The Well-Tempered Ear
Is the math-music link real?
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By Jacob Stockinger
The blog post before the last one was about solving the “beautiful mathematics” in the music of Johann Sebastian Bach.
Here is a link: https://welltempered.wordpress.com/2024/02/18/solving-the-beautiful-math-in-bach/
But does a link between math and music really exist?
And if such a link does exist, how strong is it?
Can one discipline be used to teach the other?
Many readers have no doubt heard of how devoted Albert Einstein (below) was to his violin, even playing string quartets at the Institute for Advanced Study in Princeton, N.J. He said he thought about physics in musical terms and found his greatest joy in music. He also played duets with physicist Max Planck, who was an accomplished pianist as were Werner Heisenberg and Edward Teller.
Dr. Francis Collins, the well-known geneticist and former head of the National Institutes for Health, is known for playing the guitar. As the 2020 winner of the Templeton Prize for scientific and spiritual curiosity, Collins accompanies superstar soprano Renée Fleming in the Stephen Foster song “Hard Times, Come Again No More” in the YouTube video at the button.)
Locally, the late pioneering University of Wisconsin-Madison geneticist Jim Crow (below) played the viola, even sitting in with the Pro Arte Quartet.
The Ear also knows of many middle schoolers, high schoolers and UW students, especially undergraduates, who pursue dual majors in music and math, science or medicine — often to pursue a more practical and better paying career than being a professional musician.
Personal anecdotes can be dramatic and convincing.
But anecdotes and evidence are not the same thing.
Here is a more formal study:
https://www.iflscience.com/is-there-really-a-link-between-math-skills-and-musical-skills-73069
What do you think?
Are math and music linked?
Do you know of other famous examples?
What has been your own experience with math and music?
If you are a music, math or science teacher, have you noticed such a link among your students?
What do students themselves — for example, those in the Wisconsin Youth Symphony Orchestras (WYSO) — say about such a math-music link?
The Ear wants to hear.
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Here are the classical music winners of the 2023 Grammy awards
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By Jacob Stockinger
The 2023 Grammy — officially known as the 66th Grammy Awards — took place on live TV Sunday night.
Big surprise: pop singer Taylor Swift — she of the $1,000 concert tickets, Kansas City Chiefs skybox and crazy right-wing conspiracy theories about about how she and the NFL are plotting to rig the Super Bowl and re-elect President Biden — dominated and took home a record-breaking fourth Album of the Year for “Midnights.”
In addition, all of the main events — the live performances — that aired on CBS were non-classical.
Does anyone else think that demonstrates just in what disregard — aside from atoning for past neglect of women, composers and performers of color, and contemporary compositions — most classical music is being held right now?
We must not forget that the Grammys are industry awards, designed to recognize and promote sales and profit above and beyond artistic merit, although the two aims sometimes coincide.
That lack of respect also seems demonstrated by the fact that if you go to the website with the complete list for Grammy winners and nominees, the classical Grammys rank dead last. Ahead of classical you will find (in rough order): pop; electronic dance; rock; alternative; rhythm and blues; rap; spoken word; jazz; Latin; contemporary; roots; bluegrass; blues; folk; gospel; Christian; global; African; reggae; new age; children’s; comedy; audiobook; soundtrack; video games; and album notes.
But enough grousing.
Or maybe not.
Anyway, if you want to see that complete listing of the winners along with the nominees, here is a link: https://www.grammy.com/awards/66th-annual-grammy-awards-2023
And excerpted from that list of the nominees and winners of the Grammy Awards are the winners, which have been capitalized and boldfaced.
87. Best Orchestral Performance
Award to the Conductor and to the Orchestra.
ADÈS: DANTE
Gustavo Dudamel, conductor (Los Angeles Philharmonic)
Bartók: Concerto For Orchestra; Four Pieces
Karina Canellakis, conductor (Netherlands Radio Philharmonic Orchestra)
Price: Symphony No. 4; Dawson: Negro Folk Symphony
Yannick Nézet-Séguin, conductor (The Philadelphia Orchestra)
Scriabin: Symphony No. 2; The Poem Of Ecstasy
JoAnn Falletta, conductor (Buffalo Philharmonic Orchestra)
Stravinsky: The Rite Of Spring
Esa-Pekka Salonen, conductor (San Francisco Symphony)
88. Best Opera Recording
Award to the Conductor, Album Producer(s) and Principal Soloists, and to the Composer and Librettist (if applicable) of a world premiere Opera recording only.
BLANCHARD: CCHAMPION
Yannick Nézet-Séguin, conductor; Ryan Speedo Green, Latonia Moore & Eric Owens; David Frost, producer (The Metropolitan Opera Orchestra; The Metropolitan Opera Chorus)
Corigliano: The Lord Of Cries
Gil Rose, conductor; Anthony Roth Costanzo, Kathryn Henry, Jarrett Ott & David Portillo; Gil Rose, producer (Boston Modern Orchestra Project & Odyssey Opera Chorus)
Little: Black Lodge
Timur; Andrew McKenna Lee & David T. Little, producers (The Dime Museum; Isaura String Quartet)
89. Best Choral Performance
Award to the Conductor, and to the Choral Director and/or Chorus Master where applicable and to the Choral Organization/Ensemble.
Carols After A Plague
Donald Nally, conductor (The Crossing)
The House Of Belonging
Craig Hella Johnson, conductor (Miró Quartet; Conspirare)
Ligeti: Lux Aeterna
Esa-Pekka Salonen, conductor (San Francisco Symphony Chorus)
Rachmaninoff: All-Night Vigil
Steven Fox, conductor (The Clarion Choir)
SAARIAHO: RECONNAISANCE
Nils Schweckendiek, conductor (Uusinta Ensemble; Helsinki Chamber Choir)
90. Best Chamber Music/Small Ensemble Performance
For new recordings of works with chamber or small ensemble (twenty-four or fewer members, not including the conductor). One Award to the ensemble and one Award to the conductor, if applicable.
American Stories
Anthony McGill & Pacifica Quartet
Beethoven For Three: Symphony No. 6, ‘Pastorale’ And Op. 1, No. 3; Yo-Yo Ma, Emanuel Ax & Leonidas Kavakos
Between Breaths
Third Coast Percussion
ROUGH MAGIC
Roomful Of Teeth
Uncovered, Vol. 3: Coleridge-Taylor Perkinson, William Grant Still & George Walker
Catalyst Quartet
91. Best Classical Instrumental Solo
Award to the Instrumental Soloist(s) and to the Conductor when applicable.
Adams, John Luther: Darkness And Scattered Light
Robert Black
Akiho: Cylinders
Andy Akiho
THE AMERICAN PROJECT
Yuja Wang; Teddy Abrams, conductor (Louisville Orchestra)
Difficult Grace
Seth Parker Woods
Of Love
Curtis Stewart
92. Best Classical Solo Vocal Album
Award to: Vocalist(s), Collaborative Artist(s) (Ex: pianists, conductors, chamber groups) Producer(s), Recording Engineers/Mixers with greater than 50% playing time of new material.
Because
Reginald Mobley, soloist; Baptiste Trotignon, pianist
Broken Branches
Karim Sulayman, soloist; Sean Shibe, accompanist
40@40
Laura Strickling, soloist; Daniel Schlosberg, pianist
Rising
Lawrence Brownlee, soloist; Kevin J. Miller, pianist
WALKING IN THE DARK
Julia Bullock, soloist; Christian Reif, conductor (Philharmonia Orchestra)
93. Best Classical Compendium
Award to the Artist(s) and to the Album Producer(s) and Engineer(s) of over 50% playing time of the album, and to the Composer and Librettist (if applicable) with over 50% playing time of a world premiere recording only.
Fandango
Anne Akiko Meyers; Gustavo Dudamel, conductor; Dmitriy Lipay, producer
Julius Eastman, Vol. 3: If You’re So Smart, Why Aren’t You Rich?
Christopher Rountree, conductor; Lewis Pesacov, producer
Mazzoli: Dark With Excessive Bright
Peter Herresthal; Tim Weiss, conductor; Hans Kipfer, producer
PASSION FOR BACH AND COLTRANE
Alex Brown, Harlem Quartet, Imani Winds, Edward Perez, Neal Smith & A.B. Spellman; Silas Brown & Mark Dover, producers
Sardinia
Chick Corea; Chick Corea & Bernie Kirsh, producers
Sculptures
Andy Akiho; Andy Akiho & Sean Dixon, producers
Zodiac Suite
Aaron Diehl Trio & The Knights; Eric Jacobsen, conductor; Aaron Diehl & Eric Jacobsen, producers
94. Best Contemporary Classical Composition
A Composer’s Award. (For a contemporary classical composition composed within the last 25 years, and released for the first time during the Eligibility Year.) Award to the librettist, if applicable.
Adès: Dante
Thomas Adès, composer (Gustavo Dudamel & Los Angeles Philharmonic)
Akiho: In That Space, At That Time
Andy Akiho, composer (Andy Akiho, Ankush Kumar Bahl & Omaha Symphony)
Brittelle: Psychedelics
William Brittelle, composer (Roomful Of Teeth)
Mazzoli: Dark With Excessive Bright
Missy Mazzoli, composer (Peter Herresthal, James Gaffigan & Bergen Philharmonic)
MONTGOMERY: ROUNDS (in the YouTube video below)
Jessie Montgomery, composer (Awadagin Pratt, A Far Cry & Roomful Of Teeth)
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Meet unique Yannick
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By Jacob Stockinger
It’s getting hard not to recognize the name of conductor Yannick Nézet-Séguin (below, conducting the Chamber Orchestra of Europe).
The 48-year-old French-Canadian is the acclaimed music director of the Metropolitan Opera, the artistic director of the Philadelphia Orchestra, and the music director and chief guest conductor of the Montreal Metropolitan Orchestra. He also heads numerous recording collaborations — many of them award-winning — for the Deutsche Grammophon label.
He also trained Bradley Cooper who portrayed Leonard Bernstein in the new movie “Maestro.” (He discusses that in the YouTube video at the bottom.)
Like the flamboyant Bernstein, the colorful Nézet-Séguin is getting to be a superstar conductor, a much-in-demand rock star of the classical world who is known by his first name — Yannick, like Lenny.
What would you like to know about him?
How he was trained?
What was his big break?
What is his private life like?
How does he juggle his super-busy schedules and commitments?
What music he listens to away from his jobs?
Here is a revealing interview that should answer a lot of your questions and spike the public’s interest in him even more.
https://macleans.ca/culture/yannick-nezet-seguin
What do you think of Yannick?
The Ear wants to hear.
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Making music saves senior brains, studies find
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By Jacob Stockinger
If you are a senior and think that making music— even as a beginner — is for younger people, you couldn’t be more wrong.
A newly released British study offers convincing evidence that singing in a choir (below top, the now-defunct UW-Madison Choral Union) and playing an instrument (below bottom) helps to boost memory, and save the brains of older people, possibly averting or postponing cognitive decline, dementia and possibly Alzheimer’s disease.
Here are links, on Classic FM radio station’s website, to the stories about the two studies:
https://www.classicfm.com/discover-music/piano-choir-keeps-brain-memory-active/
https://www.classicfm.com/music-news/piano-lessons-older-age-delay-dementia/
How does your own experience measure up to findings in the studies?
The Ear wants to hear.
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Apple Music Classical is now available in Asia
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By Jacob Stockinger
As of this past Tuesday, Apple Music Classical is finally available in Asia.
At least in China, Japan, Taiwan, South Korea, Hong Kong and Macao.
Apple has not yet said whether it is available there on Android phones, which in the West came later than the inaugural availability only on iPhones.
But so far The Ear doesn’t see any mention of other East Asians countries such Philippines, Thailand, Singapore, Malaysia, Mongolia, Indonesia, Laos or Cambodia. And there is also no mention whatsoever of South Asian countries such as India, Saudi Arabia, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Nepal, Turkey, Iran and others.
Maybe Apple is still working on the native languages of those markets.
In any case, it seems a natural fit for Apple Music Classical and its enhanced streaming service in terms of artists, repertoire and organizations.
To The Ear, it certainly seems that in many ways Asia seems to be current hotspot for Western classical music, judging by concert attendance as well as the numbers of students and the winners of international competitions.
Here is the announcement that the prestigious Gramophone magazine in the UK posted:
And here is the announcement from Music Business Worldwide. It has more background, including some specifics about classical music performaers in Asia that will now be available on the Apple Music apps. But you have to click on the orange button that reads “Continue to article”:
Plus as of today, Apple has named two prominent and young Asian pianists (named below) as official Artist Ambassadors to Apple Music Classical. Here is the announcement made on Instagram:
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Classical music predictions for 2024
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By Jacob Stockinger
The classical music blogger LudwigVan has made some interesting predictions about where classical music will go in the coming year.
Not all of the subjects might come to pass in classical music.
But many do seem possible or even plausible.
Like ticket prices dropping because of rising post-pandemic demand and tight family and personal budgets.
Or rising wages for musicians because of inflation.
Or the growing use of VR or virtual reality.
Or hearing more local music and musicians that appeal to younger audiences.
See for yourself. Here is a link:
The Ear will venture his own predictions:
First is that more and more audiences — especially the oldest baby boomers — will increasingly watch and listen to concerts via live streaming and recorded streaming.
It certainly is not as exciting as attending in person. But it is convenient. And it is way cheaper. For example, one good ticket to the Madison Symphony Orchestra or the Madison Opera will buy you a one-year unlimited subscription to the Paris-based arts streaming site medici.tv, which features live and recorded performances of all kinds, plus interviews, competitions and master classes, from around the world and especially Europe.
Then there are other factors to consider such as the artists and the programs you want to see and hear, or the inconvenience, expense and dangers of finding parking or navigating icy walking and driving at night and in bad weather.
And The Ear’s second prediction is that Asian musicians, especially Chinese and Korean, will continue to dominate international competitions.
See: https://welltempered.wordpress.com/?s=asian+musicians
Which predictions by Ludwig-Van do you think apply to classical music and are correct?
Do you have your own thoughts or predictions about trends in the classical world?
The Ear wants to hear.
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Here are winners of major international music competitions in 2023. What’s next?
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By Jacob Stockinger
Which young, up-and-coming classical musicians should you keep an eye on during the coming year?
Which ones, if any, will be booked in coming years to performance locally, say, at the Madison Symphony Orchestra, the Wisconsin Chamber Orchestra and the Wisconsin Union Theater; or at the Salon Piano Series; or as a University of Wisconsin Mead Witter School of Music guest artist?
One guide to 2024 and beyond might be to review the winners of the international music competitions held in 2023.
Thanks to The Violin Channel, here is a list of many such winners who may go on to establish more prominent careers. If you click on the names of the competitions, posted in red, you will be linked to fuller stories about the competitions, many of which you have probably never heard of. The Ear follows many contests but had never heard of many of these.
Here is a link:
You can find out about histories of the competitions, other prize winners, places they are held and how often, jury members and contest rules and formats, and more. And you can hear excerpts from some prestigious competitions including the Bischoff Chamber Music competition and a competition for young child prodigy violinists in Italy.
At the bottom of the story, you can hear a YouTube video with the 19-year-old, Asian-American pianist Magdelena Ho in her contest-winning performance of Beethoven’s Piano Concerto No. 4 at the Clara Haskil Competition in Switzerland. She looks to have a promising future.
The winners came all continents — Asian, Africa, North America, South America and Europe.
And the competitions were held in many different places and focused on many different kinds or genres of classical music: violin, viola, cello, double bass and guitar; piano; saxophone;mharp; percussion and drums; chamber music and symphonic music; conducting; singing; and early music.
At the bottom is a vibrant performance of a familiar Bach suite by Canadian cellist Luka Coetzee who won Finland’s Paulo Competition and also took first prize at the Pablo Casals Competition on 2022.
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New Yorker critic Alex Ross names 26 notable classical music recordings from 2023
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By Jacob Stockinger
Alex Ross (below) writes for The New Yorker magazine and is perhaps the most respected classical music critic not only in the U.S. but in the world.
His bestselling book of collected essays, “The Rest Is Noise,” has been acclaimed and was nominated for a Pulitzer Prize. HIs latest book about Wagner, art and politics has also been highly praised.
This year, unlike in many others, Ross chose to list notable recordings along with a few general observations about the live performances and the recording scene.
For example, he has both sharp criticism and high praise of how the largest commercial labels as well as smaller specialty labels such as BIS and Hyperion are coping with the ever-growing popularity and challenge of streaming.
Ross also sounds a warning about the “transformation” of the iconic Mostly Mozart Festival by Lincoln Center to re-conceive the famous summer concert series as more “inclusive” — despite its financial and artistic success over decades.
Ross’ remarks serve as a timely warning for programmers at concert venues and radio shows to be careful of trying to increase popularity with simplistic ways to “de-canonize” and “de-colonialize” the repertoire in the name of diversity, equity and inclusion.
One suspects that what matters most of all to Ross is the quality of the compositions and the performances — not the genre, color or culture of those who are responsible for them. Not all parts of culture, he suggests in a longer version of the remarks, need to appeal to all parts of society.
Anyway, read his remarks about the best recordings and see the list of 20 others and see what you think:
https://www.newyorker.com/culture/2023-in-review/notable-classical-recordings-of-2023
One noteworthy fact is that he named the young Korean pianist Yunchan Lim (below, in a photo by Lisa-Marie Mazzucci) to his “best-of” list for Lim’s live recording made during the Van Cliburn Competition that he won last year at the age of 18.
In the YouTube video at the bottom you can hear Lim play “Mazeppa,” perhaps the most fiendishly difficult of Liszt’s “Twelve Transcendental Etudes.” It depicts a Ukrainian folk hero who is punished for his adultery by being strapped naked to a galloping wild horse and struggles to free himself.
And if you have not yet heard Lim’s electrifying performance Rachmaninoff’s Piano Concerto No. 3 with conductor Marin Alsop during the finals of the Cliburn competition, you should check it out at YouTube.
Do you have any opinions about the recording that Ross selected?
About Yunchan Lim?
The Ear want to hear.
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Hear 25 works of Christmas-inspired classical music plus 86 minutes of background music
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By Jacob Stockinger
Today — Sunday, Dec. 24, 2023 — is Christmas Eve.
Many people and households will start celebrating Christmas today and tonight.
Then, of course, there is tomorrow — Christmas Day and especially morning,
By now you have certainly heard many hymns and carols plus the usual popular holiday musical fare.
But here are 25 works of classical music that are appropriate for today and tomorrow.
Some composers and works probably sound familiar while others are more obscure or neglected.
But each work comes with a short background story or narrative, plus an audio-visual video clip from YouTube.
Here is the link. Take a listen and decide for yourself.
In a less serious vein, the YouTube video below adds a different site with 86 minutes of traditional and familiar songs, hymns and carols — but in instrumental arrangements. It might sound a lot like old-fashioned Mantovani, but The Ear thinks that the lack of words and vocal music makes it more suitable for background to conversation and socializing.
What do you think?
The Ear wants to hear.
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The Guardian names its Top 10 classical albums of 2023
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By Jacob Stockinger
Here’s another “Best of 2023” or “Top 10 of 2023” list of classical recordings during the past year.
This one comes come the British newspaper The Guardian. The Ear likes that the critic also refrains from calling the choices definite, but rather emphasizes personal preference that were “particularly impressive or rewarding.”.
While my own preferences haven’t been well incorporated into other lists, at least this one has one of my favorite and relatively young artists: the Icelandic pianist Vikingur Olafsson (below).
He is noteworthy when playing Mozart, Debussy and Philip Glass.
But I find him most outstanding in Baroque repertoire, including his performances and own transcriptions of Rameau and especially Bach.
This year he is touring the world with his latest release — an astonishing recordings of Bach’s “Goldberg Variations.” He takes all repeats and offers 85 minutes or greater clarity, drive, left hand voicing and ornamentation. (You can hear a snippet in the YouTube video at the bottom.)
But there is much more to check out.
This list lacks audio samples but does have links to the full reviews.
See for yourself:
https://www.theguardian.com/music/2023/dec/20/our-top-10-classical-recordings-of-2023
And here are lists to other Best of lists, which can be used for buying or receiving gifts or for exploring on various subscription services.
This is from NPR or National Public Radio:
And this is from Gramophone magazine:
Are you familiar with any of the named or honored recordings?
What ones do you recommend?
The Ear wants to hear.
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The Well-Tempered Ear 