Seattle Life

It's been raining a lot and it's been cold a lot... I'm told this is the norm. *sigh* I miss the sun. :P
Anyway, school is wrapping up - all ready! There are only 3 more weeks of class then a week of finals. I've already ready signed up for two of my classes: a seminar on American Musical Theater, and a seminar on Sondheim (West Side Story's amazing lyricist). I'm supposed to take a seminar about music research, but the teacher won't send us an add code in advance, we just have to show up on the first day of class. Then I'll also be taking lessons and be in an ensemble. I hope that I get into either group really: their schedules work well with mine (with one group meeting only 2 times a week), the conductors are both okay, and the repertoire for both groups is alright (one being far easier than the other). I think I get a week off in January from my Seattle Opera gig, but I'm not sure... the fundraising campaign I'm working on now stops at the end of the year and subscription renewals don't start until mid January, so we'll see. I'll be TAing for the Music 185 class as long as I have work study so that'll go thru the rest of the school year. Then, in January also, my husband and I will be starting another community group at our church. We're going to try to be in the same group as last time. The teaching will be about marriage this time, so that'll be good. :)
Something music related...
This is a caricature of the composer and lyricist Stephen Sondheim. Sondheim studied with Oscar Hammerstein II from a very young age and the playwright/lyricist had a great impact on his compositional/writing style. His big break came with West Side Story. He wrote the music and lyrics to Sweeney Todd. Good stuff... good night!

Jobs and Life Update

I'll be starting my fifth week with the Seattle Opera on Tuesday. I cannot believe I've been working there for a month, now! The job is interesting to say the least. I speak to a lot of different kinds of people on the phone: students, die-hard opera fans, Wagner opera fans (which are a special kind of opera fan), baby boomers that go to the opera to be seen, and people who wish I had never called them in the first place. There are so many ways to say, "No, thanks. I'm not interested." Some people go out of their way to avoid saying it while others shout it after I say that I'm calling for the Seattle Opera. I would say its similar to telemarketing, but I have no experience doing that either, so I have no idea if its similar or not. :P

My TA job is going really well. The first quiz I made only had one "questionable question" with more than one answer being okay, which I'm told is good for my first time. I haven't gotten any angry emails about how hard the quiz was either, so that's good. :)

The Puget Sound Symphony Orchestra is having their first concert of their 11th season this Saturday. If you're in town, you should check it out! Click here for their website.
I wrote the program notes for the concert. Once the concert is over I'll publish them here for all to see.

School is winding up. Teachers are really cramming to teach everything they left out the first few weeks of class. In German, things are moving at lightning speed and sometimes the vocabulary just feels like too much, but that's what I get for taking an accelerated German course. So, I just have a lot of studying to do before my next test.

Our apartment is finally starting to feel like home. I look forward to spending time in the space now after a long day and we were able to buy some much needed furniture for storage and display (a huge shelving unit being the key item). Hopefully, once loan money for the winter quarter comes in, we can afford to buy some decor to brighten up the place and some warmer winter clothes. We found out recently that Seattle gets colder and stays colder much longer than San Jose does. :)

Westside has been great to us. Our weekly community group meetings are going well and we're making some fantastic friends. We cooked vegetarian chili for everyone and they all loved it! We're going to be meeting with the Pastors this weekend before the PSSO concert during a "New Comers" dinner. So, we're really looking forward to that and getting some one-on-one time with Pastor Richard and his wife, Valerie.

I think that's all for now, here's a cute puppy picture just for fun. :D

Day 2 of the cold

In an effort to continue my recovery I am staying home again today. I am missing 2 more things today because I cannot be sick this week. I have to make it through the rest of my work week and the PSSO rehearsal tomorrow night. So, in the mean time, here is some more program information for the PSSO concert coming up:

Variations on a Theme by Haydn, Op. 56a (1873)
Johannes Brahms (1833-1897)

Scored for: piccolo, 2 flutes, 2 oboes, 2 clarinets, 2 bassoons, contrabassoon, 4 horns, 2 trumpets, timpani, triangle, and strings.

Johannes Brahms was a German composer and pianist of the Romantic period, but his compositions did not fall in line with the Wagnerian style of composing. Brahms' musical was more classical than romantic. His music was classical in the sense that his music uses forms and orders from the Classical period. Many people see Brahms as the premier composer of "pure music" (music that is composed for the sake of music with no story attached to it) as opposed to the programmatic music employed by those associated with the Wagner camp (including Franz, Liszt, Gustav Mahler and Anton Bruckner). One supporter of Brahm's music was Robert Schumann and his wife Clara. When Brahms first played his C minor Piano Sonata for Robert Schumann, Schumann rushed out of the room mid chord. He returned with Clara saying, "Here, dear Clara, you shall hear music such as you have never heard before." When Schumann fell ill Brahms returned to comfort his old friend and support Clara, who Brahms had secretly been in love with since their first meeting. As Robert's health dwindled Clara stayed strong and stayed by her husband, never succumbing to Brahms' infatuation. It is rumored that once Robert Schumann died in July of 1856, Brahms proposed to Clara and she turned him down. In any case, their final meeting was the fall of 1895. They parted ways laughing in high spirits and Clara died the next year in May.

The inspiration for Variations on a Theme by Haydn came from an unfinished set of instrument suites by Haydn that a friend of Brahms' had run across while doing research for a Haydn biography. Brahms wrote down the theme from a Partita in B flat labeled "Choral St. Antoni." In 2 years he finished the orchestral version of the Haydn Variations and the version for 2 pianos, which he played with Clara Schumann in August of 1873 before it was published in November. Unknown to Brahms when he copied down the "Choral St. Antoni" theme, the music was probably not composed by Haydn. Musicologists can offer up no definite answer as to who the composer is, although some believe the theme to be from an old Austrian folk song or from a student of Haydn's, Ignace Joseph Pleyel.

The Haydn Variations begins with a theme and is followed by eight variations and a finale. The structure of the opening theme has irregular five-measure phrases. The following eight variations keep this five-measure phrase structure and the key differences between each variation lies in the mood: thoughtful, playful, gentle, and sometimes sensual (which Brahms was not known for using very often in his music). The finale is a pasacaglia, in which a phrase is repeated in the lower voices for the duration of the piece while the upper voices vary, and the basses play the five-measure ostinato based on the original theme. Eventually the string sing out the return of the original theme before the woodwinds overtake it with streams of scales.

Whatever is going around campus...

I got the non-swine flu that is going around campus. Thank God its not swine flu, and I hope that God gives me some supernatural healing b/c I've already missed something really important (so sorry Zach) and I don't want to miss the other 3 or 4 things that are going on this week. So, I am staying home besides emergencies (and church). I drink tea like its a miracle tonic right now. I also stayed in bed for 9 hours, even though I was wide awake after 7, but I thought I'd give my body the chance to relax... So far I only felt really achy (aka fever-y) yesterday through last night and today is better. Last night I was like the walking dead - I haven't felt that helpless in a long time. I hope to get some writing done today. Speaking of which, here is the first part of a program I am writing for the Puget Sound Symphony Orchestra's first concert this season:

"Helios" Overture, Opus 17 (1903)
Carl Nielsen (1865-1931)

Calls for: 3 flutes, 2 oboes, 2 clarinets, 2 bassoons, 4 horns, 3 trumpets, 3 trombones, tuba, timpani, and strings.

Carl Nielsen was a Danish composer that was as honored in Denmark as Sibelius was in Finland. Nielsen wrote many types of music and although he wouldn't have called himself a nationalist, he did compose many Danish folk songs. His personal style as a composer is best represented in his symphonies and 3 solo concertos for violin, flute and clarinet. He was a violinist and for almost 20 years he played with the Danish Royal Orchestra as a second violin (1889-1905). His music was heavily influenced by the Renaissance polyphony he studied which included early and fully developed Baroque fugues (there is even a fugue in the string section towards the second half of the "Heilos" Overture).

Nielsen wrote the "Helios" Overture while he was on leave from the Danish Royal Orchestra in 1903. He took a trip with his wife, Anna, Marie, to Greece for an extended visit. While touring Greece he and Anna Marie spent more than a couple of weeks in Athens, beginning February 20th. Nielsen wrote to a friend of his back in Copenhagen on March 27th, "It's really hot here. The Helios [the sun] shines all day and I am headlong into my new sun piece. A long introduction with sunrise and a dawn song is done, and I have started the Allegro." He writes to another friend after the piece is performed in Denmark by the Danish Royal Orchestra (October 8, 1903), with him still performing as a second violinist, "What do you think of this so-called Program Music? It is of some interest to me as I have just done a piece: that is to say, not a detailed program. My overture describes the movement of the sun through the heavens from morning to evening, but it is only called Helios and no explanation in necessary. What do you say? Such a program, title is not a nuisance. Light, Darkness, Sun, and Rain are almost the same as Credo, Crucifixus, Gloria, and so forth." Nielsen inscribed a verse into the score that better reveals the "program" he had intended for Helios,

"Silence and darkness -
The sun rises with a joyous song of praise,
It wanders on its golden way,
And sinks gently into the sea."

Nielsen explained the development of the work in a letter he wrote to Julius Borup, his friend, while he was still in Greece:

"My overture is in praise and honor of the sun. It begins very softly with some low notes in the bass, then joined by several more instruments, and the horns give out a rather solemn morning hymn. Now the sun rises high in the sky until the midday light is almost blinding and everything is bathed in a sea of light, making almost all living creatures feel sleepy and lazy. Finally it sinks slowly and majestically behind the distant blue mountains, far down in the west. Have I succeeded with it? I simply know that it has given me immense satisfaction to have carried out this idea which is so superbly well suited to musical setting and has an automatically organic shape to it."

Later, Helios became linked to the Danish New Year's celebrations.

The opening sounds very similar to the opening of Mahler's First Symphony in that both pieces depict the awakening of life - Mahler woke up the creatures in the woods, Nielsen woke up the people of Athens. Slow, drawn out notes and chords of the strings eventually awaken the horns and other sections of the orchestra. More and more instruments become energized by the sun's rays, finally reaching all depths of the orchestra and the land as the trumpets sound an energized fanfare. Even though Nielsen describes the middle section as creatures feeling "sleepy and lazy" I hear the sun's ray bringing life and energy to the orchestra. The first theme of the middle section as the sun travels across the sky is in the violins and they are alive with their "joyous [songs] of praise." The second theme is first in the cellos, then the woodwinds. It is not as quick-witted as the violin's theme but it is still celebratory and brimming with life. Futhermore, the music then goes into a lively fugue for the string section which is interrupted by the brass. Following the resounding of the two main themes, the music turns to a gentler demeanor as we reach the final section. The sun sets behind "the distant blue mountains" as the same horns and strings that awoke the orchestra and the world ten minutes ago, gently lulls us back to sleep as the day turns to night. Nielsen takes the listener through the different parts of the day while still maintaining a flow from dawn to dusk. In terms of programmatic music, Helios is wonderfully illustrative and Nielsen beautifully describes the sun's effects on life in his melodies and chordal movement.

Well that's all for now. Time to start researching on the next piece in the program. Later!

End of long week

This week was my first week working for the Seattle Opera. I also saw an opera live for the first time: La Traviata last night at the McCaw Opera house here in Seattle. It was quite the spectacle, I understand now why the opera needs to raise so much money. :)

In other news, the brass trio that I'm in this quarter rehearses tomorrow for the first on a piece by Persichetti that we arranged for Trumpet, Trombone, and Tuba (originally it was for Trombone, Viola, and Cello). We'll see how rehearsal goes tomorrow. Here is a little bit of info about him:

"Persichetti composed for nearly every musical medium. More than 120 of his works are published and many of these are available on commercial recordings. Though he never specifically composed 'educational' music as such, many of his smaller pieces are suitable for teaching purposes...
[His] numerous instrumental compositions include two unique series: one comprises 15 different works each entitled Serenade for such diverse combinations as piano duet, flute and harp, solo tuba, orchestra, band, two recorders, two clarinets and the trio of trombone, viola and cello...
Many of his other works are organized into series. One of these, a collection of primarily instrumental works entitled Parables, contains 25 works, many for unaccompanied wind instruments (complete listing below), and his 15 Serenades include such unconventional combinations as a trio for trombone, viola, and cello as well as selections for orchestra, for band, and for duo piano..."

The official name of our piece is: Serenade No. 6 for trombone, viola and cello, Op. 44 (composed in 1950)

Something not music related, my German studies are going well. I took my first test of the quarter today and I believe I did well. Ich mag Deutsch Klasse. Guten abend!

So, I've Been Busy.

I just started my new job at the Seattle Opera today. I start work in the morning at 9AM and get to work between my two part time jobs all day until 9PM - yay money! :) I am very grateful to be blessed with so many opportunities to put food on the table and electricity in our apartment. My husband and I are also going to be seeing the Seattle Opera perform La Traviata this Thursday as a perk of working for the opera! That is such a blessing. Neither of us have seen a opera live before, we're both very excited.
Yay music!

Tango in the Northwest

On Friday, October 9th, the Northwest Sinfonietta performed Antonio Vivaldi’s Quattro Stagioni (“The Four Seasons”), featuring Adam LaMotte, and Astor Piazzolla’s Las Cuatros Estaciones Porteños (“The Four Seasons of Buenos Aires”), featuring James Garlick. Both soloists did a spectacular job of capturing the essence of their respective concerti. The balance of LaMotte’s delicate playing with his period violin made in 1730 by Bernardo Calcagni was especially helpful in depicting the Baroque style of the four concerti that make up Vivaldi’s “The Four Seasons”. Garlick’s rendition of the Piazzolla concerto was fiery and full of spirit, much like the tango dance that inspired the work. Both sets of concerti also showcased the mature, well-versed Northwest Sinfonietta string orchestra. The timbre of the blended strings in the Vivaldi warmed the hall and created an atmosphere one might have heard in the days of Schubertiades.

Adam LaMotte really shined during the lyrical passages, especially during the Largo of the “Winter” concerto (Concerto No. 4 in F minor, “L’inverno”). The shape he added to the rising and falling melody gave the piece momentum and helped propel the orchestra into a turbulent Allegro movement. LaMotte’s excited flourishes in the Allegro happened so quickly and were so fluid, the transition to the gentler sections in between the violent outcries was seamless. Also of note, is Elizabeth D. Brown’s performance on the Baroque guitar and Archlute. The addition of both period instruments helped add to the ambiance of the ensemble and the contrast of the plucked strings with the bowings of the rest of the orchestra was a very nice textural compliment.

Piazolla’s concerto was certainly a great performance piece for James Garlick. Fresh from the Oberlin Conservatory, Garlick brought an infectious energy into the concert hall. His performance was very similar to that of a tango performer: firm and affectionate, strong willed and sensitive. From the onset of the opening solo, Garlick establishes the mood of the concerto and flies through the virtuosic passages with musicality and grace. His performance was especially poignant when he dug into the chromatics of the simpler melodies and gave the unadorned music a voice all its own. The ending of the final movement was a great triumph for the whole orchestra. Gritty, dirty, and determined, the orchestra aggressively danced to the end of the work in triumph – similar to the ending of Vivaldi’s “Winter” concerto. Additionally, Mara Finkelstein played a beautiful cello solo during the second movement , “Otoño porteño” (“Autumn”). Her rich sound filled the hall and the timbre of the solo violin combined with the solo cello was wonderful.

The conductor, Christophe Chagnard, mentioned the beautiful sunset that he saw on his way to the concert hall that Friday evening. So much of the concert reminded me of the beauty of a sunset and of the majesty of nature. It was truly a magnificent evening.

Today's Trumpet Lesson

I had a great trumpet lesson today. What I thought I was doing wrong all week was me being overly enthusiastic and just taking what he told me to practice too literally. He told me to practice having a steady sound and making sure my air was always moving. I could only do that at a louder dynamic so for 6 days I just played loud... not even a pretty sounding loud. My whole goal was to keep my air stream steady and the only dynamic I could do that at seemed to be an uncomfortable mezzo forte. He said (paraphrasing), "No wonder you couldn't practice for very long. You played loud so often that you spread your embouchure and lost most of your control." "Oooooooooh..." was my response. Why didn't I think of that? Anyway, today he guided me in a new direction: soft playing. So my assignment this week is play soft and basically only soft. I can do that. :) Especially after such a physically taxing week.
Also great about today, it was sunny again! The sun is still here in Seattle. I don't know how much longer it will stick around, but I am enjoying the sunshine while it lasts.

I promise I will get to the second part of my review soon - probably tomorrow evening. With school starting up I've been busier than usual and haven't sorted out when I'm going to be dedicating time to writing just yet. My musical contribution today will be a recommendation.
There is a great up-and-coming pianist, Yuja Wang, that has a great contemporary recording of Mozart's Turkish March. Actually, the real title of the track is: Paraphrase of Rondo “Alla turca” from Mozart’s Piano Sonata K. 331 [2’51], by Arcadi Volodos.
The arrangement is great on its own, and Wang adds so much to the performance! Her CD is available through amazon and other internet sites. Here is the amazon link. I hope you think about purchasing her CD, it's really good.

Seattle Symphony Review (Part 1) - first review attempt

The Seattle Symphony performed a demanding program this afternoon at Benaroya Hall. The first half of the concert was Mendelssohn's Violin Concerto, featuring guest artist Isabelle Faust, and the second half was Mahler's Fifth Symphony. Both pieces required dynamic extremes of the orchestra and I think that the acoustics of the hall really helped emphasize the orchestra's quiet and bold moments.
First of all, congratulations to Isabelle Faust on a spectacular performance. Faust's mastery of the soft dynamic during the Mendelssohn was a joy to hear. There were times when some people might think she was playing too soft, or not firm enough. I found her musicality during the tender movements of the second movement to be especially touching and her dynamic sensitivity to be quite remarkable. The first movement of the concerto contains flourish after flourish and Faust flowed through all of the lines beautifully. Her ability to see the bigger picture and play from phrase to phrase in such a technically challenging piece is particularly memorable. In the third movement there is quite a sprint to the end. Faust not only kept up with the orchestra's momentum, she led the symphony to the final chords. Her energy both musically and as a performer invigorated the orchestra, and upon striking the last chord the applause had already begun.

German class

I want to keep up with my German studies, so I signed up for an accelerated beginning German class at UW. Little did I know that I should have studied my German all summer if I was going to be prepared. I don't feel too bad about my conjugations or word endings at this point. As the semester goes on I'm wondering if the amount of time I study will exponentially increase.
The biggest surprise with the class is the amount of online work that is required. We have daily homework assignments that take at least half an hour and then we have online assignments for every class that last over an hour. Some multi-tasking will be in order.

Very quickly, I'm so excited to see Mahler 5 tomorrow! Here is a review from a fellow contributor on the Gathering Note about the concert:
"Thursday night’s Seattle Symphony concert at Benaroya Hall was a study in contrasts: a refined performance of Mendelssohn’s Violin Concerto and an expansive performance of Mahler’s immense Fifth Symphony. Both were successful, but the truly memorable part was the playing of German violinist Isabelle Faust with her 1704 “Sleeping Beauty” Stradivarius.
The immediate thought when hearing her first notes was how relaxed she was, and how beautiful the pure, gentle sound emanating from her violin. Her bow was so light on the strings it’s as though the sound floated out in an exquisite, silvery stream. Lest this sound sugary sweet, it wasn’t. There was depth and phrasing, shape and contrast here, but always without ostentation. Fast runs seemed easy with plenty of time for each note to be perfect by itself and in its place. There was expressive dynamic range in her playing, but she achieved some extraordinary pianissimos which were nevertheless audible over the orchestra. Faust’s style seemed exactly right for the Mendelssohn. And never have I heard a performance where less was so much more. A slightly reduced orchestra under music director Gerard Schwarz gave her good support and sensitive accompaniment. Schwarz does an excellent job with the orchestra in performance with soloists—careful not to overwhelm them and appropriate as a partner. He doesn’t then go into the frenzy we’ve been seeing more of lately in purely orchestral works he’s conducting, apparently trying to whip the players up into ever louder, more intense climaxes.
Mahler’s fifth asks for some of these, but it seemed a bit soon to hear the first climax of that caliber shortly after the work’s beginning, leaving one wondering, Where can this go from here?
However, despite a good many wince-making episodes of extreme volume (particularly the cymbals clashes and screaming violins) from the large orchestra Mahler demands, Schwarz also pulled back in between for some fine expressive music making in Mahler’s large, colorful work. The music is lush enough in itself that it needs a little restraint rather than exaggeration to show it at its best, and Schwarz achieved this in many places. It seemed unnecessary to bring principal hornist John Cerminaro to the front like a soloist in the fourth movement, no matter how prominent his role and how smooth his playing. It was distracting to watch him frequently empty out the drips from his instrument.
Kudos though to the whole brass section, notably principal trumpet David Gordon, for its performance." - Philippa Kiraly

Seattle Opera and Seattle Symphony

I called the Seattle Opera Administration Office today and found out that I have training on the 12th! I am very excited to be stepping into the business side of the music world and I am very grateful for the free dress rehearsal tickets that will be made available to me because of it. :)
I know I've already mentioned the Opera's 2009 season so I won't go on about it. I'm just really excited and wanted to share the good news.

This Sunday is the Mahler 5 concert that my husband and I have been looking forward to since we bought tickets in August. We can't wait to hear UW faculty perform and are geared up for our first symphony performance of the season. It should prove to be a good one, especially since the symphony will have played the program 4 times by then.

The Seattle Symphony has been performing since December 29, 1903 - over a century! In 1998 the symphony moved into Benaroya Hall in downtown Seattle. The current director, Gerard Schwarz, has been with the symphony since 1983 and I believe this is his second to last season with Seattle. I feel very fortunate to see a symphony when a conductor is approaching the end of their tenure. After years of developing relationships with the orchestra members and staff, the group must be in some sort of flow as a result of that ( I believe Gerard Schwarz's relationship with Seattle is good). Gerard Schwarz even has his own day in Seattle: Septemeber 24th. Here is a link to the post announcing it: http://blog.seattlesymphony.org/?p=919

That's all for now. Have a great weekend everyone. Go Huskies!

The 2009/2010 School Year

This year is going to be quite the journey. My husband and I have anything but a typical schedule and we are finding that adjusting to life in Seattle is becoming easier. However, adjusting to the dynamic at the School of Music has not been so easy. It's been a little difficult to make friends in our department b/c everyone just kind of does their own thing. There is no brass "studio" to speak of, just a large group of people that play brass instruments - some of which are music majors, but a good portion of them that aren't. It's also different for me to not have to play in 3 different ensembles plus chamber groups on top of school work and working. I have time to practice - which I did today and it was fun to try the new things my teacher suggested - and I have time to spend with my husband. We'll see just how much time we have in a couple of weeks once we're rehearsing in our chamber group and working 2 jobs each, but hopefully we'll still be able to keep our Friday night date night. :)

When I was growing up I was a big comic book reader, especially Calvin and Hobbes. I forgot a certain strip existed. I came across it online and wanted to share with everyone. Enjoy :)









Wife: "Either he's playing classical music at 78 RPM or I'm still dreaming."
Husband: "First thing in the morning I'm calling the orphanage."

Events of the Last Few Days

A lot has happened since Monday. I've basically nailed down my schedule, but there is a little bit more work to do. As far as trumpet playing goes, I get to study with one of the most internationally acclaimed trumpet players around: Allen Vizzutti (pictured on the left). He is so nice and my first lesson with him today went about as well it could have possibly gone. I didn't by any means impress him with my playing, in fact, he found things in my playing that will be easy to fix and make me sound way better. I am so excited to have no large ensemble commitments this quarter. I will be in a chamber group (hopefully with my husband), but other than that I get to work on my trumpet playing all quarter. I've never had this opportunity and I am going to take advantage of it. I am going to commit to God's plan for me and do what He seems to be directing me towards: Trumpet Performance. If this is where He wants me, then I am certainly going to persevere and give it my all (and I can't say I've always had that attitude about playing the trumpet).

Hopefully the next few weeks will prove to be productive and wonderful. I have high expectations of what God is going to do in my life and my husband's because of the doors He has shut recently. We know that He is guiding us and it's just a matter of following His guidance.

"Consider it pure joy, my brothers, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith develops perseverance. Perseverance must finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything." James 1:2-4

Also, my last post was published on the Gathering Note blog! It's wonderful to be a part of something like this, go check it out!
http://www.gatheringnote.org/?p=5655

Seattle Symphony Concerts this Weekend

For those of you interested in seeing the Seattle Symphony this season, this weekend would be a great time to see them. The program for this Thursday, Friday, Saturday and Sunday (October 1-4) is Mendelssohn's Violin Concerto, with guest soloist Isabelle Faust, and Mahler's Symphony No. 5 in C-sharp minor. I have a special affinity for Mahler's Fifth Symphony. It was the symphonic work that inspired me to pursue an orchestral music career.

Mahler's Fifth Symphony was a revolutionary work and represents a new compositional period in his music. After composing three symphonies with vocalists and words (Symphonies 2, 3 and 4), Mahler writes a purely instrumental symphony. Richard Strauss, a fellow composer and contemporary of Mahler's, wrote, "[Mahler's] emancipation from the literary clearly awakened in him higher demands on orchestration in the service of expression and clarity."(Herta Blaukopf, ed., Gustav Mahler Richard Strauss Correspondence 1888-1911, trans. Edmund Jephcott (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1984), 142.)

The Fifth Symphony does not follow standard practices of symphonic composition within the Romantic period. In this symphony there is a superlative use of polyphony that Mahler once tried to describe as the sounds of a country fair. (Constantin Floros, Gustav Mahler: The Symphonies (New Jersey: Amadeus Press, 2003), 154-55.) Indeed, as one listens to the overlapping voices of the orchestra at the height of the first movement one can imagine a disheveled scene similar to a 19th century country fair.

The structure of the symphony is in 3 parts, with five movements. The first two movements, 1. Trauermarsch: Wie ein Kondukt ("Death March: Like a Funeral Procession") and 2. Stuermisch* betwegt. Mit groesster* Vehemenz ("Turbulently Rough. With Great Vehemence") make up Part One of the Symphony. Part Two is the third movement alone, 3. Scherzo, and Part Three is made of up the last two movements, 4. Adagietto and 5. Rondo-Finale. Many compare this symphony to Beethoven's Eroica symphony for it's heroic character and the programmatic triumph of good over evil. Certainly one can hear the jubilant chords at the end as representative of a victory.

For first time listeners of Mahler's Fifth Symphony listen for repetition, changes in the timbre, and variation of any thematic material. All of these techniques are clues to what Mahler was trying to make more prominent at certain points in the music. Other than that, let your emotions ride along with the music. Without words to tell the audience what is going on in the music, or what the music is about, the music can mean many things to many people. Mahler's Fifth Symphony, and most music in general, is best enjoyed when we open our minds and our ears to the possibility of music taking us on a journey. Journey out to the Seattle Symphony this weekend and you will definitely not be disappointed.

*Umlauts, etc. were replaced by English spellings.

Dogs are Awesome

My husband and I are planning on getting a dog as soon as we can. The apartment we are leasing right now does not allow pets. So, when we move into an apartment next year we are hoping to move into a pet-friendly complex. Here are some possible dog breeds that we'd love to rescue:

Norwich Terrier















Boston Terrier












West Highland White Terrier






















French Bulldog



















Dachshund











I put these dog breeds up now thinking that's what we want, but who knows which little guy or gal we'll meet that we'll end up taking home? I am not opposed to saving a dog from the city pound. We just stumbled upon this site one day, http://www.spdrdogs.org/, and discovered there is a whole community dedicated to saving abandoned purebred animals. I think we'd really like to save an animal and give it a great home - we both are dog crazy!

Here's a musical cartoon from a blog called "Soho the Dog," enjoy:

Top 100s

There is a website/blog that compiles lists of things related to music:
http://digitaldreamdoor.nutsie.com

My husband stumbled upon a list today and it really made me think, who are my top classical composers? what are the top 100 classical symphonies? etc.

Here are the website's 100 Greatest Classical Composers (http://digitaldreamdoor.nutsie.com/pages/best-classic-comp.html):

1. Ludwig Van Beethoven - 1770-1827 2. Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart - 1756-1791 3. Johann Sebastian Bach - 1685-1750 4. Richard Wagner - 1813-1883 5. Joseph Haydn - 1732-1809 6. Johannes Brahms - 1833-1897 7. Franz Schubert - 1797-1828 8. Peter Ilyich Tchaikovsky - 1840-1893 9. George Frideric Handel - 1685-1759 10. Igor Stravinsky - 1882-1971 11. Robert Schumann - 1810-1856 12. Frederic Chopin - 1810-1849 13. Felix Mendelssohn - 1809-1847 14. Claude Debussy - 1862-1918 15. Franz Liszt - 1811-1886 16. Antonin Dvorak - 1841-1904 17. Giuseppe Verdi - 1813-1901 18. Gustav Mahler - 1860-1911 19. Hector Berlioz - 1803-1869 20. Antonio Vivaldi - 1678-1741 21. Richard Strauss - 1864-1949 22. Serge Prokofiev - 1891-1953 23. Dmitri Shostakovich - 1906-1975 24. Béla Bartók - 1881-1945 25. Anton Bruckner - 1824-1896 26. Giovanni Pierluigi da Palestrina - 1525-1594 27. Claudio Monteverdi - 1567-1643 28. Jean Sibelius - 1865-1957 29. Maurice Ravel - 1875-1937 30. Ralph Vaughan Williams - 1872-1958 31. Modest Mussorgsky - 1839-1881 32. Giacomo Puccini - 1858-1924 33. Henry Purcell - 1659-1695 34. Gioacchino Rossini - 1792-1868 35. Edward Elgar - 1857-1934 36. Sergei Rachmaninoff - 1873-1943 37. Camille Saint-Saëns - 1835-1921 38. Josquin Des Prez - c.1440-1521 39. Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov - 1844-1908 40. Carl Maria von Weber - 1786-1826 41. Jean-Philippe Rameau - 1683-1764 42. Jean-Baptiste Lully - 1632-1687 43. Gabriel Fauré - 1845-1924 44. Edvard Grieg - 1843-1907 45. Christoph Willibald Gluck - 1714-1787 46. Arnold Schoenberg - 1874-1951 47. Charles Ives - 1874-1954 48. Paul Hindemith - 1895-1963 49. Olivier Messiaen - 1908-1992 50. Aaron Copland - 1900-1990

51. Francois Couperin - 1668-1733 52. William Byrd - 1539-1623 53. Erik Satie - 1866-1925 54. Benjamin Britten - 1913-1976 55. Bedrick Smetana - 1824-1884 56. César Franck - 1822-1890 57. Alexander Nikolayevich Scriabin - 1872-1915 58. Georges Bizet - 1838-1875 59. Domenico Scarlatti - 1685-1757 60. Georg Philipp Telemann - 1681-1767 61. Anton Webern - 1883-1945 62. Roland de Lassus - 1532-1594 63. George Gershwin - 1898-1937 64. Gaetano Donizetti - 1797-1848 65. Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach - 1714-1788 66. Archangelo Corelli - 1653-1713 67. Thomas Tallis - 1505-1585 68. Jules Massenet - 1842-1912 69. Johann Strauss II - 1825-1899 70. Leos Janácek - 1854-1928 71. Guillaume de Machaut - 1300-1377 72. Alban Berg - 1885-1935 73. Alexander Borodin - 1833-1887 74. Vincenzo Bellini - 1801-1835 75. Charles Gounod - 1818-1893 76. Francis Poulenc - 1899-1963 77. Giovanni Gabrieli - 1554-1612 78. Pérotin - 1160-1225 79. Heinrich Schütz - 1585-1672 80. John Cage - 1912-1992 81. Giovanni Battista Pergolesi - 1710-1736 82. John Dowland - 1563-1626 83. Gustav Holst - 1874-1934 84. Dietrich Buxtehude - 1637-1707 85. Ottorino Respighi - 1879-1936 86. Guillaume Dufay - 1400-1474 87. Hugo Wolf - 1860-1903 88. Carl Nielsen - 1865-1931 89. William Walton - 1902-1983 90. Darius Milhaud - 1892-1974 91. Orlando Gibbons - 1583-1625 92. Giacomo Meyerbeer - 1791-1864 93. Samuel Barber - 1910-1981 94. Tomás Luis de Victoria - 1549-1611 95. Léonin - 1135-1201 96. Manuel de Falla - 1876-1946 97. Hildegard von Bingen - 1098-1179 98. Mikhail Glinka - 1804-1857 99. Alexander Glazunov - 1865-1936 100. Don Carlo Gesualdo - 1566-1613

There are a lot of things about this list I like: 1. it exists, 2. the first 20 or so composers are some of the most influential in the Western Music repertoire, 3. Scriabin is not in the top 50.
However, there a few elements to this list that I must say I am not fond of. Here are the stipulations on which the list was created:

"Criteria: - Composers are ranked for their innovation and influence, as well as their aesthetic importance and historical significance."

Based on these criteria, I have to diagree with the oder of the top 10 composers. First of all, I don't think that the top 10 composers I'd pick would be able to be listed in order. I think the top 10, probably more, should be considered tied and not listed as one being better than the other. My "Top 10" would be:
Ludwig van Beethoven, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Johann Sebastian Bach, Joseph Haydn, George Frideric Handel, Peter Ilyich Tchaikovsky, Dmitri Shostakovich, Giuseppi Verdi, Antonio Vivaldi, Claudio Monteverdi.
To be honest, any composer responsible for forming a standard form or new period of music deserves to be listed in a "Best Composer" list without numbers. However, I do admire those people that are able to measure one composer's achievements against another. I see creating standard sonata form and affirming the structure of a symphony as two incomparable feats and I don't know how productive it is measure achievements like that against one another.

Seattle Opera

I just heard about the Opera's season this year: 3 Verdi operas and 1 new opera that the Seattle Opera commissioned called Amelia. I love Verdi operas! They are so entertaining. I'm really interested in the commissioned opera though.
I had a meeting with the Direct Sales Manager, Dan Murphy, today and he was telling me that Amelia sort of reflects Amelia Earhart's life. And, unintentionally, the movie "Amelia" premiers around the same time that the opera does. Here's the overview from the Seattle Opera's website:

"A first time mother-to-be, whose psyche has been scarred by the loss of her pilot-father in Vietnam, must break free from anxiety to embrace healing and renewal for the sake of her husband and child in this original story unfolding over a 30-year period beginning in 1966. Amelia interweaves one woman’s emotional journey, the American experience in Vietnam, and elements of the Daedalus and Icarus myth to explore man’s fascination with flight and the dilemmas that arise when vehicles of flight are used for exploration, adventure, and war. With an intensely personal libretto by American poet Gardner McFall (The Pilot’s Daughter), whose father was a Navy pilot lost during Vietnam, this new American opera moves from loss to recuperation, paralysis to flight, as the protagonist, Amelia, ultimately embraces her life and the creative force of love and family."

I haven't been able to see a professional opera company perform yet. I hope that my husband and I can make the trip to the opera sometime this year.

Our Neighbors Smoke

We have an apartment above some people who smoke at least 5 times a day. Most of the those 5 times are right beneath our window or in the staircase that leads to our apartment. Our apartment gets really stuffy really easily so we like to keep our windows open. This has been problematic since the neighbors below us moved in and starting smoking outside our window. I don't know if I believe every statistic I've heard about secondhand smoke, but I do believe this:

"Between 70% and 90% of non-smokers in the American population, children and adults, are regularly exposed to secondhand smoke. It is estimated that only 15% of cigarette smoke gets inhaled by the smoker. The remaining 85% lingers in the air for everyone to breathe. If a person spends more than two hours in a room where someone is smoking, the nonsmoker inhales the equivalent of four cigarettes." - from the University of Minnesota's website

I do not think that smokers are bad people - I know a few really good people that smoke. I do wish that smokers would be more considerate at public universities and around our apartment complex, though. However, I appreciate the freedom we have to smoke, and many other freedoms we are granted, so I will tolerate the secondhand smoke to a certain degree.

I will be glad when it starts to rain here for many reasons. One of them being that our neighbors might smoke less in front our apartment and in our stairwell. I wouldn't mind if they smoked outside our windows just once in a while. It's only because we have to deal with it 4 to 5 times a day, and that's on a low-smoke day, that we are getting irked. Oh well, could be worse. They could be smoking something other than cigarettes.

Here is a Mahler caricature to enjoy:

It's over!

Testing is done, now it's just a matter of waiting for the results. I feel really good about the music history exam and the sight singing, but I'm not too sure about theory... We'll see.

A week from today, the Autumn quarter begins at UW. After living in Seattle for almost 2 months, my husband and I soon will be Huskies! Yay Huskies! For those of you that don't know, the mascot of UW, an Alaskan Malamute named Dubs, has his own blog. You should check it out, it's really cute: http://huskymascot.blogspot.com/

Tomorrow I am going to be practicing madly for ensemble auditions. As far as I know, the only audition I'm aware of covers only Wind Ensemble and Orchestra, but I also want to audition for Jazz Band. I wouldn't mind playing in a Jazz Band again. As long as everyone learns their parts it's really fun to be in the environment and who knows, I might actually learn to solo.

I'm too brain dead to do any serious posting (yay diagnostic tests), so here's another cartoon about Mahler and his symphonies:

Graduate Placement Exams

Tomorrow is the day. All 40 incoming graduate students for UW's School of Music will gather to be tested on Music Theory, Music History and Sight Singing. I don't have anything significant to post tonight. I just have a request for prayers in the morning as my husband and I take all of the tests we are given. Thank you all for your support. Good night!

Gustav Mahler cartoon:

Mahler's Symphony No. 3, Movement 1. Kräftig entschieden

The opening of Mahler's Third Symphony is best when it is performed as he scored it to be played, "Kräftig entschieden." Kräftig means vigorous or forceful and entschieden means firm or decisive. Used as a phrase to describe how to perform the music, I understand the translation from German into English as "Forcefully. Decisively." While I am not terribly familiar with all of Mahler's Third Symphony, I am married to a trombonist, so I know where all of the crucial solos for the low brass are.
The first movement of the symphony is a brutal battle of fanfares and horn calls. The opening horn call begins the ensemble dialogue and the trombones are quick to respond with a depressing sigh. Later on the trumpets come in with a short, nasally fanfare, then the trombones come back in followed by the horns, then the trumpets, then the trombones, and so on and so on. The rough and tumble attitude of the work doesn't relax for more than a few minutes, which in a 35 minutes movement isn't much time at all. There is nothing subtle about the first movement and there shouldn't be. Mahler didn't write it that way. Lorin Maazel's recording with the New York Philharmonic is especially vigorous and decisive. I can get behind the trumpets when they play their fanfares and I can follow the horns when they give their call to regroup. I have only begun my journey into Mahler's Third Symphony and I'm already excited. :)

Short excerpt of the movement on YouTube:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FpN-GYEdKKs

Trumpet

I want a new trumpet, and not another used trumpet that is just new to me. I want a brand new trumpet that doesn't have valve issues or sticky valve slides if I don't use steel wool on them once in a while. There are a few trumpets that I have considered, all of which I cannot afford. So, I'll let this blog just be my fantasy trumpet collection. :)

#1: Bach Model LR180S37 (Stradivarius Reverse Tuning Bb Trumpet)

"Stradivarius" - .459" Medium-large bore, lightweight body, standard weight yellow brass one-piece hand-hammered #37 bell, reverse construction #25LR mouthpipe, monel pistons, silver-plate finish."

#2: Generation III C Trumpet; .462" bore

The Generation III C Trumpet works exceptionally well in the orchestral setting. The sound and blend of these new instruments is unparalleled.

The Gen III C Trumpet offers an integral leadpipe system which allows a player to change leadpipes efficiently. This design creates improved stability throughout the harmonic series compared to non-modular trumpets. Generation III Bells are handcrafted (one-piece) in yellow brass available with either 4 7/8" or 5 1/4" bell flares. Valve sections are constructed with nickel silver pistons in either vented or non-vented valves. Vented valves create an effortless approach to using the first and third valve slides as they move freely whether the pistons are in the up or down position. They seal as well as standard valves and possess the same playing characteristics as a standard valve set. The Generation III tuning slide is oval in shape. This unique design allows the instrument to play very even in all registers. It also allows the extreme upper register to respond faster than on standard instruments.

#3: Stomvi Professional: Elite: Elite A/Bb Piccolo Trumpet; Model #5706

• Leadpipe: #8 & #9A
• Bell: #18
• Bore: M
• Bell (weight): Standard
• Bell (material): Yellow brass
• Bell (diameter): 110 mm
• Bell (system): Standard
• Moutpiece receiver: Standart
• Valve Section (material): Yellow brass
• Valve Section (weigh): Standart
• Valve (material): Monel
• Caps: Brass
• Finish: Silver Plated 1000 Thousandth
• Finger hook: 3rd slide.

  

#4: Getzen Bb Fluegelhorn

The 3895 Custom Series flugelhorn is a completely new design built around a small (.420") bore valve set featuring nickel silver valve balusters and our famous, nickel silver pistons. By far, the most important advancement of this design is the all new, revolutionary first branch (bell to valve set). This new branch has been nicknamed the "Tone Branch" because of the dramatic effect it has had on this flugel, making the 3895 perhaps the most in tune flugelhorn ever built.








#5: Newly-Designed Long Model Four-hole System Baroque Trumpet
Naumann Baroque Trumpets are hand-crafted by Andrew Naumann, President and CEO of Schilke Music in Chicago. Naumann trumpets are available in both 3- and 4-hole models with two bell models, J.L. Ehe, II (ca. 1720) and J.W. Haas (ca. 1720).
Crooks are offered in keys from low A thru Eb in half steps (a=440 Hz). Each Naumann Trumpet comes with a standard set of four crooks (Cb, C, Db, D). Crooks built in other tunings (ex. A=430) are available but considered a special order with an additional charge.
This Newly-designed Baroque Trumpet is a the best 4-hole instrument to come out of the Naumann workshop. The trumpet has an Ehe II bell and includes crooks, leadpipes, and yards in four keys (Cb,C,Db and D), a custom case and mouthpiece. The case is a hard shell case built specifically for this instrument.



As a trumpet player there are other instruments I will need (A D/E-flat trumpet and a F trumpet), but for now any or all of these would be nice. :)

Mel Brooks and his musicals

I am a big musical fan. Something about the spontaneity of the songs and the upbeat attitude of my favorite numbers really resonate with my positive outlook on life and makes me feel happier than I was before. That is to say, some musicals lift me up. Others, just make me laugh!

I fell in love with Mel Brooks' work when I saw Blazing Saddles as a teenager. I didn't understand more than a third of the references to the different cultural, or sexual, things that were mentioned, but I was thoroughly riveted by the silly plot of the movie existing within a movie (which we don't find out until the end of the movie, also funny). Everytime I watch it I catch more references and I learn more about Mel Brooks' inside jokes. For instance, he uses the melody from "Springtime for Hitler" from his musical, The Producers, to introduce a German performer in Blazing Saddles. He also casts the same actors in multiple films. In Blazing Saddles and History of the World, Part One, Dom Deluise, Madeline Kahn, and Harvey Korman are all featured. Another one of my favorite Mel Brooks movies is The Producers. Both the modern version and the original are good, but I really love Nathan Lane as Max Bialystock.

Quick bit of music info:
Anton Bruckner had a musical program in mind for his Fourth Symphony. Here is a quote from The Cambridge Companion to Bruckner:
"In the first movement of the "Romantic" Fourth Symphony the intention is to depict the horn that proclaims the day from the town hall! Then life goes on; in the Gesangsperiode [the second subject] the theme is the song of the great tit (a European bird), Zizipe. 2nd movement: song, prayer, serenade. 3rd: hunt and in the Trio how a barrel-organ plays during the midday meal in the forest."

Glee

I love Glee. The little girl inside me is screaming for joy right now! Why didn't they make a weekly, musical sitcom sooner???

For those of you that haven't had the opportunity to see it yet (probably because you don't have cable, like me), hulu plays the shows after they've aired. Try it, you might like it. :)

http://www.hulu.com/glee

Musical note:
The only instrument that has maintained, essentially, the same design throughout history is the trombone. A sackbut (a Medieval instrument used in church music) is pretty similar to a modern day pea shooter (aka a small bore, no trigger, tenor trombone used in jazz performance).

Locks of Love

When I got engaged I decided to grow my hair out for 2 reasons:
1. I look better with long hair in pictures (or so I've been told)
2. I've always wanted to donate to Locks of Love and this would provide me the opportunity to do so.

I will admit, now that the haircut date is approaching I am a little nervous. Luckily, I have hair long enough that I can still have a feminine hair style after getting my hair cut. The edge of my hair will be closer to my chin than I'm used to, but that is more than fine.

According the Locks of Love page on the Nexxus website, "It is estimated that 80% of all donations come from children who wish to help other children." That is one of the most touching things I've ever heard. This is something that I hope all women will consider doing at some point. Once I get my hair cut I will probably grow it out so I can donate again. For anyone that wants to know more information about Locks of Love or how to donate, here is the link to their website: http://www.locksoflove.org/index.html

Quick, music related side note:
During the first weekend of October both the Seattle Symphony and the San Francisco Symphony are performing Gustav Mahler's Fifth Symphony! If you are in either area be sure to check out the concerts.

Gustav Mahler

Mahler's music has been very good to me. His work sustains my need for dramatics and soft spoken lyricism. I've been having an on-going affair with his Fifth Symphony for 2 years now - more specifically, the fourth movement of this Fifth Symphony, also know as the Adagietto. There are rumors that the fourth movement is a love letter to his wife, Alma. Others say that the symphony is complete without the fourth movement and the last minute addition of a conventional movement distracts from the symphony's revolutionary composing style. I've spent a good amount of time researching Alma's influence on the Adagietto and on the impact she had in Mahler's music and his life.
When any composer has a love affair - there are few composers who haven't experienced the love of one person or many people, Beethoven being one of them - their music is influenced and their outlook is usually changed. For Mahler, loving Alma gave him a different perspective. Mahler was normally an introvert that was content with being a wallflower, but Alma made him come out his shell a little bit and pursue her. Alma had her share of high-profile affairs before, during, and after Mahler. She was involved with Gustav Klimt, Max Burckhard, Alexander von Zemlinsky, Walter Gropius (while married to Mahler), Oskar Kokocshka, and Franz Werfel (while married to Gropius). All amazing artists and intellectuals, all of them Alma's lovers.

Mahler's Fifth Symphony represents a new style of composing in his career. Here is a quote from Mahler on his new composition style and the Fifth Symphony:

"The Fifth Symphony is finished - I had to reorchestrate it almost completely. It is hard to believe that at the time I could have written again like a beginner, as though I had completely forgotten the routine of the first four symphonies. A completely new style demanded a new technique." - Extracted from Gustav Mahler: The Symphonies (Constantin Floros)

As a musician, there are moments when you connect with a piece of music that you just can't stray from... ever. From the moment I heard the opening trumpet solo of Mahler's Fifth Symphony I've been hooked. In fact, the trumpet player playing the opening trumpet solo during my first attendance of Mahler's Fifth Symphony in concert inspired me to pursue a performance career. The trumpet player was Frits Damrow - thank you Frits - and the orchestra he performed with was the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra. I will never forget that performance.

Mahler's music has had quite an impact on my life and I know I'm not the only one out there that has been effected by his music. I hope to continue my Mahler research and learn as much as I can about his music and his life.

Making coffee in Seattle

I got a job at a cafe about 3 and half weeks ago. I worked for Starbucks for almost 2 years so I felt prepared to make coffee anywhere, but it sure is different in Seattle. Yes, there are Starbucks here, but there are 3 independent coffee shops for every Starbucks outside of the University Village shopping area. Each cafe has their own motto, their own coffee roaster, their own signature latte artist. It's a coffee culture up here! I had no idea when I took the job, so needless to say I've been playing catch-up since I was hired. I've started to watch youtube videos on how the elusive latte art is done. Here is one example:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NL190Mbqaqo&feature=related

This is most basic latte art you can make: the leaf or rosetta (I've heard it be called both names). But, you can make so much more! You can make a heart or 3 leafs, or if you use a stirring tool or small thermometer, you can make drawings of bunnies or other things. It's pretty intense.
There is also a very specific technique for steaming the milk used in latte art. It's all about "the roll" as one barista/coffee roaster explained to me. At Starbucks I learned how to steam milk and make foam along the way - pretty simple, right? The milk got warmed up and people had foam for their lattes. Here though, the milk is sweeter if it's steamed right because of this "roll" technique. Also, the foam and the milk aren't supposed to separate, which is a huge no-no for Starbucks baristas: customers will complain that their drink feels light because there is too much foam in it (they want their money's worth).
Anyway, I've made 3 leaves so far and I am quickly learning about "the roll" in milk steaming - there is a specific technique. I just hope that I start to catch on to the culture quickly.

Quick music note:
From http://www.classicalmanac.com/ - a musical almanac:

1945 Death of Austrian composer Anton von Webern, accidentally shot by an American soldier in Mittersill, Austria. b-Vienna, 3 DEC 1883.

Bye now!

Barber's Symphony in One Movement

An American, born and raised, Samuel Barber began attending the Curtis Institute when he was 14 studying composition, voice and piano. He won the pulitzer prize for his opera, Vanessa, was composing into his 70th year until he died of cancer, and had a great influence on American music.

This season, the Puget Sound Symphony Orchestra is performing Barber's Symphony No. 1 in One Movement, Op. 9. I attended the first rehearsal tonight in the hopes of joining the symphony this season. The other pieces on the program for this autumn concert are also great: Nielsen's Helios Overture, Brahms' Variations on a Theme by Haydn, and Wagner's Prelude to Act 1 of Lohengrin. However, none of the other pieces spoke to me like Barber's did. Here is a brief description of the work from the composer, himself:

"The form of my Symphony in One Movement is a synthetic treatment of the four-movement classical symphony. It is based on three themes of the initial Allegro non troppo, which retain throughout the work their fundamental character. The Allegro opens with the usual exposition of a main theme, a more lyrical second theme, and a closing theme. After a brief development of the three themes, instead of the customary recapitulation, the first theme, in diminution forms the basis of a scherzo section (Vivace). The second theme (oboe over muted strings) then appears in augmentation, in an extended Andante tranquillo. An intense crescendo introduces the finale, which is a short passacaglia based on the first theme (introduced by the violoncelli and contra-bassi), over which, together with figures from other themes, the closing theme is woven, thus serving as a recapitulation for the entire symphony."

So I didn't quite catch all of that as I was listening during rehearsal tonight, but I was swept up in the developing complexity of the themes and how well Barber used silence in the piece. His grand pauses and sudden dynamic shifts stop you in the your tracks - in a good way. It's like running up a main street to meet an old friend you haven't seen in years and then having to stop at each street corner when the crosswalk sign shows the big red hand instead of the friendly walking figure. You want to jaywalk or risk getting hit by a car to get through the waiting, but you can't because you know that you're supposed to wait. Your anticipation increases, your heart may beat faster, you become more excited and anxious. This is what I feel during the grand pauses and sudden dynamic shifts in Barber's Symphony in One Movement. I really enjoy neo-classical American music and especially Barber's (his Adagio for Strings will always have a special place in my heart). I am so glad to have my interest in Barber's works revived and now I get to enjoy the rest of his music!

Here is a link to listen to the piece, check it out!
http://www.rhapsody.com/samuel-barber/concerto-and-symphony-no-1

Thai Food and Michael Davis

For those of you that don't know there is Thai Food, and then there is Thai Food. As an ex-San Jose resident, I came to love a Thai restaurant called House of Siam. All that oil and spice, it's hard to forget. Anyway, my husband and I have noticed a Thai restaurant in the University District, on "the Ave" as it's called, that always seems to have a line out the door. It's called Thai Tom and is about the size of a moderately sized studio apartment. There are only 4 tables and 8-10 bar seats. 4 of the bar seats are within inches of the flames of the cooking and there is no air conditioning in the building...
We caught the end of the lunch rush and found ourselves sitting on 2 of the 4 bar seats near the fire. It was amazing to watch the chef cook. He was dripping sweat onto his already soaked T-shirt as more and more orders came in.
We ordered our food (Shrimp Fried Rice and Poor Man's Noodles) and watched as he cooked it in a flash of movements: oil in the pot, add onions, rice, thai basil, soy sauce, fish sauce, shrimp paste, spice and serve! For the poor man's noodles he doused the rice noodles in oil, soy sauce, and fish sauce then added American vegetables (we'll let that slide b/c the flavor was so wonderful!), fried tofu, spices, and topped it was a Kaffir lime (at least I hope it was a Kaffir lime). It was spicy, sour, tangy and delicious! It was worth sitting near a fire for. :)

After such a wonderful meal, we ventured home to enjoy the rest of the day. Part of enjoying the rest of the day meant practicing, and what a joy it was!

Michael Davis, trombonist-composer and a fellow San Jose native, has written a great collection of warm-up books, etudes, and pieces for brass instruments. I've purchased and used his warm-up books for trumpet, his etude book Total Trumpet, and the composition We Four Kings for trumpet quartet. All of his music is challenging, and it's fun to learn with the CD that comes with each warm-up and etude book. Warming up with a CD helps me with my pitch, my time, and my sound. Using the CD is especially helpful because Davis commissioned Phil Smith, principal trumpet of the New York Philharmonic, to record the music on the trumpet CD. Who wouldn't want to warm up with Phil Smith everyday???
Today was a bit of a guilty pleasure. I found myself listening to Phil Smith on the recordings more than I was playing along. But, that's one of the benefits of purchasing Davis' warm-up and etude books: you get to listen to professionals play what is on the page in front of you. I can hear the music in my head and I know what note comes next, but being able to model my playing after such a talented instrumentalist is a rare opportunity! Davis has not only written warm-up and etude books that build fundamentals of instrument playing, he's offered a whole other dynamic by including recordings of the pieces done by masters of their craft. I greatly enjoy my practice time with Phil Smith through Davis' music. I know I'm not the only one either. If you're a brass player looking for a different warm-up book/routine, give Davis' stuff a try. I think you'll find it to be very helpful.

Book Recommendation

As my husband and I get ready for our placement exams this fall we've been searching for different reading material about music history. We stumbled upon a book that I MUST recommend.

Secret Lives of Great Composers

What Your Teachers Never Told You About the World's Musical Masters
By Elizabeth Lunday

I loved this book! Lunday did a great job of not overwhelming the reader with her humor and instead let the hilarity of these composers' "shining moments" speak for themselves. I was aware of some of the stories of Stravinsky and Beethoven, but there are so many more composers with skeletons in the closet! Here is an excerpt to enjoy:

"Richard Wagner liked to present himself as a man's man, a fighter in revolutions, a wooer of women; but the composer also adored silks and satins, particularly pink silks and satins. In fact, Richard Wagner habitually wore women's underwear.
...Since he couldn't traipse around the house in a petticoat, he needed a special sanctum for their delectation, and so all of his later homes included a private room covered from floor to ceiling in pale silk and ornamented with as many rosettes, ruchings, and tassels as it could hold."

I was on the floor of my apartment clutching my side I was laughing so hard when I learned Wagner was privately effeminate! This book is a treasure. It is historically accurate to the best of my knowledge, witty, and provides a great service to other music geeks like me that like learning random (sometimes incriminating) facts about our favorite composers. For any music lovers out there, this is a must read.

Basil Howitt has written two books on composer escapades: Love Lives of the Great Composers, and More Love Lives of the Great Composers. Nigel Cawthorne has written an intimate book on composers as well: Sex Lives of the Great Composers.
I haven't read these books, but knowing they are out there makes me wonder - what hasn't been discovered about the composers we love? Are all the cats out of their bags? I hope there is a niche somewhere for me to research. Some possibilities, perhaps?...

Secret Cooking Habits of Great Composers
Mistresses of Great Composers and their Shoes
Unfinished Works of Great Composers that Others Stole
Composer Techniques for Keeping a Mistress

... Maybe I should stick to being a music history fan...

Anyway, that's all for today. Tomorrow will be another post about music and life. See you then!

The Beginning!

Hello Blog World! I am excited to start a blog as I enter a new chapter in my life. I am in beautiful Seattle with my husband studying music. I am a very blessed individual, to say the least. I have many hobbies. One of which has afforded me the opportunity to become a contributor to a fashion e-zine here in Seattle. Here are two of my articles that have been published:
http://fashionevolution.net/?p=963
http://fashionevolution.net/?p=941
As more of my articles are published I will include links to them.

In addition to being a fashion fan, I've rediscovered my love of reading and have many wonderful books to recommend, but I'll get more into that later. I just wanted to say a quick hello to everyone out there. I know this will be a great learning experience and I hope that great things will come from this blog.

P.S. Because this blog is entitled "Notes of a Musician" I will do my best to include something musical in every post. Today I am posting a picture of one of my favorite composers: Gustav Mahler. Enjoy!