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Showing posts from December, 2007

Happy long tail to all my readers

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Right at the end of 2007 the Observer ran a story that shames the whole classical music community, including this and other blogs. It was about the BBC's rejection of director Tony Palmer's Vaughan Williams film, a news story that was featured prominently by the Observer and several music blogs, including this one . It now appears that the rejection letter quoted in the coverage was a publicity-seeking hoax, although the identity of the hoaxer remains unclear - read the full account here. This story neatly sums up a year in which relevance became the order of the day, and swapping the long tail of culture for the short head of the mass market became the number one priority. 2007 saw Norman Lebrecht's attempts to go mass market hit the buffers , while William Barrinton-Coupe's efforts on behalf of his late wife met a similar fate. It was also the year when the Royal Opera House went mass market with its advertising , BBC TV went mass market with its classical music pr

Variations on the Goldberg Variations

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The big bonus of presenting programmes on internet radio is I get to play the music I want to play, not the music that a focus group tells me to play. On Monday afternoon we have a fun programme for New Year's Eve, and as part of it I'm playing a 15 minute sequence from a double CD that's a personal favourite, but that doesn't fit into any conventional programme format. Jazz pianist Uri Caine's treatment of Bach's Goldberg Variations defies any categorisation and I'll be playing tracks varying from solo piano to full on jazz. It's all part of our Happy New Ear's programme which is on Future Radio from 1.00 to 4.00pm on Monday December 31st, the Goldberg sequence should be on air at around 2.00pm. Uri Caine's take is just one of several variations on the Goldberg Variations in my CD collection. Least successful is Robin Holloway's 'recomposition' for two pianos titled Gilded Goldbergs on Hyperion, a double CD which takes a long t

Today's BBC - the envy of the world?

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Envy? Try some other 'Es' ... Expensive, egregious and ennobled . The source of that 'envy of the world' quote is here. Photo (c) 2007 On An Overgrown Path . Report broken links, missing images and errors to - overgrownpath at hotmail dot co dot uk

David Munrow tribute on internet radio

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Double Grammy winning record producer Christopher Bishop talks about David Munrow on the record on my programme on Future Radio this Sunday (Dec 30) at 5.00pm UK time. The programme includes music from Munrow's first LP for EMI, Two Renaissance Dance Bands , which is seen above and which was produced by Christopher Bishop. Below is a page from Christopher's recording diary, the second entry down is the sessions for another classic David Munrow album, The Art of Courtly Love . Christopher Bishop worked with many great artists during historic times. Here is an excerpt from Michael Kennedy's 1971 biography of Sir John Barbirolli : 'It was Bishop with whom Barbirolli was working at the Abbey Road Studios on a day at the height of the Beatle's popularity. As John arrived he saw the famous four and their retinue. 'Is that the Fuzzy Wuzzies?' he asked Christopher, 'because we'd better close the door in case they charge.'' Now playing - Renaissa

Oscar Peterson or Karlheinz Stockhausen?

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Who touched more people's lives, Oscar Peterson or Karlheinz Stockhausen ? Not a rhetorical question, but one prompted by reading a fascinating book over the Christmas break. Both Peterson and Stockhausen were consumate musicians who created seminal works in the 1960s. Night Train was recorded in 1962 and Stimmung was composed in 1968. But they were polar opposites in their approach to music making, and they were polar opposites in their propensity to disturb people. White Heat, A History of Britain in the Swinging Sixties by Dominic Sandbrook is a superbly researched social history which follows on from the author's survey of Britain in the 1950s . Sandbrook's central thesis is that 'the sixties are best understood not as a dramatic turning point, interrupting the course of the nation's history and sending it off in a radically new direction, but rather as a stage in a long evolution stretching back into the forgotten past'. His conclusion is echoed by a

The almost submerged cathedral

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Claude Debussy's La cathédrale engloutie (The submerged cathedral) in his Préludes Book 1 was inspired by the legend of the sunken city of Ys off the Brittany coast. My photograph above was taken in France, but not in Brittany. It shows the Church of Champaubert which is almost submerged by the waters of the Lac du Der Chantecoq in the Champagne region. The lake was created in 1974 as part of a massive flood prevention scheme for the tributaries of the River Seine. It covers 4800 hectacres, and its creation submerged three villages whose 345 residents had to be relocated. Champaubert was one of the villages flooded, but the church remains in eerie isolation by the lakeside. The huge man-made resovoir has been put to good use. A cycle path runs round the lake, and the area is now a major centre for watersports and cycling. The photo below shows me on the lakeside path. For cycling readers, I am riding my Moulton APB , which is the bike I travel with when serious off-roading is n

Happy Christmas to all my readers

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Photo taken at the festival of lessons and carols in Blythburgh Church sung by the Blythburgh Singers on December 22nd, 2007, a church which has many connections with Benjamin Britten . Have a peaceful Christmas everyone, and a musical New Year. Any copyrighted material on these pages is included as "fair use", for the purpose of study, review or critical analysis only, and will be removed at the request of copyright owner(s). Report broken links, missing images and errors to - overgrownpath at hotmail dot co dot uk

For unto us a child is born

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It was a night spent in the basement of a burnt out building. People injured by the atomic bomb took shelter in this room, filling it. They passed the night in darkness, not even a single candle among them. The raw smell of blood, the stench of death. Body heat and the reek of sweat. Moaning. Miraculously, out of the darkness, a voice sounded: "The baby's coming!" In that basement room, in those lower reaches of hell, A young woman was now going into labor. What were they to do, Without even a single match to light the darkness? People forgot their own suffering to do what they could. A seriously injured woman who had been moaning but a moments before, Spoke out: "I'm a midwife. Let me help with the birth." And now life was born There in the deep, dark depths of hell. Her work done, the midwife did not even wait for the break of day. She died, still covered with the blood. Bring forth new life! Even should it cost me my own, Bring forth new life! by Sadako K

The Madonna of Stalingrad

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"I spent Christmas evening with the other doctors and the sick. The Commanding Officer had presented the letter with his last bottle of champagne. We raised our mugs and drank to those we love, but before we had had a chance to taste the wine we had to throw ourselves flat on the ground as a stick of bombs fell outside. I seized my doctor's bag and ran to the scene of the explosions, where there were dead and wounded. My shelter with its lovely Christmas decorations became a dressing station. One of the dying men had been hit in the head and there was nothing more I could do for him. He had been with us at our celebration, and had only that moment left to go on duty, but before he went he had said: "I'll finish the carol first, O du fröhliche !" A few moments later he was dead. There was plenty of hard and sad work to do in our Christmas shelter. It is late now, but it is Christmas night still. And so much sadness everywhere." The German army was trapped out

Taize chants to celebrate Christmas

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Taizé chants start my musical celebration of Christmas on Future Radio this Sunday, December 23rd. If you have not heard the music of Taizé before you are in for a very special experience. This is Gregorian Chant updated to the 21st century, it is music written for communal celebration, and it is the perfect way to start Christmas. My header photo shows the Church of Reconciliation in Taizé which we visited again this September. The second half of my programme is drawn from the arrangement of the Christmas Vespers by Rudolf Mauersberger that is sung every year by the Kreuzchor in the historic city of Dresden . The programme is broadcast at 5.00pm UK time on Sunday, December 23rd. Convert to local time here , and launch the audio stream here . Read more about the music of Taizé here , and the Dresden Christmas Vespers here. Now visit the green hill faraway called Taizé. Hear my Christmas programme on Future Radio on Sunday December 23 at 5.00pm UK time (convert to local time zones

Musical stocking fillers from Overgrown Paths

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* Walter Braunfels' Te Deum from Furtwängler and the forgotten new music . A major successs in the lifetime of this now forgotten composer, Braunfels' Wagner influenced Te Deum is a response to the horrors of the First World War - on CD from Orfeo . * Philippe Boesmans Julie from New music from the old world . Video release of the opera's 1995 premiere production at the Théâtre Royal de La Monnaie in Brussels - on DVD from BelAir. * Karl Amadeus Hartmann's Simplicius Simplicissimus from The Well-Tempered Concert . This video captures the Stuttgart production of Hartmann's only opera. Written in 1935 it uses the Thirty Years' War as a metaphor for Nazi oppression - on DVD from Arthaus Musik . * Francisco Guerrero's Missa Super flumina from Size does matter . Rising early music star Michael Noone and his Ensemble Plus Ultra presents the premiere recording of a Guerrero Mass - on CD from Glossa . More simple gifts for Christmas here . DVD replay standa

Happy new ears on internet radio

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In between programmes of music by Karlheinz Stockhausen , Colin McPhee and Alvin Curran I have been working on three Christmas specials commissioned by Future Radio featuring Tchaikovsky's great ballets. The hour long programmes will be presented by my wife, and musical highlights from each ballet are linked by a summary of the plot. The project has been a delight from start to finish, and not only because my wife is easier on the ear (and eye) than me. What wonderful music Tchaikovsky wrote, and that's a view shared by some pretty influential people. 'The sheer inventiveness of Prince of the Pagodas is extraordinary - so many memorable ideas - as is the sustained brilliance of the orchestral writing. The quality of the music is the equal of the Tchaikovsky ballets, which served as Britten's model for a large part of the score (Ronald Duncan recalls that Britten told him he kept a score of Sleeping Beauty beside his bed while writing the piece)' - from Britten

MP3 downloads are a real windup

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Here is the perfect Christmas present to compliment those downloads from the DG Web Shop . A windup media player for MP3 files and much more. Now check out another ethical and musical Christmas present . Any copyrighted material on these pages is included as "fair use", for the purpose of study, review or critical analysis only, and will be removed at the request of copyright owner(s). Report broken links, missing images and errors to - overgrownpath at hotmail dot co dot uk

Thomas Ades out - Pierre-Laurent Aimard in

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Just received - a press release announcing that Pierre-Laurent Aimard (photo above) will succeed Thomas Adès as Artistic Director of the Aldeburgh Festival for three years with effect from 2009. As the Independent commented following his BBC Prom earlier this year: " At 50 , the French pianist-conductor still has the eager simplicity that induced Messiaen to make him his protégé at 12, and the luminous brilliance that persuaded Boulez to install him at 19 as resident pianist for his brand-new Ensemble InterContemporain . . . .” Pierre-Laurent Aimard explained: “It was a big surprise to receive Jonathan Reekie's proposal to become Artistic Director of the Aldeburgh Festival. It was only after long reflection that I realised it was the right and possibly natural progression for me in terms of musical challenge and engagement. I love the exploration of musical confrontations and the encounter with various creators and performing partners - embracing the literature of differ

Exclusive - David Munrow on the record

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My Future Radio programme on Sunday December 30th takes an exclusive look at David Munrow on the record . In the early 1970s the scores for the BBC TV series The Six Wives of Henry VIII and Elisabeth R brought David Munrow’s music to millions. His Pied Piper radio programme was broadcast four times a week for five years, he presented a successful TV series, and wrote the scores for several major feature films including Ken Russell’s The Devils and the film version of HenryVIII (sleeve below). David Munrow's interest in early music started when he taught in Peru before going up to Cambridge. He combined reading English at Pembroke College with independent studies of Renaissance and medieval music, and went on to form his famous Early Music Consort of London. Under his leadership the Early Music Consort became best-selling recording artists, and David Munrow’s records were considered so important that copies of them were sent to Saturn on board two NASA spacecraft in 1976.

Nowhere is safe from Messiaen

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Violainvilnius commented on my recent post on Stockhausen's teachers "OMG, we'll have a Messiaen year next year? Where can I emigrate to?". Well, according to today's Observer nowhere is safe. "Radiohead's exuberantly talented Jonny Greenwood is using his time as composer-in-residence with the BBC Concert Orchestra to allow his influences - Ligeti, Messiaen, Dutilleux and Penderecki - to guide his quirky, uneven pen. They certainly seem to be at work behind his latest offering, the soundtrack to Paul Thomas Anderson's acclaimed new film, There Will Be Blood , due for release in the UK next February. Those arid plains are captured impressively in the opening track 'Open Spaces', which employs what is fast becoming Greenwood's 'signature', the Ondes Martenot , an early electronic instrument. Its oscillating frequencies have just the right haunting, vocal quality to evoke an empty, forbidding landscape." Sample a unique soun

Darker than a starless night

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Clear as a sky without a cloud may be a mother's mind, but darker than a starless night with not one gleam, not one, no gleam to show the way. The Madwoman arrives at the ferry in Benjamin Britten's first church parable Curlew River. Photograph taken this afternoon inland from Aldeburgh. More on Curlew River here. Photo (c) On An Overgrown Path 2007. Report broken links, missing images and errors to - overgrownpath at hotmail dot co dot uk

Belgium bags Alvin Curran premiere

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New music is alive and well in Belgium. Tomorrow (Dec 15) sees an Alvin Curran (photo above) premiere in Ghent played by pianist Daan Vandewalle (who featured in my Inner Cities webcast ) and cellist Arne Deforce . The new Alvin Curran work is called Malapromptus . This is the programme, and more details here : Anton Webern - Sonate 1914 (2') Anton Webern - Drei Stucke opus 11, 1914 (2') Morton Feldman - Durations II 1960 (5') Edison Denisov - Dr ei Stücke 1967 (6') Galina Ustvolskaya - Grand Duett 1959 (22') Alvin Curran - Malapromtus 2007 Hear Daan Vandewalle talking to me about Alvin Curran's music here . And a double bill of new Belgian music here and here . Photo credit Hannah Frenzel. Any copyrighted material on these pages is included as "fair use", for the purpose of study, review or critical analysis only, and will be removed at the request of copyright owner(s). Report broken links, missing images and errors to - overgrownpath a

John Cage and chance spelling

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Swapping from William Schuman to Robert Schumann in recent posts has presented a spelling challenge, and, quite rightly, a reader corrected me a while back when I fused the American composer's Christian name with the German composer's surname. So I was reassured to read the following in David Revill's book The Roaring Silence - John Cage: A Life - 'Cage continued to spend many hours preparing letters seeking support for a center for experimental music. On the back of his inventory of percussion instruments he scribbled one night, "Composers interested in electrical: Jacob Weinberg , Henry Brant , Paul Bowles , William Schumann (sic)"'. John Cage Christmas gift suggestion here . Cage collage taken at Les Gargoris , France (c) On An Overgrown Path 2007. Report broken links, missing images and errors to - overgrownpath at hotmail dot co dot uk

The art of Stockhausen and Schumann

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Who said that the art of sleeve design died with the LP? - well actually I did . So, to prove myself wrong here is the sleeve for the recording of Stockhausen's Gruppen that I will be playing in my Future Radio programme this Sunday Dec 16 at 5.00pm UK time. The CD was released by Budapest Music Center Records in 2006, and the Gruppen was recorded in 1997 in the same hall as the work was first performed in , the Messe Reinlandsaal in Cologne. The three orchestras are drawn from the ranks of the WDR Sinfonieorchester Köln and the conductors are the Spaniard Arturo Tamayo , the Hungarian Peter Eötvös and the Frenchman Jacques Mercier . The coupling is Stockhausen's Punkte , and the excellent sleeve notes are by Richard Toop. As well as recording worthwhile composers BMC Records is one of the few companies committed to keeping good design alive in the digital era. More power to them for that. Look at these images again. Now do you understand why I wrote Stockhausen - par

Olivier Messiaen in Bryce Canyon

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Henry Holland has left a new comment on your post On the path of Stockhausen's teachers - "It's actually Bryce Canyon in the photo used for the poster, the rock formation that looks like a cup above the 'h' in Southbank is the giveaway; Messiaen, of course, visited Bryce Canyon, which is mentioned in the 7th part of Des Canyons aux Etoiles." My photo above is also from the Southbank Centre's Messiaen festival brochure, and shows the composer in Bryce Canyon . Photo (c) Yvonne Loriod. Any copyrighted material on these pages is included as "fair use", for the purpose of study, review or critical analysis only, and will be removed at the request of copyright owner(s). Report broken links, missing images and errors to - overgrownpath at hotmail dot co dot uk

Now sample the gamelan online

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Much interest in the gamelan threads started by my Colin McPhee posts and webcast , including this comment from Jessica Duchen - 'One of my most fascinating musical experiences was playing in a gamelan orchestra at Dartington when I was a student. After you've entered and become part of that soundworld with all its ringing overtones for two hours at a stretch, a Mozart violin sonata can seem very strange indeed.' Follow this link and sample that special soundworld online with a complete concert from CBC of music for gamelan by Colin McPhee and contemporary composers. While elsewhere you can play your own Virtual Javanese Gamelan using free software developed by WCS Music using the Javanese Gamelan of Wells Cathedral School . Their website reports that using the expertise of the music faculty of the Cathedral School, and leading consultants, an innovative and award winning suite of music education software has been created. This allows users to explore one of the liveli

On the path of Stockhausen's teachers

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In 1950 Karlheinz Stockhausen was accepted into Frank Martin's composition class at the Cologne Musikhochschule . The relationship was not a success, Stockhausen had only a few hours of tuition with Martin, and most of this was spent analysing his teacher's own compositions. More Frank Martin down this path . Two years later Stockhausen started studying composition with Darius Milhaud in Paris. But once again Stockhausen was dissatisfied with his teacher, and after a few weeks he stopped attending Milhaud's classes. My photo above shows the house that Milhaud was born in at 4, Bd de la République, Aix-en-Provence. His birthplace, which I visited in September, is now the Hotel Artea and not a museum. There is a discount if you check-in after 8.00pm, which cannot be said for many composer's birthplaces. Milhaud's other pupils at various times included Philip Glass , Steve Reich and Burt Bacharach. Alvin Curran was not among them, but there are connections. Aix-en

It's about making the link

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Having an opinion is unfashionable in some places these days. But not according to a link on A.C. Grayling's website. Report broken links, missing images and errors to - overgrownpath at hotmail dot co dot uk

Wagner Dream comes true

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'In terms of new music, 2007 was less special, save for Magnus Lindberg's fine violin concerto, Heiner Goebbels's indefinably moving Songs from Wars I Have Seen, and Jonathan Harvey's adroit chamber opera Wagner Dream. There were no premieres worth mentioning at the Proms , save Esa-Pekka Salonen's Piano Concerto , quite the worst new piece to come my way all year' - writes Andrew Clements in today's Guardian . Read more about Jonathan Harvey's Wagner Dream in Malcolm Miller's review , which is where the production shot from the 2007 Holland Festival in Amsterdam came from. (Photo credit Clärchen and Matthias Baus) . More on Jonathan Harvey here. Any copyrighted material on these pages is included as "fair use", for the purpose of study, review or critical analysis only, and will be removed at the request of copyright owner(s). Report broken links, missing images and errors to - overgrownpath at hotmail dot co dot uk