Wow the First Readings Project experience was fantastic! Founder and conductor J. David Moore was right when he said it’s like having the keys to a Porshe for 40 minutes.
The 16 singers were pros from VocalEssence, The Singers, Cantus, and Rose Ensemble. They were experts in their craft and it showed by their intonation, color, phrasing, diction, and precision.
Such a treat and I thank them many times over! Here’s the recording:
First Readings Project, directed by J. David Moore
My piece “Drop by Drop” for SATB choir + marimba will be performed next week by the First Readings Project. My piece is last on the program so be there by 8:30 to catch it!
First Readings Project
Thursday, January 17, 2013
6:30-9:30 p.m.
Studio Z
275 East Fourth St. Suite 200
St Paul, MN 55101
More info at http://firstreadingsproject.org/2012/06/1-17-13/
With any luck, I’ll complete repairs to my hand made glass marimba and it will make a triumphant come back!
This morning MPR introduced me to the work of a composer I had never heard of – Cecile Chaminade. She was a French pianist and wrote most of her work in the late 1800s.
I downloaded an album of her piano works this morning and found them absolutely delightful! Highly recommended if you like solo piano music.
I hear romanticism, lyricism, a certain French color, and yet a rhythmic and structural component that is unique – a flowing and free aesthetic.
What do you hear?
I can’t say how much I enjoyed deep composer-ly discussion with other five other composers and Libby Larsen over dinner last night.
Libby posed perhaps the most provocative (in a good way) question I had heard in a long time:
“What is your ideal piece?”
Meaning what piece is there, latent in your brain, unexpressed and symbolizing the epitome of your artistic achievement?
I enjoyed attending the Chorus America conference and ACF adjunct conference called ChoralConnections.
Particular highlights:
Lately I’ve been listening to the Beethoven piano sonatas. While many of them (the early ones especially) are perfectly pleasant, there are several that are truly transcendent and are powerful these many generations later.
Why is that? Why do some pieces resonate over time while others are merely nice to listen to? Perhaps these transcendent pieces need to evoke one of:
Beethoven’s pieces nearly always work between beauty and drama, with an extra side of drama.
Here is Pollini playing the finale of the Appasionata (#23 in F minor).
What do you think? What makes transcendent music?
Here’s a nifty nugget from an unexpected place. From Elle Magazine’s cover story comes a quote by Gwen Stefani recalling some advice that Prince gave her:
Prince, who is one of my idols, gave me some advice when I worked with him: “Have you ever just tried writing a hit? Like, don’t just try writing a song, try and write a hit song.”
This is a fantastic cover by Sara Bareilles. The sparse arrangement at the piano is great, but what really makes this cover is her time. Strong R&B pulse and well placed at the back of the beat.
I’m a sucker for a great cover. I go in search of them. I always learn something about arrangements when someone does a great cover and gives a song a twist.
This one is genius. I love how the 5/4 meter and wonky chords completely reinvent a familiar song.
I’ve always thought these performance rights organizations were one step removed from the mob. Tons o’ money sloshing around, some incredibly powerful legislation and court cases at their back, a near monopoly on the services they provide.
But they also provide great resources and the main way for composers to earn income for performances of their works.
