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Showing posts from August, 2011

The society which is not diverse is less beautiful

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'Complexity is a beautiful thing... the society which is not diverse is less beautiful. I cannot know myself if I do not know the Other - the Other is a condition of my existence.' September 10th brings the last night of the BBC Proms at which Wagner rubs shoulders with the Sound of Music . Will the Proms director be sentenced to four years in prison for using social media to publicise the event and will rubber bullets be used on the audience when they sing Jerusalem ? My header quotation comes from the liberal-leaning Shiite cleric Sheikh Hani Fahes and I leave it with you while I follow Other paths until the Albert Hall has emptied. If you only buy one CD while I am travelling, make it the one above . A small piece of social media trivia; On An Overgrown Path enters its eighth year of blogging in a few days and thank you for supporting the Other point of view during that time. Until I return follow this path for a chance selection of Gurdjieff posts , and this one f

Hints of Penderecki, Ligeti and Stimmung

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A chance path leads from my recent articles about Philippa Schuyler to the Vietnamese composer Ton-That Tiêt. In her biography Kathryn Talalay tells how Philippa entered into a relationship with an American intelligence officer called Jim Leiter during her first visit to Vietnam in 1966. The biographer describes one of their meetings as follows: 'Philippa saw quite a bit of Jim. One evening as they were sitting in the jeep gazing at Hué's Perfume River, he told her she was the first good thing that had happened to him since he had come to Vietnam.' The Perfume River provided the inspiration for Et la rivière chante l'éternité (And the river sings for ever) written in 1998 for string trio by Ton-That Tiêt. Born in Hué in 1933, Ton-That Tiêt, who is seen above, moved to Paris in 1958 and studied at the Conservatoire where his reachers included Jean Rivier , André Jolivet and Andrée Vaurabourg ; the latter is better known as Mrs Arthur Honegger and among her other

Does anyone else sense a coded message?

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A few days ago I pointed out that the BBC Buzz Proms feed , which was featuring links to some robust posts On An Overgrown Path , had stopped updating. Despite my article the page has now not been updated for ten days. But the BBC online and technology team, who understand social media somewhat better than their Radio 3 colleagues , have chosen to feature my story about the updating glitch on their own web page . Does anyone else sense a coded message? * Ian McDonald is the content producer, BBC internet blog. Nick Reynolds is editor of the BBC internet blog. Also on Facebook and Twitter . Report broken links, missing images and errors to - overgrownpath at hotmail dot co dot uk

BBC and the overlooked black conductor

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Yesterday's post ' Did the BBC derail the career of black conductor? ' prompted the following email from Dominique-René de Lerma: A few years before his death, Rudolph Dunbar wrote several letters to me which will confirm biographical statements you have recently posted, as well as some information not previously in print (for example, comments regarding [William Grant] Still's Festive overture ). I'd not trust the accuracy of my memory but these letters -- as well as some from Julia Perry -- were deposited with the former Institute for Black Music Research at Fisk University . I'd hope someone would locate these and publish them. Columbia College Chicago's website has the following biography: Dominique-René de Lerma (1928– ) is a prominent, pioneering scholar in black music research. After a career as a performing oboist, de Lerma received a PhD in musicology from Indiana University in 1958. Subsequently he taught at Indiana University (1963–1976),

He died in obscurity in London in 1988

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Immediately after uploading 'Did BBC derail career of black conductor' I visited a colleague from my EMI days . On his bookshelf was Rudolph Dunbar's 1939 Treatise on the clarinet (Boehm system) which yielded these rare photos. More on Dunbar in 'The Berlin Philharmonic's first black conductor' . Also on Facebook and Twitter . 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

Classical music is shanghaied

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My recent posts on classical music in China in general and Shanghai in particular were remarkably prescient . Header image is from my 2006 post about music in China . Also on Facebook and Twitter . Report broken links, missing images and errors to - overgrownpath at hotmail dot co dot uk

Did BBC derail career of black conductor?

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National treasure Sir Colin Davis conducts BBC Proms on August 24 and September 4 in programmes that include Beethoven's Missa Solemnis . Sir Colin progressed from clarinet to conducting, as did Guyanese born Rudolph Dunbar who is seen above. But, despite conducting the BBC Symphony Orchestra, Dunbar never appeared on the podium at a Promenade Concert. And there is an important story behind that simple statement. A website focussing on Guyana explains the decline of Rudolph Dunbar's career in these words : Nobody was now asking him to conduct orchestras. He was not even playing his clarinet at concerts anymore. In fact, he died in obscurity in London in 1988. Why was Dunbar overlooked? There is no clear answer to that question. In an interview he gave six months before his death in 1988, Dunbar, who had previously conducted the BBC Symphony Orchestra, blamed the BBC and a particular producer/director in the organization for derailing his career. In those days, the

Classical music debates - but will anything change?

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National Public Radio in the States is among the media channels that picked up on my story about musicians' fees . The widespread interest confirms that the subject of fees has been off limits for far too long. Or, as a journalist said to me, "If a secret is closely guarded, it's usually because something somewhere is wrong." Musicians' fees certainly makes compelling headlines. But, as I said in my original article, we must beware of jumping to conclusions. Despite the attention now focussed on fees, one group within the increasingly fragile classical music business model continues to evade scrutiny. There is no doubt that agents provide a valuable service by matching performers to opportunities. But my article highlighted the not inconsiderable portion of dwindling budgets that is paid to agents. And other aspects of their role remain almost completely hidden. One is the limitation of choice resulting from the selling of 'packages' of conductor, s

What the London riots meant for a musician

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Our reviewer Carla Rees (seen above), flute player and artistic director of Rarescale , recently lost her home in the London riots. She was burned out losing all her flutes, music and possessions as well as her two cats. She has nothing left and is having to live in a hotel. The company Just Flutes & Jonathan Myall Music are lending her instruments and music and have launched an appeal on her behalf. MusicWeb will be making a donation and would urge you all to do the same. From the MusicWeb International website . Let us hope that music will rise from the wreckage . Also on Facebook and Twitter . Report broken links, missing images and errors to - overgrownpath at hotmail dot co dot uk

If it ain't Baroque, don't fix it

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'When you think about it, the classics have always rebounded because of advancement in aesthetic conceptions. In his time, Karajan’s legato was a controversial novelty, same for “objective” readings by the likes of Boulez (and before him Klemperer ?) … The equivalent for these days should be baroque players but I feel that there is a difference in their contribution. Most of the players are very very dogmatic and tend to apply their principles too much beyond baroque composers. Interpretation is subordinated to strict adherence to certain performance principles, no vibrato (glassy string sound …) , fast tempi with lots of rubato, … Baroque contribution should have been a more theatrical feeling to instrumental music or certain different harmonies and inner voices, not what we have. These days, the Berlin Phiharmonic and others are just trying to mimic baroque practices. This just does not make any sense.' I was reminded of that contribution by Antoine Leboyer to my Octob

Top conductor feels the pain

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Are top musicians sharing the financial pain? Apparently so: in today's Guardian conductor Jonathan Nott, seen above, talks about, and I quote, "working in Europe, and his other passion, his Lamborghini". More drive time music here . Also on Facebook and Twitter . Report broken links, missing images and errors to - overgrownpath at hotmail dot co dot uk

BBC Proms lose their buzz

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As revealed here recently the BBC has a central service called Buzz that monitors social media and posts a link to the relevant programme page. Recently BBC Buzz has been linking to quite a few of my Proms posts . In fact I was surprised by the number of visitors coming via the Buzz link to How many black conductors at the BBC Proms? But six days ago the Proms Buzz page stopped updating, as seen above. Meanwhile the editorially controlled Twitter comments on the Radio 3 Proms page continue to be updated. I know the BBC online and technology guys read my blog , so hopefully the technical glitch will soon be fixed. Until then, buzz over to this story . * Four days later - still no updates, but... Also on Facebook and Twitter . Report broken links, missing images and errors to - overgrownpath at hotmail dot co dot uk

Classical music opens the China gates

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Jiří Bělohlávek's impending departure from the BBC Symphony Orchestra and appointment to the Czech Philharmonic have been covered . But his move from IMG Artists to the China based Armstrong Arts management agency has slipped under the radar. The little-known Armstrong Arts has a small artist roster that includes Barbara Bonney, Krzysztof Penderecki and the Chinese conductor Da Ye Lin. But the commercial-intermediary complex have been quick to close ranks. With Bělohlávek currently sidelined by a virus (Hong Kong flu perhaps?) his place at the BBC Prom on August 22 accompanying IMG Artist Barry Douglas has been taken by IMG Artist Thomas Dausgaard . Amazing how nothing is lost, even in infection . Also on Facebook and Twitter . Report broken links, missing images and errors to - overgrownpath at hotmail dot co dot uk

Mahler? - I advise you not to do it

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'Firstly the [New York Philharmonic Orchestra] was really not so good; Boston was much better. And I was only too eager to do something big, like a Mahler symphony. Judson said, "That's not possible. There won't even be a hundred people in the auditorium." And in a sense he was right; at that time Mahler was quite down. Finally he agreed to Das Lied von der Erde , if we could find a couple of singers who would bring in the public. It turned out they couldn't be found, so I said I wanted to do Mahler's Second Symphony. He said, "Mr Klemperer, I advise you not to do it. It will result in a big deficit." I insisted and it was an enormous success, also with the critics. But the next day I got a letter from Judson, saying that, as he warned me, there was a deficit of five thousand dollars on the concert.' Otto Klemperer talks about performing Mahler in 1936 in Peter Heyworth's book Conversations with Klemperer . With Mahler's Second Symph

Meet the composer behind the protecting veil

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Sir John Tavener's reputation is currently passing through the obligatory lacanu between youthful marketability and mature authority . His new website , which is being developed ahead of his 70th birthday celebrations in 2014 , is a timely reminder that a composer can be relevant without being fashionable . The music of Sir John Tavener, Michael Tippett and Sofia Gubaidulina can be heard in a BBC Prom given by the Britten Sinfoni a and BBC Singers on September 3. Pity though that this bold piece of programming is consigned to the off-peak Proms new music ghetto . Also on Facebook and Twitter . Report broken links, missing images and errors to - overgrownpath at hotmail dot co dot uk

Are top musicians sharing the financial pain?

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Everyone in classical music is talking about funding cuts. But no one is talking about how dwindling budgets continue to be top-sliced by the fees charged by high profile musicians. In my recent post I used an estimate of Gustavo Dudamel's fee for a BBC Prom taken from an identified and reliable source . But it remains an estimate because the musicians, agents and concert promoters involved keep such information a closely guarded secret; even when , as is the case with the BBC Proms , they are paid from public funds. But now a concert promoter who has suffered savage funding cuts and considers some of the current fees "outrageous", has supplied details of what top musicians charge. And, more importantly, has agreed I can publish them anonymously. So here are the fees and associated on-costs. They are as requested by the artist's management for a single concert appearance unless otherwise stated. It should be emphasised this is simply available information and

It's an ill wind that blows good music

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Civil unrest in England has sent a lot of new readers On An Overgrown Path after googling the 1958 Notting Hill riots. Hopefully some will buy Tod Handley's CD of Malcolm Arnold's Fourth Symphony. Because that wonderfully inclusive music features in the 2008 article they land on . Header image of the Notting Hill riots is used in my linked post. 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 Also on Facebook and Twitter .

Following the path from Dudamel to Barbirolli

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My post questionning the latest Guardian hagiography of Gustavo Dudamel has sparked a healthy debate . But no one has yet made the obvious point that there are many other other examples of newspaper journalists supplying sleeve notes. Among the more notable was Michael Kennedy who was both an editor and music critic at the Daily Telegraph and Sunday Telegraph between 1960 and 2005. As well as being a distinguished journalist Michael Kennedy supplied exemplary sleeve notes for many recordings of English music, notably Elgar and Vaughan Williams, and his books included biographies of Sir Adrian Boult and Sir John Barbirolli . Yes, Michael Kennedy walked the fine dividing line between criticism and boosterism. But there is a fundamental difference between journalism in the Michael Kennedy era and journalism today, and it can be summed up in one topical word - integrity. And before younger readers click away from yet another post about boring old dead conductors I would point out that

Was the critic at the same concert as the rest of us?

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Consensus is that although Gustavo Dudamel's Mahler Prom with the Simón Bolívar Symphony Orchestra had its high spots it also had its low spots. Which raises the questions as to whether the critic who penned the five star review seen above was listening to the same concert as the rest of us. But then, with their chief arts writer Charlotte Higgins supplying sleeve notes for Dudamel's Simón Bolívar Orchestra Mahler recordings and contributor Tom Service also presenting Proms for the BBC I wonder whether comment really is free at the Guardian these days ? * 'Comment is free but facts are sacred' are the words of celebrated Guardian editor C.P. Scott . Now follow the path from Dudamel to Barbirolli . Also on Facebook and Twitter . Report broken links, missing images and errors to - overgrownpath at hotmail dot co dot uk

A little less harmony please

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Samaagam comes from a Sanskrit word meaning "confluence" or "flowing together". In realising this work from Amjad Ali Khan's singing and playing, and in rehearsing it with the Scottish Chamber Orchestra, I have aimed to preserve the essence of both Indian and Western traditions so that they can flow into each other without artistic compromise. I have used the orchestration of Indian ensemble music in the pre-Bollywood era as inspiration and have also looked back to the ancient (i.e. pre-equal temparament) Western tradition incorporating elements which, because of their antiquity, do not violate the rules of Indian music. The aim is through this process to joyfully explore the common "musical DNA" of both traditions. That is the 'yogic maestro' David Murphy writing in the notes for Samaagam , a concerto for sarod, concertante group and string orchestra newly released on the World Village label . Samaagam is a product of the laboratory music p

Is a miracle maestro worth £20,000 a concert?

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Today the Simón Bolívar Symphony Orchestra hits the BBC Proms and 'miracle maestro' Gustavo Dudamel hits the media with the message "I think the most important thing is to make the music accessible... I think we have to make everyone understand that it's important to have a future for the people". There is no disputing that El Sistema does invaluable work making music accessible, as do several other lower profile music education programmes . But less publicised aspects of Hugo Chávez's petro-socialism musical sub-brand also deserve consideration. The BBC Proms appearance of the Venezuelan orchestra is one of just five concerts they are giving on their current overseas tour. Two of the concerts are at the Salzburg summer festival, which is probably the most expensive and least accessible music event in the world. Tour management is the responsibility of the orchestra's agent Askonas Holt , which also represents the miracle maestros's other bands, t

Whatever happened to classical music's long tail?

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'Sound experiments are part of daily life for a baroque orchestra. Because more so than their "modern" cousins, historical instruments offer numerous possibilities for sounds that are equally valid.' Much discussion here recently about the dangers of specialisation in classical music and the quote above comes from a Baroque ensemble that proactively works against specialisation. Although 17th and 18th century music remains the core territory of the Freiburg Baroque Orchestra ( Freiburger Barockorchester ) their repertoire has expanded to include classical, romantic and contemporary works. In an enlightened experiment in 2004 the Freiburg Orchestra commissioned new compositions from five leading young composers, Michel van der Aa , Juliane Klein , Rebecca Saunders , Benjamin Schweitzer and Nadir Vassena . The project actively encouraged the composers to explore the sonic possibilities and challenges of a conductor-less Baroque orchestra; the commissions were given i

A Philippa Schuyler moment

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An earlier post painted a word portrait of child prodigy, pianist and composer Philippa Schuyler. Her music is rarely heard today and difficult to find. So we are very fortunate that John McLaughlin Williams agreed to record her Nine Little Pieces for piano specially for On An Overgrown Path . His recording can be heard via the YouTube video above, and in the article below he analyses her music Philippa Schuyler. Just hearing the name takes me back to a place in my childhood I have not revisited in memory more than a couple of times in decades. Philippa Schuyler’s name was but one of dozens lodged in my parent’s large sheet music library, occupying shelf space alongside the giants and talented lesser lights of our canonic music literature. Even among those lesser lights Schuyler seemed to me an odd duck a the time, for here peering at me from the cover of the sole piece of music by her in our possession was a picture of a seven year old girl of mixed race, rather than an aged, w