The Well-Tempered Ear
Did any composer ever capture the quiet, timeless and motionless cold of deep winter better than Debussy?
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
It was one of those deep subzero days of the polar vortex that we seem locked in now right now.
The Ear looked out a window.
It was a chilly scene of winter, as the American writer Ann Beattie once described it.
The Ear saw the snow piled up.
He listened to the windless quiet.
Time, like motion, seemed to stop– or at least slow down — in the severe cold.
He saw tracks in the snow.
He couldn’t say whether they came from a rabbit or a squirrel or some other critter.
But it brought to mind a piano prelude by Debussy (below) that contains a kind of frozen minimalism.
Life was once again imitating art, as Oscar Wilde once observed, remarking that “there was no fog in London until the Impressionists painted it.”
Has any piece ever captured the cold, the quiet, the feeling of time and motion slowing down or stopping as Debussy did in “Des pas dans la neige” (Tracks in the Snow)?
Especially as it was played by Arturo Benedetti Michelangeli (below) who, like Sviatoslav Richter, wasn’t afraid to risk taking a slower-than-usual tempo if it right felt right and created the appropriate atmosphere. (You can hear Michelangeli playing the Debussy prelude in the YouTube video at the bottom.)
Do you agree about the Debussy piece?
About Michelangeli’s interpretation?
Do you know of another piece that captures the Arctic cold spell we are in?
Please leave a comment and a YouTube link, if possible.
The Ear wants to hear.
Stay safe and warm.
Tags: #AnnBeattie, #ArturoBenedettiMichelangeli, #BlogPost, #BlogPosting, #ClaudeDebussy, #ContemporaryChamberEnsemble, #FacebookPost, #FacebookPosting, #GreatBritain, #JacobStockinger, #LondonEngland, #MinimalistMusic, #MusicalInterpretation, #OscarWilde, #PolarVortex, #QuietDesperation, #RightNow, #SlowDown, #SviatoslavRichter, #TheEar, #TheImpressionists, #TheU.S., #Tracksinthe Snow, #YouTubevideo, afraid, agree, America, American, Ann Beattie, Arctic, Art, Arts, Arturo Benedetti Michelangeli, atmosphere, audience, Beattie, blog, capture, chilly, Classical music, Claude Debussy, composer, critter, Debussy, deep]day, describe, England, Facebook, Facebook post, Facebook posting, fear, feel, fog, forward, frozen, Great Britain, imitate, Impressionists, interpretation, Jacob Stockinger, like, link, listen, lock, locked, London, Madison, Michelangeli, minimalism, minimalist, motion, Music, observe, Oscar Wilde, paint, performer, Pianist, Piano, piece, pile, Polar Vortex, post, posting, Prelude, quiet, rabbit, remark, Richter, right now, risk, safe, saw, say, scene, see, severe, share, slow down, snow, squirrel, stay, stop, subzero, Sviatoslav Richter, tag, Tempo, The Ear, time, track, tracks, Tracks in the Snow, U.S., UK, United States, warm, Wilde, Wind, windless, window, winter, Wisconsin, work, Writer, YouTube
Today is Veterans Day. Here is some appropriate music by Beethoven to mark it. Can you guess which piece? What composer or music would you choose?
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 – Wednesday, Nov. 11, 2020 – is Veterans Day.
It started out as Armistice Day in 1918 when the end of World War I was declared to take place on the 11th hour of the 11th day of the 11th month.
It is a day to mark the service of all veterans – not just those who died in the line of duty, as is celebrated on Memorial Day.
You can find a lot of choice of classical music to play for Veterans Day. Here is one link to a compilation that features patriotic songs and marches: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BJepYzH1VUY
But The Ear settled on Beethoven (below, in an 1815 portrait by Joseph Willebrord Maehler).
Can you guess which piece?
It is not the memorable funeral marches on the Piano Sonata in A-Flat, Op. 26, or the Symphony No. 3 “Eroica.”
It is also not the “Sacred Hymn of Thanksgiving” in the String Quartet, Op. 132.
And it is not “Wellington’s Victory” or the “Egmont” Overture or the Piano Concerto No. 5 “Emperor” with its triumphant fast movements.
Instead it is the second movement of the Symphony No. 7 in A Major, Op. 92. (You can hear it see it represented graphically in the YouTube video at the bottom.)
That is the very well known Allegretto movement with its repetitious and almost hypnotizing, soaring theme. It seems like a funeral march, full of introspection, poignancy and sadness, that is a bit brisker and more lyrical than usual.
It is so popular, in fact, that it has been used as a soundtrack in many movies, including “The King’s Speech” and has inspired works based on it including the “Fantasia on an Ostinato” by the contemporary American composer John Corigliano.
If it seems an unexpected choice, you just need to know more about its history.
It was composed 1811-1812, and Beethoven correctly considered it one of his finest works. So did Richard Wagner who famously described as the “apotheosis of the dance” for the infectious rhythms throughout the symphony.
At its premiere in Vienna, in his introductory remarks Beethoven said: “We are moved by nothing but pure patriotism and the joyful sacrifice of our powers for those who have sacrificed so much for us.”
Beethoven (below, in 1815 as depicted in a paining the Joseph Willibrord Maehler) premiered the symphony at a charity concert in 1813 to help raise money for the Austrian and Bavarian soldiers who had been wounded at the Battle of Hanau while fighting against France during the Napoleonic Wars.
It was so popular with the first performance that the audience demanded and received an immediate encore performance of the second movement.
Here is a Wikipedia link to the history of the symphony: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Symphony_No._7_(Beethoven)
To this day, the Seventh Symphony, so charged with energy, remains for many people, conductors and orchestral players their favorite Beethoven symphony.
It is ironic that Leonard Bernstein (below, in a photo by Paul de Hueck) performed the Seventh Symphony at the last concert he ever conducted – at the Tanglewood Festival in August 1990. He took the second movement at a slower-than-usual tempo and many have criticized Bernstein, who was in terrible health, and have suggested that he was using it as a funeral march or homage for himself.
They may be right. But in retrospect the choice of Bernstein – who died two months later — finds a certain justification in the original motive for the entire symphony and especially the second movement.
Listen for yourself.
Then tell us what you think.
Does this movement justify it being played on Veterans Day?
What music would you choose to mark the day?
What do you think of the Symphony No. 7 in general and the second movement in particular?
The Ear wants to hear.
Tags: #ArmisticeDay, #BlogPost, #BlogPosting, #EgmontOverture, #EmperorConcerto, #EroicaSymphony, #FacebookPost, #FacebookPosting, #FantasiaonanOstinato, #FilmSoundtrack, #FuneralMarch, #HealthEmergency, #JacobStockinger, #JohnCorigliano, #LeonardBernstein, #LivingComposer, #LudwigVanBeethoven, #MemorialDay, #MovieSoundtrack, #MusicCritic, #NapoleonicWars, #NewMusic, #OperaMusic, #OrchestralPlayers, #PianoConcerto, #PianoMusic, #PianoSonata, #RichardWagner, #SacredHymnofThanksgiving, #SeventhSymphony, #SlowMovement, #StringQuartet, #TanglewoodFestival, #TanglewoodMusicCenter, #TheEar, #TheKing'sSpeech, #VeteransDay, #ViennaAustria, #VisualArt, #Wellington'sVictory, #Wikipediaentry, #WorldWarI, #YouTubevideo, 1918, Allegretto, apotheosis, appropriate, Armistice Day, Arts, audience, Austria, Austrian, battle, Bavaria, Bavarian, Beethoven, Bernstein, blog, brisk, celebrate, Chamber music, choice, choose, Classical music, compendium, compilation, composer, Concert, concerto, conductor, Corigliano, critic, criticize, dance, day, dead, death, declare, describe, duty, Egmont Overture, Emperor Concerto, encore, end, energy, Eroica, Eroica Symphony, Facebook, Fantasia, Fantasia on an Ostinato, fight, film soundtrack, forward, France, French, funeral march, graphic, graphically, guess, Hanau, Health, help, History, hour, hymn, hypnotizing, immediate, infectious, introspection, ironic, Jacob Stockinger, John Corigliano, joyful, know, Leonard Bernstein, like, link, listen, Living composer, Ludwig van Beethoven, lyrical, march, mark, melody, Memorial Day, month, movement, movie, Movies, Music, Napoleon, Napoleonic, Napoleonic Wars, need, New Music, opera, Orchestra, orchestral, orchestral players, ostinato, Overture, patriotic, patriotism, peace, People, performance, Piano, Piano concerto, piano music, Piano sonata, piece, play, player, poignancy, popular, post, posting, pure, repetitious], represent, rhythm, Richard Wagner, sacred, Sacred Hymn of Thanksgiving, sacrifice, sadness, said, say, schematic, service, Seventh Symphony, share, sing, slow, Slow movement, soldiers, Sonata, song, songs, soul, soulful, soundtrack, String quartet, subscriber, suggest, symphony, tag, Tanglewood Festival, Tanglewood Music Center, Tempo, terrible, Thanksgiving, The Ear, The King's Speech, theme, think, today, triumph, triumphant, truce, unexpected, United States, usual, Veteran, Veterans Day, victory, Vienna, visual schematic, Wagner, war, Wednesday, Wellington, Wellington's Victory, Wikipedia, work, World War I, wound, wounded, YouTube, YouTube video
Classical music: Meet the “Stay at Home” Symphony Orchestra. How do they sound so close and tight? Plus, today is May Day. What music would you play to celebrate workers?
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.
ALERT: Today is May Day, a time to honor workers. What music would you play to celebrate and thank all the frontline workers — doctors, nurses, EMTs, police officers, firefighters, bus drivers, cleaners and janitors, grocery store workers, delivery people and others — who are now so indispensable?
By Jacob Stockinger
Many musicians — both singers and instrumentalists (below) — are self-isolating and doing their at-home best to keep those of us also sheltering in place entertained by performing virtual concerts.
It is something listeners can be grateful for. The players do an admirable and free public service during the COVID-19 crisis and coronavirus pandemic.
Of course, the virtual performances also have practical purposes.
The musicians keep their skills sharp during isolation.
And the virtual performances help to keep the names of individuals and groups, of composers and pieces, in the public’s mind at a time when live concerts have all been canceled or postponed.
There are many, many virtual concerts to choose from – made by local, regional, national and international musicians, some amateurs and some professional.
Many of them are solo performances given by an individual member of an orchestra, chamber music group or choral ensemble as well as big-name soloists such as pianist Emanuel Ax and cellist Yo-Yo Ma.
The individual ones are appreciated and impressive, even if some of the performances seem amateur-like in the sound or awkwardness.
What really impresses The Ear is when large groups, such as symphony orchestras and choirs, perform something with all the players at home and yet somehow the whole finished product sounds incredibly tight in and incredibly professional.
Last Saturday, the Metropolitan Opera even held a four-hour online gala with singers and instrumentalists from all over the world.
It makes The Ear wonder why they sound so good. How they do it, with all the complications and variables of timing and tempo, of rhythm, pitch and dynamics?
Is it the planning?
The processing and editing?
In any case, a very good example comes from the “Stay at Home” Symphony Orchestra playing Mozart’s Overture to the opera “The Marriage of Figaro.”
You can hear the YouTube video of the performance below.
Are there other such performances that you can point out to The Ear and you would like to see posted on this blog?
The Ear wants to hear.
Tags: #AmateurMusician, #BaroqueMusic, #BlogPost, #BlogPosting, #BusDriver, #ChoralMusic, #Classicalera, #COVID-19, #EmanuelAx, #FacebookPost, #FacebookPosting, #GroceryStore, #LiveMusic, #MarriageofFigaro, #MayDay, #MetropolitanOpera, #OrchestralMusic, #PoliceOfficers, #ProfessionalMusician, #PublicHealth, #Self-Isolation, #ShelterinPlace, #SocialDistance, #SocialDistancing, #Stayathome, #StayatHomeSymphonyOrchestra, #SymphonyOrchestra, #TheMet, #VirtualConcert, #VocalMusic, #WolfgangAmadeusMozart, #Yo-YoMa, #YouTubevideo, admiran;e, amateur, Arts, at home, Bach, Baroque, Beethoven, big-name, blog, bus driver, cancel, canceled, celebrate, cellist, Cello, Chamber music, Choir, choral music, Classical, Classical music, cleaner, complications, composer, Concert, coronavirus, crisis, delivery, doctors, dynamics, editing, Emanuel Ax, EMT, entertain, era, example, execution, Facebook, finish, firefighters, forward, free, frontline, gala, good, grateful, grocery, grocery store, group, hear, Home, honor, impress, impressive, indispensible, individual, instrumentalists, international, isolation, Jacob Stockinger, janitor, Johann Sebastian Bach, like, link, listeners, live music, local, Ludwig van Beethoven, Ma, Marriage of Figaro, May Day, member, Metropolitan Opera, mind, Mozart, Music, national, nurses, online, opera, Orchestra, Overture, pandemic, perform, performer, Pianist, Piano, piece, pitch, planning, play, police, police officers, post, posting, postpone, practical, processing, product, professional, Public health, purpose, regional, self-isolating, share, sharp, shelter, shelter in place, singer, skill, social distance, social distancing, solo, soloists, Sound, stay at home, Stay at Home Symphony Orchestra, symphony, symphony orchestra, tag, Tempo, The Marriage of Figaro, the Met, tight, time, timing, United States, variable, Viola, Violin, virtual, vocal music, Wisconsin, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, work, workers, Yo-Yo Ma, YouTube
Classical music: This Friday at noon, technology meets Beethoven when UW-Madison pianist Kangwoo Jin plays a FREE concerto performance
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 week’s FREE Friday Noon Musicale — tomorrow, March 6 — at the First Unitarian Society of Madison, 900 University Bay Drive, features an unusual concert in which classical music meets high technology.
Kangwoo Jin (below, in a photo by Steve Apps for the Wisconsin State Journal), a gifted and prize-winning pianist from South Korea, will perform the second and third movements of Beethoven’s Piano Concerto No. 4 in G major, Op. 58.
But instead of a second piano or a full orchestra, Jin will be accompanied by a newly developed interactive app that adjusts to Jin and allows him to play his solo part flexibly with a real orchestra accompaniment that has been recorded minus the piano part.
Jin is studying for his doctorate with UW Professors Christopher Taylor and Jessica Johnson. He will graduate this May.
Next week Jin — who has won the UW-Madison Concerto and Beethoven Competitions and who teaches at Farley’s House of Pianos, the Wisconsin Conservatory of Music and the UW Continuing Education program– will open and close the UW-River Falls Piano Festival with two performances of the same Beethoven concerto with the St. Croix Valley Symphony Orchestra
Jin suffers from hemophilia and has to be careful about injuring himself from over-practicing and over-playing. He has a fascinating and inspiring personal story to tell. Here is a link to a story about him in the Wisconsin State Journal: https://madison.com/wsj/entertainment/uw-pianist-shares-musical-gift-despite-health-challenge/article_fdba6f0f-9245-5816-a97c-c4f3a6e2d0ed.html
You can follow his Facebook page. And here is a link to Jin’s own website, which has more biographical information and videos: https://www.pianistkangwoojin.com
Jin says that, in addition to the two concerto movements, he will also play several short pieces: “Clair de Lune” (Moonlight) by Claude Debussy; the “Raindrop” Prelude by Chopin; and two song transcriptions by Franz Liszt — Schubert’s “Litany” and Schumann’s “Widmung” (Dedication).
The orchestral accompaniment for the Beethoven concerto is performed by MusAcc — an iPad app. It is an app that can customize and manipulate the audio, much like an actual instrument, in real time. Think of it as an orchestra in a box that you can use anywhere.
Jin explains the reasons for his FUS concert, which starts at NOON (not 12:15 p.m., as it used to be) and goes to about 1 p.m.:
“Playing a concerto is not possible in that venue, so I am using a recorded file for the orchestra part,” Jin says. “My friend Yupeng Gu, who developed this audio controlling device, will conduct and control the pacing of the recording so that the sound synchronizes with my playing. It is quite incredible and will be a very interesting concert.”
“I hope this breaks the barrier of having to have a big venue and other difficulties for performing concertos, and lets local people enjoy a more accessible and diverse repertoire,” he says. “If people like it, I would like to play the whole concerto and maybe more concertos — hopefully, all five Beethoven piano concertos — this way. This is something I have not tried before, so I am excited about it.”
“People have much easier access to solo performances, but not to concertos due to many limitations,” Jin adds. “So I expect them to have a novel experience with this concert.”
In the YouTube video at the bottom, you can hear a similar performance, done with the same device, featuring a different pianist playing the first movement of Beethoven’s Piano Concerto No. 1 in C Major, Op. 15.
Tags: #BlogPost, #BlogPosting, #Clairdelune, #ClaudeDebussy, #ContinuingEducation, #FacebookPost, #FacebookPosting, #Farley'sHouseofPianos, #FirstUnitarianSocietyofMadison, #FranzLiszt, #FredericChopin, #FridayNoonMusicale, #FullOrchestra, #HighTechnology, #HomePage, #HomeWebsite, #HumanInterest, #InteractiveApp, #JacobS, #JessicaJohnson, #KangwooJin, #LudwigVanBeethoven, #MeadWitterSchoolofMusic, #MusicEducation, #OrchestralAccompaniment, #PianoConcerto, #PianoConcertoNo.4, #PianoFestival, #PianoTranscription, #Prize-Winning, #RaindropPrelude, #RealTime, #RiverFalls, #RobertSchumann, #SouthKorea, #SouthKorean, #St.CroixValleySymphonyOrchestra, #SteveApps, #TheEar, #UniversityofWisconsin, #UniversityofWisconsin-Madison, #UW-RiverFalls, #WisconsinConservatoryofMusic, #WisconsinStateJournal, #YouTubevideo, #YupengGu, accompany, accomplished, acocmpaniment, app, Arts, audience, Audio, Beethoven, biography, blog, Chopin, Clair de Lune, Classical music, Claude Debussy, close, Competition, composer, Concert, concerto competition, concertos, conduct, Continuing Education, control, customize, Debussy, dedication, develop, device, different, doctoral, doctorate, drop, event, Facebook, Farley's House of Pianos, festival, file, first, First Unitarian Society of Madison, flexible, flexibly, forward, Franz Liszt, Frédéric Chopin, free, Friday Noon Musicale, friend, gifted, graduate, Gu, hemophilia, home website, human, human interest, information, injure, instrument, interactive, interesting, intuitive, invent, IPad, Jacob Stockinger, Jessica Johnson, Kangaroo Jin, Korea, like, link, litany, Ludwig van Beethoven, Madison, manipulate, Mead Witter School of Music, meet, minus, moonlight, movement, MusAcc, Music, Music education, open, Orchestra, orchestral accompaniment, pace, pacing, part, perform, performer, personal, Pianist, Piano, Piano Concerto No. 4 (Beethoven), piano festival, playing, possible, post, posting, practicing, Prelude, rain, raindrop, Raindrop Prelude, real, real time, recorded, rehearse, relative, River Falls, Robert Schumann, sample, Schumann, second, share, small, society, solo, South Korea, South Korean, St. Croix Valley Symphony Orchestra, Steve Apps, story, Student, symphony, synchronize, tag, teach, technology, Tempo, The Ear, third, time, transcription, Unitarian, United States, University of Wisconsin, University of Wisconsin-Madison School of Music, University of Wisconsin–Madison, unusual, use, UW, UW-Madison, UW-River Falls, venue, Website, win, Wisconsin, Wisconsin Conservatory of Music, Wisconsin State Journal, YouTube, Yupeng, Yupeng Gu
Classical music: This Saturday night brings both the Escher String Quartet to the Wisconsin Union Theater and the UW-Madison Choral Union and UW Symphony Orchestra to the Hamel Music Center
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.
CORRECTION: The Ear received the following correction to the story he posted yesterday about the Wisconsin Chamber Orchestra and apologizes for the error:
“There was a change to our rollout in Brookfield. We are only repeating the fifth Masterworks concert on Saturday, May 9, at 7:30 p.m. at the Sharon Lynne Wilson Center for the Arts. We are NOT repeating this Friday’s concert in Brookfield.
“We will perform a Family Series concert of “Beethoven Lives Next Door” on Sunday, March 29, at 3 p.m. at the same Brookfield venue.”
By Jacob Stockinger
The upcoming weekend is a busy one for classical music.
The busiest night is Saturday night when two major concerts will take place: a performance by the Escher String Quartet and the postponed concert by the UW Choral Union and UW Symphony Orchestra with soloists.
Here are details:
ESCHER STRING QUARTET and DAVID FINCKEL
The concert by the Escher String Quartet (below) with cellist David Finckel (below bottom. formerly of the critically acclaimed Emerson String Quartet) takes place on this Saturday night, Jan. 25, at 7:30 p.m. in Shannon Hall of the Wisconsin Union Theater.
The performance is part of the special season celebrating the centennial anniversary of the Concert Series.
The program includes the sublime Quintet in C Major, D. 956, with two cellos, by Franz Schubert and the String Quartet in A minor by the great early 20th-century Viennese violinist and composer Fritz Kreisler (below).
Tickets are $30-$50. For more information and to reserve tickets, go to: https://artsticketing.wisc.edu/Online/default.asp?doWork::WScontent::loadArticle=Load&BOparam::WScontent::loadArticle::article_id=CFC3765F-5F1D-4663-BCA0-985BE3049CF5
For more information about the Escher String Quartet, including a video performance and detailed background, go to: https://union.wisc.edu/events-and-activities/event-calendar/event/escher-string-quartet-with-david-finckel/
UW CHORAL UNION
Also on this Saturday night at 8 p.m., in the Mead Witter Foundation Concert Hall in the new Hamel Music Center at 740 University Avenue, the UW Choral Union and UW Symphony Orchestra (below top), along with two vocal soloists – soprano Chelsie Propst (below middle) and baritone James Harrington (below bottom) — will perform a concert originally scheduled for Dec. 7 and then postponed.
The program, without intermission, is one 80-minute work: the epic and influential “A Sea Symphony” by the great 20th-century British composer Ralph Vaughan Williams (below).
General admission tickets are $18 for the general public and faculty or staff; and $10 for UW students. To reserve tickets, go to Campus Arts Ticketing at: https://artsticketing.wisc.edu/Online/default.asp?doWork::WScontent::loadArticle=Load&BOparam::WScontent::loadArticle::article_id=412623A4-4FB9-40D6-BC23-A425360713EA
Beverly Taylor (below), the longtime director of choral activities at the UW who will retire this spring, sent the following note:
“The text by American poet Walt Whitman presents four symphonic scenes of great breadth and imagination, with lush harmonies and constantly varying tempos and dynamics.” (You can hear the Waves section, or third movement, from “A Sea Symphony” in the YouTube video at the bottom.)
Tags: #20thCentury, #ASeaSymphony, #BaritoneSinger, #BeverlyTaylor, #BlogPost, #BlogPosting, #BrookfieldWisconsin, #ChamberMusic, #ChelsiePropst, #ChoralMusic, #ConcertSeries, #CriticallyAcclaimed, #DavidFinckel, #EmersonStringQuartet, #EscherStringQuartet, #FacebookPost, #FacebookPosting, #FritzKreisler, #HamelMusicCenter, #JacobStockinger, #JamesHarrington, #LudwigVanBeethoven, #MeadWitterFoundationConcertHall, #MusicReview, #RalphVaughanWilliams, #SaturdayNight, #ShannonHall, #SharonLynneWilsonCenterfortheArts, #SopranoSinger, #StringQuartet, #StringQuintet, #TheEar, #TheU.K., #UniversityofWisconsin-Madison, #UWChoralUnion, #UWSymphonyOrchestra, #ViolinistVirtuoso, #VocalMusic, #WaltWhitman, #WisconsinChamberOrchestra, #WisconsinUnionTheater, #YouTubevideo, 20th-century, A Sea Symphony, acclaimed, activity, American, American poetry, anniversary, Arts, audience, background, baritone, Beethoven, Beverly Taylor, blog, breadth, British, Brookfield, busy, celebrate, cellist, Cello, centennial, Chamber music, Chelsie Propst, choral, choral music, Classical music, classicalmusic, composer, Concert, concert hall, concert series, conductor, correction, critically acclaimed, David Finckel, details, director, dynamics, Emerson String Quartet, English, epic, error, Escher String Quartet, Facebook, Family, forward, Franz Schubert, Fritz Kreisler, great, Hamel Music Center, harmony, imagination, influence, influential, information, Jacob Stockinger, James Harrington, like, link, Ludwig van Beethoven, lush, Madison, major, Mead Witter Foundation Concert Hall, Music, music critic, music review, night, online, Orchestra, performer, poet, Poetry, post, posting, postpone, quintet, Ralph Vaughan Williams, retire, Retirement, Saturday night, scene, sea, Season, Second Viennese School, series, Shannon Hall, share, Sharon Lynne Wilson Center for the Arts, soloist, soprano, Spring, String quartet, string quintet, sublime, symphonic, symphony, tag, Tempo, text, The Ear, ticket, U.K., United States, University of Wisconsin-Madison School of Music, University of Wisconsin–Madison, UW, UW Choral Union, UW Symphony Orchestra, UW-Madison, venue, Vienna, Viennese, Viola, Violin, violinist, vocal music, Walt Whitman, waves, Website, weekend, Wisconsin, Wisconsin Chamber Orchestra, Wisconsin Union Theater, YouTube
Classical music: The 10th anniversary concert of the Middleton Community Orchestra hit all the right notes – including a surprise of high beauty
3 Comments
IF YOU LIKE A CERTAIN BLOG POST, PLEASE 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
Last Wednesday night at the Middleton Performing Arts Center, the mostly amateur but critically acclaimed Middleton Community Orchestra (below, in a photo by Brian Ruppert) celebrated its 10th anniversary.
The MCO hit all the right notes. And there were many of them, both big and small.
But perhaps the biggest one was also the quietest one.
It came during the repetition section near the end of the heart-rending slow movement of the Clarinet Concerto in A Major, K. 622, by Mozart.
The Ear knows the piece and considers it one of the most perfect compositions ever written. But suddenly he heard the familiar work in a fresh way and with a new appreciation, thanks to the talented guest soloist J.J. Koh, who is principal clarinet of the Madison Symphony Orchestra. (You can hear the slow movement in the YouTube video at the bottom.)
The movement was going beautifully when suddenly, Koh (below) brought the dynamics down to almost a whisper. It felt prayer-like, so quiet was the sound. Yet it was completely audible. The tone was rich and the notes on pitch, even though Koh sounded as if he were barely breathing. It was a heart-stopping, breathtaking moment of high beauty.
It takes a virtuoso to play that softly and that solidly at the same time. And Koh was backed up with the same subtlety by the fine accompaniment provided by the scaled-down orchestra under conductor Steve Kurr.
The sublime result was nothing short of haunting, a musical moment that The Ear will remember and cherish as long as he lives.
And he wasn’t alone. A complete silence fell over the appreciative audience as Koh and the MCO were playing, and at intermission it was what everybody was talking about and wondering at. You just had to be there. It was the kind of musical experience that makes a live performance so engaging and unforgettable.
That moment of communion between soloist and ensemble by itself was enough to tell you how very much the MCO, which improves with each performance, has accomplished in its first decade.
There were other noteworthy moments too.
Of course tributes had to be paid.
So the evening started off with some brief background and introductory words from the co-founders and co-artistic directors Larry Bevic and Mindy Taranto (below).
Then Middleton Mayor Gurdip Brar (below) came on stage to read his official 10th anniversary proclamation and to urge people to applaud. He proved a jovial, good-natured cheerleader for the large audience of “good neighbors” that included many children.
When the music finally arrived, conductor Kurr (below) raised the curtain with his own original 14-minute episodic composition celebrating the “Good Neighbor City” of Middleton. It proved a fitting work for the occasion that evoked both the Midwestern harmonies of Aaron Copland and the brassy film scores of John Williams.
After intermission, the full 90-member MCO under Kurr returned and turned in a performance of Antonin Dvorak’s popular “New World” Symphony that did them all proud.
The tempo was energetic with a strong, constant pulse that didn’t falter. As usual, the string and wind sections proved outstanding – and still seem to get better each time.
But the real star this time was the brass, whose prominent part in the Dvorak symphony is hard to play. Playing consistently on pitch and expressively – they were clearly well-rehearsed — the brass boosted the whole performance and raised it to a new level. Which is exactly what the anniversary concert demanded and received.
The Ear wasn’t alone in being impressed.
A professional musician visiting from San Francisco said simply: ”They are much better than our community orchestra.”
Is there better homage to pay to a 10th anniversary concert and to make listeners look forward to hearing more? If you aren’t going to MCO’s affordable and appealing concerts, you are only cheating yourself.
For more information about the complete season, including programs, performers, guest soloists and how to join or support the MCO, go to: http://middletoncommunityorchestra.org
If you went, what did you think of the opening anniversary concert?
Leave your opinions and good wishes in the comment section.
The Ear wants to hear.
Tags: #AaronCopland, #AmateurMusicians, #AntoninDvorak, #ArtisticDirector, #BlogPost, #BlogPosting, #BlogReview, #BrassSection, #ClarinetConcerto, #CommunityOrchestra, #Curtain-Raiser, #FacebookPost, #FacebookPosting, #FilmMusic, #GoodNeighborCity, #GoodWishes, #GurdipBrar, #HomeWebsite, #J.J.Koh, #JohnWilliams, #LarryBevic, #LiveMusic, #MadisonSymphonyOrchestra, #MiddletonCommunityOrchestra, #MiddletonPerformingArtsCenter, #MiddletonWisconsin, #MindyTaranto, #MovieMusic, #MovieSoundtrack, #MusicalMoment, #MusicAppreciation, #NewMusic, #NewWorldSymphony, #PrincipalClarinet, #PrinicpalPlayer, #RightNotes, #SanFrancisco, #SlowMovement, #SteveKurr, #StringSection, #TheEar, #TheMidwest, #TonalBeauty, #WindSection, #WolfgangAmadeusMozart, #YouTubevideo, Aaron Copland, accompaniment, accomplish, amateur, anniversary, Antonín Dvořák, applause, appreciation, appreciative, Artistic director, audible, audience, background, beautiful, beauty, big, blog, boost, brass, brass section, breath, breathing, California, cheerleader, cherish, children, clarinet, clarinet concerto, co-founder, comment, communion, community, community orchestra, Composition, concerto, conductor, constant, decade, Dvorak, dynamics, engaging, ensemble, episodic, expressive, Facebook, falter, familiar, Fanfare, film, film music, forward, founder, fresh, From the New World, good neighbor, Good Neighbor City, good wishes, good-natured, Gurdip Brar, haunting, hear, heart-stopping, high, hit, homage, home website, John Williams, join, jovial, K, kids, know, Kochel, Larry Bevic, like, link, listener, live, live music, Madison Symphony Orchestra, mayor, member, Middleton, Middleton Community Orchestra, Middleton Performing Arts Center, Midwest, Midwestern, Mindy Taranto, minute, moment, movie, Mozart, musical, musical moment, new, New Music, New World Symphony, notes, noteworthy, occasion, official, opinion, Orchestra, original, outstanding, People, perfect, performer, piece, pitch, play, popular, post, posting, prayer, principal, proclamation, program, prominent, Pulse, quiet, raise, reader, real, rehearse, remeber, repetition, rich, right, right notes, San Francisco, score, Season, section, share, silence, Slow movement, small, soft, solo, soloist, Sound, star, Steve Kurr, string, string section, stroing, sublime, subscriber, suddenly, support, symphony, tag, talent, talented, Tempo, The Ear, think, tone, tribute, unforgettable, urge, warning, way, Website, whisper, wind section, winds, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, words, work, written, years, you, YouTube
Classical music education: The 18th annual family-friendly and FREE Concert in the Park by the Wisconsin Youth Symphony Orchestras, with two student soloists, is this Wednesday night on the far west wide of Madison
1 Comment
IF YOU LIKE A CERTAIN BLOG POST, PLEASE 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 Wisconsin Youth Symphony Orchestras will perform its 18th annual FREE summer Concert in the Park (below) on this coming Wednesday, Aug. 7, at 1200 John Q. Hammons Drive in the Old Sauk Trails Business Park. (The rain date is this Thursday.)
Hosted by The Gialamas Company, the Concert in the Park is designed to be fun for all ages and is FREE to the public. The Ear can attest to the excellent quality of the musical performances.
Led by WYSO’s music director and Youth Orchestra conductor Kyle Knox (below), who is a graduate of the UW-Madison and the associate conductor of the Madison Symphony Orchestra, WYSO’s Youth Orchestra will perform works by Antonin Dvorak, Peter Ilyich Tchaikovsky, Modest Mussorgsky, Felix Mendelssohn, Camille Saint-Saens, John Philip Sousa and Dmitri Shostakovich.
The program includes concerto performances by two WYSO student soloists: violinist Ellen Zhou; and cellist Grace Kim.
The grounds will open at 5 p.m. for setting up lawn chairs and blankets for picnics and socializing, and for engaging in pre-concert activities, including an ice cream social (below top) and a WYSO instrument petting zoo. Also scheduled are a visit by The Big Red Reading Bus (below bottom) from the Madison Reading Project and activities by the Madison Children’s Museum.
The concert begins at 7 p.m., followed by a fireworks display.
Here is the concert program:
Slavonic Dances Nos. 1, 3, 4, 6, 8 by Antonin Dvorak
Violin Concerto by Felix Mendelssohn
- Allegro molto appassionato
Ellen Zhou, violin (below)
Cello Concerto No. 1 in A minor, Op. 33, by Camille Saint-Saens
III. Tempo primo
Grace Kim, cello (below)
Symphony No. 4 in F minor, Op. 36, by Peter Ilyich Tchaikovsky
- Finale: Allegro con fuoco
Intermission
“Tahiti Trot” (Tea for Two) by Dmitri Shostakovich (orchestrated by Dave Brubeck and heard in the YouTube video at the bottom)
“Stars and Stripes Forever” March by John Philip Sousa (orchestrated by Leopold Stokowski)
“Pictures at an Exhibition” by Modest Mussorgsky (orchestrated by Maurice Ravel)
1st Promenade
Gnomus
2nd Promenade
4th Promenade
Ballet of Unhatched Chicks
The Hut on Hen’s Legs (Baba Yaga)
The Great Gate of Kiev
For more information, food and beverage menus, and information about how to reserve tables, call (608) 836-8000 or visit www.Gialamas.com (click on Events) or email office@Gialamas.com
For more information about WYSO, including how to join it, support it, learn about its background and attend future events, go to https://www.wysomusic.org
Tags: #AntoninDvorak, #BigRedReadingBus, #BlogPost, #BlogPosting, #BusinessPark, #CamilleSaint-Saens, #CelloConcerto, #ConcertinthePark, #ConcertProgram, #DaveBrubeck, #DmitriShostakovich, #EllenZhou, #FacebookPost, #FacebookPosting, #FamilyFriendly, #FelixMendelssohn, #FolkDance, #FolkMusic, #GialamasCompany, #GraceKim, #GreatGateofKIev, #HomeWebsite, #IceCream, #IceCreamSocial, #JohnPhilipSousa, #JohnQ.HammonsDrive, #KyleKnox, #LeopoldStokowski, #MadisonChildren'sMuseum, #MadisonReadingProject, #MadisonSymphonyOrchestra, #MauriceRavel, #MeadWitterSchoolofMusic, #ModestMussorgsky, #MusicalPerformance, #MusicDirector, #MusicEducation, #OldSaukTrailsBusinessPark, #OrchestralArrangement, #PeterIlyichTchaikovsky, #PettingZoo, #PicnicDinner, #PicturesatanExhibition, #RainDate, #SlavonicDances, #SouthKorea, #StarsandStripesForever, #TahitiTrot, #TeaforTwo, #TheEar, #Thursdaynight, #UniversityofWisconsin-Madison, #ViolinConcerto, #Wednesdayafternoon, #WisconsinYouthSymphonyOrchestras, #WYSOconcerts, #YoungPeople, #YouthOrchestra, #YouTubevideo, activities, age, allegro, American, Antonín Dvořák, Arts, asian, attend, background, ballet, beverage, Big Red Reading Bus, blog, bus, Business, business park, Camille Saint-Saëns, celiist, Cello, Cello Concerto, chicks, children, children's concerts, China, Chinese, Classical music, composer, Concert, Concert in the Park, concert program, concerto, conductor, dance, Dave Brubeck, display, Dmitri Shostakovich, drink, Ellen Zhou, email, engage, evening, event, excellent, Facebook, Family, family-friendly, Felix Mendelssohn, finale, Fireworks, Folk music, food, forward, free, friend, fun, funding, future, Gialamas Company, Grace Kim, Great Gate of Kiev, grounds, hen, host, hut, ice cream, ice cream social, information, instrument, Jacob Stockinger, John Philip Sousa, John Q. Hammons Drive, join, kids, Korea, Korean, Kyle Knox, learn, Leopold Stokowski, like, link, Madison, Madison Children's Museum, Madison Reading Project, Madison Symphony Orchestra, march, Maurice Ravel, Mead Witter School of Music, menu, Modest Mussorgsky, Music, Music director, Music education, musical, Old Sauk Trails, open, Orchestra, orchestral arrangement, orchestrated, Park, perform, performance, pet, Peter Ilyich Tchaikovsky, petting zoo, picnic, Pictures at an Exhibition, post, posting, program, promenade, public, quality, rain, rain date, reserve, share, Slavonic Dances, social, socialize, socializing, soloist, South Korea, sponsor, Stars and Stripes Forever, Student, support, symphony, table, tag, Tahiti Trot, Tea for Two, Tempo, The Ear, Thursday, United States, University of Wisconsin-Madison School of Music, University of Wisconsin–Madison, Violin, Violin concerto, violinist, visit, Website, Wednesday, Wisconsin, Wisconsin Youth Symphony Orchestras, works, WYSO, young, Youth Orchestra, YouTube, zoo
Classical music: The Middleton Community Orchestra and conductor Kyle Knox brightened a soggy spring with early Beethoven and Elgar. On Tuesday night, an organ and cello concert takes place in Overture Hall.
2 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.
ALERT: On this Tuesday night, April 16, at 7:30 p.m. in Overture Hall, organist Greg Zelek and guest cellist Thomas Mesa will close out the season of Concert Organ performances sponsored by the Madison Symphony Orchestra. The program includes music by Johann Sebastian Bach, Franz Joseph Haydn, Ludwig van Beethoven, Franz Schubert, Peter Ilyich Tchaikovsky, Claude Debussy and Charles-Marie Widor. For tickets ($20) and more information about the program with detailed biographies of the performers, go to: https://madisonsymphony.org/event/thoms-mesa-greg-zelek/
By Jacob Stockinger
Here is a special posting, a review written by frequent guest critic and writer for this blog, John W. Barker. Barker (below) is an emeritus professor of Medieval history at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. He also is a veteran and well-known classical music critic who writes for Isthmus and the American Record Guide, and who hosts an early music show once a month on Sunday morning on WORT FM 89.9 FM. For years, he served on the Board of Advisors for the Madison Early Music Festival and frequently gives pre-concert lectures in Madison.
By John W. Barker
The early spring concert on last Wednesday night by the Middleton Community Orchestra (below, in a photo by Brian Ruppert) at the Middleton Performing Arts Center that is attached to Middleton High School was comparatively short – it had no intermission — and was devoted to only two composers.
The first was Edward Elgar (below, in 1910), whose early orchestral works included a good deal of music drawn from his youthful sketchbooks. Notable in that category were two suites, given the joint title of The Wand of Youth.
From the eight sections of the First Suite (1907), six were played, and from the six sections comprising the Second Suite (1908), four were given. All these movements are colorful and evocative little miniatures, reflecting early imagination, often touching, but many quite boisterous.
The other composer was Ludwig van Beethoven (below), as represented by his Symphony No. 2. This shows the young composer moving quite distinctly beyond the stylistic world of Haydn and Mozart into the rambunctious new symphonic idiom he would go on to create. (You can hear Leonard Bernstein and the Vienna Philharmonic play the opening of Beethoven’s Symphony No. 2 in the YouTube video at the bottom.)
The guest conductor this time, Kyle Knox – the recent University of Wisconsin-Madison graduate who is the music director of Wisconsin Youth Symphony Orchestras and the associate conductor of the Madison Symphony Orchestra — chose to give the music a “big orchestra” approach.
For both the suites and the symphony, the lighter and cleaner textures of a chamber orchestra would seem best. But with an orchestra totaling some 91 players, Knox chose to go for volume and sonority.
His tempos, especially in the Beethoven were notably fast. As the largely amateur orchestra followed loyally, there was some raw playing at times.
Still, the MCO asserted strong character, which made a very happy impression on the audience and brightened an evening of soggy weather.
Tags: #AmateurMusician, #AmericanRecordGuide, #BaroqueMusic, #BeethovenSymphony, #BlogPost, #BlogPosting, #BrassSection, #CelloMusic, #ChamberMusic, #ChamberOrchestra, #Charles-MarieWidor, #ClaudeDebussy, #EdwardElgar, #EmeritusProfessor, #FacebookPost, #FacebookPosting, #FranzJosephHaydn, #FranzSchubert, #GregZelek, #IsthmusNewspaper, #JohannSebastianBach, #JohnW.Barker, #KyleKnox, #LeonardBernstein, #LudwigVanBeethoven, #MadisonEarlyMusicFestival, #MadisonSymphonyOrchestra, #MeadWitterSchoolofMusic, #MedievalHistory, #MiddletonCommunityOrchestra, #MiddletonHighSchool, #MiddletonPerformingArtsCenter, #MusicalStyle, #MusicCritic, #MusicReview, #OrganMusic, #OvertureCenter, #OvertureHall, #PercussionSection, #PeterIlyichTchaikovsky, #Pre-concertLecture, #SpringWeather, #StringMusic, #StringSection, #TheWandofYouth, #ThomasMesa, #UniversityofWisconsin-Madison, #ViennaAustria, #ViennaPhilharmonic, #WisconsinYouthSymphonyOrchestras, #WolfgangAmadeusMozart, #WoodwindSection, #WORT-FM89.9, #YouTubevideo, amateur, American Record Guide, April, Arts, audience, Austria, Bach, Baroque, Baroque music, Beethoven, big, biography, blog, boisterous, brass, category, cellist, Cello, Chamber music, chamber orchestra, character, Charles-Marie Widor, Classical music, Claude Debussy, clean, colorful, composer, Concert, concerto, conductor, critic, early, Early music, Edward Elgar, emeritus professor, evocative, Facebook, fast, forward, Franz Joseph Haydn, Franz Schubert, graduate, Greg Zelek, guest, happy', Haydn, idiom, imagination, impression, intermission, Isthmus, Jacob Stockinger, Johann Sebastian Bach, John W. Barker, joint, Kyle Knox, lecture, Leonard Bernstein, lighter, like, link, Ludwig van Beethoven, Madison, Madison Early Music Festival, Madison Symphony Orchestra, Mead Witter School of Music, Medieval history, Middleton Community Orchestra, Middleton High School, Middleton Performing Arts Center, miniature, movement, Mozart, Music, music critic, music review, night, opening, Orchestra, organ, organist, Overture Center, Overture Hall, percussion, performer, Peter Ilyich Tchaikovsky, players, professor, program, raw, recent, review, Season, Serenade, share, short, sketchbooks, soggy, sonority, sping, string section, strings, style, Suite, symphony, tag, Tempo, texture, The Wand of Youth, Thomas Mesa, title, touching, Tuesday, United States, University of Wisconsin-Madison School of Music, University of Wisconsin–Madison, UW-Madison, Vienna, Vienna Philharmonic, Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra, Viola, Violin, volume, weather, Wisconsin, Wisconsin Youth Symphony Orchestras, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, woodwind, WORT-FM 89.9, Writer, youthful, YouTube
Classical music: Superstar cellist Yo-Yo Ma goes to NPR to perform and talk about spending 58 years learning and playing Bach
1 Comment
By Jacob Stockinger
Superstar cellist Yo-Yo Ma has just recorded the six suites for solo cello by Johann Sebastian Bach for the third time.
Ma, now 62, started learning them when he was four years old.
Over so many years, his approach has changed. He says he finds new things in the music as he himself changes and matures, much the way you see different things in the same novel you read at 18 and then again at 55 after you have experienced more of life.
That’s why Ma calls his latest recording “Six Evolutions.” And truth be told, to The Ear his interpretations seem lighter, dancier and more up-tempo while his earlier readings seemed heavier, sometimes even gooey thick.
Anyway, the cellist (below), who has won 19 Grammy Awards and has often performed in Madison at the Wisconsin Union Theater, recently stopped by the studios of National Public Radio (NPR) for a Tiny Desk Concert.
He played three movements, and he talked about his long experience with playing and learning and exploring Bach to students, who loved him.
It is well worth listening to.
Here is a link: https://www.npr.org/2018/08/16/639206471/yo-yo-ma-tiny-desk-concert
What do you think?
Do you have an opinion about Ma’s current readings of solo Bach versus his past ones?
The Ear wants to hear.
Tags: #BaroqueMusic, #GrammyAward, #JohannSebastianBach, #MusicalInterpretation, #NationalPublicRadio, #SixEvolutions, #SoloCelloSuites, #TinyDeskConcert, #WisconsinPublicRadio, #WisconsinUnionTheater, #Yo-YoMa, Arts, Baroque, Cello, Chamber music, change, Classical music, classicalmusic, Compact Disc, composer, dance, Early music, evolution, experience, Grammy, Grammy Award, heavy, interpretation, Jacob Stockinger, Johann Sebastian Bach, light, Madison, mature, maturity, movement, Music, novel, NPR, perform, read, recorded, recording, Solo Cello Suites, studio, superstar, Tempo, thick, Tiny Desk Concert, United States, University of Wisconsin-Madison School of Music, University of Wisconsin–Madison, Wisconsin, wisconsin public radio, Wisconsin Union Theater, Yo-Yo Ma, YouTube
Recent Comments
The Well-Tempered Ear 
Classical music: This summer’s Token Creek Festival is CANCELED. Plus, a teenager’s piano “practice journal” on Instagram is instructive, entertaining and encouraging
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.
NEWS ALERT: This summer’s Token Creek Festival (TCF) — with the chamber music theme of Legacy to run from Aug. 21-Sept. 6 –has been CANCELED. Organizers say they hope to launch a virtual online season of archived performances at the end of the summer. Also, once modestly sized gatherings are safe again, the TCF hopes to hold an off-season event. For more information and an official statement from TCF, go to: https://tokencreekfestival.org
By Jacob Stockinger
Somewhere in New York City is a young Chinese piano prodigy who can help you get through what is often the most challenging and discouraging part of piano lessons: practicing.
His name is Auston (below) – no last name is given – and you can find him, in T-shirts and shorts, on Instagram at Auston.piano.
Auston is quite the prodigy. A 13, he plays difficult and dramatic repertoire: the Nocturne in C minor, the Scherzo No. 1 in B minor and the Ballade No. 1 in G minor, all by Chopin.
You can also hear him play the Prelude and Fugue No. 3 in C-sharp minor from the Well-Tempered Clavier, Book I, by Johann Sebastian Bach; the fiendish Toccata by Sergei Prokofiev; and the Piano Concerto No. 2 by Sergei Rachmaninoff.
One day, The Ear expects, Auston might well be among the impressive amateurs and, later, professionals who compete in international competitions.
But more than listening to him playing, his frequent social media entries – sometimes he posts two or three times a day — allow us to hear him practice. We even hear him practicing scales – so-called Russian scales that combine scales in parallel and contrary motion.
This week, he hit 100 video posts. Just yesterday Auston started sight-reading the “Winter Wind” Etude of Chopin, Op. 25, No. 11, which many consider to be the most technically difficult of all Chopin’s etudes. (You can hear the etude – played by Maurizio Pollini – and see the note-filled score in the YouTube video at the bottom.)
Starting out, he often plays hands separately (below) and sight-reads the score very, very slowly, making mistakes and working out fingering. He also uses a metronome at a very slow tempo. He gets frustrated but he never gives up. He just starts over again and provides an excellent role model for aspiring piano students.
But this young man is also fun to read. In his one-minute or less entries of his “practice journal” – which he also calls his “practice journey” — he is witty and self-deprecating in his commentaries about the music and especially about himself when he makes mistakes. As seriously as he takes the piano and practicing, he doesn’t take himself too seriously.
All in all he can even encourage others – including The Ear –to persevere and go through the same frustrations of practicing and learning a new piece.
In this case, it is the piano, but the postings could easily apply to practicing any other instrument or even to singing.
Check it out.
You will be impressed.
You will admire him.
You will laugh along with him.
And you just might practice more.
If this practice journal is a pandemic project, it succeeds way beyond what you — and probably Auston himself — might expect.
Happy listening!
And patient, productive practicing!
Share this:
Like this:
Tags: #BaroqueMusic, #BlogPost, #BlogPosting, #ChamberMusic, #CoronavirusPandemic, #COVID-19, #FacebookPost, #FacebookPosting, #GiveUp, #HomeWebsite, #InstagramPost, #InstagramVideo, #JacobStockinger, #JohannSebastianBach, #JohnHarbison, #LastName, #MassGathering, #MaurizioPollini, #MusicEducation, #NewsAlert, #NewYorkCity, #PianoConcerto, #PianoLessons, #PianoMusic, #PianoVirtuoso, #PracticingMusic, #PublicHealth, #RoleModel, #RoseMaryHarbison, #SergeiProkofiev, #SergeiRachmaninov, #SocialMedia, #TheEar, #TheWell-TemperedClavier, #TokenCreekChamberMusicFestival, #TokenCreekFestival, #WinterWind, #YouTubevideo, 100, admire, alert, all, amateur, archive, Arts, Asia, asian, aspiring, audience, auston.piano, available, Bach, Ballade, Baroque, blog, canceled, challenge, challenging, Chamber music, China, Chinese, Chopin, Classical music, commentary, Competition, composer, concerto, coronavirus, correct, discouraging, Early music, encourage, end, entry, etude, event, Facebook, festival, fiendish, fingering, frequent, frustrated, frustration, fugue, fun, gathering, give up, hand, hands, happy', Harbison, himself, home website, impress, impressive, information, Instagram, ironic, Jacob Stockinger, Jazz, Johann Sebastian Bach, John Harbison, journal, journey, last, last name, launch, lessons, like, link, listening, mass gathering, Maurizio Pollini, metronome, mistake, mistakes, modest, Music, music educaiton, name, never, New York City, news, nocturne, notes, off-season, one hundred, online, organizer, pandemic, patient, performance, persevere, Pianist, Piano, Piano concerto, Piano Concerto No. 2 (Rachmaninoff), piano lessons, Pollini, post, posting, practice, practicing, Prelude, prodigy, productive, professional, project, Prokofiev, provide, Public health, Rachmaninov, role model, Rose Mary Harbison, safe, Scherzo, score, Season, self-deprecating, separately, Sergei Prokofiev, Sergei Rachmaninov, seriously, share, shorts, sight-reading, social media, start, statement, Student, succeed, summer, T-shirt, tag, teenage, Tempo, The Ear, The Well-Tempered Clavier, theme, toccata, Token Creek Chamber Music Festival, Token Creek Festival, United States, virtual, virtuoso, Website, Winter Wind, Wisconsin, witty, working, young, YouTube