medicine | The Well-Tempered Ear

What made Beethoven sick and deaf?

May 9, 2024
2 Comments

PLEASE HELP THE EAR. IF YOU LIKE A CERTAIN BLOG POST, SPREAD THE WORD. FORWARD A LINK TO IT OR, SHARE IT or TAG IT (not just “Like” it) ON FACEBOOK. Performers can use the extra exposure to draw potential audience members to an event. And you might even attract new readers and subscribers to the blog.

By Jacob Stockinger

What made Beethoven (below) deaf and sick his entire adult life?

Scientists think they have an answer, although their opinion is not unanimous.

Here is a news story from Classic FM about the latest research:

https://www.classicfm.com/composers/beethoven/scientists-hair-analysis-deaf-mystery/

Posted in 1, Classical music
Tags: #ClassicFM, adult, alcohol, alcoholic, Android, answer, AODA, Apple, arsenic, Arts, Beethoven, Bing, blog, British, Classical music, composer, contaminated, deaf, disability, Disease, drink, duckduckgo, English, Europe, evidence, Facebook, failure, gastrointestinal, gene, genetic, Google, Google Alert, Google Alerts, Google Search, Great Britain, hair, health problems, hearing disabled, hepatitis, ill, Jacob Stockinger, journalism, kidney, latest, lead, life, link, liver, Ludwig van Beethoven, medical, medicine, mercury, metal, Microsoft, Microsoft Bing, Music, news, online, opera, opinion, Orchestra, Piano, poison, pollution, post, posting, problem, Radio, renal, research, Safari, science, scientists, search, search engine, share, sick, Sonata, story, symphony, tag, The Ear, The Well-Tempered Ear, Twitter, UK, unanimous, Website, Well-Tempered, Well-tempered Ear, welltempered, Wine, WordPress, Wordpress.com, X, you

Is the math-music link real?

February 27, 2024
4 Comments

By Jacob Stockinger

The blog post before the last one was about solving the “beautiful mathematics” in the music of Johann Sebastian Bach.

Here is a link: https://welltempered.wordpress.com/2024/02/18/solving-the-beautiful-math-in-bach/

But does a link between math and music really exist?

And if such a link does exist, how strong is it?

Can one discipline be used to teach the other?

Many readers have no doubt heard of how devoted Albert Einstein (below) was to his violin, even playing string quartets at the Institute for Advanced Study in Princeton, N.J. He said he thought about physics in musical terms and found his greatest joy in music. He also played duets with physicist Max Planck, who was an accomplished pianist as were Werner Heisenberg and Edward Teller.

Dr. Francis Collins, the well-known geneticist and former head of the National Institutes for Health, is known for playing the guitar. As the 2020 winner of the Templeton Prize for scientific and spiritual curiosity, Collins accompanies superstar soprano Renée Fleming in the Stephen Foster song “Hard Times, Come Again No More” in the YouTube video at the button.)

Locally, the late pioneering University of Wisconsin-Madison geneticist Jim Crow (below) played the viola, even sitting in with the Pro Arte Quartet.

The Ear also knows of many middle schoolers, high schoolers and UW students, especially undergraduates, who pursue dual majors in music and math, science or medicine — often to pursue a more practical and better paying career than being a professional musician.

Personal anecdotes can be dramatic and convincing.

But anecdotes and evidence are not the same thing.

Here is a more formal study:

https://www.iflscience.com/is-there-really-a-link-between-math-skills-and-musical-skills-73069

What do you think?

Are math and music linked?

Do you know of other famous examples?

What has been your own experience with math and music?

If you are a music, math or science teacher, have you noticed such a link among your students?

What do students themselves — for example, those in the Wisconsin Youth Symphony Orchestras (WYSO) — say about such a math-music link?

The Ear wants to hear.

Posted in Classical music
Tags: #BlogPost, #BlogPosting, #FacebookPost, #FacebookPosting, #YouTubevideo, accompany, Albert Einstein, anecdoite, Arts, audience, Bach, Baroque, beautiful, blog, career, Cello, Chamber music, choral music, Classical music, composer, Concert, concerto, convincing, curiosity, discipline, doctor, Dr., dramatic, duet, Early music, Edward Teller, Einstein, equation, evidence, exist, experience, Facebook, faculty, Francis Collins, genetics, guitar, hard times, high school, Institute for Advanced Study, Jacob Stockinger, James Crow, job, Johann Sebastian Bach, link, Ludwig van Beethoven, Madison, Madison Symphony Orchestra, manuscript, math, mathematics, Max Planck, medicine, Middle school, Mozart, Music, music students, musical score, Musician, National Institutes of Health, New Jersey, NIH, ohysicist, opera, Orchestra, Overture Center, pay, physics, Pianist, Piano, pioneer, practical, Princeton, Pro Arte Quartet, professional, Renée Fleming, science, scientific, score, singer, Sonata, soprano, spiritual, spirituality, Stephen Foster, string, String quartet, strings, strong, students, superstar, symphony, tag, Teacher, Templeton Prize, The Ear, truth, undergraduates, United States, University of Wisconsin-Madison School of Music, University of Wisconsin–Madison, UW, UW-Madison, Verdi, vioa, Viola, Violin, vocal music, Werner Heisenberg, Wisconsin, Wisconsin Youth Symphony Orchestras, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, WYSO, YouTube

Here’s what killed Beethoven

February 23, 2024
1 Comment

By Jacob Stockinger

What killed composer Ludwig van Beethoven (1770-1827, below) at 56?

It has only taken almost two centuries — from 1827 to 2024 — to find out.

In previous DNA tests done 17 years ago, scientists suggested that what killed LvB was gradual lead poisoning from the pewter tankards he used to drink water and alcohol.

There was just one problem.

They had the wrong hair.

But now scientists say they have a hair sample (below) that is certified as authentic snippets of hair taken from the great composer after his death.

The results of looking at the DNA have brought some surprises to the surface.

Here is a link to the latest research as reported on the website for Science Alert:

https://www.sciencealert.com/dna-from-beethovens-hair-reveals-surprise-some-200-years-later

Posted in Classical music
Tags: #BlogPost, #BlogPosting, #FacebookPost, #FacebookPosting, #YouTubevideo, alcohol, Arts, audience, authentic, bed-ridden, Beethoven, blog, certify, Chamber music, choral music, Classical music, cure, death, DNA, Facebook, forensic science, genetics, hair, hepatitis, Jacob Stockinger, kill, lead, lead poisoning, link, liver, liver disease, Ludwig van Beethoven, medecine, medicine, Music, online, opera, Orchestra, pain, Piano, reserach, science, Science Alert, sciencealert.com, Sonata, surface, surprise, test, The Ear, treatment, Violin, vocal music, water, Website

Music builds brain health. Which composers and pieces would you recommend?

April 15, 2023
6 Comments

By Jacob Stockinger

If you think music education and music lessons are only for young people who are still growing and maturing, you couldn’t be more wrong.

More and more research studies show that in adults and older people, even in Alzheimer’s patients, music has force and can break through.

Music is — like many other kinds of art including poetry, dance and paintings — a key that unlocks the plasticity of the human brain (below is an image from Shutterstock) and the brain’s ability to grow and endure in a healthy manner.

Here is one of the most recent studies that was covered in a story by NPR (National Public Radio), which you can read or listen to:

https://www.npr.org/sections/health-shots/2023/04/03/1167494088/your-brain-on-art-music-dance-poetry

The Ear finds it convincing food for thought.

Certain genres of music, for example, come to mind as brain-healthy. Think Schubert. Art songs which combine music and words, even poetry, seem an especially likely candidate.

String quartets and theme-and-variations also come to mind as artistic and brain-developing genres. So does the sonata form that is used to develop and establish harmonic and thematic logic in symphonies and concertos as well as sonatas.

As for specific composers, The Ear thinks Johann Sebastian Bach (below) stands out as a one whose music requires active listening and critical thinking.

Preludes and fugues by Johann Sebastian Bach (below and in the YouTube video at the bottom where Friedrich Gulda plays the Prelude and Fugue No. 1 of the WTC) in The Well-Tempered Clavier and his many suites and Beethoven’s string quartets, especially the late ones, are individual challenging works that do the same.

Are there musical genres that you think are good for the brain and would recommend?

Are there certain composers you think are especially helpful in building brain health?

Are there any particular pieces that you think also work toward brain health and plasticity?

The Ear wants to hear.

Posted in Classical music
Tags: #BlogPost, #BlogPosting, #FacebookPost, #FacebookPosting, #YouTubevideo, adults, Alzheimer's, Art, art songs, Arts, audience, Bach, Baroque, Beethoven, blog, Brain, build, candidate, challenge, challenging, Chamber music, children, choral music, Classical music, composer, concerto, connectivity, creativity, critical thinking, dance, develop, Disease, Early music, Education, endure, Facebook, force, Franz Schubert, Friedrich Gulda, fugue, genetics, genre, grow, Gulda, harmonic, harmony, Health, human brain, Jacob Stockinger, Johann Sebastian Bach, link, listen, listening, logic, Ludwig van Beethoven, mature, medicine, Music, music lessons, National Public Radio, NPR, old people, Orchestra, painting, Piano, piece, plasticity, poem, Poetry, Prelude, read, recommend, research, Schubert, science, seniors, share, Sonata, song, String quartet, structure, study, Suite, symphony, synapse, tag, technology, The Ear, thematic, theme, theme and variations, think, Violin, vocal music, Well-Tempered Clavier, wisconsin public radio, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, words, work, WPR, young people, YouTube

Which classical composer has helped you the most during the Covid-19 pandemic?

January 4, 2021
6 Comments

By Jacob Stockinger

The holidays are over and as we close in on marking a year of the coronavirus and COVID-19 pandemic, The Ear has a question:

Which composer has helped you the most to weather the pandemic so far?

The Ear wishes he could say Bach, Haydn, Mozart, Beethoven, Schubert, Chopin or Brahms. And the truth is that they all played a role, some more than others.

But The Ear was surprised by the composer whose works he most listened to and liked — Antonio Vivaldi (below), the Red Priest of Venice who lived from 1678 to 1714 and taught at a Roman Catholic girls school.

Here is more about his biography, which points out that his work was neglected for two centuries and began being rediscovered only in the early 20th-century and still continues being rediscovered to the present day: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Antonio_Vivaldi

The Ear isn’t talking about popular The Four Seasons although that set of 12 solo violin concertos has its charms and originalities.

The Ear especially appreciated the lesser-known concertos for two violins and the cello concertos, although the concertos for bassoon, flute, recorder, oboe, lute, trumpet and mandolin also proved engaging, as did the concerto grosso.

It was the 20th-century composer Igor Stravinsky (below) – the modern pioneer of neo-Classicism — who complained that Vivaldi rewrote the same concerto 500 times. “Vivaldi,” Stravinsky once said, “is greatly overrated – a dull fellow who could compose the same form many times over.”

But then did anyone turn to Stravinsky – who, The Ear suspects, was secretly envious — when they needed music as medicine or therapy during the pandemic?

Vivaldi was, in fact, a master. See and hear for yourself. In the YouTube video at the bottom, you can hear a performance of Vivaldi’s Concerto Grosso in G minor, RV 535, performed by the Akademie für Alte Musik Berlin.

Why Vivaldi? You might ask.

Well, it’s nothing highbrow.

The best explanation is that Vivaldi’s music simply seems like caffeine for the ears and sunshine for the eyes. His music isn’t overly introspective or glum, and it isn’t too long or melodramatic.

The melodies and harmonies are always pleasing and energizing, and the tempi are just right, although bets are that the music is much harder to play than it sounds.

In short, Vivaldi’s extroverted music is infectious and appealing because it just keeps humming along — exactly as those of us in lockdown and isolation at home have had to do.

Happily, there are a lot of fine recordings of Vivaldi by period instrument groups from England, Italy and Germany and elsewhere that use historically informed performance practices. But some the most outstanding recordings are by modern instrument groups, which should not be overlooked.

With a few exceptions – notably Wisconsin Public Radio – you don’t get to hear much Vivaldi around here, especially in live performances, even from early music and Baroque ensembles. If you hear Vivaldi here, chances are it is The Four Seasons or the Gloria. Should there be more Vivaldi? Will we hear more Vivaldi when live concerts resume? That is a topic for another time.

In the meantime, The Ear wants to know:

Which composer did you most listen to or find most helpful throughout the pandemic?

Leave your choice in the comment section with, if possible, a YouTube link to a favorite work and an explanation about why you liked that composer and work.

The Ear wants to hear.

Thank you and Happy New Year!

Posted in Classical music
Tags: #AntonioVivaldi, #BaroqueBassoon, #BaroqueEnsemble, #BaroqueFlute, #BaroqueMusic, #BaroqueRecorder, #BassoonConcerto, #BerlinGermany, #BlogPost, #BlogPosting, #CelloConcerto, #ChoralMusic, #ChristianChurch, #ChristmasHoliday, #CircleofSound, #ConcertoGrosso, #CoronavirusPandemic, #COVID-19, #FacebookPost, #FacebookPosting, #FavoriteComposers, #FluteConcerto, #FranzJosephHaydn, #FranzSchubert, #FredericChopin, #GreatBritain, #HappyNewYear, #HistoricallyInformedPerformancePractices, #IgorStravinsky, #InstrumentalOrchestra, #ItalianBaroque, #JacobStockinger, #JohannesBrahms, #JohannSebastianBach, #LiveMusic, #LivePerformances, #LudwigVanBeethoven, #LuteConcerto, #MandolinConcerto, #ModernInstrument, #MusicTherapy, #NeglectedMusic, #NewYear's, #OboeConcerto, #OnlineConcert, #PeriodInstruments, #PresentDay, #RecordedMusic, #RecorderConcerto, #RedPriest, #RomanCatholic, #RomanCatholicism, #Self-Isolation, #Self-Quarantine, #StringMusic, #ThankYou, #TheEar, #TheFourSeasons, #TheU.K., #TrumpetConcerto, #Two-PartInvention, #UnitedKingdom, #VeniceItaly, #ViolinConcerto, #VirtualConcert, #VocalMusic, #Wikipediabiography, #Wikipediaentry, #WindMusic, #WolfgangAmadeusMozart, #YouTubevideo, 20th-century, Akademie Für Alte Musik Berlin, all, Antonio Vivaldi, appealing, Arts, audience, Bach, Baroque, Baroque music, Bassoon, bassoon concerto, Beethoven, Berlin, best, biography, blog, Brahms, caffeine, carhm, cellist, Cello, Cello Concerto, century, Chopin, choral music, Christian church, Christianity, Christmas, church, Classical music, comment, complain, composer, Concert, concerto, Concerto Grosso, conductor, coronavirus, dull, Early music, ears, energetic, energizing, energy, England, ensemble, envious, exception, explanation, extrovert, eyes, Facebook, Facebook post, Facebook posting, favorite, Fellow, flute, flute concerto, form, forward, Franz Joseph Haydn, Franz Schubert, Frédéric Chopin, girl, girls, Gloria, glum, Great Britain, group, Happy New Year, harder, harmony, Haydn, hear, help, highbrow, historically informed performance practices, Holiday, Home, hum, humming, Igor Stravinsky, infectious, instrumental music, introspective, isolation, Italian, Italian Baroque, Italy, Jacob Stockiner, Jacob Stockinger, Johann Sebastian Bach, Johannes Brahms, like, listen, live, live music, live performances, lockdown, long, lonk, Ludwig van Beethoven, lute, lute concerto, Madison, mandolin, mandolin concerto, medicine, melodramatic, melody, modern, modern instrument, Mozart, Music, music therapy, neglected, neglected music, neo-Classicism, New Year, New Year's, Oboe, oboe concerto, oboist, online, opera, Orchestra, originality, overlook, overrated, pandemic, period instruments, pioneer, play, please, pleasing, popular, post, posting, present, present day, priest, quarantine, question, recorded music, recorder, recorder concerto, recording, Red Priest, rediscover, resume, rewite, rewrote, role, Roman Catholic, Roman Catholicism, RV, same, school, Schubert, secretly, see, share, simple, solo violin, Sonata, Sound, Stravinsky, string music, Student, sunshine, symphony, tag, teach, Teacher, tempi, thank you, The Four Seasons, therapy, times, topic, Trumpet, trumpet concerto, truth, Two-Violin Concerto, Tye Ear, U.K., United Kingdom, United States, Venice, video, Viola, Violin, Violin concerto, violinist, virtual, Vivaldi, vocal music, weather, Wikipedia, wind music, wisconsin public radio, wish, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, work, works, year, yourself, YouTube

The Madison New Music Festival launches the Wisconsin Composers Project with a virtual online concert this Friday night, Sept. 25

September 23, 2020
Leave a Comment

By Jacob Stockinger

The Ear has received the following announcement to post:

The Madison New Music Festival is pleased to announce the launch of the Wisconsin Composers Project.

Both a community resource and annual series, the project consists of a database and a virtual concert meant to increase composers’ visibility and encourage local curators and performers to collaborate with their neighbors.

We invite all Wisconsin-affiliated composers to sign up to be included in the database on our website: https://madisonnewmusic.org/aboutwcp

Please join us for the live streaming event of the Wisconsin Composers Project Concert on this Friday night, Sept. 25, at 7:30 p.m. CDT on our website at https://madisonnewmusic.org and enjoy new music from all over Wisconsin from the comfort and safety of your home.

The pre-recorded concert will profile five Wisconsin-based composers (below) and performances of their works, one of which refers to the pandemic quarantine.

Audience members will hear directly from the composers about their music and influences, and enjoy the diversity of the Wisconsin musical community.

Featured composers and their works include:

Brent Michael Davids (above, top left): In Wisconsin Woods, performed by the composer. (In the YouTube video at the bottom, you can hear the UW-Whitewater Chamber Singers and the Medicine Bear Singers perform “Sanctus: Singing for Power” from Davids’ Requiem for America.)

Jerry Hui (above, top right), a UW-Madison graduate who now teaches at UW-Stout: Quarantine Canzonets, performed by soprano Jennifer D’Agostino and baritone Michael Roemer.

Laura Schwendinger (above, bottom left), an internationally recognized and prize-winning composer and UW-Madison professor: All the Pretty Little Horses, performed by cellist Trace Johnson.

Asha Srinivasan (above, top center): Dyadic Affinities, performed by tubist Tom Curry.

Lawren Brianna Ware (above, bottom right): Borealis, performed by the composer.

The suggested donation to stream this concert is $15 per person.

For more information, please visit our website at madisonnewmusic.org or find us on Facebook (@Madison New Music Festival) or Instagram (@madisonnewmusic).

Posted in Classical music
Tags: #AllthePrettyLittleHorses, #AshaSrinivasan, #BaritoneSinger, #BlogPost, #BlogPosting, #BrentMichaelDavids, #CelloMusic, #ChamberMusic, #ChoralMusic, #CityofMadison, #CoronavirusPandemic, #COVID-19, #FacebookPost, #FacebookPosting, #FacultyMember, #Fridaynight, #HomeWebsite, #InstagramPost, #JacobStockinger, #JenniferD'Agostino, #JerryHui, #LauraSchwendinger, #LawrenBriannaWare, #LiveStreaming, #LivingComposer, #MadisonNewMusicFestival, #MadisonWisconsin, #MeadWitterSchoolofMusic, #MedicineBearSingers, #MichaelRoemer, #Musicfaculty, #NativeAmerican, #NativeAmericanmusic, #NewMusic, #Prize-Winning, #RequiemforAmerica, #Self-Isolation, #SignUp, #SopranoSinger, #StateOfWisconsin, #TheEar, #TheUW, #TomCurry, #TraceJohnson, #TubaMusic, #UniversityofWisconsin-Madison, #UW-WhitewaterChamberSingers, #VirtualConcert, #VocalMusic, #WisconsinComposersProject, #YouTubevideo, affiliation, affinity, all, America, announcement, annual, Arts, Asha Srinivasan, audience, baritone, blog, Borealis, Brent Michael Davids, canzonet, canzonetta, cellist, Cello, cello music, celo, Chamber music, choral music, Classical music, collaborate, community, composer, Composition, Concert, coronavirus, curators, databse, diverse, diversity, donation, dyad, encourage, enjoy, Facebook, faculty, faculty member, featured, forward, Friday, graduate, home website, horse, includ, include, increase, information, Instagram, international, invite, isolation, Jacob Stockinger, Jennifer D'Agostino, Jerry Hui, launch, Laura Schwendinger, Lawren Brianna Ware, like, link, little, live streaming, live-stream, livestream, Living composer, local, Madison, Madison New Music Festival, Mead Witter School of Music, medicine, Medicine Bear Singers, Michael Roemer, more, Music, music faculty, musical, Native American, Native American music, neighbors, New Music, night, online, Orchestra, pandemic, performer, performers, post, posting, power, pre-recorded, pretty, professor, profile, recognized, Requiem, Requiem for America, resource, Sanctus, series, share, sign-up, singers, Singing, soprano, stream, subscriber, suggested, tag, The Ear, Tom Curry, Trace Johnson, Tuba, tubist, United States, University of Wisconsin-Madison School of Music, University of Wisconsin–Madison, UW, UW-Madison, UW-Stout, UW-Whitewater, UW-Whitewater Chamber Singers, virtual, visibility, vocal music, Website, Wisconsin, Wisconsin Composers Project, Woods, works, YouTube

Classical music: What music is helping you get through the Coronavirus by staying home? Help create a Pandemic Playlist

March 25, 2020
10 Comments

By Jacob Stockinger

Starting today, Wisconsin joins other states and countries in proclaiming a stay-at-home emergency condition to help fight the coronavirus pandemic.

That means non-essential businesses and schools are closed; restaurants can only deliver food and do pick-up; and residents must stay at home except for essential services and travel such as buying food, seeing a doctor and getting medicine.

For a couple of weeks, many of us have already been spending almost all our time hunkering down at home.

And the Internet and other mass media are full of helpful hints about how to handle the loneliness, fear and anxiety that can come with self-isolation and self-quarantining.

For many, music proves a reliable coping strategy.

Since there are no live concerts to preview or review, now seems like a good time for The Ear to ask readers: What music helps you deal with the isolation of staying at home?

Is listening to music a part of your daily schedule, structure or routine?

Maybe you are using the time to discover new music or neglected composers, works and performers.

Maybe you are using the time to revisit old favorites by Bach, Mozart and Beethoven.

Maybe you prefer darker and deeper, more introverted works such as symphonies by Mahler, Bruckner and Shostakovich?

Maybe you prefer the stories and drama of operas by Verdi and Puccini, oratorios by Handel and songs by Schubert?

Maybe, like The Ear, you find the music of Baroque Italian composers, such as the violin concertos by Vivaldi and Corelli, to be a great, upbeat way to start the day with energy and a good mood.

One more modern but neo-classical work that The Ear likes to turn to — a work that is rarely heard or performed live – is the beautiful “Eclogue” for piano and strings by the 20th-century British composer Gerald Finzi (below).

Finzi wrote it as a slow movement to a piano concerto, but then never finished the concerto. The “Eclogue” — a short pastoral poem — was never performed in his lifetime. So it continues to stand alone.

But like so much English pastoral music, the poignant Eclogue feels like sonic balm, some restorative comfort that can transport you to a calmer and quieter place, put you in a mood that you find soothing rather than agitated.

Hear it for yourself and decide by listening to it in the YouTube video at the bottom, then let The Ear know what you think.

Perhaps you have many other pieces to suggest for the same purpose.

But the series of reader suggestions is meant to be ongoing.

The idea is to build a collective “Pandemic Playlist.”

So right now and for this time, please post just ONE suggestion – with a YouTube link, if possible — in the Comment section with perhaps what you like about it and why it works for you during this time of physical, psychological and emotional distress from COVID-19.

What do you think of the idea of creating a Pandemic Playlist?

The Ear hopes that you like his choice, and that he and other readers like yours.

Be well and stay well.

Let’s get through this together.

Posted in Classical music
Tags: #20thCentury, #AntonBruckner, #AntonioVivaldi, #ArcangeloCorelli, #BaroqueMusic, #BlogPost, #BlogPosting, #BritishComposer, #BritishMusic, #CentersforDiseaseControl, #ChoralMusic, #COVID-19, #DmitriShostakovich, #EmotionalImpact, #EnglishComposer, #FacebookPost, #FacebookPosting, #FranzSchubert, #GeorgeFridericHandel, #GeraldFinzi, #GiacomoPuccini, #GiuseppeVerdi, #GoodMood, #GustavMahler, #HandelOratorio, #HealthCare, #HolidayFavorites, #HunkerDown, #ItalianBaroque, #JacobStockinger, #JohannSebastianBach, #LiveConcert, #LivingComposer, #LudwigVanBeethoven, #MassMedia, #ModernMusic, #MusicReview, #NeglectedComposers, #NeglectedMusic, #NeglectedWorks, #NewMusic, #OperaMusic, #PandemicPlaylist, #PianoConcerto, #PianoMusic, #Self-Isolation, #shelter-at-home, #SlowMovement, #SocialDistancing, #Stayathome, #StringMusic, #TheEar, #TheInternet, #ViolinConcerto, #ViolinMusic, #VocalMusic, #WolfgangAmadeusMozart, #YouTubevideo, 20th-century, agitating, agitation, alone, Anton Bruckner, Antonio Vivaldi, anxiety, Arcangelo Corelli, Arts, audience, Bach, balm, Baroque, beautiful, Beethoven, blog, Bruckner, Business, buy, calm, Centers for Disease Control, Chamber music, choice, choral music, Classical music, classicalmusic, closed, collective, comfort, Compact Disc, composer, Concert, condition, cope, coping, Corelli, coronavirus, countries, country, COVID19, create, daily, darker, day, decide, deeper, deliver, discover, distress, Dmitri Shostakovich, doctor, drama, Early music, Eclogue, Education, emergency, emotional, energy, English, essential, Facebook, favorites, fear, fight, finish, Finzi, food, forward, Franz Schubert, George Frideric Handel, Gerald Finzi, Giacomo Puccini, Giuseppe Verdi, good, good mood, Gustav Mahler, Handel, health care, help, helpful, hints, Home, hunker down, idea, Internet, introvert, Italian, Italy, Jacob Stockinger, Johann Sebastian Bach, lifetime, like, link, live, live concert, Living composer, lockdown, loneliness, Ludwig van Beethoven, Madison, Mahler, mass media, media, medicine, modern, mood, Mozart, Music, music review, neglected, neglected composer, neo-Classical, new, New Music, non-essential, old, opera, oratorio, Orchestra, pandemic, pandemic playlist, pastoral, performer, physical, Pianist, Piano, pick-up, piece, playlist, poem, poignant, post, posting, prefer, prevention, preview, proclaim, prove, psychological, psychology, Puccini, quarantine, quiet, quieter, rare, reliable, resident, restaurants, restorative, review, revisit, routine, schedule, school, schools, Schubert, self-isolating, Self-Quarantining, services, share, shelter, short, Shostakovich, sing, Singing, Slow movement, social, social distancing, song, songs, sonic, soothing, spend, start, state, stay at home, stories, strategy, stress, strings, structure, suggest, suggestion, symphony, tag, The Ear, think, thought, time, together, transport, travel, United States, use, Verdi, Viola, Violin, virus, Vivaldi, vocal music, weeks, wisconsin public radio, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, YouTube

Classical music: Flutist and activist Iva Ugrcic is Musician of the Year for 2018

December 31, 2018
3 Comments

IF YOU LIKE A CERTAIN BLOG POST, PLEASE SPREAD THE WORD. FORWARD A LINK TO IT OR, SHARE or TAG IT (not just “Like” it) ON FACEBOOK. Performers can use the extra exposure to draw potential audience members to an event.

By Jacob Stockinger

The classical music scene in Madison is so rich that it is always a challenge to name a Musician of the Year.

There are just so many deserving candidates. One obvious example is conductor John DeMain, who is completing his 25th year of outstanding stewardship in directing the Madison Symphony Orchestra and the Madison Opera.

But part of the intent behind such an honor is not just to recognize well-known figures. It is to encourage a broader awareness of those people who do a lot for local classical music but who often fly under the radar for many people.

That is why The Ear is naming flutist and activist Iva Ugrcic (below) as the Musician of the Year for 2018.

As both a performer and entrepreneur, Ugrcic is always very busy broadening her varied career. Being both a player and an activist, she is making a difference, musically and socially, that deserves to be recognized and supported.

Serbian by birth and educated in Belgrade and Paris, she came to Madison where she completed her doctorate in flute performance and also took business courses at the UW-Madison Business School.

She is a first-rate performer who has won a national prize for performing. While at the UW-Madison’s Mead Witter School of Music, she won both the concerto competition (below) and the Irving Shain competition for wind instruments in duets. (You can hear her amazing technique in the YouTube video at the bottom. In it Ugrcic performs “Voice” for solo flute by the Japanese composer Toru Takemitsu.)

She now plays with the Black Marigold Wind Quintet and Sound Out Loud, both of which are based in Madison and both of which devote themselves to contemporary composers and new music.

This year, Urgcic also soloed with the Middleton Community Orchestra (below, in a photo by John W. Barker), performing to critical acclaim a relatively unknown concerto by 19th-century composer Carl Reinecke.

This year, Urgcic also took over as artistic director of the Rural Musicians Forum, which brings classical music, jazz, world music and ethnic music, played by outstanding performers to the Spring Green area, often at the Taliesin compound of architect Frank Lloyd Wright.

But perhaps her most long-lasting contribution is her founding and now directing the LunART Festival that, in the same year of the Me Too movement, sought to present an all-women event that featured composers, performers, visual artists and writers.

Such was its inaugural success in 2018 that it won a national prize from the National Flute Association and a second festival will take place from June 9 through June 9, 2019.

2019 will also see the release of her second solo recording devoted to the music of the contemporary Romanian composer Doina Rotaru, even while she is working on a recording of “Beer Music” by contemporary American composer Brian DuFord.

And all that is just the beginning for such a promising talent. We will be hearing much more from her and about her in years to come.

To see her impressive biography, as well as updated activities, video and audio clips, photographs and other information, go to: https://www.ivaugrcic.com/bio

Here is one more thing that speaks to The Ear. It feels important, even necessary, to recognize the positive contributions of an immigrant at a time when the current “America First” administration under President Donald Trump seems so paranoid and negative, so xenophobic and afraid of foreigners.

The U.S government should be less intent on condemning or stigmatizing immigrants, whether legal or undocumented, and should put more emphasis on their contributions and on the long and distinguished history they have in the United States.

Iva Urgcic is yet another example of the talent we Americans stand to lose if we do not accept and encourage the gifts that immigrants bring in so many ways — from the arts, medicine, education and technology to everyday life and work.

Please join The Ear is expressing gratitude and congratulations to Iva Urgcic.

Posted in Classical music
Tags: #All-Female, #AmericaFirst, #AmericanComposer, #AmericanImmigration, #ArtisticDirector, #BeerMusic, #BelgradeSerbia, #BelgradeYugoslavia, #BlackMarigold, #BlogPost, #BlogPosting, #BrianDuFord, #BusinessSchool, #CarlReinecke, #ConcertoCompetition, #ContemporaryComposers, #ContemporaryMusic, #DoinaRotaru, #DonaldTrump, #DuetMusic, #EthnicMusic, #EverydayLife, #FacebookPost, #FacebookPosting, #FluteConcerto, #FluteMusic, #FrankLloydWright, #IrvingShain, #IvaUgrcic, #JapaneseComposer, #JazzMusic, #JohnDeMain, #JohnW.Barker, #LivingComposers, #LunARTFestival, #MadisonOpera, #MadisonSymphonyOrchestra, #MadisonWisconsin, #MeadWitterSchoolofMusic, #MeToo, #MeToomovement, #MiddletonCommunityOrchestra, #MiddletonWisconsin, #MusicianoftheYear, #NationalFluteAssociation, #NewMusic, #ParisFrance, #RomanianComposer, #RuralMusiciansForum, #SocialActivism, #SocialActivist, #SoundOutLoud, #SpringGreen, #Taliesincompound, #TheEar, #ThePresident, #ToruTakemitsu, #UnitedStates, #UniversityofWisconsin-Madison, #VisualArtist, #WindMusic, #WomenPerformers, #WorldMusic, #YouTubevideo, 2018, 2019, activist, administration, all-women, America First, architect, architecture, Artistic director, Arts, Audio, awareness, Bach, Baroque, Beer, Belgrade, biography, Black Marigold, blog, Brian DuFord, Business, business school, Carl Reinecke, Chamber music, Classical music, Compact Disc, Competition, composer, concerto, condemn, congratulations, courses, doctorate, Doina Rotaru, Donald Trump, duet, Early music, Education, entrepreneur, ethnic music, everyday life, Facebook, feminism, feminist, flute, flying, foreigner, forward, France, Frank Lloyd Wright, gender, gratitude, Home, immigrant, immigration, inaugural, Irving Shain, Iva Ugrcic, Jacob Stockinger, Japan, Japanese, Jazz, Johann Sebastian Bach, John DeMain, John W. Barker, labor, legal, life, like, link, LunART Festival, Madison, Madison Opera, Madison Symphony Orchestra, Me Too, Mead Witter School of Music, medicine, Middleton, Middleton Community Orchestra, Mozart, Music, Musician, Musician of the Year, national, National Flute Association, New Music, opera, Orchestra, paranoia, paranoid, Paris, People, performer, photographs, pictures, player, poet, post, posting, President Donald Trump, prize, radar, recording, Romania, Romanian, Rural Musicians Forum, Serbia, Serbian, share, shelter, solo, Sound Out Loud, Spring Green, stewardship, stigmatize, Student, tag, Taliesin, technique, technology, The Ear, U.S., undocumented, United States, University of Belgrade, University of Wisconsin-Madison School of Music, University of Wisconsin–Madison, varied, video, voice, Website, winds, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, women, Woodwind quintet, work, World music, Writer, xenophobia, xenophobic, year, YouTube

Classical music: Early music group Eliza’s Toyes offers a fascinating exploration of the role of music in medicine from Medieval though Baroque times.

May 24, 2015
Leave a Comment

By Jacob Stockinger

Here is a special posting, a review written by frequent guest critic and writer for this blog, John W. Barker, who also took the performance photos. Barker (below) is an emeritus professor of Medieval history at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. He also is a well-known classical music critic who writes for Isthmus and the American Record Guide, and who for 12 years hosted an early music show every other Sunday morning on WORT FM 89.9 FM. He serves on the Board of Advisors for the Madison Early Music Festival and frequently gives pre-concert lectures in Madison.

By John W. Barker

Eliza’s Toyes (below top), the consort of voices and instruments devoted to early music, is led by the formidably talented Jerry Hui. The group gave another of its imaginative programs, this time on Friday night at the Wisconsin Institutes for Discovery (below bottom).

The theme and title of this program was “Music: The Miracle Medicine.” Offered were 15 selections, conveying various ideas or beliefs about health (both physical and spiritual), illness, medicine, miracle cures and good living.

Each selection was preceded by the reading of passages from moral and medical texts of various periods. (I wonder if today’s medical and health-advice writings will sound as comical generations from now as do those of the past to us!)

Fifteen composers were represented in the course of the program, from Medieval through Baroque: Hildegard von Bingen (below top, 1098-1179), Alfonso El Sabio (1221-1284), Thomas Tallis (1505-1585), Cipriano da Rore (1516-1565),Hubert Waelrant (1515-1595), Orlando di Lassus (1532-1594), William Byrd (1540-1623), Lelio Bertani (1553-1612), John Wilbye (1574-1638), Gabriel Bataille (1575-1630), Melchior Franck (1579-1639), John Maynard (15??-16??), Anonymous 17th-Century (2 items), Marin Marais (1656-1728) and John Eccles (1668-1735).

The selections were mostly vocal, either solo or ensemble. One instrumental selection stood out as probably the one most likely to be familiar: Marin Marais’ excruciatingly detailed “Representation of the Operation for Gallstone” (below top is Marais, below bottom is the introduction to his work) — complete with narrative headings for each section. (You can hear the narration and the music to the unusual piece in a YouTube video at the bottom.)

The performances were earnest and often accomplished. But it must be said in honesty that, in motets and madrigals, the vocal ensemble was not balanced or smooth — the singers clearly need to live with this kind of musical writing somewhat longer. Still, the overall effect was certainly entertaining and thematically fascinating.

There were no printed programs, but the titles and text translations were projected on a background screen. These projections were fully visible and readable, so they worked well.

This is a program that will be offered again, I understand, at the Chazen Museum of Art on July 15, so that it can be caught and savored once more.

Above all, it is one more tribute to the thoughtful, deeply researched and intriguing program skills of Jerry Hui (below).

Classical music: The early music group Eliza’s Toyes will explore music as medicine in a concert this Friday night at the Wisconsin Institutes for Discovery.

May 18, 2015
Leave a Comment

By Jacob Stockinger

The Ear’s friend Jerry Hui –- a supremely talented individual and graduate of the University of Wisconsin-Madison School of Music who performs, composes and teaches at UW-Stout – sends the following word:

The Madison-based early music group Eliza’s Toyes (below top) has a concert this Friday night, May 22, at 7:30 p.m. at the Wisconsin Institutes for Discovery (below bottom). The concert is titled “Music: The Miracle Medicine.”

Here is an introduction to the program:

“Rediscover the integral role of music as the restorer of health in the early days of medical science during the Medieval, Renaissance and Baroque periods.

“Music has been an integral part of our wellbeing. To this date, many listen to music for its power in relaxation, excitement, and even catharsis. The development of music therapy as a medical profession, as well as increasing research in the physiological and psychological effects of music, signifies our ongoing interest to understand and utilize music.

“As scientists continue to examine music in a utilitarian light, it is worthwhile for us to rediscover how human beings have historically viewed music and its connection with health.”

Tickets will be available at the door: $15 for the general public and $10 for students.

Here is the program, which is organized by theme, and which include singing i English, Latin, French, German and Spanish:

CONCERNING THE FOUR HUMORS

Vos flores rosarum — Hildegard von Bingen (below top, 1098-1179)

Descendi in hortum meum — Cipriano de Rore

Absterge Domine (1575) — Thomas Tallis (1505-1585)

Turn Our Captivity (1611) — William Byrd (below bottom, 1540-1623)

MIRACLES AND REMEDIES

Tantas en Santa María — (Cantigas de Santa Maria)

In principio erat Verbum (1566) — Orlando di Lassus (below, 1532-1594)

Caecus quidam (1558) — Hubert Waelrant (1518-1595)

Gehet hin und saget Johanni wieder — Melchior Franck (1579-1639)

PRACTICING MEDICINE

Le Tableau de l’Opération de la Taille (1725) — Marin Marais (below, 1656-1728; you can hear the piece, with a narration in French, in a YouTube video at the bottom)

Qui veut chasser une migraine — Gabriel Bataille

The nurse’s song — (Pills to Purge Melancholy)

A Wonder: The Physician — John Maynard

GOOD HEALTH THROUGH GOOD LIVING

Chloe found Amyntas lying — (Pills to Purge Melancholy)

My fair Teresa — (Pills to Purge Melancholy)

O Sonno / Ov’e’l silenzio — Marco da Gagliano (1582-1643)

Cara mia Dafne — Lelio Bertani (1553-1612)

Sweet honey sucking bees — John Wilbye (1574-1638)

	Brian Jefferies on Classical music: A major reass…
	welltemperedear on What made Beethoven sick and…
	rlhess5d5b7e5dff on What made Beethoven sick and…
	welltemperedear on Beethoven’s Ninth turns 200…
	Robert Graebner on Beethoven’s Ninth turns 200…

Share this:

Share this:

Share this:

Share this:

Share this:

Share this:

Share this:

Share this:

Share this:

Share this: