I like to share examples of classical music being used in popular media. The problem lately for me has been that except for sports, I don't watch much TV, so I am probably missing quite a bit. But I did catch this one the other day...a commercial for Squarespace. The music here is from the first movement of Mendelssohn's Fourth Symphony, known as the Italian Symphony (1833).
My Dad, whom I have spoken of many times here, had the gift of being able to hear music...let me unpack this a bit. There's a difference between playing music and making music. Musicians who play notes are not necessarily "making music." They may just be playing notes. That's the easy part. Turning those notes on the page into an emotional connection...or reaction...is a different thing, and can be elusive. My dad appreciated anyone or any ensemble who could make music, at any level of proficiency. He would come to my school orchestra concerts with open ears and an open heart, ready to have the music speak to him. Clunky notes, shaky entrances, or wobbly tempos did not stand in the way of him recognizing a sincere attempt to say something musical. He was patient and thoughtful, and when I came out to meet him after a performance, knowing that we had sucked on a technical level, he would be smiling ear to ear, happy to share that we had "made music" despite any of the aforementioned imperfections. On another occasion, we went to see the world famous Chicago Symphony Orchestra in 1988 at Orchestra Hall. The best musicians in the world....the greatest repertoire. And on this night...believe it or not...nothing magical happened, The notes were perfectly played. The sound was perfect. But for some unexplainable reason, we were not moved. Something was missing. So I learned to be open to hearing music anywhere and everywhere. A dingy blues bar...a honkytonk country bar, or a middle school gymnasium, are all places you may hear something special. Be open and ready. And for the record, we did go back to Orchestra Hall to hear the CSO the next night, and they blew the roof off the joint...which they usually do. Even the CSO can have a bad night.
If I had to tell you what piece of music I have probably listened to the most over the past 40 years, it would likely be "It's for You" by Pat Metheny. It was featured in the 1984 film Fandango, a great "off the beaten path" movie that I still love that was Kevin Costner's first starring role. The tune is from the 1981 album called "As Falls Wichita, So Falls Wichita Falls," a collaboration between Pat Metheny and keyboardist Lyle Mays. This music has penetrated my DNA. The entire album is a true masterpiece.
Happy 2021 to you, and thank you for reading my blog. I have been doing this since February of 2014, so almost my 7 year anniversary. I still love listening to and playing music more than ever. And I still feel passionate about sharing it with others. This year I plan to introduce more videos via my YouTube channel where I am able to talk about, share, and play music. Stay tuned. 2020 was a very challenging and difficult year for many people. I hope that we all have good health and joyful times ahead in 2021. And a lot of great music too.
I finished 2020 listening to Bruckner's 9 symphonies in order. I know them all very well, but I never get tired of them. This go round yielded an even deeper appreciation for his music. Number 6 has taken the top spot currently as my favorite of his symphonies. But Nos 1-3, so often overlooked, also emerged as very enjoyable works that I was not as familiar with. If you are looking for a place to start with Bruckner, I still recommend his 4th symphony.
I also finished 2020 with a deep dive into Schubert. I listened to all of his string quartets in order 1-15. No particular favorite, but his later quartets rival Beethoven's in my opinion. Take that dive....you won't regret it.
I was reading a biography about Prokofiev recently, and one excerpt really hit home. Prokofiev, and his wife Lina, came to the United States in 1930 and met Arturo Toscanini in New York. They attended a rehearsal and this happened:
""They watched, entranced, as the temperamental maestro would "break his batons and shout vergogna! (shame). At one point, Lina recalled, he stopped and made each violinist play a phrase from the Mozart symphony they were rehearsing. Finally he lost his temper, "grabbed is head and started pointing his finger at one of the violinists (apparently the first violinist) shouted at him and called him a 'shoemaker,' making him repeat the passage several times. Then, the violinists, who submitted without a murmur, played it together, and he calmed down."
I played violin in the Terre Haute Symphony while I was in college at Indiana State University from 1983-87. The conductor was Ramon E. Meyer. He was a fiery man who had very high standards and demanded perfection. It was never a question of when, but rather who he would make cry or humiliate during rehearsals with the same approach used by Toscanini. I remember being on the spot several times having to play a passage all alone in front of the entire orchestra. You never knew when he would blow up...and then you were were grilled. It was terrifying, but it made me a better player because it made me want to practice so I could play the music well enough to endure such an inquisition. Reading this section about Prokofiev brought back vivid memories.
We said good-bye to Eddie Van Halen in 2020. He was such a wonderful musician, and a true game-changer. He redefined what the electric guitar was all about and influenced everyone who has picked up a guitar since he burst on the scene in 1977. But what I remember most about him is his smile. This man who was blessed with such vast talent had a smile that illuminated the world. You could see how much fun he was having...and why not?!?? God bless his soul. Thank you Eddie for the joy and love you shared through your music.
Here's a great video for you to check out. About five years before Prokofiev watched Toscanini undress the first violins in New York, in 1925, Sweet Georgia Brown was composed by Ben Bernie. This tune is a standard in the world of jazz...I am sure you have heard it. Here is a great performance by an All Star band that includes, Wynton Marsalis, Marc O'Connor and Frank Vignola. I saw O'Connor and Vignola in Kansas City a few years ago and they tore the house down with their Hot Swing jazz concert.
In 1980, my family moved from Austin, TX to Omaha, NE. Shortly after moving there, I auditioned for the Omaha Area Youth Organization. I was fifteen years old and had been playing the violin for seven years to that point. I spent those early years studying and playing violin in the University of Texas String Project. It was a wonderful time for me and I built a solid base of music theory, literature, instrumental performance and ensemble play. But passing the audition and being welcomed into the OAYO opened new doors for me. First, it allowed me to play in an orchestra with woodwinds, brass, and percussion...not just strings as was the case in the String Project. This meant that I would also be introduced to a wider range of repertoire too. Right off the bat, in 1980, I played Brahms' Academic Festival Overture and the Finale of Sibelius' Second Symphony. But the highlight that season was Pictures at an Exhibition by Modest Mussorgsky. This is a hard piece for players in every section. I had to practice my ass off for sure.
When I started hearing and listening to music outside of the classical realm, I learned new terminology. In rock music, I heard words like riff and lick. A cool phrase or musical idea is called either a riff or a lick. Classical music is full of cool riffs and licks. Here's a great one that I spent many hours woodshedding. At the top of the page is the lick in question...these are the last six bars of the movement called Gnomus from Pictures at an Exhibition. You can see that the key signature is full of flats...six of them. There are also accidentals mixed in there too, as if it wasn't already hard enough. And it is fast...
If you practice something over and over, it's possible that you will never forget it, even after forty years. Riding a bike is a good example. Maybe swinging a golf club or throwing a baseball are also examples. In my case, I can still remember how to play this lick. I can't remember what I had for breakfast yesterday, but I can remember these six bars of music. Weird.
I have been learning how to play the electric guitar this COVID year. Learning something new, and hard, has been really fun and good for my mind and spirit. I decided I needed to play this awesome lick by Mussorgsky. Here it is on violin and electric guitar.
And here is Gnomus from Pictures at an Exhibition by Mussorgsky (1874 piano) and later orchestrated by Maurice Ravel in 1922.
Thousands of hours build steel. The hands of a musicians are proof. Take a look at Itzhak Perlman or Pinchas Zukerman. Photos don't do this justice, but if they could, you would see just how muscular and strong their left hands are. Lifetimes of practice build otherwise normal hands into bionic weapons of music. Playing the Beethoven Violin Concerto requires so much strength and endurance one can't even begin to comprehend how strong these hands really are. Just something to reflect on.
I do like the blues. But in all honesty, I don't love them. 10-15 minutes or so...that's enough for me. Exceptionally emotional, or gut wrenching pain...depending on who you are hearing...but not enough to keep me engaged. 12 bars..16 bars....whatever road map you follow...the lines are not that long. You get in...you tear it up...and then it's over. Classical music offers so much more depth and substance. Musical ideas can be explored to the greatest depths with lines stretch to the horizon and beyond. The greatest Stevie Ray Vaughan solo will melt your face and light up the sky in a 3-4 minute song. But Bach's musical lines are miles longer and fathoms deeper, I like both...but I love Bach.
In busy times...hectic times...stressful times...sad times.....whatever....try some of this. The second movement of Antonin Dvorak's Serenade for Winds in D minor is an instant cure.
It's good to be back writing! I have been away longer than I like. No real excuse....just life I suppose. Six years into this blog, finding ideas and ways to keep things fresh and interesting is always a challenge. What does not change is my love of listening to and playing music. And that's the basis for this journal...to write about classical music first and foremost, and then other thoughts and ideas. Heck, it's my blog...I can write about anything I want. But I have had a great week, full of new ideas that I am looking forward to incorporating into this format. Stay tuned!
This week, I "discovered" a person on YouTube named Rick Beato. Rick is an accomplished musician, producer, and teacher who makes videos about music on YouTube. He explores a wide range of musical topics such as "what makes this song great?" He is also a music theorist who breaks down the theory behind music in all genres. Anyway, what I admire about Rick is his enthusiasm. It is clear that he loves music...all kinds of music.
Here is a video he made about virtuosos.
Here's a video he made about the greatest riff using only the white keys of a piano. Yep, it's Prokofiev.
And here Rick shares some of the albums that he loves and made a big impression on him. This is really where you can sense his enthusiasm and love for music and it made me so happy.
Last week, my wife and I finished staining the shelves that have been housing much of my CD collection...yes I still have CDs, which is what I want to talk about next. Like most people, I have used iTunes, Apple Music, Spotify, Pandora, Amazon Music and YouTube over the years. I still do. But I love CDs and vinyl records the most. You actually own them...hold them...touch them. Streaming formats don't give me that. So I still buy CDs and records and I listen to them more than music streams. I was going though some old posts this week where I shared music via YouTube, just as I have here. It works great, until the person who posted the video takes it down...then it's gone.
I shared awhile back that I have been playing the guitar quite a bit this year. I am not a trained guitar player...I am self taught, and I have some very clear limitations. But I am having a blast practicing and learning. I have developed enough courage to make videos of my playing and share them on Facebook and Instagram. I have learned a valuable lesson that has made this possible...to accept my imperfections. There pursuit of perfection will drive you crazy. There is no such thing. There will always be something you feel you can improve upon. At some point you just have to let it go. Cheryl confronts this same challenge when she is working on refinishing furniture. She chases perfection. So we had this discussion about embracing the flaws of your work. They can actually add to the beauty of it. In the example of a musical performance, I am not interested in hearing someone play every note perfectly. I am interested in someone going to the edge musically...taking chances...NOT playing it safe. If during the course of this effort a note is fluffed or an entrance is not as crisp as possible, so be it. These imperfections are part of the climb to the top of the mountain. A climber often slips or stumbles on the way to the summit. But the view erases those missteps. Once again, Rick Beato addresses this point very well in this video.
Kansas City, and the world for that matter, thanks to the internet, have a
great new way to hear classical music. 91.9 Classical KC is playing classical
music the old fashioned "terrestrial way" on the radio locally, as well as
streaming to the heavens from their website:
Currently, they have a mixture of local and national programming. The local
program I want to bring to your attention is called From the Archives,
hosted by my friend, Frank Byrne. Mr. Byrne was the Executive Director of the
Kansas City Symphony for many years, and he is perhaps the only person I know
who loves classical music as much as I do. For his new show, he programs a great mixture of music
off the beaten path...not regularly heard in concert halls today, as well as concert favorites we all know and love. The emphasis will be on exceptional performances, so he chooses the most interesting interpretations/recordings of these works for us
to hear. It is true, and fascinating, that you can put two conductors in front
of the same orchestra, playing the same piece of music, and end up with two
completely different listening experiences. Frank knows this and picks the
most compelling and fresh recordings to share. I highly recommend that you
tune in every Saturday at 11:00 AM and Sunday at 6:00 PM Central.
I am blessed to be able to play music, and sharing this gift with other
musicians is the best thing of all. I have been playing music at my church for
ten years now, and I've had the privilege of sharing this experience with many
fine singers and musicians. One who stands out is Rick Allen. Rick has a
passion for the guitar...and music...that I admire greatly. Every note he
plays is infused with his passion for music. We use in-ear monitors that allow
each musician to listen to the other band members at any volume level that
they want. I turn Rick up in my ears. Rick reminds me that what matters most
is passion and commitment. And the JOY of music. Thank you for reminding me of
this good friend.
Today is August 6. 75 years ago today, everything changed in our world.....the
first nuclear bomb was dropped on Hiroshima. Three days later, another was
dropped on Nagasaki. These are somber remembrances. I am not going to debate
the morality of these events. But I am going to share this beautiful piece of
music called Purple Heart Lane, by Stephen Harwood Jr. This is music
from a series called Band of Brothers, a WWII miniseries produced by
Steven Spielberg and Tom Hanks.
In 1945, the US was planning the invasion of the Japanese mainland. Our
experiences at Iwo Jima and Okinawa produced casualty estimates as high as 1
million US forces and 10 million Japanese civilians. Before Truman made the
decision to drop the A-bomb, the US military command ordered 500,000 Purple
Heart medals. Japan surrendered on August 15, and we were spared the invasion.
But the medals were manufactured, and every soldier who has been awarded a
Purple Heart since 1945 has received one from this order. Korea, Vietnam, the
Gulf War, Afghanistan, Iraq. This medal honors those who have been wounded
serving their country, but it is also a reminder that someone's son wasn't a
casualty in 1945. Perspective is important.
I've recently reconnected with several old friends from my childhood days in Austin, Texas. We get together via Zoom or Facebook every week now. This technology is truly amazing and it has allowed us to share our lives as if we were still kids in 1976. I bring this up because I am very touched by the relationship my friend Yoichi has with his 88-year-old father. I remember those two having a very contentious relationship...just as many kids do with their parents. Yoichi was born in Tokyo, but moved to the United States as a young child. He and his Dad did not see eye-to-eye on many things and I think his father did not approve of the "Western" attitudes and views that Yoichi had taken to. This was Austin in the 1970's....a pretty liberal town in a very wide-open decade. It pained me to see the two of them fight and argue. It was a clash of generations. But fast forward 40-plus years, and the two of them have a very loving relationship. Gone is the strife. What a joy to see how they have found each other. Time has done what it does...it wears you down, just as water wears down the rock. I saw the same thing happen with my father. He was not the same person towards the end of his life as he had been as a young father. He mellowed. He opened up. I hope I am on that path too with my family and friends.
I've written about Pink Floyd in this blog before, so you probably remember that they are one of my favorite bands. In 1971, they released the album Meddle which has a track on it called Echoes. Here is the live version from a performance at the ruins of Pompeii. If you like the key of D minor punctuated with a Hammond organ, and an overdriven Fender Start....you will love this.
