Anyone who’s dabbled even casually with the music world knows it’s full of heartbreak, exhilaration, passion, and drama. A profession overstuffed with possibilities for storytellers in all media, it’s a wonder to me why more film directors, novelists, and playwrights don’t take the plunge. But appearing today in bookstores across the fruited plain is Overture (Doubleday, $24.95), the debut novel by Yael Goldstein. Overture is about a famous violinist who also has a passion for composition. But her marriage to an acclaimed and revolutionary composer compels her to sacrifice her own composerly ambitions. (Alma Mahler, anyone?) Then to make matters
Read moreWe’re a little late in reporting this, but last month composer George Tsontakis was awarded the Charles Ives Living by the American Academy of Arts and Letters. I had never heard of this prize before, but it’s a sweet deal. Tsontakis receives $75,000. each year for three years provided that he forgo all normal paid work. He may, however, accept commissions. The Charles Ives Living was established by Ives’s widow with royalties from her late husband’s music. This round the selection committee was chaired by none other than William Bolcom. The previous three winners were Stephen Hartke, Chen Yi, and Martin Bresnick.
Read moreHmm . . . The Kennedy Center Honors. Always forget about these things until December. Always find them exasperating and inspiring at the same time. Be nice to get one someday . . . Ah – there’s Zubin Mehta. Bet most viewers haven’t even heard of him; geez, I hope the awards continue to pay tribute to classical musicians in the future . . . Ug, couldn’t they have come up with something other than Fritz Kreisler for the tribute? Sigh. Suppose beggars can’t be choosers . . . Wouldn’t it be nice if the Kennedy Center honored Steve Reich
Read moreStanley moved suddenly, sitting up as though to break a spell. He sat rigid on the edge of the bed, clenching his teeth as though to discipline the activity of his mind, which he could hardly stir during the day when he tried to work. How could Bach have accomplished all that he did? and Palestrina? the Gabrielis? and what of the organ concerti of Corelli? Those were the men whose work he admired beyond all else in this life, for they had touched the origins of design with recognition. And how? with music written for the Church. Not written
Read moreIn Ohio over Thanksgiving, I was happy to discover a small pile of mail from Manhattan School of Music: it’s about time they decided to keep in touch with their alumni. Anyway, browsing the school’s new newsletter, I was pleased to learn they’ve just established a new Masters program in Contemporary Performance. This, of course, should come as no surprise now that a composer’s in charge up there. The requirements include playing four semesters with Tactus, MSM’s increasingly hot contemporary music ensemble; lots of reading of works by student composers; and plenty of instruction in performing with electronics. All in
Read moreDo: This sounds interesting. Want to know more? Re: Our man Daniel Beliavsky’s playing at the NYPL. Get the details. Mi: And here’s a message from the Frolicsome Composer from Hell: THE WEATHER RIOTS In his late set of works called The Number Pieces, John Cage used a very original device for coordinating parts, called “flexible time brackets”. In these pieces, there is no score, no conductor, and players use stopwatches. Players are given parts which contain some musical material, and a flexible set of time points within which they can place this musical material. That way, there is a
Read moreLeach_Xantippe_sRebuke_pg12[1].pdf From Sequenza21 regular Mary Jane Leach: Xantippe’s Rebuke, for oboe soloist and eight taped oboes, is an intense study in sound that tickles your ears. It will be performed on the Sequenza 21 Concert by Matt Sullivan. I’ve written about my approach to writing it, which I hope you will find interesting. My work has primarily been concerned with exploring sound phenomena – combination, difference and interference tones. I work very carefully with the specific sound properties of each instrument that I write for, qualities that change from instrument to instrument. Initially this was done in rather direct, almost
Read moreHey Folks — Don’t know how we managed to scoop the Times on this one. But here’s an interview with violinist Jeffrey Phillips, who’s doing many honors on next month’s Sequenza21 concert. The interview has to do with a certain set of violin solos by a composer who will be familiar to those who wander these parts. Enjoy! Q. You’re going to be giving the U.S. premiere of two works for solo violin by Tom Myron on the first-ever Sequenza21 Concert. Are they hard? A. “They are as difficult as one would expect two pieces that were written for Peter
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