Obsession

Occasionally, I become obsessed with a song and I play it over and over. Do you? This time it's Too Rich For My Blood by Patricia Barber. She's a Chicago jazz pianist/singer/composer. The song, below, is from her album, Cafe Blue. What she does with her voice in the middle of the song is truly amazing. The end of the song is unique!

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Whistling

I can whistle ok, but I'm not the best whistler ever. My Dad was a great whistler! He used to whistle a lot, especially when he was doing little jobs around the house. It seemed like he whistled when he was happy. My Dad had a special whistling trick -- by moving his tongue rapidly inside his mouth, he could warble between two notes a third apart. It almost seemed like he was whistling two notes at the same time! For years and years I tried to do this! But, I couldn't! One day, when my Dad was visiting us, he sat on the front steps with my daughter, who was about 7 at the time. He showed her how to do that special whistle one time (ONE TIME!) and she learned it immediately! I am really jealous of her.

The Beauty of Technology

Thank goodness for my iPod! I have so much wonderful music on it! True, 20GB doesn't seem enough anymore, but I can manage for now. When I go on an airplane, especially, it's great to hear any of my music at anytime (except take off and landings)! I love it, love it, love it!

Singing

This morning I was listening to my friend's recording of his school chorus. Gosh, they were good! As I listened I heard all the earnest, young voices! Singing is such a more personal thing than playing an instrument. Your voice is part of you. Your very soul and your emotions and everything come out when you sing. Listening to choral singing is one of my greatest pleasures. And, singing in choirs has provided me with some amazing and wonderful musical experiences.

Performing in Public

This morning my string quartet played in a church. One of our members is the organist at a lovely little church in Chicago. We had to pass by the Chicago Marathon to get to the church. There were about 45,000 runners today!

We played the last movement of a string quartet by Mozart. This movement is fugal and it seemed appropriate for church. Also, it was easy enough for us to play it perfectly.

Playing in public is different from playing in someone's house! The sound is different, especially in a church, and there is more pressure to perform well. Luckily, we did well! As we practiced and played today, we thought about some of the things needed to play in an ensemble:

• Everyone must feel the beat together. It's easier to say this than to do it!
• Everyone must change notes together. This requires extreme sensitivity and listening.
• Everyone must maintain the same tempo throughout. We should try not to drag or speed up.
• "Fast" tempo is not always the answer -- "style" is something that can make the music sound lively and interesting.
  

A Magical Evening

Yesterday evening my string quartet and I went to the local Catholic church for a special event called Taizé. This is a musical event of singing and meditation. It is meant to include all religions. Even though I'm not religious, I could not help but be impressed and moved by the beautiful singing, the candlelight and the feeling in the room. A few musicians came to join in: a flute, guitar, two violins, viola and cello. Each short song was sung about 12 or more times. The musicians could choose anything to play: the melody, a harmonic part, additional melodies, or improvisations. Six hundred people were there.

September 11, 2001

Following the events in New York City and in Washington, D. C., everyone in the country was in a state of shock. Our nights were full of nightmares. During the day we continually watched the scenes of horror over and over on TV. There was no relief for our emotions of sorrow and dismay at what had happened.

Several months later, our orchestra began to practice Mahler's Symphony No. 6. We performed our concert of this music later during the season of 2001/2002. While we rehearsed I am sure that each of us felt the tragic sentiments of Mahler's music in a new and fresh way. I am sure that our final performance reflected our new understandings of the deep emotionalism of Mahler's music. Here is the first movement of that work, as played by my orchestra at that concert.

The Young Composer

The young composer leans over his latest music composition, his brown eyes shining in the light of the candles, for it is very late at night. His brain is teeming with musical ideas, so many that he can barely write them down. At last, his string quartet starts to take shape. He is ecstatic but worn with fatigue. At last, he has tamed his many melodic ideas and made something of extraordinary beauty. Little does he know that his fatigue is partly due to an illness which will strike him down at the age of nineteen.

These were my thoughts as my string quartet and I played music by Juan Chrisostomo Arriaga. The thoughts are strictly my own imagination but were vividly present to my mind as we played his beautiful music. Ah, to die so young! With so much talent! But I understood his feverish enthusiasm, made from youthful passion.

Here is some biographical information from the score for the Three String Quartets of Arriaga, published by International Music Company:

Juan Crisostomo Arriaga, born in 1806 in Bilbao Spain, died in 1826. At the age of 11, he composed an octet; at the age of 12, he composed an overture for orchestra, at 14, he composed an opera. In 1822, he went to study in Paris at the Conservatory. He studied violin, harmony and counterpoint. In less than three months he had a perfect knowledge of Harmony and in two years he was a master of Counterpoint and Fugue. In 1824 he received a Conservatory appointment as a coach in Harmony and Counterpoint. At this time he composed a Symphony and three String Quartets. He died in 1826 from a lung disease.

Another candidate for "The Saddest Music I Have Ever Heard"

Carl Nielsen's Symphony No. 4, "The Inextinguishable" (in Danish: Det Uudslukkelige).