As a child, I liked listening to audio books and stories. By the time puberty hit I was heavily into classical music. I loved how it engulfed me with its evocative, sweeping rhythms. My mind would spin stories, create worlds and get lost in all that rich sound. This continued into adulthood. Then overnight things changed. It was hip-hop, rap, dance/trance from that point on.
So here I am today, years after the change listening to my latest obsession.
Danny Fernandes – Private Dancer
I try to absorb the music of the past, but Enya is as classical as I can go these days. Why should I be concerned with my music taste? Well, there are numerous research articles claiming that classical music enhances brain activity, concentration, while the other kind does not (might even be detrimental).
Drat! I fear my IQ is converging to zero in 3, 2, 1 … let’s hear Danny boy one more time …
Blair Tindall has an article article in the Los Angeles Times about those musicians who have more than one career. I happen to be acquainted with two of the musicians, and recognized another local name.
Me? Well, I did consider poetry at one point — gee, nothing like finding another profitable career, eh? — but after going to a couple of workshops that Dana Gioia ran I realized I wasn’t really any good. Nor do I have the drive. Selling one’s self … sending poems to journals for mostly rejection letters and never any pay (it’s just an honor to be published) isn’t my cuppa. But, really, the truth is my poetry is pedestrian at best. No, I’m not being falsely humble. Just honest. I like honest.
I don’t believe I’m smart or talented enough to do what Nick Dargahi, Rae Ann Goldberg, both of whom I continue to work with, do. I’m impressed! Geesh look at the article … Stanford, Columbia, law school, counseling, art school … all the folks Blair writes about are impressive.
Me? I did think, “Well, I think I could get a job at Mervyn’s!”
Ah well. Too late for that.
I know readers think I’m hard on myself, but I honestly don’t know what I can do besides oboe, and I know that’s not a good thing. I guess this is something I should really think about. What does an 52 year old introvert with horrible math skills and a bachelor of music have to offer, I wonder? Ack!
Okay, enough of this navel gazing. Off to church to gaze elsewhere.
I’m just home from San Francisco Symphony and too tired to really write, but what a great concert! The oboes and English horn sounded great. The brass … wow!
It was entirely enjoyable, aside from one first violinist. That player was such a puzzlement, bowing differently at times, completely stopping for brief moments when all the other violinists were playing, staring off into the audience and sometimes at the brass, and at one point appeared to be making some kind of joke to the stand partner. The second half the player behaved a bit better some of the time (enough so that Dan never got to see the shenanigans) and for some reason had no stand partner that half. Odd. Maybe I’m just overly critical, but I was sure distracted! (And, since Dan didn’t notice a thing, I did wonder if I was just imagining all of this … I’m that insecure, go figure.)
Anyway, bravi tutti to the San Francisco Symphony musicians and Maestro Michael Tilson Thomas. As if they care what this little person thinks. (They don’t read this blog in any case.)
Okay, I’m not all that little. But you know what I mean. :-)
arr. Ronald Staheli: Peace Like a River
We are going to hear San Francisco Symphony tonight. We rarely get up there for concerts what with my schedule and all —opera is my first love in any case— but Dan purchased tickets the other day. We’ll be hearing Copland’s music to the film score of “Our Town”, Berg’s Three Pieces, and Brahms’ First Symphony.
Tickets will be held at will call. For NINE dollars!
How nice is that? We save them postage, and the time to pack up the tickets and send ‘em to us. They charge us nine dollars.
I’m honored. Really.
Mendelssohn: Es ist genug from Elijah
More from the show, Beyond the Practice Room which I’m still watching …
Seeing a mom … first words out of her mouth after a performance? She told her son he played wrong notes at the end.
Sigh.
I really encourage parents to be encouraging. I really despise the parents who are harsh. It makes me sad. I like parents who get their children to practice. I don’t care for parents who say discouraging things in front of me about their children. That makes me sad, too.
But ah, parents! We teachers rely on them in some ways. And hope they don’t do harm. Which is, I suspect, exactly how they feel about teachers!
Well, You show me a really fine talent that succeeds, and I’ll show you an ambitious parent. There’s gotta be something because otherwise, no sane child is going to spend eight or nine hours daily … it just can’t be.
Q: As an educator do you discourage or encourage that?
I tell people that anybody who says they love to practice is either a little bit stupid or lying.
I can’t remember the name of the woman talking about, but she was a child prodigy. The one who practiced all day, with a break for meals, English class, and a walk. She has some good things to say. I’ve decided to record the rebroadcast of this so I can watch this again.
“I love to watch them. I love to look at the choice of repertoire. And I learn. It’s so much fun. It makes me feel so young.”
-again, by the woman I quoted above, an 80 year old, former child prodigy.
We’ve all played badly. We’ve all played well. There are times when we played well and gotten terrible reviews. Times when we’ve played terribly and are ready to commit suicide and discovered everybody liked it.
The quote above is from a juror at a piano competition, explaining that all the jurors have “been there, done that”.
I am watching Beyond the Practice Room, on KCSM, which is about a competition in New York for young (ages 14-18) pianists. Terribly fun to watch. Humbling, of course.
Earlier today I was watching something on YouTube (I can’t even remember what now) and thinking about how incredible some musicians are, and how much time has gone into training for these musicians. Hearing that one of the jurors in the movie, when she was young, practiced all day long (with breaks for eating, a walk, and an English lesson).
If you want to record it, it’s on KCSM again at 2:00 AM on January 11.
Man, I love hearing the artists’ talk about their performances: “It was okay.” “It could have been worse.” It was better than I feared and not as good as I hoped.” “My hands were numb.”
Geesh … one young man’s father stayed up all night, playing classical music for the children while they slept, having heard that classical music is good for learning. Okay, then.
I must say, I’m simply amazed by pianists.
We oboists? We. Play. One. Note. At. A. Time.
But even without that … these kids are just miles beyond me.
I surrender.
Nicholas Daniel was born on January 9, 1962. (He’s a young’un, I tell ya.)
Mozart Oboe Concerto:
… SLOWLY back to work I go.
On Monday private students returned to the studio. Today I’m back to UCSC (I need to get out the door nearly now, in fact!), and Monday it’s back to the stage.
It’s kind of a nice way to get back to work, really; nothing to jarring. But it does sort of feel like those days when it wants to rain but doesn’t quite pour. I think I’m getting impatient.
I know that’s difficult to believe … ME, being impatient!
should i get stoned before or after i practice oboe?
if i do it before, like i want to, ill have more motivation to practice but at the same time, it will make me mess up more than normal. not stoned at all, ill play better, but i wont have as much motivation.
Yes. I really did just read this. Sigh.
I realize I’m an old boring woman, but this just makes me sad. I hope it’s not a student of mine. But it might explain some things.
Update
Well, the student isn’t one of mine. Here’s the thing that so many don’t understand: blogs are public. Things are easy to find. The student goes to [school removed because I'm nice that way] University. Silly, foolish, foolish student.
I wonder what it was like to be a studio musician back when these sorts of cartoons were being done. There’s some fun stuff going on at the beginning of this cartoon …
Sheet Music Plus is having a sale on all music by Schott. Until January 29 you can get 20% off, which is a good deal. From that link you can click on your instrument of choice. Of course we all know what that will be, right?
And yes, I don’t do this entirely unselfishly; I get a bit of a percentage when someone purchases music via Sheet Music Plus. For that I thank many of you! It helps cover the cost of maintaining this site, and it enabled me to buy that chalet in Switzerland.
Okay, that second one isn’t true. Never mind that. ;-)
You know I’d have been there for him. I’m a giver. I would have played for free, even. But, alas, I see no oboe scheduled. It’s just like the Superbowl I guess: last year oboe was featured, this year it’s Yo-Yo. What is the world coming to?
I do see that San Francisco is getting some attention, though.
Here’s the order of the program:
Musical selections:
The U.S. Marine Band
The San Francisco Boys Chorus and the San Francisco Girls Chorus
Call to order and welcoming remarks: Sen. Dianne Feinstein
Invocation: Dr. Rick Warren, Saddleback Church, Lake Forest, Calif.
Musical selection: Aretha Franklin
Oath of office administered to Vice President-elect Joe Biden by Supreme Court Justice John Paul Stevens
Musical selection, John Williams, composer-arranger:
Itzhak Perlman, violin
Yo-Yo Ma, cello
Gabriela Montero, piano
Anthony McGill, clarinet
Oath of office administered to President-elect Barack Obama by Chief Justice John G. Roberts
Inaugural address by Obama
Poem:
Elizabeth Alexander
Benediction: The Reverend Dr. Joseph E. Lowery
The National Anthem: The U.S. Navy Band “Sea Chanters”
The above info was found here.
I’m not going to comment on certain people or things that will go on. Not I. I keep this site as nonpolitical as possible. Or is that apolitical? Or shall I say, instead, that this site is oboecentric? As it should be.
But no oboe. C’mon. What is the United States all about, anyway? And what happened to the great idea of Oboema? I had such hope ….
Update
Here is an article about the clarinetist who will perform (along with Ma, Montero and Perlman).
Whenever I hear an oboe, I can’t but think of something that’s sad and alone.
(Yes, I could make so many bad jokes about that quote and oboists … and reeds … but I’m not gonna. Aren’t you proud of me?)
I read it here. Check out what Chicagoans in the arts say about what makes them cry.
Me? Some music makes me cry (not when I’m playing for the most part, though). Ravel’s Piano Concerto in G, second movement, English horn solo. (Duh!) Beethoven’s Fifth Piano Concerto (Emperor), second movement. So much more ….
But it’s not only music. Words can get to me. I used to put together a contemplative Christmas program that featured scripture, poetry and music. And that’s where I did fall apart! If I read a poem that moved me, I’d have a very difficult time holding back tears. Maybe because I wasn’t as used to reading as I was to playing. Dunno. I can read them silently and while I’m moved I won’t cry. But say them aloud and the floodgates open.
And art. When I saw Van Gogh’s Starry Night I finally understood how a painting could hit someone emotionally.
And of course I’m a sucker for some movies. Even when I know I’m being manipulated. (But maybe music and art are manipulating me as well, eh?) “The Lives Of Others” really hit me. I guess it doesn’t hit everyone that way, but it sure got to me.
Theater can get to me as well. I certainly cried at “Machinal”.
Hmmm. Maybe I just like to cry.
