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Showing posts from August, 2009

Chance music on internet radio

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For some time I have I have been pondering on how to share with readers some of the huge selection of music that features here. My Overgrown Path programme on Future Radio , which ran for fifteen months, gained a good following and podcasts from some of the programmes are available on the right-hand side bar. But I felt the format was too rigid and production of the precisely timed programmes was very time consuming. So, as you can see from the header photo, I was back in the Future Radio studio last week preparing a pilot of a very different new programme. When I was writing about Mario Formenti's superb linked piano cycle Kurtag's Ghosts in April I admitted: I have always opposed the practice of breaking down complete works (e.g. Holst's The Planets ) into audience-friendly samples (Jupiter). But Kurtág’s Ghosts has made me realise that, in the right context, the sum of the parts can be greater than the whole. This thought-provoking double CD has led me to question m

Finding a different way for the next generation

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My two articles about the reincarnation of the Buddhist Lama Yeshe created an unprecedented amount of interest. Lost in Meditation described the background to the identification of the young Spaniard Osel Hita Torres as the reincarnation, and ended on a somewhat equivocal note. Found in Meditation was written a few days later after a reader supplied an update explaining that Osel was studying cinematography at the University of Madrid. What I thought was an arcane but interesting story suddenly went global in June when the young reincarnation hit the headlines and my two Buddhist stories attracted the biggest ever readership for On An Overgrown Path, with more than ten thousand readers accessing the posts in a single day. Elsewhere big media had sensed a nice negative story, and the Guardian coverage with its punchy soundbites was typical: '... the boy chosen by the Dalai Lama as a reincarnation of a spiritual leader has caused consternation – and some embarrassment – for Tibe

He died much too young

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When I was about 10 years old, around 1947, I attended a series of music appreciation classes given by Dean Dixon in a private home in Queens, NY. It was a wonderful experience. It was in conjunction with those classes that I probably attended my first live orchestral concert (at Needletrades High School, in NY?) conducted by Mr. Dixon. The last time I saw him was one summer when he conducted the NY Philharmonic in Central Park. A wonderful man. Died much too young. Some comments posted to archived articles need to be shared. This one was added by a reader a couple of days ago to Dean Dixon - I owe him a huge debt . The photo is, of course, of Dean Dixon (1915-76) and is by Wolfgang Sievers from the National Library of Australia . 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 - overgrownp

The gold standard of TV arts programming

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'The traditionalists won't like it, but Strictly [Come Dancing] is the new gold standard of what makes a very, very successful arts programme on mainstream TV'. Two views on what constitues a successful arts programme on TV. Christopher Nupen's 1967 film Jacqueline du Pré supplies the image. Will Gompertz's January 2008 Guardian article supplies the quote. Yesterday BBC News appointed Will Gompertz to the newly-created role of Arts Editor. Read about Christopher Nupen's film in The Innocent Ear . 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

The art of improvisation

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Joglaresa perform most of the songs here with only one pitched instrument (vielle or oud) and add only voices or percussion. With this instrumentation, we not only get as close as possible to the descriptions of professional slave-girl performers, but also achieve the improvisational spontaneity so crucial to music of this period. Music performed with large ensembles of pitched instruments requires an 'arrangement' that Joglaresa feels contradicts all that we know about the improvisational spirit of medieval and traditional music. Belinda Sykes, who directs medieval band Joglaresa (photo below), and is professor of medieval song at Trinity College London, issues a challenge to string-centric early music ensembles in the sleeve notes of her new CD. Dreams of Andalusia is a programme of the Jewish, Arabic and Christian songs that were performed by the professional singinging girls known as joglaresas or qaynay in Muslim Spain between the 8th and 15th centuries. Accompanyin

BBC Proms - a job for life

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Let us hope that Roger Wright, director of the BBC Proms, makes a success of programming the annual concert series. Because a BBC Freedom of Information response has revealed that he could be doing the job until he retires in 2021. As part of my research for What price the BBC Proms? I filed an FOI question about the terms of tenure of the director of BBC Proms. Here is the BBC's reply: 'As confirmed in our previous response (RFI20091032), Roger Wright is contracted to undertake the combined role of 'Controller, R3 & Director BBC Proms'; therefore, each role is not treated separately in terms of length of the contract/conditions of service. I can conform that Roger Wright is currently on a permanent standard Senior Manager contract with the BBC in the above role; there is no fixed tenure associated with this role'. The combined post of 'Controller, R3 & Director BBC Proms', which has a 'permanent standard Senior Manager contract' controls:

EMI - it's a dog's life

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First the bad news. The fluctuating prospects of my EMI pension have been the subject of two previous posts . Now comes the news that Guy Hands , the new owner of ailing EMI, has removed the chairman of the company's pension fund and appointed his own nominee to the post. This is Money comments: The move was unusual since chairmen of pension fund trustees must be seen to be able to represent the interests of pensioners without fear of censure from the company financing the fund. Fortunately we still have many principled small businesses in the UK. But then there is the BBC and EMI ; not to mention HBOS, the bank that cost us, and many others, a serious amount of money . But now for the good news. The fine drawing above depicts that great conductor Sir John Barbirolli, who made many fine recordings for EMI . His masterly accounts of Elgar's First and Second Symphonies, recorded for HMV with the Philharmonia and Hallé Orchestras respectively, have been absent from their catalo

Opera tribute to minimalist pioneer

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A new opera by Evan Ziporyn based on Colin McPhee's memoir A House in Bali is being premiered on September 26 & 27th at the University of California, Berkeley . Richard Friedman has more details . You can read about McPhee, who was an early pioneer of minimalism and who recorded piano transciption of Balinese ceremonial music with Benjamin Britten, in my 2007 article Colin McPhee - East meets West . 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

What price the BBC Proms?

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My life was changed by a Henry Wood Promenade Concert on 4th August, 1975. In the second half Sir Adrian Boult gave us Vaughan William's Fifth Symphony , and the blazing intensity of that performance remains unmatched, in my experience, in the concert hall or on record. Sir Adrian's 86 years had no relevance to his music making. Music, not age, was what mattered then. In the summer of 1975 punk was at its peak and the Vietnam War had ended after Communist forces took Saigon in the spring. Back with classical music, Pierre Boulez was in his last season as principal conductor of the BBC Symphony Orchestra, which was at the top of its game , while William Glock's golden period as BBC controller of music and Proms administrator still informed music making in London. Your life could be changed for £1.30, which was the price of a balcony seat in the Albert Hall. All of which set me thinking, what price today's BBC Proms? In 2009 Promenade Concerts are one of few remaining

Music as the last bulwark against barbarity

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The desire to bring People's, cultures and religions together and especially to draw East and West closer, such is the inspiration behind the production of Ad Vitam Records. The collections under the label comprise vocal and instrumental, classical or traditional music. All the recordings bear witness to the real power of Music, not only as the last bulwark against barbarity, but also as the ultimate expression of the sensitivity of the heart. These are records "For Life". They build bridges of expectation, hope and trust. These wise words are carried on every CD released by a remarkable new record label. I stumbled across Ad Vitam Records by accident recently while browsing in the pilgrim's bookshop at Le Mont Saint Michel in Normandy. Ad Vitam could only be French; it positions itself as 'a label to bring peoples, cultures and religions together' and has been described by the influential Haute Fidélité magazine as 'an extreme audiophile label'

A treasure in the heart of every man

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The ethos of the whole exercise is that every work of art is an individual achievement. Achievement develops self-esteem. Self-esteem is a vital ingredient of rehabilitation and the ability to lead a useful and law-abiding life. Therefore, because they are a means to that vital end, which amounts to protecting the public, the arts are, or should be, a compulsory ingredient in the programmes available in every prison. Armed with new skills and burgeoning self-esteem, offenders may go on to engage with the work, education or training that are essential for successful rehabilitation. I was therefore delighted when, in 2002, I learned that Aldeburgh had embarked on a most imaginative venture, involving the boys of Carlford Unit at the nearby Her Majesty's Prison and Young Offenders Institute Warren Hill and the children of Debenham High School under the guidance of Phillipa Reive . Those who came to the Aldeburgh Festival that year may remember the remarkable video made by the two gr

Back to touchy-feely music

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Is there a swing away from the anonymity of digital files and back to the touchy-feely music formats of the past? This Wednesday (Aug. 26) sees the release of a 4CD definitive edition of Woody Guthrie's mid-1940s recordings. The discs come packaged in the replica vintage suitcase seen below, complete with handle and latches. Inside is a full-color 68 page book and there are also facsimiles of Woody's business card, a postcard sent from Florida to his wife, and a booking card from the 1940s, as seen above. And yes, the sound did matter then , so the CD transfers are made from newly discovered original metal masters. This touchy feely release comes from Rounder Records and retails for $75.99. Could touchy-feely be the salvation of the ailing record industry? Will we see LSO Live releasing a definitive Valery Gergiev edition packaged in a carry-on flight bag complete with Lonely Planet Guide to Ossetia and facsimile frequent flyer card ? Watch this space while reading more on Wo

Lament for Lockerbie

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Lament for Lockerbie - Threnody, December '88 was conceived by the Scottish composer Gordon Lawson as a spontaneous reaction to the disaster which destroyed both the small Scottish town and Pan Am flight 103. Scored for strings and based on the hymn Dundee by Charles Wesley , Lament for Lockerbie was premiered in its final form in 1991. The ten minute tonal Threnody is both accessible and very moving with its hints of English pastoralism and early Tippett, and the arch-like structure of the work is reminiscent of that greatest of twentieth-century laments, Richard Strauss' Metamorphosen . As I write Lament for Lockerbie plays on the CD seen above, which was released in 2000 by the composer. Sadly the disc seems to have disappeared completely from the catalogue, and there is little biographical information on Gordon Lawson available other than in the CD booklet. As the furore over the release of Lockerbie bomber Abdelbaset Al-Megrahi resounds on both sides of the Atlantic

Is it me or is it the music ?

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I am taking the summer off music ... Salzburg has the worst offering since I can remember, Bayreuth is its usual self, I have no trips planned to London and do not held the BBC Proms in the same respect as you because of the very poor acoustics. I am basically relaxing and much to my surprise am not missing music. Is it me or is it the music ? Emails a regular reader, occasional Overgrown Path contibutor and veteran festival goer Antoine Leboyer . Antoine also writes for the French classical music site ConcertoNet where his review for a Gustavo Dudamel Prom was memorably headlined Faut-il fermer le Royal Albert Hall - Should they close the Royal Albert Hall? Last night a sold-out Snape Maltings rocked to Music from the Penguin Café , Arthur Jeffes' tribute to the famous Penguin Café Orchestra. This influential band was founded by his father Simon Jeffes in the 1970s and featured here earlier this year in Randomness is a very special thing . As we drove home last night after see

Memorable and disturbing opera

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The sad news comes of the death of the soprano Hildegard Behrens aged 72. She recorded Salome with Herbert von Karajan during my time with EMI, and I was fortunate to hear her sing the role with Karajan conducting the Vienna Philharmonic at the 1977 Salzburg Festival , which was where the header photo was taken. In January 2008 I described that performance as "one of my most memorable, and disturbing, evenings in the opera house" . Image credit Salzburg Festival . 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

Unlocking the sound of vinyl

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A recent New Yorker article by Alex Ross suggested that the resurgence of interest in vinyl LPs is simply 'a modest rebellion against the tyranny of instant access' among younger listeners. Maybe; or perhaps the pin-sharp hearing of those younger listers has identified what many older ears have known for a long time , namely that something important was lost when the musicality of the vinyl disc was traded for the portability of digital files. Whatever the reason, vinyl is certainly bouncing back. The photos above and below were taken by me recently in a large hypermarket outside Caen in northern France. The E.Leclerc chain of hypermarkets is opening Espace Culturelle - cultural spaces - in its major stores. These offer a mouth-watering range of music, video and book merchandise, the like of which would never be seen in a UK supermarket. Pride of place in the new Espace Culturelle are gondolas of 180gm vinyl pressings of rock music selling at a premium over the CD equivale