal Church, 1833 Regent St., on Madison’s near west side. But a birthday cake will still be cut at the end.
And in case you want to duck in and out or catch certain performances or performers, here is a full program schedule for Saturday:
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1CIRby29h6wZjyngZgyMPpTrLNiMC_1OR/view
You can find links to all other events and programs — printed in blue — on the main website for the March 6-10 festival.
Performances by performers in their own homes and studios will air online as part of the Virtual Festival held of BATC’s YouTube channel, starting at midnight on this Sunday, March 10. Its runs without a time limit and can be accessed worldwide.
Here is a link to the YouTube channel, which also has past performances
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCHBRPHSGd_fNECp-qrWsqlQ
Have you attended or heard other Bach Around the Clocks?
What do you think of the celebration?
The Ear wants to hear.
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Hear 25 works of Christmas-inspired classical music plus 86 minutes of background music
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By Jacob Stockinger
Today — Sunday, Dec. 24, 2023 — is Christmas Eve.
Many people and households will start celebrating Christmas today and tonight.
Then, of course, there is tomorrow — Christmas Day and especially morning,
By now you have certainly heard many hymns and carols plus the usual popular holiday musical fare.
But here are 25 works of classical music that are appropriate for today and tomorrow.
Some composers and works probably sound familiar while others are more obscure or neglected.
But each work comes with a short background story or narrative, plus an audio-visual video clip from YouTube.
Here is the link. Take a listen and decide for yourself.
In a less serious vein, the YouTube video below adds a different site with 86 minutes of traditional and familiar songs, hymns and carols — but in instrumental arrangements. It might sound a lot like old-fashioned Mantovani, but The Ear thinks that the lack of words and vocal music makes it more suitable for background to conversation and socializing.
What do you think?
The Ear wants to hear.
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YOU MUST HEAR THIS: Pianist Vikingur Olafsson plays his Rameau transcription
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By Jacob Stockinger
Vikingur Olafsson (below) just might be the most interesting pianist in front of the public today.
He is from Iceland and was trained at Juilliard. He demonstrates a special talent and touch for Baroque music — especially Bach — which is one reason he is often called “The Glenn Gould of Iceland.” We’ll explore why another time.
Olafsson shares a gift with some of the great 19th- and early 20th-century piano virtuosos like Franz Liszt, Feruccio Busoni, Egon Petri, Sergei Rachmaninoff, Wilhelm Kempff and Myra Hess to name just a few.
That is, Olafsson composes and plays beautiful transcriptions for the piano drawn from other instrumental, choral and operatic repertoire.
One of his best comes from “Les Boréades,” the last opera composed by the French Baroque composer Jean-Philippe Romeu in 1759.
His own performance of the trasnscription is in the YouTube video at the bottom.
Take a listen, It lasts about 4 minutes long.
The Ear loves it and hopes Olafsson will publish the transcription so the rest of us can play it. Or at least try to.
What do you think of the transcription and the performance?
The Ear wants to hear.
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Google can now identify music if you hum, whistle or sing it
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By Jacob Stockinger
You know how frustrating it feels when you can recall a tune but can’t identity the composer or the piece?
It eventually gets to be an ear worm, an obsessive unknown you can’t quite recall, and can be very unsettling. The longer it doesn’t come to mind, the more you want it to.
Now Google has just developed an app that allows you to hum or whistle or sing a melody into your phone — even off-key — and then it identifies what piece of music it is and who composed it.
It is called “Hum to Search” and also uses the vast musical offerings of YouTube, which is owned by Google. (Apple’s popular Shazam app and Siri cannot identify music by humming.)
The new app is available on both iOS iPhones/iPads and Android systems and phones.
Here is a link to the story — and a test run with the popular Puccini aria “O mio babbino caro” — provided by the British radio station ClassicFM:
https://www.classicfm.com/music-news/google-hum-sing-search-song/
And here is a guide from Google, with background, about how it works and how to use it:
https://blog.google/products/search/hum-to-search/
Will you try it? Find it useful?
Have you already tried it on your own? How well did it work?
Is it good for instrumental and orchestral music?
Classical as well as pop, rock and jazz?
The Ear wants to hear.
The Ear also wants to know if you have ever used one of the other apps like Shazam and SoundHound where you hold the phone next to music — live or recorded — and it identifies the composer and composition.
Do they work well?
Which one is especially good for classical music?
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Here are the 2023 Gramophone awards
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By Jacob Stockinger
Gramophone Magazine, based in London, is one the most respected publications in the world of classical music — even if it often shows a bias towards British labels, composers and performers.
Each year the magazine gives out awards chosen from the many new classical recordings that its critics review.
The awards ceremony is broadcast and fesatuyres live performances. Highlights will be included in a YouTGube video at the bottom and will be available on tomorrow, Oct. 8.
The categories are: Chamber, Choral, Concerto, Contemporary, Early Music, Instrumental, Opera, Orchestral, Piano, Song, Voice and Ensemble.
Also recognized are: Lifetime Achievement; Label of the Year; Recording of the Year; Young Artist of the Year; Artist of the Year; and Orchestra of the Year.
Here is a link to the Violin Channel and the short-listed nominees:
https://www.theviolinchannel.com/gramophone-classical-music-awards-2023-announces-shortlist/
And here is the list of the winning recordings. If you click on the category you will see the short citation and a photo of the album cover. Each winner citation also contains a link to the full Gramophone review with details and comparison This link also features a shortlist and a list of past award-winners back to 2006.
https://www.gramophone.co.uk/awards/gramophone-classical-music-awards-2023
That’s a lot of recommendations for new classical recordings to buy or stream.
Happy listening.
What do you think of the winning recordings?
Do you have any suggestions or Readers’ Choices?
The Ear wants to hear.
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Apple bets again on classical music and buys BIS records
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By Jacob Stockinger
Since its founding in 1976 — on April Fools Day — Apple has often demonstrated a contrarian or oppositional streak that has helped to explain its enormous success among high-tech companies.
At a time when many critics and observers are questioning the future of classical music — and usually see major problems to overcome — Apple has taken the opposite tack.
This past year it bought the record label Primephonic in 2021 and then launched a separate streaming platform for classical music — Apple Music Classical — as part of Apple Music below).
Apple Music’s new all-Classical streaming service launches March 28. Here are details
The new Apple Music Classical app is now available for Android users
This month, Apple doubled down and bought another record label that specializes in classical music — the acclaimed Swedish independent label BIS that just marked its 50th anniversary. No price was given.
Some analyses suggest that this recent acquisition gives Apple Music Classical the largest catalogue, with more than 5 million tracks, of any classical music streaming service.
Here is an excellent story from TechCrunch that gives the details and some context and background:
And here is another good story from the classical music website LudwigVan:
If you wonder about why BIS was sold to Apple in particular, here is a statement from CNBC by BIS founder Robert von Bahr (below):
“Von Bahr, who recently turned 80, said that both BIS Records and Apple share a “fundamental belief in the importance of preserving audio quality,” citing the iPhone maker’s surround-sound spatial audio technology as “something I have followed with interest.”
“BIS’s specialty, while paying our dues to the core repertoire, has been to nurture young classical artists and interesting living composers and to safeguard the musical treasure that we all represent long into the future. (Editor’s note: It also seeks to rediscover repertoire. See and listen to the YouTube video at the bottom for BIS’s promotion of release with baroque Neapolitan cantatas and arias for countertenors.)
“Apple, with its own storied history of innovation and love of music, is the ideal home to usher in the next era of classical and has shown true commitment towards building a future in which classical music and technology work in harmony.”
Are you familiar with BIS records?
What do you think of the repertoire, performers and recordings?
Do you subscribe to Apple Music Classical — or would now subscribe with the new acquisition?
The Ear wants to hear.
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Maestro John DeMain to retire from the Madison Symphony Orchestra after its centennial in 2026
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By Jacob Stockinger
The Madison Symphony Orchestra (MSO) announced on Thursday that maestro John DeMain (below) — who just celebrated his 30th anniversary leading the MSO —will step down as Music Director at the end of its 2025–26 centennial season.
The news comes as the MSO opens its new season this weekend with three performances of an all-American program featuring works by George Gershwin, Aaron Copland, Howard Hanson and John Adams.
Here is a slightly edited version of the press release:
A Search Committee will be formed to identify a new Music Director. The MSO’s 2023-24, 2024-25 and 2025-26 seasons will celebrate John’s leadership, the Symphony’s legacy and feature appearances by several guest conductors.
“It has been, and continues to be, a great privilege and honor to serve as the MSO’s Music Director since the 1994-95 season,” said John DeMain (below in a photo by Greg Anderson). “I am proud to have been a part of this orchestra’s amazing growth over the last 30 years.
“The centennial season, in a way, is the climax of my tenure here, and what a better way to begin the orchestra’s 101st season than with a new music director.
“I anticipate being available to continue an association with the MSO after I step down, to step in as needed. I love and cherish the musicians in the orchestra, and admire deeply the administrative staff, and look so forward to our next three celebratory seasons of making music together.”
“It has been a true honor to work alongside Music Director John DeMain,” said Robert A. Reed, Executive Director of the Madison Symphony Orchestra.
“Over the past 30 years, DeMain has raised the artistic level of the Symphony; hired first-class musicians to become members of the MSO; created dynamic musical programs; brought renowned guest artists to Madison; connected the MSO with the community; and has made the Madison Symphony Orchestra an important part of the arts ecology in Dane Country. The Madison Symphony Orchestra is a strong and vibrant organization because John DeMain envisioned it and has done all that he can to make that a reality.”
“We treasure our anticipated and extraordinary 32 years with John DeMain,” said MSO Board Chair Ellsworth Brown. “The quality of the Madison Symphony Orchestra under his leadership is unsurpassed. His vision, imagination, community connections, and skills, will leave indelible marks on a treasured Madison asset.”
DeMain’s impact on the MSO and Madison cultural arts community is extensive. DeMain is only the fourth music director in the Symphony’s 98-year history. He has helped the MSO grow to be an orchestra that is admired for its financial position and artistic growth among peers in the symphony world and with people in Madison. DeMain also serves as the Madison Opera’s artistic director.
From the introduction of blind auditions to MSO’s debut in Overture Hall in 2004, DeMain has been an integral part of the organization’s success. He is known for continuously raising the quality and virtuosity of the orchestra and expanding the repertoire including the complete symphonies of Gustav Mahler.
He was also instrumental in the initiative to bring Overture Center for the Arts to life and the Overture Concert Organ to Overture Hall.
The MSO is unique among orchestras of its size — growing to offer three performances of each subscription program.
DeMain started as a pianist studying at the Juilliard School with famed teacher Adele Marcus. (You can hear DeMain play a Brahms Intermezzo and discuss music in the YouTube video at the bottom.)
But he soon switched to conducting and went on to become known as a world-class opera and symphony conductor with more than three decades of extraordinary contributions to music. His career has taken him to stages throughout the world.
DeMain led a history-making, all-Black production with the Houston Grand Opera of George Gershwin’s “Porgy and Bess,” winning a 1977 Grammy Award, a Tony Award and France’s Grand Prix du Disque for the RCA recording.
In 1992, DeMain also led the Concert for the Earth with superstar tenor Placido Domingo in Rio de Janeiro.
In 2014, the San Francisco Opera released an high-definition DVD of its most recent production of “Porgy and Bess” that was conducted by DeMain.
In 2023 DeMain received a Lifetime Achievement Award from the National Opera Association, the NOA’s highest award.
For a full biography, here is a link: https://madisonsymphony.org/about/conductors-musicians/john-demain/
Executive Director Robert A. Reed, along with the Search Committee, will lead the process of researching and securing a new Music Director. Inquiries about the search may be directed to Reed. rreed@madisonsymphony.org.
The MSO press contact is Peter Rodgers, Director of Marketing: Phone: (608) 260-8680 x226; Mobile: (415) 713-0235; Email: prodgers@madisonsymphony.org
Do you have a comment to share about John DeMain?
A written Thanks or Bravo perhaps?
Or perhaps your favorite performance by him and the MSO or Madison Opera?
Leave word in the Comment section.
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Just Bach concludes its season this Wednesday morning with highlights of the past season
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By Jacob Stockinger
The Ear has received the following announcement to post about this season’s final Just Bach online concert this Wednesday:
Greetings from Just Bach!
We hope this finds you all well, enjoying the spring, and ready to experience more of the timeless beauty of Bach’s music.
Our May concert features musical highlights from this extraordinary past season.
The complete program listing is below. It is organized in two parts, corresponding to the two semesters.
Indoor singing was risky during the pandemic, so the bulk of our programming was instrumental, with strings and keyboard for the most part (below in a photo by Barry Lewis).
The Sinfonia from the Christmas Oratorio was recorded at St. Matthias Episcopal Church in Waukesha, because of the Dane County Emergency Order prohibiting indoor gatherings in November and December during the pandemic.
We were back at Luther Memorial Church for the January concert, and by April we were able to include woodwinds (below, in a photo by Barry Lewis)
You can view the May concert here, starting at 8 a.m. this Wednesday, May 19, and then staying available indefinitely: https://justbach.org/concerts/
Please join us for a half-hour live Zoom post-concert reception on Wednesday night, May 19, at 7 p.m. Chat with the performers by following the link: https://us02web.zoom.us/j/85144014343?pwd=RmVURXBBU1hMcloyalJhbUdCQ1NmQT09
Viewing the concerts is FREE, but we ask those who are able, to help us pay our musicians by making a tax-deductible donation at: https://justbach.org/donate
Just Bach will take a break for the summer, and concerts will resume in September.
Here is the May program:
• Welcome
Part I – Fall Semester
• Cantata 146: Sinfonia
• Violin Sonata, BWV 1001: movement 4 Presto
• Double Violin Concerto: movement 3 Allegro (in the YouTube video, with an animated graphic, at the bottom)
• Christmas Oratorio, Part II: Sinfonia
• Christmas Oratorio: Chorale “Ich steh’ an deiner Krippen hier” (I stand here by your crib)
Part II – Spring Semester
• Cantata 35: Sinfonia
• Trio Sonata, BWV 526: movement 2 Largo
• Violin Sonata, BWV 1019: movement 5 Allegro
• Flute Sonata BWV 1034: movement 1 Adagio ma non tanto
• Cantata 42: Sinfonia
• Cantata 149: Chorale “Ach Herr, laß dein lieb Engelein” (O Lord, let your dear little angel)
Performers are: Kangwon Kim, Christine Hauptly Annin, Leanne League, Xavier Pleindoux, Nathan Giglierano and Aaron Yarmel, violin; Marika Fischer Hoyt, viola; Charlie Rasmussen and Lindsey Crabb, cello; Linda Pereksta and Monica Steger, traverse flute; Marc Vallon, bassoon; Grammy-winner Sarah Brailey, soprano; John Chappell Stowe and Jason Moy, harpsichord; Mark Brampton Smith, organ; and Bruce Bengston, organ.
Dave Parminter is the videographer and Barry Lewis is the photographer.
For more information, go to:
youtube.com/channel/UCcyVFEVsJwklHAx9riqSkXQ
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