The Well-Tempered Ear
YOU MUST HEAR THIS: No piece captures the mixed emotions of Memorial Day better than Charles Ives’ “Decoration Day”
3 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
Today is Memorial Day, 2022.
It is the annual holiday to remember those who died in military service to the country. (Below are flags placed each year at the tombstones in Arlington National Cemetery in Virginia.)
If you want to honor survivors and current service members, that would be Veterans Day on Nov. 11.
All weekend long the radio has been playing music and the television has been showing war movies.
A lot of the music is familiar and repeated every year: Sousa marches and Morton Gould suites, elegies by Gustav Mahler, Samuel Barber, Aaron Copland and Leonard Bernstein; requiems by Mozart and Fauré; a hymn by John Williams and other movie scores. This year has also seen the playlist include rediscovered works of homage by African-American composers such as William Grant Still.
But only this year did The Ear finally hear — thanks to Wisconsin Public Radio — the one piece that, to his mind, best captures Memorial Day with its blending of consonance and dissonance, its mix of major and major keys, of familiar or “found” music and original music.
It is called, simply, “Decoration Day” and it was composed in 1912 — but not published until 1989 — by the 20th-century iconoclastic and early modernist American composer Charles Ives (below, 1874-1954). It ended up as part of a work the composer called “A Symphony: New England Hollidays.”
See if you agree with The Ear.
Listen to the 8-minute performance by “The President’s Own” United States Marine Band in the YouTube video at the bottom.
Listen to the deep anguish and and sense of loss conveyed in the opening, when a solemn remembrance procession goes to a cemetery to plant flags and lay flowers and wreaths to “decorate” the graves of the fallen.
Listen carefully and you will hear a faint version of “Taps” and ringing church bells in the atmospheric music.
Then as so often happens in reality, life suddenly intrudes in the form of a celebration by a loud marching brass band as it leaves the cemetery for the celebratory marches, picnics and fireworks.
But at the end, the darkness briefly returns. The sense of loss lingers long after the actual death and long after the holiday has been celebrated.
There is no closure.
Just resignation.
Just living with loss.
Here is the background from Wikipedia about how the holiday started as Decoration Day after the Civil War and when it evolved into Memorial Day in 1970: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Memorial_Day
And here is biographical background, with the actual sources and depictions of “Decoration Day” — just go down the page to compositions and click — about Charles Ives: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charles_Ives
Did you know and like Charles Ives’ music?
Does “Decoration Day” impress or move you?
What music most embodies Memorial Day for you?
The Ear wants to hear.
Tags: #AaronCopland, #African-AmericanComposer, #ArlingtonNationalCemetery, #BandMusic, #BlackAmericans, #BlogPost, #BlogPosting, #BrassBand, #BrassMusic, #CharlesIves, #ChurchBells, #CivilWar, #DecorationDay, #FacebookPosting, #GabrielFaure, #GustavMahler, #JacobStockinger, #JohnPhilipSousa, #JohnWilliams, #LeonardBernstein, #MajorKey, #MemorialDay, #MilitaryService, #MinorKey, #MixedEmotions, #MortonGould, #NationalPublicRadio, #NewEngland, #OrchestralMusic, #OriginalWork, #SamuelBarber, #TheEar, #ThePresident, #TheU.S., #UnitedStates, #UnitedStatesMarineBand, #USMarines, #VeteransDay, #WarMovies, #Wikipediaentry, #WilliamGrantStill, #WisconsinPublicRadio, #WolfgangAmadeusMozart, #YouTubevideo, 20th-century, 20th-century music, Aaron Copland, actual, African American, American, American Civil War, Ameriuca, anguish, annual, Arlington, Arlington National Cemetery, Arts, atmosphere, atmospheric, audience, background, band, band music, Barber, Bernstein, biographical, black, blog, bottom, brass band, brass music, celebration, celebratory, cemetery, Charles Ives, church, church bells, Civil War, Classical music, Classical Revolution, closure, compose, composer, Composition, Concert, consonance, Copland, darkness, dead, death, Decoration Day, deep, depiction, dissonance, early, Early music, Elegy, embody, emotion, evolution, evolve, Facebook, fallen, familiar, Fascebook, Faure, film, Fireworks, flag, flower, found, Gabriel Fauré, Gould, grave, Gustav Mahler, hear, Holiday, homage, honor, hymn, iconoclast, iconoclastic, impress, information, intrude, Ives, Jacob Stockinger, John Philip Sousa, John Williams, Leonard Bernstein, life, like, linger, listen, living, loss, loud, Mahler, major key, march, Marines, mark, Memorial Day, military, minor key, minute, mixed, modern, modernist, morph, Morton Gould, move, Movies, Mozart, nation, national, National Public Radio, New England, NPR, opening, orchestral, original, performance, picnic, piece, plant, playlist, post, posting, President, procession, psalm, publish, Radio, reality, rediscover, remembrance, repeat, Samuel Barber, score, sense, service, show, solemn, soundtrack, source, sources, Sousa, Still, suddenly, Suite, symphony, Taps, Television, thanks, The Ear, TV, U.S., United State Marine Band, United States, veterans, Veterans Day, video, war, war movies, weekend, Wikipedia, William Grant Still, Williams, wisconsin public radio, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, work, wreaty, year, you, YouTube
WORT-FM 89.9 now has a Monday morning show of modern and contemporary classical music with Paul Baker
Leave a Comment
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
The listener-sponsored, community radio station WORT-FM 89.9 — long a home for classical music from all eras, from the earliest to the newest — has a new program to join its many others about music in all genres and all periods as well as news and commentary about public affairs.
It airs on Monday mornings from 5 a.m. to 8 a.m. with Paul Baker (below, in his WORT studio). He is well-known radio host, music critic and amateur musician.
Baker recently shared with The Ear some insights into his new show “Listen Adventurously”:
Are you still doing your show for WSUM, the student-run FM radio station at the University of Wisconsin-Madison?
I hosted Only Strings on WSUM-FM 91.7 to focus on chamber music at a time when I was taking cello lessons. I wanted to absorb as much chamber music as possible, and preparing for, and hosting, a radio program was one good way to do that. I ended the show in 2019 when I reached the five-year mark.
How did the new WORT show come about?
I’ve been a WORT fan for more than 30 years. I know many of the program hosts and have been in touch with the music director, Sybil Augustine, for some time.
I had hosted a WORT Sunday early morning show briefly about 20 years ago. The Monday morning classical slot recently became available when Christopher Delamarter stepped down, so I raised my hand.
What can you tell us about the content of the show?
The show has been billed as 20th-century classical music. I am extending that to include pieces from the 2000s as well — things written as recently as last year. There is just so much good material. Younger composers and performers deserve to be heard.
So the show will feature Bartok and Shostakovich and Samuel Barber, of course, but also Philip Glass and Arvo Pärt and Jennifer Higdon and Laura Schwendinger (below, who teaches at the UW-Madison’s Mead Witter School of Music and whose music is widely performed) and Chicago’s Third Coast Percussion Ensemble. In my opinion, there’s a lack of local availability to hear this music.
I enjoy sharing music with people. When I worked on campus, I programmed three shows for WSUM-FM. Now that I’m retired, I’m happy to have this opportunity on WORT. The only drawback is that I must get up at 4 a.m. for the 5 a.m. air time. But I’m a morning person, so it’s not that bad.
Editor’s note: If you want to see a sample playlist, as well as WORT’s daily show schedule, here a link to the one from this past Monday: https://www.wortfm.org/on-air-schedule/
Tags: #ArvoPärt, #BelaBartok, #BlogPost, #BlogPosting, #ContemporaryComposer, #ContemporaryMusic, #DmitriShostakovich, #EarlyMorning, #FacebookPost, #FacebookPosting, #JacobStockinger, #JenniferHigdon, #LastYear, #LauraSchwendinger, #MeadWitterSchoolofMusic, #ModernComposers, #ModernMusic, #MusicCritic, #MusicDirector, #NewMusic, #OnlyStrings, #PaulBaker, #PhilipGlass, #RadioHost, #SamuelBarber, #StringMusic, #SybilAugustine, #TheEar, #TheUW, #ThirdCoastPercussion, #UniversityofWisconsin, #WORT-FM89.9, #WSUM-FM 91.7, 20th-century, 20th-century classical music, adventure, alarm, amateur, Arts, Arvo Part, audience, availability, available, Barber, Bartok, Béla Bartók, billed, Campus, cellist, Cello, Chamber music, Chicago, choral music, Classical music, community, composer, Concert, concerto, contemporary, contemporary music, content, critic, Dmitri Shostakovich, drawback, Early music, Facebook, Glass, good, hand, hear, Higdon, host, Jacob Stockinger, Jennifer Higdon, lack, last year, Laura Schwendinger, lessons, link, listen, listener, local, Madison, material, Mead Witter School of Music, modern, modern composers, modern msuic, morning, Music, music critic, Music director, new, New Music, Only Strings, opinion, Orchestra, part, Paul Baker, performer, person, Philip Glass, Piano, playlist, post, postr, program, programmed, programming, Radio, raise, retired, Samuel Barber, schedule, Schwendinger, share, Shostakovich, slot, Sonata, string music, Student, Sunday, Sybil Augustine, symphony, tag, teach, tell, The Ear, Third Coast Percussion, time, United States, University of Wisconsin, University of Wisconsin-Madison School of Music, University of Wisconsin–Madison, UW, Violin, vocal music, Wisconsin, WORT-FM 89.9, WSUM, WSUM 91.7 FM, young, younger
Longtime friends organist Greg Zelek and Madison native and award-winning trumpeter Ansel Norris team up for a FREE live-streamed concert this Tuesday night
1 Comment
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
Two longtime friends and fellow musicians will team up this Tuesday night, April 27, to close this season’s organ concert series, sponsored in the Overture Center by the Madison Symphony Orchestra.
It will be live-streamed online because of the pandemic restrictions on attendance.
The concert features the critically acclaimed MSO organist Greg Zelek (below left) and Ansel Norris (below right), an award-winning trumpeter who is a native of Madison.
The program includes works by Bach, Vivaldi, Haydn and Samuel Barber among others.
The concert starts at 7:30 p.m. CDT. It is FREE but you must register. The concert will be available to registered listeners for unlimited access through May 31.
Here is a link to the MSO website where you can register. It also has more information about the program and biographies of the two performers: https://madisonsymphony.org/event/norris-zelek-2021-streamed/
Here is more background. It appeared in the latest issue of the email newsletter of the Wisconsin Youth Symphony Orchestras (WYSO), of which Norris was a member for many years:
|
Ansel Norris and Greg Zelek first met in 2010 as high school seniors who had both been selected as finalists in the YoungARTS Awards. The YoungARTS Award is a big competition with just a small percentage of students selected for the $10,000 prize from the thousands of high school applicants. In classical music that year, 12 students became finalists and assembled in Miami for a week of master classes with internationally recognized arts leaders. “You know, there really is a synergy with trumpet and organ. The sounds are produced in a similar way and the way the sounds blend together is really special. Even then, I imagined a concert together.” Ten years later, the two friends were dreaming up this concert when Greg was in Miami in February, 2020. And then the world shut down due to the coronavirus pandemic. Norris has distinguished himself as a solo, orchestral and chamber musician. As Greg Zelek (below, in a photo by Peter Rodgers) writes: “Concerti of Bach and Haydn will bookend this program filled with music that is both written and arranged for this electrifying pairing of instruments. Mr. Norris’ remarkable technique and soaring lyricism will be on full display while our Mighty Klais both supports and shimmers in this exhilarating performance you won’t want to miss!” Register here for Tuesday’s concert!
|
Tags: #African-AmericanMusic, #AnselNorris, #AntonioVivaldi, #BaroqueMusic, #BestPerformance, #BlogPost, #BlogPosting, #BolzYoungArtistCompetition, #BrassMusic, #BronzeMedal, #CentralTimes, #ChamberMusic, #CityofMadison, #ClassicalMusician, #ColdWeather, #ConcertoCompetition, #CoralGables, #CoralGablesFlorida, #COVID-19, #CriticallyAcclaimed, #EastHighSchool, #EmailNewsletter, #FacebookPost, #FacebookPosting, #FirstPrize, #FischoffNationalChamberMusicCompetition, #FranzJosephHaydn, #GregZelek, #GrowingUp, #HighSchool, #HomeWebsite, #InternationalTchaikovskyCompetition, #JacobStockinger, #JohannSebastianBach, #JohnAley, #KeyboardMusic, #KlaisOrgan, #LincolnChamberBrass, #MadisonEastHighSchool, #MadisonSymphonyOrchestra, #MadisonWisconsin, #MariinskyOrchestra, #MiamiFlorida, #NaplesFlorida, #NaplesPhilharmonic, #NationalTrumpetCompetition, #NewWorldSchooloftheArts, #NewWorldSymphony, #NorthwesternUniversity, #OnlineConcert, #OrganMusic, #OvertureCenter, #PrizeWinner, #RiceUniversity, #SamuelBarber, #Semi-finals, #SocialDistance, #SouthFlorida, #TheEar, #TrumpetMusic, #VirtualConcert, #WisconsinYouthSymphonyOrchestras, #YouTubevideo, access, acclaimed, accomplished, air, Aley, amazing, American, Ansel Norris, Antonio Vivaldi, applicants, April, Art, Arts, audience, availahle, award-winning, Bach, background, Barber, Baroque, Baroque music, biography, blend, blog, Blog post, blog posting, Bolz Young Artist Competition, bookend, brass, bronze medal, career, CDT, Central Time, Chamber music, Classical music, classicalmusic, cold, cold weather, Competition, composer, Concert, concerto, concerto competition, Coral Gables, crazy, critically acclaimed, cues, depend, display, distinguish, duet, duo, Early music, East High School, eclectic, electifying, email, enjoy, exhilarating, Facebook, Facebook post, Facebook posting, filters, finalist, first prize, Fischoff National Chamber Music Competition, Florida, forward, Franz Joseph Haydn, free, friend, full, great, Greg Zelek, growing up, Haydn, HEPA, high school, himself, home website, imagine, indoors, information, Interlochen, international, International Tchaikovsky Competition, issue, Jacob Stockinger, Johann Sebastian Bach, John Aley, keyboard music, Klais, latest, leaders, legacy, like, Lincoln Chamber Brass, link, listener, live-stream, livestream, living, lojgtime, Love, lyricism, Madison, Madison East High School, Madison Symphony Orchestra, Mariinsky Orchestra, master class, masterclass, May, member, Miami, miss, MSO, Music, Musician, Naples, Naples Philharmonic, National Trumpet Competition, New World School of the Arts, New World Symphony, newsletter, Norris, Northwestern University, online, Orchestra, orchestral, organ, organ music, organist, outside, Overture Center, pairing, perform, performance, performer, pleasure, prize, produce, program, recognize, register, rehearsal, remarkable, Rice University, Samuel Barber, share, shimmers, small, soaring, social distance, solo, Sound, sounds, south Florida, special, stage, story, supports, symphony, synergy, tag, technique, test, The Ear, together, trumpet music, United States, University of Wisconsin-Madison School of Music, University of Wisconsin–Madison, unlimited, virtual, Vivaldi, weather, Website, week, winner, Wisconsin, Wisconsin Youth Symphony Orchestras, WYSO, year, years, YoungARTS, YouTube, Zelek
It’s Thanksgiving Day. Conductor Marin Alsop, NPR, WQXR, WFMT and Wisconsin Public Radio offer music suggestions. What piece would you choose to mark the holiday?
1 Comment
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
Today – Thursday, Nov. 26, 2020 — is Thanksgiving Day.
Right now, the U.S. has had more than 12 million cases of COVID-19 with more than 260,000 deaths plus all the alarming signs and conditions that many more cases and deaths are coming in the next several months.
We might be sad that we can’t be with the family and friends we usually celebrate with. But we nonetheless have many things to give thanks for during this strange and tragic time.
We can thank the vaccine researchers; the doctors and nurses; and the other health care workers who take care of Covid patients, even those who don’t observe precautions and bring on their own illness.
We can thank all kinds of people on the front lines — food and transportation workers, for example — who help protect us and care for us.
We can thank the friends, family and others who stay in touch and help get us through these trying times.
And we can thank technology that makes isolating a lot less unbearable because we have telephones, radios, TVs, CD players, computers, cell phones and virtual online ZOOM meetings and gatherings and various other events including live-streamed concerts.
For The Ear, music has never meant more or brought more comfort than during this difficult year. He is giving thanks for that as well as for the other people and things just mentioned.
So what music should we celebrate this year’s emotionally complicated and mixed Thanksgiving holiday with?
Well, you can Google sources and go to YouTube to find compilations of music appropriate to the holiday. (See one playlist lasting 90 minutes in the YouTube video at the bottom.)
Famed classical radio station WQXR in New York City has five suggestions for being musically grateful: https://www.wqxr.org/story/top-five-expressions-thanks-classical-music/
And WFMT in Chicago is offering 20 suggestions based on holiday food: https://www.wfmt.com/2019/11/25/a-complete-thanksgiving-feast-in-20-food-inspired-pieces/
But here are a couple of other suggestions, some local.
Wisconsin Public Radio (WPR) is always a reliable source. And tomorrow is no exception.
If WPR programming stays true to past patterns, music by American composers will be emphasized.
Plus, starting at 10 a.m. WPR will broadcast performances from the Honors Concerts (below) by middle and high school students around the state and who participate in the Wisconsin School Music Association. This year, for the first time, the performances will be virtual. But as in past years, they are sure to be moving and even inspiring.
Other fine suggestions from the world-famous conductor Marin Alsop (below), a Leonard Bernstein protégée, who recently spoke for 7 minutes to NPR Weekend Edition host Scott Simon.
Here is a link, but you should listen rather than just read the transcript if you want to hear the musical samples: https://www.npr.org/2020/11/21/937448472/this-thanksgiving-put-on-some-music-to-soothe
Do you like any of those suggestions? Were any new to you?
What piece of music would you choose to express gratitude on this particular Thanksgiving?
The Ear wants to hear.
Tags: #AaronCopland, #AmericanComposer, #Americancomposers, #AntoninDvorak, #AntonioVivaldi, #BachCantata, #BlogPost, #BlogPosting, #CellPhone, #ChamberMusic, #CharlesIves, #ChicagoIllinois, #ChoralMusic, #ClassicalMusician, #ClaudioMonteverdi, #CompactDisc, #CompactDiscPlayer, #CoronavirusPandemic, #COVID-19, #FacebookPost, #FacebookPosting, #FourSeasons, #FranzSchbert, #FredericChopin, #FrontlineWorker, #GeorgPhilippTelemann, #GermanRequiem, #GiuseppeVerdi, #Googlesearch, #HappyThanksgiving, #HealthCare, #HenryPurcell, #HighSchool, #JacobStockinger, #JohannesBrahms, #JohannSebastianBach, #JohannStrauss, #KnoxvilleSummer1915, #LeonardBernstein, #LiveStreaming, #LudwigVanBeethoven, #MarinAlsop, #MassGathering, #MiddleSchool, #NationalPublicRadio, #NewYorkCity, #NewYorkTimes, #OnlineConcert, #OperaMusic, #OrchestralMusic, #OsvaldoGolijov, #PeterIlyichTchaikovsky, #PeterTchaikovsky, #RadioStation, #RichardStrauss, #SamuelBarber, #ScottSimon, #Self-Isolation, #SocialDistance, #SocialDistancing, #StringQuartet, #ThanksgivingDay, #ThanksgivingHoliday, #ThanksgivingPlaylist, #TheEar, #TheU.S., #UnitedStates, #VirtualConcert, #VocalMusic, #WeekendEdition, #WFMTRadioStation, #WisconsinPublicRadio, #WisconsinSchoolMusicAssociation, #WolfgangAmadeusMozart, #World-famous, #WQXRradio, #YouTubevideo, #ZoomMeeting, Aaron Copland, air, alarming, Alsop, American, Antonín Dvořák, Antonio Vivaldi, appropriate, Arts, audience, Bach, Barber, Baroque, Beethoven, Bernstein, blog, Brahms, Broadcast, Cantata, care, cases, CDs, celebrate, cell phone, Chamber music, Charles Ives, Chicago, Chopin, choral music, Classical music, classicalmusic, Claudio Monteverdi, comfort, coming, Compact Disc, Compact Disc player, compilation, complicated, composer, computer, Concert, condition, conductor, Copland, coronavirus, deaths, difficult, doctor, doctors, Dvorak, Early music, emotional, event, express, Facebook, Facebook post, Facebook posting, Family, famous, FM, food, forward, Four Seasons, Franz Schubert, Frédéric Chopin, friends, frontline, gathering, Georg Philipp Telemann, German Requiem, Giuseppe Verdi, give, Golijov, Google, grateful, gratitude, Happy Thanksgiving, health care, Henry Purcell, high school, Holiday, honors, host, hymn, ILLINOIS, illness, inspiring, isolating, isolation, Ives, Jacob Stockinger, Johann Sebastian Bach, Johann Strauss, Johannes Brahms, Knoxville Summer 1915, Leonard Bernstein, like, link, listen, live streaming, live-stream, local, Ludwig van Beethoven, Madison, Marin Alsop, mark, meeting, Middle school, million, Monteverdi, months, moving, Mozart, Music, musical, National Public Radio, New York City, NPR, nurse, observe, online, opera, Orchestra, orchestral music, Osvaldo Golijov, pandemic, participate, past, patients, pattern, Peter Ilyich Tchaikovsky, piece, playlist, post, posting, precautions, program, programming, protegee, Purcell, Radio, radio host, radio station, rdio, read, reliable, Requiem, researchers, Richard Strauss, sad, sample, Samuel Barber, Schubert, Scott Simon, service, share, sign, singer, Singing, social distance, social distancing, song, source, speak, strange, Strauss, stream, String quartet, suggestions, summer, symphony, tag, Tchaikovsky, technology, Telemann, telephone, Television, thanks, Thanksgiving, Thanksgiving Day, The Ear, theme, times, touch, traditional, Tragic, transcript, transportation, trying, TV, U.S., unbearable, United States, US, vaccine, Verdi, Viola, Violin, virtual, Vivaldi, vocal msuic, vocal music, we, Weekend Edition, WFMT, wisconsin public radio, Wisconsin School Music Association, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, workers, world, WPR, WQXR, year, YouTube, Zoom
The Pro Arte Quartet plays the fourth installment of its FREE Beethoven string quartet cycle online TONIGHT at 7:30 CDT
Leave a Comment
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
The historic Pro Arte Quartet, in residence at the University of Wisconsin-Madison’s Mead Witter School of Music, will perform the fourth installment of its FREE Beethoven string quartet cycle TONIGHT — Friday, Oct. 23 — at 7:30 p.m. CDT. (It should be posted for about a day, but will not be archived due to copyright considerations.)
Because of the coronavirus pandemic, the live concert will take place online and will be live-streamed without an audience from the Mead Witter Foundation Concert Hall in the new Hamel Music Center.
You can stream it live from https://youtu.be/IhmNRNiI3RM
The whole series of concerts are part of the Pro Arte Quartet’s yearlong retrospective to celebrate the Beethoven Year. This December marks the 250th anniversary of the birth of the composer (below).
Members of the Pro Arte Quartet (below, in a photo by Rick Langer) are: David Perry and Suzanne Beia, violins; Sally Chisholm, viola; and Parry Karp, cello.
A pre-concert lecture by UW-Madison musicology Professor Charles Dill (below, in a photo by Katrin Talbot) starts at 7:30 p.m. CDT.
The program consists of one early and one late quartet: the string Quartet in C Minor, Op. 18 No. 4 (1798-1800), and you can hear the first movement played by the Dover Quartet in the YouTube video at the bottom; and the String Quartet in E-Flat Major, Op. 127 (1825).
The Pro Arte Quartet is one of the world’s most distinguished string quartets. Founded by conservatory students in Brussels in 1912, it became one of the most celebrated ensembles in Europe in the first half of the 20th century and was named Court Quartet to the Queen of Belgium.
Its world reputation blossomed in 1919 when the quartet (below, in 1928) began the first of many tours that enticed notable composers such as Bartok, Barber, Milhaud, Honegger, Martin and Casella to write new works for the ensemble.
The Pro Arte Quartet performs throughout the United States, Europe, and Asia and continues to champion both standard repertoire and new music.
Since being stranded in the U.S. when Belgium was invaded by Hitler and the Nazis in World War II, the group is an ensemble-in-residence at the Mead Witter School of Music and resident quartet of the Chazen Museum of Art.
The quartet, the longest active string quartet in the history of music, has performed at the White House and, during the centennial celebration, played for the King’s Counselor in Belgium.
Recent projects include the complete quartets of Bartok and Shostakovich and, in collaboration with the Orion and Emerson String Quartets, the complete quartets of Beethoven.
Regular chamber music collaborators that perform with Pro Arte include Samuel Rhodes and Nobuko Imai, viola; Bonnie Hampton, cello; and the late Leon Fleischer and Christopher Taylor, piano.
Together since 1995, the quartet has recorded works of Mendelssohn, Dvorak, Rhodes, Shapey, Sessions, Fennelly, Diesendruck, Lehrdahl and the centennial commissions.
For more information and background, go to: https://www.music.wisc.edu/event/pro-arte-quartet-beethoven-string-quartet-cycle-program-iv/
For more about the challenges and modifications – including wearing masks and social distancing — of doing the Beethoven cycle for the virtual online performances and about the other dates and programs in the cycle, go to: https://welltempered.wordpress.com/2020/09/29/classical-music-uw-madisons-pro-arte-quartet-to-resume-its-free-beethoven-cycle-virtual-and-online-this-friday-night-with-two-other-programs-this-semester/
Tags: #20thCentury, #AdolfHitler, #AlfredoCasella, #AntoninDvorak, #ArthurHonegger, #Artists-in-Residence, #BeethovenYear, #BelaBartok, #BlogPost, #BlogPosting, #BonnieHampton, #BrusselsBelgium, #CentralDaylightTime, #ChamberMusic, #CharlesDill, #ChazenMuseumofArt, #ChristopherTaylor, #ClassicalMusician, #CommissionedMusic, #CompactDisc, #CompleteCycle, #ConcertProgram, #CoronavirusPandemic, #COVID-19, #DariusMilhaud, #DavidPerry, #DoverQuartet, #EmersonStringQuartet, #FacebookPost, #FacebookPosting, #FelixMendelssohn, #FrankMartin, #FredLehrdahl, #GuestArtist, #HamelMusicCenter, #HistoricalContext, #HomeWebsite, #JacobStockinger, #JuilliardSchool, #JuilliardStringQuartet, #LeonFleisher, #LiveMusic, #LudwigVanBeethoven, #MadisonSymphonyOrchestra, #MeadWitterFoundationConcertHall, #MeadWitterSchoolofMusic, #MusicalStyle, #MusicProfessor, #Nazi-occupied, #NaziGermany, #NewMusic, #NobukoImai, #OnlineConcert, #OrionStringQuartet, #ParryKarp, #Pre-concertLecture, #ProArteQuartet, #RalphShapey, #RecordedMusic, #RogerSessions, #RoyalConservatory, #SallyChisholm, #SamuelBarber, #SamuelRhodes, #SocialDistancing, #StringQuartet, #SuzanneBeia, #TheEar, #TheU.S., #TheUSA, #TheUW, #TheWhiteHouse, #TokyoJapan, #UnitedStates, #UniversityofWisconsin-Madison, #VirtualConcert, #WhiteHouse, #WisconsinChamberOrchestra, #WorldWarII, #YouTubeChannel, #YouTubevideo, 20th-century, Alfredo Casella, anniversary, Antonín Dvořák, archive, Arthur Honegger, Arts, Asia, audience, background, Barber, Bartok, Béla Bartók, Beethoven, Beethoven Year, birth, blog, blossom, Bonnie Hampton, Brussels, Casella, CDs, CDT, celebrated, cellist, Cello, centennial, Central Daylight Time, challenges, Chamber music, Charles Dill, Chazen Museum of Art, China, Christopher Taylor, Classical music, classicalmusic, collaborator, commission, commissioned, Compact Disc, composer, Concert, conservatory, consideration, copyright, coronavirus, counselor, court, cycle, Darius Milhaud, date, David Perry, day, Diesendruck, distinguished, Dover Quartet, Dvorak, early, Emerson String Quartet, ensemble, Europe, exile, Facebook, Felix Mendelssohn, Fennelly, first, forward, founded, Frank Martin, Fred Lehrdahl, free, guest artist, Hamel Music Center, historic, Hitler, Honegger, information, invaded, invasion, Jacob Stockinger, Japan, Juilliard String Quartet, Julliard School, King, late, lecture, Lehrdahl, Leon Fleisher, like, link, live, live music, live-stream, live-streamed, livestream, Ludwig van Beethoven, Madison, Madison Symphony Orchestra, mark, Martin, mask, masks, Mead Witter Foundation Concert Hall, Mead Witter School of Music, Mendelssohn, Milhaud, modification, movement, muisicians, Music, musical style, Musician, musicology, Nazi, New Music, Nobuko Imai, online, Orion String Quartet, pandemic, Parry Karp, Pianist, Piano, post, posting, Pro Ate Quartet, professor, program, queen, Ralph Shapey, record, recorded music, repertoire, repertory, reputation, residence, retrospective, Rhodes, Roger Sessions, Royal Conservatory, Royal Conservatory in Brussels, Sally Chisholm, Samuel Barber, Samuel Rhodes, series, Sessions, Shapey, share, social distancing, standard, stranded, String quartet, Suzanne Beia, tag, The Ear, The White House, Tokyo, tonight, tour, U.S., United States, University of Wisconsin-Madison School of Music, University of Wisconsin–Madison, US, USA, UW, UW-Madison, Viola, Violin, violinist, violist, violoncello, virtual, Website, White House, Wisconsin, Wisconsin Chamber Orchestra, works, world, World War II, yearlong, YouTube
Classical music: Today is Sept. 11, 2020. Here is music to mark the 19th anniversary of the terrorist attacks during the coronavirus pandemic. What would you choose?
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.
CORRECTION: The Virtual Gala fundraiser for the Handel Aria Competition started last night, and will end on Thursday, Oct. 1 – NOT on Oct. 11, as mistakenly stated in yesterday’s blog headline. Here is a link with more information: https://welltempered.wordpress.com/2020/09/10/classical-music-the-worldwide-virtual-and-online-gala-fundraiser-for-the-handel-aria-competition-starts-today-and-runs-through-oct-10-donations-will-be-matched-up-to-2000/
By Jacob Stockinger
Today marks 19 years since the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001.
For the basic information, here is a Wikipedia summary: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/September_11_attacks
There are many ways to remember and honor the dead and the injured in New York City, the Pentagon in Washington, D.C., and Shanksvillle, Pennsylvania. And in past years, The Ear has offered many different ones.
There are the well-known requiems by Mozart, Brahms, Verdi and Faure; passions by Bach; and other works.
There are also the pieces especially composed for the commemoration, including “On the Transmigration of Souls,” a Pulitzer Prize-winning work by John Adams that incorporates police tapes and phone calls, and Steve Reich’s “WTC 9/11.”
But this year there is the coronavirus to deal with and complicate the commemorations.
Here is a story from NBC News about how the official commemorations, both real and virtual, will be affected by the pandemic.
And somehow in such circumstances, it feels like back to basic is a good approach.
So here, in the YouTube video at the bottom, is the most universal piece of mourning that The Ear knows: American composer Samuel Barber’s “Adagio for Strings” as played by Leonard Slatkin conducting the Detroit Symphony Orchestra.
It serves to mark 9/11 but perhaps also the more than 190,000 American deaths so far from the Covid-19 pandemic.
You can find other versions and other pieces on YouTube:
What piece would you want to hear to mark this sad and solemn occasion?
The Ear wants to hear.
Tags: #AdagioforStrings, #Al-Queda, #AmericanComposer, #BacktoBasics, #BlogPost, #BlogPosting, #ChoralMusic, #CoronavirusPandemic, #COVID-19, #DetroitMichigan, #DetroitSymphonyOrchestra, #FacebookPost, #FacebookPosting, #FaureRequiem, #Flight93, #GabrielFaure, #GeorgeFridericHandel, #GiuseppeVerdi, #HandelAriaCompetition, #JacobStockinger, #JohannesBrahms, #JohannSebastianBach, #JohnAdams, #LeonardSlatkin, #NBCNews, #NewYorkCity, #OntheTransmigrationofSouls, #PulitzerPrize, #SamuelBarber, #September11, #ShanksvillePennsylvania, #SteveReich, #TerroristAttack, #TheEar, #ThePentagon, #TwinTowers, #VirtualConcert, #WashingtonD.C., #Wikipediaentry, #WolfgangAmadeusMozart, #WorldTradeCenter, #YouTubevideo, 2001, 9/11, Adagio for Strings, Adams, Al-Qaeda, American, approach, Arts, attack, audience, Bach, back, back to basics, Barber, Baroque, basics, blog, choose, choral music, circumstances, commemorate, complicate, Concert, conductor, coronavirus, correction, D.C., dead, deadly, death, Detroit, Detroit Symphony Orchestra, Facebook, Faure, Flight 93, fundraiser, Gabriel Fauré, gala, George Frederic Handel, Giuseppe Verdi, good, Handel, Handel Aria Competition, hear, honor, information, injured, injuries, Jacob Stockinger, Johann Sebastian Bach, Johannes Brahms, John Adams, last, Leonard Slatkin, like, link, Madison, marks, Michigan, modern, mourning, Mozart, Music, NBC News, New York City, night, occasion, October, official, On the Transmigration of Souls, online, Orchestra, pandemic, Pennsylvania, Pentagon, performer, piece, post, posting, pre-recorded, Pulitzer Prize, real, Reich, remember, Requiem, sad, Samuel Barber, Sept. 11, September 11, Shanksville, share, solemn, start, Steve Reich, summary, symphony, tag, terror, terrorist, The Ear, today, Twin Towers, United States, Verdi, virtual, vocal music, want, Washington, Wikipedia, Wisconsin, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, work, World Trade Center, WTC, years, yesterday, YouTube
Classical music: Today is the Fourth of July. Here are two extended playlists of American masterpieces
1 Comment
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
Today is Independence Day – the Fourth of July holiday.
It is a good occasion to listen to classical music by American composers (below), which you can hear much of the day on Wisconsin Public Radio.
But here are two other extended playlists of American classical music:
Here, thanks to a California radio station, is a list with complete performances of some of the best American masterpieces, including the “New World” Symphony by Antonin Dvorak, the “Afro-American” Symphony by William Grant Still (below), “Rhapsody in Blue” by George Gershwin and “Symphonic Dances from West Side Story” by Leonard Bernstein:
And thanks to Minnesota Public Radio, here are four hours of patriotic music for the holiday: https://www.classicalmpr.org/story/2018/06/29/celebrate-the-fourth-of-july-with-our-4hour-patriotic-classical-playlist
Finally, in the YouTube at the bottom is the “American” String Quartet by Antonin Dvorak (below), who summered in Spillville, Iowa. He loved hearing and tried to capture sounds of nature, including bird songs, traditional Black spirituals and music by Native Americans.
The Ear especially likes it because it is proof that just as Americans have been influenced by European composers, European composers, European composers have been influenced by American composers.
Do you have a special or favorite piece of classical music to help celebrate the Fourth of July?
What do you like about it?
Leave a comment with a YouTube link if possible?
The Ear wants to hear.
Tags: #AaronCopland, #African-AmericanComposer, #African-AmericanMusic, #AfricanHeritage, #AmericanComposer, #AmericanPatriotism, #AmericanStringQuartet, #AmyBeach, #AntoninDvorak, #BirdSongs, #BlogPost, #BlogPosting, #ChamberMusic, #EuropeanComposer, #FacebookPost, #FacebookPosting, #FlorencePrice, #FourthofJuly, #IndependenceDay, #JacobStockinger, #JohnPhilipSousa, #JohnWilliams, #July4, #JulyFourth, #LeonardBernstein, #NativeAmerican, #NegroSpiritual, #NewWorldSymphony, #PianoConcero, #RhapsodyinBlue, #SamuelBarber, #StreamingService, #StringQuartet, #TheEar, #TheU.S., #UnitedStates, #VocalMusic, #WestSideStory, #WilliamGrantStill, #WisconsinPublicRadio, #YouTubevideo, Aaron Copland, African American, American, American String Quartet, Amy Beach, Antonín Dvořák, Arts, Barber, beach, bird songs, blog, blue, California, celebrate, Cello, Chamber music, choral music, Classical music, classicalmusic, comment, complete, composer, concerto, conductor, Copland, dances, day, Dvorak, Europe, European, Facebook, favorite, Florence Price, forward, Fourth of July, George Gershwin, georgegershwin, Gershwin, good, hear, Holiday, Independence Day, Independence Day (United States), influence, Iowa, Jacob Stockinger, John Philip Sousa, John Williams, July 4, Leonard Bernstein, like, link, list, Love, Madison, march, Minnesota, Music, Native American, Native American music, nature, new, New World Symphony, occasion, online, opera, Orchestra, patriotic, patriotism, performance, Piano, piece, playlist, post, posting, proof, Radio, rhapsody, Rhapsody in Blue, S., Samuel Barber, share, Sound, Sousa, special, spiritual, Spotify, Still, stream, String quartet, summer, symphony, tag, The Ear, today, U, United States, Violin, vocal music, West Side Story, Willian Grant Still, Wisconsin, wisconsin public radio, world, WPR, YouTube
Classical music: The prize-winning critic Alex Ross grieves to Brahms. What composer and piece would you choose to mourn the tragedies of the past week?
6 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
This past week feels like a week that deserves mass grieving.
Of course, there was the life-changing, historic landmark of surpassing, in only a few months, more than 100,000 deaths from COVID-19 during the coronavirus pandemic in the United States.
There were the spikes in new COVID-19 cases and deaths following the opening up from lockdowns and the mass gatherings over the Memorial Day holiday weekend, such as the party at the Lake of the Ozarks (below) in Missouri.
Then there was the tragic, racist death — an alleged murder — of George Floyd by the police and the ensuing rioting, violence and additional death in Minneapolis as well as the seven shootings among protesters in Louisville.
And depending of your political point of view, there were the incidents of White House threats against social media, especially Twitter, for simply telling the truth or at least directing viewers to it.
So what can one say about these sad events and sad times with music?
Well, not too long ago Alex Ross (below), the prize-winning and internationally respected music critic for The New Yorker magazine, wrote an engaging and moving essay about why he finds Brahms to be the perfect composer for grieving and mourning.
He mentions other composers as possibilities, including Bach, Haydn, Mozart, Beethoven and Schubert.
But Ross still finds Brahms more suited for several reasons. He even cites a favorite performance of a Brahms short, late Intermezzo by the Romanian pianist Radu Lupu. (You can hear that performance in the YouTube video at the bottom.)
Here is a link: https://www.newyorker.com/culture/cultural-comment/grieving-with-brahms
What composers – and what pieces or performances – do you find best for grieving? For marking loss?
Read the essay, listen to the music.
Then let us know in the comment section what music – perhaps Samuel Barber’s Adagio for Strings? – that you would want to listen to during sad occasions.
The Ear wants to hear.
Tags: #AdagioforStrings, #AlexRoss, #BlogPost, #BlogPosting, #ChamberMusic, #ClassicalRecording, #COVID-19, #DonaldJ.Trump, #FacebookPost, #FacebookPosting, #FranzJosephHaydn, #FranzSchubert, #HomeWebsite, #JacobStockinger, #JohannesBrahms, #JohannSebastianBach, #LakeoftheOzarks, #LouisvilleKentucky, #LudwigVanBeethoven, #MassGathering, #MemorialDay, #MinneapolisMinnesota, #MusicCritic, #NewYorkCity, #OpeningUp, #PianoMusic, #PoliceOfficers, #PresidentDonaldTrump, #PresidentTrump, #Prize-Winning, #PublicHealth, #RaduLupu, #SamuelBarber, #SocialMedia, #StringMusic, #TheEar, #TheNewYorker, #TheNewYorkerMagazine, #TheU.S., #UnitedStates, #WhiteHouse, #WolfgangAmadeusMozart, #YouTubevideo, Adagio for Strings, Alex Ross, alleged, American, Arts, audience, Bach, Barber, Beethoven, blog, Brahms, Chamber music, Classical music, comment, composer, Concert, coronavirus, critic, death, engaging, essay, event, Facebook, favorite, Franz Joseph Haydn, Franz Schubert, gathering, grief, grieve, grieving, Haydn, historic landmark, History, Holiday, intermezzo, internationally, Jacob Stockinger, Johann Sebastian Bach, Johannes Brahms, lake, Lake of the Ozarks, landmark, late, life-changing, like, link, listen, lockdown, loss, Louisville, Ludwig van Beethoven, magazine, mass, mass gathering, Memorial Day, Minneapolis, mourning, moving, Mozart, murder, Music, music critic, New York City, New Yorker, occasion, opening up, Orchestra, Ozark, pandemic, party, past, performance, performer, Pianist, Piano, piano music, police, post, posting, President, protester, Public health, racist, Radu Lupu, reason, recording, respect, riot, sad, sadness, Samuel Barber, Schubert, share, shooting, shootings, simple, simply, social media, spike, string, strings, surpass, tag, tell, The Ear, The White House, threat, tragedy, Tragic, Trump, truth, Twitter, U.S., United States, violence, Website, week, weekend, White House, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, YouTube
Classical music: Acclaimed local soprano Sarah Brailey explains why performing artists and presenters need help during the COVID-19 pandemic
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
Sarah Brailey (below) is worried.
And with good reason.
Chances are good that you have seen the local soprano or heard her sing.
She is the artistic director of the Handel Aria Competition, which she herself won in 2015. (In the YouTube video at the bottom, you can hear Brailey sing the aria “Will the Sun Forget to Streak” from Handel’s oratorio “Solomon,” with the Trinity Baroque Orchestra under conductor Julian Wachner, in the St. Paul Chapel in New York City.)
Brailey is a co-founder of and participant in the monthly free Just Bach concerts here. In addition, while pursuing graduate studies at the UW-Madison, she is a concert artist with a budding international career. For more about her, including a rave review from The New York Times and sample videos, go to: https://sarahbrailey.com
But right now the Wisconsin native is especially concerned about the lasting impact that the Coronavirus pandemic will have on her own career as well as on the careers of others like her and on the well-being of arts presenters.
Brailey (below, in photo by Miranda Loud) sent The Ear the following essay:
By Sarah Brailey
This is a scary time for everyone, but particularly for anyone who works as an independent contractor.
I am a freelance classical soprano based in Madison. I maintain a very active performing career, traveling all over the globe, and I am also a doctoral student at the UW-Madison Mead Witter School of Music.
When COVID-19 hit the United States, presenting organizations on the east and west coasts started canceling concerts to comply with social distancing recommendations.
I initially thought I was lucky to be living in the middle of the country where our lesser population density might save us. Plus, I am a Teaching Assistant at the UW right now, so I will still be getting my stipend — although teaching virtual voice lessons will be its own special challenge!
But many of my colleagues are not so lucky and are facing bankruptcy. If the government doesn’t include independent contractors in its relief packages, a lot of people are going to be insolvent.
And I myself am not immune. As the seriousness of the situation became clear, all my concerts in the next two months soon disappeared one by one.
While not being able to perform is emotionally devastating, these cancellations are also financially devastating.
There exists a clause in every standard performance contract called “force majeure” (superior force), which is idiomatically referred to as, “an act of God.” This clause excuses a party from not honoring its contractual obligations that becomes impossible or impracticable, due to an event or effect that the parties could not have anticipated or controlled.
This can come in handy for a presenter if there is, say, a blizzard that necessitates the cancellation of a concert. (This happened to me a few seasons ago with the Boston Symphony.) If the presenter will not make any money on ticket sales, they are not then further injured by having to pay the musicians for the canceled concert. (Below, Brailey sings Samuel Barber’s “Knoxville: Summer of 1915” with the Colorado Symphony.)
The ramifications of this pandemic are unprecedented. Every freelance musician I know is suddenly out of work. The current conventions put all of the upfront financial burden on the artists. We are paid in one lump sum at the end of a project. We do not get a fee for the countless hours of preparation.
We often book travel and lodging on our own dime, and are not reimbursed until the end of the gig. We pay for our own health insurance, and we cannot file for unemployment because our work is paid via IRS Form 1099 and not W2s. The abrupt work stoppage caused by this pandemic means insolvency – or even bankruptcy — for many artists. (Below, Brailey sings Handel’s “Messiah” at the famed Trinity Church on Wall Street in New York City.)
Many institutions — and, unfortunately, many of the bigger players like The Metropolitan Opera — are invoking force majeure without much regard for how their artists are struggling.
My colleague, tenor Zach Finkelstein, is covering this in great detail on his blog The Middle Class Artist, as is Alex Ross, the prize-winning music critic for The New Yorker. Read his piece on force majeure here.
However, there are also thankfully some good stories to tell. The Bach Society of Minnesota reimbursed all my travel expenses and is paying 75 percent of my fee, as is the Lyra Baroque Orchestra.
I am helping Zach keep track of the organizations that are helping their artists in this time of need. (Read about them here. Madison Opera is on the list.)
The arts are not just cultural enrichment; they are an essential part of our economy. In 2017, the industry contributed $877.8 billion, or 4.5 percent, to U.S. Gross Domestic Product (GDP) and employed over 5 million workers. We cannot afford to let this industry disappear. I fear that many individual artists and arts organizations will not recover from this. (Below, Brailey sings Johann Sebastian Bach’s “Magnificat” at the Bucknell Bach Festival.)
While we wait out this storm, I implore you to donate to a Madison arts organization. Here is a short list of recommendations along with some national relief funds for artists.
Local Arts Organizations
Tags: #ActofGod, #AlexRoss, #ArtisticDirector, #artsorganization, #ArtsPresenters, #BachFestival, #BachSocietyofMinnesota, #BaroqueMusic, #BaroqueOratorio, #BigPlayer, #BlogPost, #BlogPosting, #BostonSymphony, #BucknellUniversity, #ChoralMusic, #ChristianChurch, #ClassicalMusician, #ColoradoSymphony, #ConcertArtist, #COVID-19, #CriticalAcclaim, #CulturalEnrichment, #DoctoralDegree, #EastCoast, #FacebookPost, #FacebookPosting, #FederalGovernment, #ForceMajeure", #ForceW2, #Form1099, #GeorgeFridericHandel, #GoodReason, #GraduateStudent, #GrossDomesticProduct, #Handel'sMessiah, #Handel'sSolomon, #HandelAriaCompetition, #HomeWebsite, #IndependentContractor, #InternalRevenueService, #JacobStockinger, #JohannSebastianBach, #JulianWachner, #JustBach, #Knoxville:Summerof1915, #LumpSum, #LyraBaroqueOrchestra, #MadisonBachMusicians, #MadisonEarlyMusicFestival, #MadisonOpera, #MadisonYouthChoirs, #MeadWitterSchoolofMusic, #MetropolitanOpera, #MusicCritic, #MusicLessons, #MusicReview, #NativeAmerican, #NewYork, #NewYorkCity, #OutofWork, #PopulationDensity, #Prize-Winning, #RaveReview, #SamuelBarber, #SarahBrailey, #SocialDistance, #SocialDistancing, #SopranoSinger, #TeachingAssistant, #TenorSinger, #TheEar, #TheMagnificat, #TheMet, #TheMiddleClassArtist, #TheNewYorker, #TheNewYorkTImes, #TheU.S., #TicketSales, #timeofneed, #TravelExpenses, #TrinityChurch, #U.S.Government, #UnitedStates, #VocalMusic, #VoiceLessons, #WallSt., #WallStreet, #WestCoast, #ZachFinkelstein, abrupt, acclaim, act, Act of God, active, afford, Alex Ross, anticipate, aria, artist, Artistic director, Arts, arts organization, arts presenter, arts presenters, audience, Bach, Bach Society of Minnesota, bankrupt, bankruptcy, Barber, Baroque, Baroque music, big player, blizzard, blog, Book, booking, Boston Symphony, Boston Symphony Orchestra, Bucknell, Bucknell University, budding, burden, cancellation, career, challenge, Chamber music, chances, chapel, choral music, Christian, church, Classical, Classical music, classicalmusic, clause, colleagues, Colorado, Colorado Symphony, comply, composer, Concert, concert artist, conductor, contract, contractor, contractual, control, conventions, coronavirus, country, coutnless, covering, cultural, cultural enrichment, detail, devastating, dime, disappear, doctoral, donate, donation, Early music, East Coast, economic, economy, effect, emotion, employ, emtoionally, end, enrichment, essay, essential, event, expenses, face, Facebook, famed, fear, federal government, fee, file, financial, force, force majeure, form, Form 1099, Form W2, forward, founder, free, freelance, freelancer, fund, GDP, George Frideric Handel, gig, globe, God, good, good reason, governent, graduate student, great, greater, gross domestic product, Handel, Handel Aria Competition, handy, help, home website, honor, hours, idiom, immune, impact, implore, impossible, impractical, independent, industry, injure, insolvency, insolvent, institution, Internal Revenue Service, international, IRS, Jacob Stockinger, Johann Sebastian Bach, Julian Wachner, Just Bach, Knoxville, Knoxville: Summer of 1915, lasting, like, link, list, living, local, lodging, lucky, lump sum, Lyra Baroque Orchestra, Madison, Madison Bach Musicians, Madison Early Music Festival, Madison Opera, Madison Youth Choirs, Magnificat, Mead Witter School of Music, MEMF, Messiah, Metropolitan Opera, Minnesota, money, month, Music, music critic, music lessons, music review, Musician, myself, national, native, necessitate, need, New York, New York City, obligation, opera, oratorio, Orchestra, organization, out of work, own, package, pandemic, participant, parties, party, pay, performer, performing, piece, population, population density, post, posting, preparation, presenter, project, ramifications, rave, rave review, reader, recommendation, recover, reimburse, relief, review, sales, sample, Samuel Barber, Sarah Brailey, scary, seriousness, share, sing, singer, Singing, situation, social distance, social distancing, Solomon, song, soprano, special, St. Paul, stipend, stoppage, storm, struggling, subscriber, suddenly, summer, sun, Superior, symphony, TA, tag, tax, teaching assistant, tenor, The Boston Globe, The Ear, the Met, The Middle Class Artist, The New York Times, The New Yorker, ticket, ticket sales, time, time of need, travel, travel expenses, Trinity Church, U.S., unemployment, United States, University of Wisconsin-Madison School of Music, University of Wisconsin–Madison, unprecedented, UW, UW-Madison, video, virtual, virus, vocal music, voice, voice lessons, wait, Wall St., Wall Street, Website, well-being, west coast, winner, Wisconsin, work, workers, worried, worry, YouTube, Zach Finkelstein
Recent Comments
 | 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… |
The Well-Tempered Ear 
Going live! Here are some links to newly announced summer concerts and 2021-22 seasons
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
Get out your datebooks.
Now that the pandemic is fast abating, at least locally, music groups and music presenters in the Madison area have been announcing a return to live music and their new seasons and summer events in a relentless way.
The Ear had been out of commission since mid-May until this week. But in any case, The Ear was overwhelmed and just couldn’t keep up with a separate post for each one.
Still, he thought it might be helpful to be able to check the dates, performers, programs, tickets and other information in one place.
Remember that the Madison Early Music Festival is no more. It has been absorbed into the regular music curriculum at the UW.
Please know that many groups – including, but not limited to, the University of Wisconsin-Madison’s Mead Witter School of Music (below is the UW Symphony Orchestra — masked, socially distanced and virtually streamed — during the pandemic), University Opera, Edgewood College, Just Bach, Grace Presents, the Salon Piano Series, the First Unitarian Society of Madison, Bach Around the Clock, the Festival Choir of Madison, the Wisconsin Chamber Choir and the Madison Bach Musicians – have not yet released details of their new seasons.
But most of their websites say that an announcement of their new season is coming soon.
There are also some trends you may notice.
Many of the groups are raising prices and persistently seek donations as well as subscribers, no doubt to help make up for the loss of revenue during the pandemic.
The Madison Symphony Orchestra and the Wisconsin Chamber Orchestra have reduced the number of concerts or start later.
Some have simply rescheduled events, like the Wisconsin Union Theater closing its season with soprano Renée Fleming. And the Madison Symphony Orchestra’s new season is largely the same one they were planning to have to celebrate the Beethoven Year in 2020-21.
The Bach Dancing and Dynamite Society, the Middleton Community Orchestra and the Willy Street Chamber Players all have pop-up concerts and scheduled outdoor concerts in parks. Some have also scheduled individual mini-concerts or personal sessions.
If you look at programs, you will see an emphasis on Black composers and performers by almost all groups. (The Madison Symphony Orchestra has scheduled “Lyric for Strings” by George Walker, below. You can hear it performed by the Los Angeles Philharmonic under Gustavo Dudamel in the YouTube video at the bottom.)
What is most disappointing is that no group seems to have announced a special concert or event to pay homage to the public ordeal, health care workers and victims of the COVID-19 pandemic.
The Ear keeps thinking a performance of a suitable requiem (by perhaps Mozart, Faure, Brahms, Verdi or Britten) or Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony would have been an appropriate way to start the in-person season and, at the same time, acknowledge the more than 7,000 deaths in Wisconsin and almost 600,000 deaths in the U.S. and almost 4 million worldwide as of now. Maybe even Barber’s overplayed Adagio for Strings would suffice.
Finally, very few groups seem to be offering online virtual concert attendance as a possibility for those listeners who found that they actually enjoyed at least some the music in their own homes and at their own times.
IN ANY CASE, HERE IS WHAT HAS ALREADY TAKEN PLACE OR IS STILL ON TAP. CHECK IT OUT!
Bach Dancing and Dynamite Society in free live and for-pay recorded concerts: https://bachdancing.org
Middleton Community Orchestra’s summer concerts at Fireman’s Park (below) in Middleton: https://middletoncommunityorchestra.org
Madison Bach Musicians summer workshops (below): https://madisonbachmusicians.org/2021-summer-chamber-music-workshop/
Concerts on the Square with limited paid admission at Breese Stevens Field (below): https://wcoconcerts.org/concerts-tickets/concerts-on-the-square
Madison Symphony Orchestra (below, in a photo by Peter Rodgers): https://madisonsymphony.org/concerts-events/madison-symphony-orchestra-concerts/
Madison Opera and Opera in the Park (below): https://www.madisonopera.org/oitp21/; and https://www.madisonopera.org/21-22/
Wisconsin Union Theater: https://union.wisc.edu/visit/wisconsin-union-theater/seasonevents/concert-series/
Willy Street Chamber Players (below) at Orton Park: http://www.willystreetchamberplayers.org/2021-summer-concert-series.html
If you know of more entries or have observations to make about these, please leave word and, when possible, a link in the comment section.
The Ear wants to hear.
Share this:
Tags: #AdagioforStrings, #African-AmericanComposer, #AncoraStringQuartet, #BachAroundtheClock, #BachDancingandDynamiteSociety, #BeethovenYear, #BenjaminBritten, #BlackComposer, #Blackcomposers, #BlogPost, #BlogPosting, #BreeseStevensField, #ChristianChurch, #CollageNewMusic, #ConcertsontheSquare, #CoronavirusPandemic, #COVID-19, #EdgewoodChamberOrchestra, #FacebookPost, #FacebookPosting, #FestivalChoirofMadison, #FiremansPark, #GabrieFaure, #GiuseppeVerdi, #GraceEpiscopalChurch, #GracePresents, #GustavoDudamel, #HealthCare, #JacobStockinger, #JohannesBrahms, #JohannSebastianBach, #JustBach, #LiveMusic, #LosAngeles, #LosAngelesPhilharmonic, #MadisonBachMusicians, #MadisonEarlyMusicFestival, #MadisonOpera, #MadisonSymphonyOrchestra, #MeadWitterSchoolofMusic, #MiddletonCommunityOrchestra, #MusicEducation, #NewMusic, #NinthSymphony, #OperaInThePark, #OrtonPark, #RecordedMusic, #RenéeFleming, #SalonPIanoSeries, #SamuelBarber, #ShannonHall, #SocialDistance, #SopranoSinger, #StringMusic, #StringQuartet, #TakePlace, #TheEar, #TheU.S., #TheUW, #UnitedStates, #UniversityofWisconsin-Madison, #UniversityOpera, #UWSymphonyOrchestra, #WillyStreetChamberPlayers, #WisconsinChamberChoir, #WisconsinChamberOrchestra, #WisconsinUnionTheater, #YouTubeChannel, #YouTubevideo, abate, absorb, acknowledge, Adagio for Strings, admission, African American, America, Ancora String Quartet, Arts, audience, Bach, Bach Around the Clock, Bach Dancing and Dynamite Society, Barber, Baroque, BDDS, Beethoven, Beethoven Year, Benjamin Britten, black, black composer, blog, Blog post, blog posting, Brahms, Breese Stevens Field, Britten, celebrate, Chamber music, choral music, Christia, church, Classical music, comment, commission, composer, Concert, concerto, Concerts on the Square, coronavirus, COS, curriculum, death, deaths, details, donation, Dudamel, Early music, Edgewood College, enjoy, entry, Facebook, Facebook page, Facebook post, fast, Faure, Festival Choir of Madison, Firemans Park, for-pay, forward, free, funding, Gabriel Fauré, Giuseppe Verdi, Grace Episcopal Church, Grace Presents, group, Gustavo Dudamel, health care, homage, Home, indoors, information, Jacob Stockinger, Johann Sebastian Bach, Johannes Brahms, Just Bach, later, like, limited, link, listener, live music, live-stream, local, Los Angeles, Los Angeles Philharmonic, loss, Ludwig van Beethoven, Madison, Madison Bach Musicians, Madison Early Music Festival, Madison Opera, Madison Symphony Orchestra, mask, MCO, Mead Witter School of Music, MEMF, Middleton, Middleton Community Orchestra, Mozart, Music, Music education, new, New Music, Ninth Symphony, notice, opera, Opera in the Park, Orchestra, ordeal, Orton Park, outdoors, overplay, Overture Center, overwhelm, overwhelming, paid, pandemic, performers, persistent, personal, Pianist, Piano, pop-up, presenter, price, program, public, recorded music, Renée Fleming, Requiem, revenue, Salon Piano Series, Samuel Barber, schedule, Season, seating, seek, separate, Shannon Hall, share, singer, Singing, social distance, Sonata, soprano, start, stream, string music, String quartet, strings, subscriber, suffice, summer, symphony, tag, take place, tap, The Ear, ticket, tickets, times, trend, U.S., United State, United States, University of Wisconsin-Madison School of Music, University of Wisconsin–Madison, University Opera, UW, UW Symphony Orchestra, Verdi, victim, Violin, vocal music, Website, Willy Street Chamber Players, Wisconsin, Wisconsin Chamber Choir, Wisconsin Chamber Orchestra, Wisconsin Union Theater, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, workers, workshop, YouTube