Treasure Island

This is just a quick note today about some summer reading that I have been doing. 

My family began traveling to the Outer Banks of North Carolina when I was very young.  My Dad loved surf fishing for croakers, bluefish, flounder, and the occasional puppy drum around Oregon Inlet and Pea Island.  My Mom and sisters would collect seashells, go into shops, study the history of the area and enjoy many of the activities surrounding the beach and the region.  I was more engaged by the action sports of the outer banks.  Surfing, boating, boogie boarding, and hang gliding all captured my imagination, even though I really only participated in boogie boarding and body surfing as a kid.  Wind surfing eventually grabbed me as a young adult and I spent many hours in my 20’s and 30’s out on the sound perfecting my jibes, tacks, and reaches.  I wasn’t much of a reader for recreation as a kid.  My sister was.  She would read all of the wonderful stories about adventures on the Outer Banks, as well as the rich pirate history of the region. 

One of the books that always seemed to be on the shelf, but never in my lap, was the classic novel, Treasure Island, by Robert Lewis Stevenson. Now, armed with a Nook Color and some time to catch up on my reading, I decided to pick up a long overdue read and check it out.  As an added bonus, it was only 1 dollar to purchase through the Nook, as a classic novel.  What a fun read! I have had a bunch of wonderful adventures as I have read this classic novel slowly over the past few weeks.   I have sailed the seas with pirates and treasure hunters.  I have battled swashbucklers, run through the woods in search of buried treasure, had incredible brushes with death by pirate and sea, sailed small dingy’s and large schooners, drunk huge amounts of rum and wine, sung pirate tunes by the huge bonfires at night, and outwitted ole’ Long John Silver himself!  One downside is that my wife has had to listen to me speak in my best pirate dialect at times that, apparently, she hasn’t found appropriate!

For what it is worth, this has been a nice change of pace in my reading.  So often, I find myself reading non-fiction that I can apply to my work and music.  Truth be told, that is really the type of reading that I enjoy the most.   This has simply been a welcome vacation from my routine.  I guess I have always had a hunch that I am a pirate at heart.   I am so glad that I have made up for some lost time with this book.  I have been reminded several times as I made my way through the book, of my vacations as a boy at the Outer Banks.  The images of pirates in my mind have not changed much since I was young.  It has been fun to revisit that part of my imagination.  I suppose in many ways that boy is still in there.  It is good to be reminded of that every so often!

If sailor tales to sailor tunes,

Storm and adventure, heat and cold,

If schooners, islands, and maroons,

And buccaneers, and buried gold,

And all the romance, retold,

Exactly in the ancient way,

Can please, as me they pleased of old,

The wiser youngsters of today:

So be it, and fall on! If not,

If studious youth no longer crave,

His ancient appetites forgot,

Kingston, or Ballantyne the brave,

Or Cooper of the wood and wave:

So be it, also! And may I

And all my pirates share the grave,

Where these and their creations lie!

~RLS

Peace.

Scott

Mendelssohn’s Sinfonia VII in D Minor

Last week, here at Interlochen, the Intermediate Concert Orchestra, which I conduct, performed Mendelssohn’s Sinfonia VII in D minor.  Before I totally walk away from the concepts contained within the preparation and performance, I thought it would be valuable to share some of the concepts that we dealt with as part of our work.

Movement I, Allegro

This movement is a hard-hitting opening to the Sinfonia and begins with a heavy D minor arpeggio phrase, followed by a quiet beautiful legato phrase.  This sets up the idea of heavy, subito contrasts throughout the movement.  I described the character of this movement as “Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde to the kids that definitely translated for them.  We worked throughout our rehearsals for the ensemble to give me full control of every entrance, particularly every time the opening theme returned.  This entire movement is a study of contrasts and momentum, without rushing.  There are beautiful legato passages that employ ideas of dissonance and resolution with an undercurrent of pizzicato that maintains the momentum of the movement.  The primary bowing concept is “down bows on the down beat.”  With this idea in the front of the players’ mind, a solid bowing can easily be achieved.  I am careful to clarify that the bowing concept is not a hard and fast rule; rather an idea that can be applied that will certainly not apply in every situation.  This movement also provides a great opportunity for introducing or driving home sonata-allegro form to the students.

Movement II, Andante amorevole

This theme and variation movement is a lesson in patience and stamina for a young orchestra.  Written in 3/8 time, it looks to be a visually quick movement with 16^th and 8^th notes throughout the movement.  Paradoxically, the general rule for this movement is backward motion and holding back the tempo.  For a young orchestra, this is really tough.  While the first movement can have a feel of momentum and forward motion, this movement is certainly a contrast to the first.  8^th note passages must be on the back edge of the pulse.  16^th note passages must not rush and may even slow a bit.  Contact with the stick is paramount and this movement forces a young orchestra to relinquish control of the pulse and hand it over to the conductor.  To me, this movement has the feel of a lullaby.  It is quiet, loving, and just a little bit hesitant.  Finally, this movement provides a wonderful opportunity with really require a group to play a true piano and pianissimo.  While this is not always an easy task for young musicians, the lullaby metaphor tends to help to drive this concept home.

Movement III, Menuetto and Trio

The Minuetto brings the player back to a bold and forte style of playing and has a wonderful series of rhythmic patterns in the accompaniment that are designed to displace the pulse for the listener.  With bold accents on beat 2, then 1, then 3, the opening statement becomes an aural puzzle that is only solved when the entire ensemble briefly moves to a more predictable pattern of unison quarter notes with an emphasis on beat one.  I take this opportunity to adjust my conducting pattern from  a fast “3” pattern at the beginning of the movement to a slow “1” pattern through the more predictable passages, creating more of a sense of tempo stability for the player.  The 2^nd strain begins with a fun passage that employs a hemiola pattern for 8 bars or so and then returns to the ideas that were presented in the first strain.

The Trio begins with dotted half notes in the cello and bass and is essentially a long exercise in patience for a young ensemble.  The entire trio section is characterized by dotted half notes in one or two voices and scale quarter note patterns in the other voices.  All passages being at unpredictable intervals for all voices and each section must be totally independent with counting both notes and the all-important rests.  The young musicians must again relinquish personal control of the tempo (they will be inclined to rush) and permit the conductor to dictate the beginning of each and every bar.  The tendency will be to push the tempo at every turn and much care must be placed in rehearsal to be sure that the players have at least peripheral attention to the stick at all times.  This movement provides a great opportunity to teach staccato slurs and bow placement as well.  Another important facet of this and other minuet and trios is that the player must really keep their wits about them and plan ahead for repeats as well as first and second endings.   Certainly this movement calls for strong attention to the road map of the work and strong attention to that and other details.

Movement IV, Allegro molto

It was appropriate that we performed this work on July 4, 2012, because I feel that this movement truly has the feel of a fireworks display.  Beginning in D minor and quickly transitioning to D major, this 6/8 movement has forward momentum written all over it.  I love the various entrances of all voices on unpredictable pulses with strong accents and articulations.  What an opening.  Then true to Mendelssohn form, he provides the player with a bold fugue (his homage to the baroque masters, I would think) that opens in the violas with a strong 4/4 feel and after a bit, winds back to the opening 6/8 feel, but now written in with triplets in 4/4 rather than employing an actual time signature change.  Cool.  There are so many opportunities for stylistic teaching in this movement.  The conductor can teach baroque detache’ style in the fugal sections, bowing style for the compound meter sections, articulations throughout the movement, and many other concepts throughout.  It is an exciting finish to a wonderful Sinfonia.

The Intermediate Concert Orchestra performed this work with precision, musicianship, enthusiasm, and emotion.  It was a wonderful way to culminate the 10 days of rehearsal on this work:  4^th of July, Kresge Hall, boats sailing past on Green Lake, and a wonderful, appreciative audience.  It was a blast!

Peace.

Scott

Duo Amantis

On Tuesday, July 3, I had the pleasure of catching a wonderful performance by Duo Amantis, a virtuoso flute and guitar ensemble that specializes in music of the twentieth century and features Dr. Tara Schwab, flute and Dr. Michael Kudirka, guitar.  The performance was in an intimate rustic room on the Interlochen Campus and, while it was a hot and muggy afternoon, served a perfect venue for the recital. 

Tara Schwab and Michael Kudirka happen, also, to be family’s next door neighbors at the Interlochen facility and we have really enjoyed hearing them rehearse for the recital for the past week as we were winding down from our activities of each day.  On our first night at camp, my son, Matt, and I listened as Michael worked a passage on his guitar with incredible accuracy and precision until it was simply perfect.  We both remarked that it was a wonderful lesson on perfect practice: 1. Identify the passage in question, 2. Slow it to a speed that it can be played perfectly, 3. Slowly and accurately practice the passage, 4. Bump up the tempo in small increments with care to maintain the accuracy, 5. Insert the passage back into the work and practice through the transitions. 

The performance was a true demonstration of virtuosity, musicianship, and exceptional ensemble.  First, they performed a Grand Duo Concertante, by Mauro Giuliani, Op. 85.  Guiliani, apparently was a contemporary of Beethoven and this was apparent from the first note to the last.  My favorite movement was the Scherzo and Trio that included a wonderful hemiola figure that returned over and over in the first strain of the “Bethovensque” Scherzo.  Next, they performed Songs and Dances from the New Village, by Dusan Bogdanovic, which featured a melancholy Shepherd’s Song and Prophets Song as well as a more up-tempo Gankino Oro and even a Milsho’s Boogie that recalled the first movement shepherd’s song at one point near the end.  This work was completely mesmerizing and the duo really captured the essence of the piece in every way.  Next was a programmatic piece entitled, Nastrond, by Jeffrey Holmes that conjured up images of an icy Nordic afterlife for warriors that had died with dishonor. This piece featured a variety of interesting and wonderful sounds and colors for the flute and guitar that included third-tones for which Tara had to create fingerings on the flute. Finally, they finished the program with Le Tombeau de Couperin, by Maurice Ravel, a piano piece that they arranged for their ensemble.  Again, the colors and images that they were able to create with this new instrumentation were simply magic.

In addition to my interest in this performance for all of the obvious musical benefits lies another interesting relationship.  Dr. Schwab served as principal flautist in the Eleanor Roosevelt High School Orchestra, which I directed, in the mid 1990’s when she was a teenager and exceptional young musician.  It is so gratifying to see former students grow to become such wonderful scholars, musicians and professionals.  I beamed with pride as I listened to this performance.  I am so honored to have a place in the music education of this wonderful musician, however small it may be.  I recall a wonderful relationship with Tara and her Mom as we navigated the waters of Tara’s high school experience together.  At one point, Tara performed a movement of the Chaminade Flute Concerto as a soloist with my orchestra.  I remember her preparation and musicianship in those years to be exceptional and she has certainly maintained and expanded that level of commitment!

Congratulations to Duo Amantis on a wonderful performance last night and I wish you much success in the future. 

Peace.

Scott

Rhythmic Stability = High Energy Perfomrance

Here is an ensemble and rehearsal thought for the day:

Rhythmic stability is the key to a clean and energetic performance.  Way too many young musicians think that a fast performance is the key to an energetic performance and that is not at all accurate.  In order to achieve the "wave" of energy in ensemble performance, the group MUST be able to play passages cleanly and stylistically accurately at a moderate tempo, before moving to a faster tempo.  If they push tempo in the slower rehearsal pace, it will definitely push at the faster tempo.  This is so hard for kids to learn and do!  We have to keep on top of it in order to achieve clean, energetic performances as ensemble leaders. 

Just sayin'!

Peace.
Scott

Great Opportunities to Support KidZNotes

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KidZNotes Gala: May 2, 2012

Hello Friends!
As many of you know I have been very involved with KidZNotes of Durham for the past few years. We are excited to announce the upcoming gala on Wednesday, May 2nd at the Carolina Theatre in downtown Durham.

I would love for you all to come and learn more about this special organization that is truly transforming the lives of the children and their families.

It is sure to be a very special night where you will enjoy Latin-inspired food, dance, and music, along with a performance by the KidZNotes orchestra and a special appearance by Nnena Freelon. There will also be a silent auction and even be a chance to learn how to Salsa dance on the stage of the Carolina Theatre! What a great way to spend a Wednesday evening!

There's still time, but it's almost here! If you are able to come, please purchase your tickets through the below web site. Hope you can come!

Best regards,
Scott



Gala Link

Mini-term Journal Entries 2012

The following are journal entries from my students on the various concerts and events that occurred as part of Mini-term 2012.
Our schedule was as follows:

Friday, Feb 24-Sunday, Feb 26
Eastern Regional Orchestra hosted by NCSSM. There were 17 student participants from NCSSM.

Today was a pretty tiring full day of rehearsal, 9am – 9pm with breaks for meals. We had seating auditions during sectionals. I ended up with 19th chair, but Connor and I made a deal that whoever got the higher chair would join the lower chair so we could be stand partners. My stand partner moved up to take his seat and we shared the 10th stand together. Dr. MacLeod made a point of discussing seating with us and told us that she didn’t care where we sat; we were still a part of the orchestra and playing the same music as everyone else in the section. She encouraged us to lead from the back, which is what Mr. Laird tells us to do all the time. Dr. MacLeod also made a comparison with math class: does it make sense for everyone to take a test and then put the people who scored the lowest in the back? I’ve always wondered if seating auditions are completely based on how well we play, or if they also take our grade level into account, since seniors won’t be able to go to Honors in the fall.

Monday, Feb 27
UNC Greensboro School of Music, 3 concert offerings
Voice recital, Viola Recital at 5:30, Saxophone recital at 7:30
What else can I say but “wow?” I thoroughly enjoyed both recitals more than I had expected to. The voice recital was very interesting because it included two African American students. I did not expect that at all! Often times, when I think of music majors I think of people similar to myself, but being at the recital made me realize that music is spread across every race, culture, and country out there. It makes me feel so happy to be a member of the music community. The saxophone recital left me speechless. The guy who performed seemed to be a bit shy, but he turned out to be the most fantastic saxophone player I have ever heard. His techniques were masterful and amazing, and it was an absolute joy to hear music from his home country of Turkey. I also really liked the first piece “Balafon” because of how interesting his playing was and how the clicking of his keys added an almost percussion-like feature to the piece. I could definitely tell he enjoyed performing and that he still has deep emotional ties to his birthplace. I was sitting next to who seemed to be his father, and it was great to see the connection he also shared with his son as the musician.

and

Tonight we drove to UNC Greensboro and listened to two concerts: Gisel Wichem on the viola and a saxophone recital. The recitals were both in the same hall in the music building. I thought the hall was nice and set up a good atmosphere but was aggravated how the pews creaked so much. Wichem played songs including four movements from Romeo and Juliet by Sergei Prokofiev. I thought some of the songs were good, but I just couldn’t connect to the music. I could see people all around me nodding off and being disinterested. The saxophonist played songs including Balafon by Christian Lauba and I Never Saw Another Butterfly by Pavel Friedman. Unlike Wichem’s these songs were mesmerizing and everyone was intrigued by the music. I was amazed by his technique in Balafon in the way how he used overtoning to hit the really high notes, something that I have only been able to do for one note, and how he hit the pads so hard it truly felt like the percussion. His use of circular breathing really impressed me with how long he was able to play. In the Turkish songs at the end, I was impressed by his super-fast tonguing and just how much he enjoyed himself up there. I came in expecting the viola was going to be better but was pleasantly surprised with how much better the saxophone was. I felt truly validated by this guy because people had been giving flack for not being a true orchestra player but he took down the viola one-on-one.


Tuesday, Feb 28
Duke Music Department “The Music of Bill Robinson”

We researched Bill Robinson, and I had already read his bio – but he a really interesting guy. He a physics professor at NCSU and has had serious arthritis which ended his violin and piano playing. I was expecting different, contemporary yet palatable music for this concert. We all noticed in our program that the tempos were almost a joke (with Allegro con brouhaha and Adagio con queso). The first piece was amazing. I loved the way the melodies played off of each other and it wasn’t based around the normal harmonic chord progression. It toyed with my ideas of tension and release, but they were definitely there. It was also such an interesting combination with a piano, cello and clarinet. Then Bill Robinson talked about his generic music getting a generic response, and that for the first 20 years of his composing career he wasn’t writing for the musicians. When he found musician friends like Eric Prichard and others, and wrote music specifically for them, it really came alive. I found this to be interesting, and I will remember it as I continue to compose because music is really a community. The second piece was great. Eric Prichard was absolutely amazing! I really loved the 2nd and 3rd movements of that piece; they showed off his skill and range. Then the clarinet sextet played which had great sound and communication between these top-notch performers. I thought it was interesting that they restarted the piece for the recording, but the second time, I could really tell that the melodies fit together better. I loved the colors in the 3rd movement of the piece and the 4th movement had great purpose, sound and dissonance.


Wednesday, Feb 29
Duke University, Edgar Meyer Bass Masterclass

The first piece I listened to today, which was written by Edgar Meyer himself, has been the most ear-pleasing music I have heard so far. It was a welcome break from the contemporary/musically foreign (to me) music that I have experienced in the last two days. Edgar Meyer was simply amazing. He has the same passion for playing that he had in 1988 during the bass solo that we watched in the morning. It was inspiring to see him play with fire and love for his instrument. I was amazed at the ease with which he seemed to play. His technical skill was clearly on display, and yet he made it seem very easy. As for the first piece itself, which consisted of a quintet with two violins, a cello, a viola, and a bass, my favorite part was a repeating line between the first and second violins. The second violin repeated the first, and the result was a melody that sounded like it would go on forever. The second piece, which was the “Trio in B-Flat” by Franz Schubert, was of a bit less quality, in my opinion. There was a violinist, a cellist, and a pianist. Although I loved the beauty of the piece and the tone quality of the violinist, the cellist seemed a bit nervous. There were several difficult shifts that he had trouble reaching. Compared to the first piece, the sheer musicality of the second seemed subpar to me.
This was the first master class I have ever attended, and I enjoyed it a lot. I wasn’t sure of the music that was going to be played, but I enjoyed both pieces and hearing Edgar Meyer give advice to the players. I believe this has been my favorite evening trip so far.

and

Today, we went to Edgar Meyer’s master class. I expected for one bass student to perform a piece, and then Edgar Meyer would stop the student and give him or her suggestions. However, instead of one student, there were several students, none of which played the bass. Typically when people are warming up, I don’t pay attention to the musicians. However, they got my attention as soon as they started playing, because the piece they were playing was so beautiful. At first I thought it was variations on some folk song, because folk songs are so pretty. But once I got the program, I saw that the piece of written by Edgar Meyer himself, and I immediately respected him even more. The best part about this evening was listening to the string quartet and Meyer play the piece without any stops. It was also really cool watching him play the bass, because I didn’t know it could do so many things! However, once he started to actually coach the players, it was more boring. It was hard to hear Meyer and the stopping and starting of the pieces lead to me losing interest. Despite losing interest after a while, I’m still glad I went and got to see one of the most amazing bassist in the world perform and coach.


Thursday, March 1
Wake Forest University “Imani Winds”

Due to the impressiveness of the youtube video that we watched in class, it was natural that I was extremely hyped for the Imani Winds concert. The pre-concert lecture was a great addition to the program because wind quintets are generally not typical groups and need to be introduced. The lecturer kept things interesting and gave a largely holistic presentation about the group. The pieces they played were Travesias Panamenas (Danilo Pérez), Wind Quintet, Op. 10 (Pavel Haas), Quintette en Forme de Choros (Heitor Villa-Lobos), Dance Mediterranea (Simon Shaheen), and Klezmer Dances (Traditional), as well as two original pieces (composed by members of the group) entitled Tzigane (Valerie Coleman) and Homage to Duke (Jeff Scott). I especially enjoyed the mid-concert explanations of all of the pieces. For instance, one that was commissioned for them, the Travesias Panamenas, had a rich history of the struggles of the Native Americans versus Europeans that related to the composer’s country, Panama, in a personal way. Music is all about a personal connection and communication, both which were booming in this concert. Musicians were exchanging glances all the time, even smiling at times; it was quite obvious that they enjoy what they do. A personal touch was added to the concert by including pieces composed by the group, and explaining the history of each piece also enhances this feeling. Overall, the concert was fantastic, well worth the $12 admission price, and a nice relief from modern music.

and

I really sort of had low expectations for this concert because I thought to myself “How in the world can they fill hours of interesting music with just 5 instruments?” The reason I was so skeptical was because I wasn’t really envisioning the different colors each instrument could produce, much less the overall color when those colors were combined. I absolutely loved the concert, and talking with them afterwards was just a blast. This is what Mini-term should be: a chance to do something you couldn’t normally do. Meeting a world-class wind ensemble was just that, and talking to them was just so wonderful.