Interchanging Idioms

One of the world’s greatest violinists, Nikolaj Znaider will perform four sonatas with pianist Robert Kulek at the Wigmore Hall on Wednesday 3 March. Two Viennese classics, Beethoven’s E-flat sonata from opus 12 and Schubert’s D minor Sonatina are played alongside Franck’s Sonata from 1886 and Poulenc’s Sonata, written during the Second World War and dedicated to the memory of Spanish poet Federico García Lorca. Znaider’s recent recording of the Elgar Violin Concerto, with the Dresden Staatskapelle conducted by Sir Colin Davis, has been received to outstanding critical acclaim. In 2009 he was named the world’s top violinist by Classic FM Magazine . Wednesday 3 March, 7.30pm, Wigmore Hall Nikolaj Znaider violin Robert Kulek piano Poulenc Violin Sonata | Beethoven Violin Sonata No.3 in E-flat Op.12 No.3 | Schubert Violin Sonata (Sonatina) in D D384 | Franck Sonata in A for violin and piano Tickets: £15 £20 £25 £30 – 020 7935 2141 – http://www.wigmore-hall.org.u k

Ms. Weilerstein to join violinist Joshua Bell, guitarist Sharon Isbin and pianist Awadagin Pratt Cellist Alisa Weilerstein will take part in the next White House Music Series event that will focus on classical music on Wednesday, November 4. Ms. Weilerstein is one of four performers invited to take part in the event that will include student workshops for 120 middle and high school students followed by an evening concert featuring Ms. Weilerstein, violinist Joshua Bell, guitarist Sharon Isbin and pianist Awadagin Pratt in the East Room. The White House Music Series was created by First Lady Michelle Obama to celebrate the arts, demonstrate the importance of arts education and to encourage young people who believe in their talent to create a future for themselves in the arts community be it as a hobby or as a profession. Previous White House events have featured jazz, country and Latin musicians. “It was definitely an extremely exciting and thrilling moment when I received the in...

http://classicalmusicblog.com/ is a nice little blog with three articles, one on Beethoven's "moonlight Sonata", one on Phrygian progression and one on Niccolò Paganini (1782 – 1840) Violin Concerto No. 1 in D major, Op. 6 (with a nice review of Hilary Hahn's performance of it). It's just a shame Roni hasn't posted more. Roni Alec Liebenson is a composer who studied for his MA at Academy of Gnesin in Moscow (at least he started his studies in 2000, according to his website). Based on "What I Am Working On" , his compositional style is very classical in nature with a heavy influence by Mozart (with notations of 'alla Mozart' or 'Classsique' on his works page ).

YouTube has been a boon for music artists (as well as video artists). Numerous performers and composers have works on YouTube, some videos of just the music, other videos with discussions on the process. I find this particular illuminating when composers get the chance to talk about their works. However, I came across a real find the other day - Beyond the Score , a collection of videos by the Chicago Symphony Orchestra exploring more than just the music.

Julian Lloyd Webber posts a tirade against the use of "Western" when associated with Classical music and he's spot on in terms of justifiable iritation with the term. He talks about how Eastern (namely Russian) composers are included in the "Western" music world. But he misses out on all the music by composers like Claude Debussy, Béla Bartók and Olivier Messiaen who incorporated World music elements from Gamelans to congas into their compositions. Mr Webber speaks of the programs in China and Venezuela bringing "Western" music to thousands of children, but misses out on Tan Dun who comes in a very "Western" style, and is thoroughly Chinese. Or Stewart Wallace ("The Bonesetter's Daughter") and Judith Weir ("Night at the Chinese Opera") who incorporate Chinese style music into their operas and yet are thoroughly Western (American and British repectively). We have a love of labeling to the point of distraction. We...

Conductor Gil Shochat, the artistic director of the Sounds of Childhood festival scheduled for the Sukkot Festival at the Holon Theater in Tel Aviv, is attempting to make classical music relevant for children. The article by Tamar Rotem in the Haaretz talks about ways in which this festival is trying to bring Classical music to children (and in return, get children to their concerts). There are programs with dance and actors working together with the music, as well as a number of performances with games and activities. This is all good, but what about removing the stayed nature of concerts? I remember going to see "The Nutcracker" many years ago in Denver and feeling like I had to remain quiet and still for the entire performance. While I did end up liking classical music, that particular memory was anything but enjoyable. Some years later I attended my first rock concert where people where walking around, socialising, dancing and generally have a great time. The ...

Earlier I wrote about Kenneth Fuchs, a modern classical music composer, and the struggles he has getting his music heard. William Weir , of the Chicago Tribute has written about Mr Fuchs again, with more information on his struggles. Mr Weir mentions after writing a piece, there is a great deal more work to be done - so much so it's almost a full time job. A number of interesting ideas are presented on other avenues people use to get their works heard, but it all boils down to this - getting one's music played is the composer's responsibility. That said, there are a dozen symphony orchestras currently looking at my first symphony and a half dozen quartets looking at my string quartet music. This doesn't mean I'll get played, but so far the responses have been mostly positive if not yet ready to make a commitment. Steve Heitzeg , an Emmy Award winner, has composed a new piece, Songs without Borders . It will be performed by the Daedalus Quartet at the 19 ...

Every now and then I come across an article on the Internet that is fascinating, informative and fun. This one by Andy Merey is just that - interesting tidbits about John Williams, the film composer. The article then encouraged me to return to IMDB.com for reference... There is a long history of composers learning from other composers and John Williams seems to continue this trend as he worked with a number of greats in his early days. I think what surprised me most was his pop composition work. But then again, he's a great film composer, so I guess it really shouldn't surprise me. For more on John's (or Johnny's) early days, Wikipedia has a nice write-up. Of course, there is always the Official Site which lists a great deal of music that isn't film music. Where does he find the time? John Williams