Comments on: Happy Birthday Already

By: Jonathan Milton

Jonathan Milton — Wed, 04 Mar 2009 03:51:52 +0000

I was lucky enough to sing in that 1962-63 choir at Calhoun High School that did “The Good Of Contentment”. Given my age, I was around for the Motown Years, and even sang a version of few of those tunes in a rock & roll band in the 60s. But believe me, in its’ own way, songs like “Contentment” were as much soul music as anything coming out of Detroit!!

By: Mell

Mell — Tue, 16 Dec 2008 23:51:43 +0000

Thanks for the reminder about Harald Genzmer. My wife has played his charming Sonatina for Viola. I’ll have to figure a way to get something of his learned this coming year… (I say that, but I’ve never learned any of the Carter pieces, yet…)

By: Jeffrey Biegel

Jeffrey Biegel — Tue, 16 Dec 2008 02:20:05 +0000

Tal Thayer was one of the best choir directors of all time–I had the honor to accompany his Calhoun Choir once–what an inspiration!

By: Seth Gordon

Seth Gordon — Mon, 15 Dec 2008 19:40:08 +0000

I’m a little disappointed that with so much focus on Carter no major events were planned for the Raymond Scott Centenary this past year. Oh well.

We may be short of centenaries for ’09, but there’s a few musical birthday milestones: Tom Waits and Fred Frith will both be turning 60. The big 7-0 will hit Louis Andriessen and Tom Johnson, and would have hit John Fahey. And there’s a number of 75ers – Wolff, Tenney, Globokar, Birtwistle…

By: john Mclaughlin Williams

john Mclaughlin Williams — Mon, 15 Dec 2008 16:32:10 +0000

I vote for Paul Constantinescu (1909-1963). In the late ’90′s I heard a performance of his fantastic Harp Concerto, amazingly, in Erie,PA, with Grammy nominee Sarah Ericsson as soloist. This is the time of year when I always break out his oratorio The Nativity, which is a Byzantine-influenced setting of the story of Christ’s birth. Definitely worth hearing.