On An Overgrown Path

Schoenberg once said there's an awful lot of good music left in C major, and I thought, well, perhaps I'll try to write some of it Also on Facebook and Twitter . Report broken links, missing images and errors to - overgrownpath at hotmail dot co dot uk

Macedonian Romani musician and humanitarian Esma Redzepova is seen here with French gypsy guitarist Titi Robin. The photo comes from the 2007 Accords Croisés album Esma - My Story which combines new recordings and archive tracks in an invaluable musical portrait of the Balkan 'queen of the gypsies'. Born in 1943 in Skopje, Yugoslavia Esma Redzepova Teodosievska has combined a very successful musical career with extensive humanitarian work and has twice been nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize . Most Roma have converted to the religions of the countries in which they now live, but their formal religious affiliation is often supplemented by traditional Roma beliefs. When the Roma arrived in Europe in the 15th century they brought with them the tradition of worshipping the Goddess Kali and this still finds expression in the annual gypsy pilgrimage to Les Saintes Maries de la Mer in France. Titi Robin's unique brand of syncretic music develops this theme in his concept alb...

The realisation that Twitter acts as a massive echo chamber is widespread in the technology sector but has, as yet, gained little traction among the classical music community. To understand the echo chamber effect try this simple test. Go to the Twitter home pages of a classical music tweater. Divide their tweats into two categories: Category A messages repeat someone else's tweet, this is easily identified by @XYZ appearing in the message; Category B messages point the reader to an idea or event outside the Twitter universe, which means no @XYZ is present in the tweet. The echo index is given by the simple formula [A divided by A + B] x 100. In some cases the echo index among classical music tweeters is as high as 90%. Which shows how Twitter is a massive echo chamber with a limited number of messages being repeated by retweeting. And in many cases this retweeting does not reflect the merit of the original message, but rather is simply a function of the ease of retweeting coup...

The myth that the views expressed on Twitter and other social media are representative of the whole market for classical music is spreading . There are two reasons why this myth is both wrong and dangerous: first because of the profile of the sample represented by social media users, and secondly because of the compressed nature of the content. Social media users are a self-selecting sample. This means they are not part a group selected for research purposes as being statistically representative. Instead they are people who themselves choose to express their views - usually because they have some kind of agenda to pursue. It is well proven that self-selecting samples are highly unrepresentative. If you put a card in the box with a product and ask customers to give their views voluntarily, two small groups respond; those that are very satisfied and those that are very dissatisfied. The silent majority, who are the all important 'floating' customers, do not respond; hence the sam...

This CD is not a new release, in fact it is deleted. The composer does not have an anniversary this year and is not currently featured as BBC Radio 3's composer of the week . The orchestra does not have a big name music director or a teenage soloist and is not about to set out on a major international tour . And this topic is not trending on Twitter . All of which mean it is worth spending a few minutes sharing some quite glorious music with you. Both of Richard Strauss' Sonatinas for winds are late works. They were written in the closing years of the Second World War and their composition coincided with some of the most terrible events in contemporary history. Despite this both are reflective rather than overtly pessimistic in mood, although the Sonatina No 1, which is scored for sixteen instruments, carries the subtitle 'From an Invalid's Workshop'. The Sonatina No 2, which is more substantial and was published as Symphonie für Bläser (Symphony for Winds), f...

A really fresh approach to classical music and the televisual ... With thanks to John Shimwell . Report broken links, missing images and errors to - overgrownpath at hotmail dot co dot Also on Facebook and Twitter .

In the Bleak Midwinter is the title of Tony Palmer's new film portrait of Gustav Holst which was premiered on BBC TV over Easter weekend. And In the Bleak Midwinter is also prettty good summary of where the film stands creatively. The new film, which received much sycophantic pre-broadcast hype, is an anachronism. 1971 would be a more appropriate production date than 2011, except that forty years ago the film's many production flaws would not have been tolerated. These include clunky editing, an obtrusive low frequency rumble on many of the purpose recorded music sequences, poor colour matching between disparate footage, lack of establishing shots showing both conductor and musicians in performance sequences, and presenter Stephen Johnson repeatedly glancing off camera as if to seek reassurance that someone is still watching. In the Bleak Midwinter is a televisual conflation of Karajan's 1970s Unitel films , Ken Russell's Malvern Hills period , and Palmer's ow...

Tweeting during concerts is bad enough, but what went on during yesterday's St John Passion at Snape Maltings was even worse. I knew Aldeburgh had finally caught the popularising bug when an amplified Blake Morrison appeared on the platform to preface the opening Herr, unser Herrscher with a reading from John's gospel. But there was worse to come. At the end of the first part of the Passion, even as the echoes of Bach's immensely moving chorale Petrus, der nicht denkt zurück lingered in the mighty roof space of the Maltings, Blake Morrison returned to join the musicians. He then proceeded to deliver a fifteen minute monologue expanding on the delights of his recent coach trip to Petra, after which we were allowed to escape from the auditorium to the Snape bar. Thankfully, during the second half there were no further appearances by Mr Morrison. However, Bach's sublime score and the exemplary musicianship of the Britten–Pears Baroque Orchestra and vocal soloists direc...

Hello, probably too late for Easter, but I hope you might consider a post on the music of the Russian Orthodox Bishop Hilarion Alfeyev . If you go to YouTube you can hear his take on the St. Matthew Passion. Well worth a listen. JM, Lancaster, MA, USA Never too late for this blog JM and many thanks for the heads up. I suspect this is the start of an interesting path so here is a link to Syrian born composer Abed Azrié's The gospel of John . Also on Facebook and Twitter . Report broken links, missing images and errors to - overgrownpath at hotmail dot co dot uk

When you send an email you use intelligence and logic to write the message. After you have clicked on 'send' you abandon all to the technology. This is faith. That is a free adaption of a teaching by an adept of a Turkish Sufi order . This Easter there will be many live performances of the Bach Passions around the world and in May early music ensemble Sarband perform their Arabian Passion according to J.S. Bach at concerts in Belgium and Germany . The Arabian Passion is a 're-interpretation' of sections from Bach's St Matthew and St John Passions scored for Arab musicians, two jazz saxophonists, a string quartet and a Lebanese singer. Read more about the Arabian Passion here , and listen to sections of it juxtaposed with the Bach originals here . A very happy Easter to all my readers . Header photo taken in Essaouira, Morocco is (c) On An Overgrown Pat h 2011. Orson Welles used the ramparts in the background to film part of his 1949 classic Othello . My free ...

Tweet is here , neat post is here . Report broken links, missing images and errors to - overgrownpath at hotmail dot co dot uk Also on Facebook and Twitter .

Being present at a concert, as either a performer or as a member of an audience, is a different experience from that of listening to a recording. The presence and the relevance of a moment simply cannot be captured in any more than a superficial way, even with the finest audio and video equipment. The presence and relevance of a moment can be enhanced by technology, but the experience, in that case, is being controlled by a director, a producer, an audio engineer, and/or camera operators. The resulting object can be terrific, but it can never be more than an object. Those wise words come from composer and violinist Elaine Fine . They were just some of those written in response to my post If classical music is not live it is dead and the consensus was that classical music needs to get back to selling the live performance experience. Since 1936 leading hi-fi manufacturer Quad has summed up its design philosophy with the words 'The closest approach to the original sound'. Simil...

billoo has left a new comment on your post If classical music is not live it is dead : 'Pli, thought the most interesting part of that was *why* you think Bach transcends landscape?' Billoo, your comment certainly exposes my obfuscation. That post originally took a very different direction. Yes, it was about my listening in Morocco which included Bach. But it was sparked specifically by a CD of contemporary music that was on my iPod. But as I wrote, it became clear the path was even more overgrown than usual. So some of the foliage had to be cut back, which left the main thrust as live classical music in the concert hall. Bach transcends landscape because his music achieves unity with the listener without relying on the crutches of physical and emotional landscape that are an integral part of so much Western classical music. His achievement is the result, depending on your point of view, of either sublime genius or divine intervention. More recently composers have come close t...

'We are the children of our landscape; it dictated behaviour and even thought in the measure to which we are responsible to it. I can think of no better identification' - Lawrence Durrell writing in Justine Over the years I have been fortunate to travel extensively, but my recent extended visit to Morocco was the longest time I have spent on a different continent and in a different culture. With me went an iPod loaded with an eclectic mix of classical, world, jazz and folk music, plus high quality headphones and a pair of the wonderfully portable XMI X-mini II speakers . Now here is the interesting point - as my trip progressed and as I became more atuned to both the physical and cultural landscape of North Africa, I found myself listening to less and less western classical music, and to more and more from other genres. There were exceptions, most notably Bach who transcended landscape. But I was surprised at the change in my listening pattern, and it was a change that had no...

Staying with Born to be Wild reader John Shimwell shares with us EMI's CD transfer of Elisabeth Schwarzkopf singing Strauss' Four Last Songs . As can be seen above, the addition of a digit prolongs September by ten minutes. I wonder if Norman Lebrecht wrote the sleeve notes ? Also on Facebook and Twitter . Report broken links, missing images and errors to - overgrownpath at hotmail dot co dot uk

From Richard Strauss to psychedelic rock is just a short path. In 1948 Strauss composed his Four Last Songs ( Vier letzte Lieder ), three of which set poems by his close friend Hermann Hesse. In 1919 Hesse had written his novel Demian ; this has the duality of good and evil as its theme and uses the Gnostic deity of Abraxas as a symbol of that duality. Below is my 1969 edition (cover price 30 pence!) complete with endorsement from Dr. Timothy Leary . The influence of Demian and Hermann Hesse on contemporary culture was considerable. Canadian-American hard-rock group Steppenwolf , famous for Born To Be Wild in Easy Rider , took its name from another Hermann Hesse novel and Santana's second album Abraxas has a quote from Demian on its sleeve. And, swinging the balance from good to evil, Charles Manson referred to himself as "Abraxas", both god and the devil, in a 1986 letter to his parole board . American jam band Phish frequently covers Also sprach Zarathustra ....

Last week I linked to an article in which Norman Lebrecht claimed credit for bringing Iranian born harpsichordist Mahan Esfahani to the 2011 BBC Proms . Now a reader has pointed out that in the article not only did Lebrecht misspell Esfahani's name , but he also failed to acknowledge and correct the error when it was reported. I should be surprised that the BBC continues to use Lebrecht as their independent expert on classical music . But I am not . My self-evidently relevant photo was taken in Ait Ourir souk, Morocco and is (c) On An Overgrown Path 2011. Report broken links, missing images and errors to - overgrownpath at hotmail dot co dot uk Also on Facebook and Twitter .

Classical music has allowed its image to slip. Once it was viewed as a basic need for a civilised society. But now it is seen as an expendable upmarket entertainment . This change in perception lies at the heart of the current funding crisis; it also presents a barrier to attracting new audiences and undermines the case for music education. It is a puzzle as to why, instead of reinforcing the expendable entertainment perception with marketing stunts such as TV reality show s and classical charts , classical music has not repositioned itself as a basic need. The new sciece of epigenetics has identified that the cells that make up our body and determine our wellbeing are not controlled primarily by our genes, but rather by the physical and energetic environment in which we live . It is early days and some of the advocates of epigenetics hover uncomfortably between science and shamanism, while similar approaches such as Alfred Tomatis' Mozart Effect continue to be treated with scept...

Accustomed as we are to our Western ideas on the importance of life, it is difficult to adjust our thoughts to a different scale of values. And yet to the Oriental mind, it is simple enough. Death is bound to come - it is as inevitable as birth; whether it comes early or late is entirely at the will of Allah. And that belief, that acquiescence, does away with what has become the curse of our present-day world - anxiety. There may not be freedom of want, but there is certainly freedom from fear. And idleness is a blessed and natural state - work is the unatural necessity. Surprisingly those wise words come from Agatha Christie. She was in eastern Syria for an extended period in the 1930s with her second husband the archaeologist Max Mallowan and the quote is from her book about their experiences there, Come Tell Me How You Live . I came across it via a reference in Cleopatra's Wedding Present, Travels through Syria by Robert Tewdwr Moss . This compelling and topical book was publ...

Havergal Brian's music may not feature in the 2010 BBC Proms season, but as a consolation prize the composer has had a bus named after him in Brighton. He joins other musical celebrities including Ralph Vaughan Williams (no symphonies at the 2010 Proms...) whose names adorn Brighton's bus fleet. That quote and photo is from my April 2010 post A bus named Havergal Brian . And zut alors! the 2011 BBC Proms season, which was announced today , features a rare performance of Havergal Brian's Symphony No 1 'The Gothic' . But, of course, I am not arrogant or daft enough to claim credit for helping make Proms history, although others are . And did I mention not only no Vaughan Williams symphonies in the 2011 Proms, but not a single note of any of his music? More Havergal Brian here . 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 ...

'A state-imposed metaphysic or religion should be opposed, if necessary at pistol-point. We must fight for variety if we fight at all. The uniform is as dull as a sculptured egg' - Lawrence Durrell writing in The Alexandria Quartet Photo was taken a few weeks ago in the Place Novembre 16 , Marrakech, Morocco. Those are police vans in the right of the picture and the soundtrack comes from beyond the thought police - it is Gnawa Home Songs which was recorded in the holy village of Tamesloht outside Marrakech. As Western collective culture repeatedly reinvents the sculptured egg the usual excellent documentation for this Accords Croisés CD explains how the gnawa Sufi brotherhood's universal blues celebrate variety: ''Passers on', the gnawa are also like tight-rope walkers. Music and therapy, science and religion, theatre "being lived" and theatre "being played" (to paraphrase Michel Leiris referring to Gondar ), the individual and the col...

'For a fan, a record is so much more than the record. It's a signifier, a membership card, a memento, a coveted treasure, a life's pursuit, a piece of art, but most of all (for me) it's a bridge, the physical incarnation of the connection between the artist and the fan. The record contains a literal translation of the vibration that occured when someone sang something, beat something, strummed something in a studio or a bedroom somewhere; the needle bounces along on those vibrations carved into the vinyl. It's the music of course, but it's also the whole package - the art, choice of songs and their ordering into A and B sides, the cover image, the liner notes, the labels, the color of the vinyl, and the messages etched onto the smooth, blank inner ring of vinyl.' That is Mac McCaughan, founding member of rock band Superchunk , co-founder of Merge Records , and solo artist and blogger under the name of Portastic , writing in The Record, Contemporary Art and V...

A surprising connection between jazz saxophonist Coleman Hawkins and cello legend Pablo Casals, who is seen above, has been uncovered by American reader Tim McCarthy. In the past Tim has taken us down other absorbing paths including one to Ravi Shankar and George Harrison's Collaborations box set, and his latest email captures the eclectic spirit of On An Overgrown Path perfectly, so here it is verbatim: Bob: While reading the liner notes to the excellent double cd of "Coleman Hawkins: A Retrospective: 1929-1963" ( RCA Bluebird 1995 ), I was surprised to discover that Bean played cello and loved Pablo Casals. Since I owe my appreciation of both Bach and Casals to OAOP , I thought I'd send you the following. Excerpted from a conversation between Hawkins scholar James T. Maher and the liner note's author Bill Kirchner : "In the late Twenties, Casals had begun to record some of the Bach solo pieces as well as a great variety of other material, from l...