Dulciana
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Posts posted by Dulciana
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Thank you very much for these replies. Most helpful.
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I have been unsuccessfully trying to find somewhere to buy Hendrik Andriessen's 'Thema met Variaties': it is widely enough played that I assumed it would be easy to find. I'm currently learning it off a photocopy, but wanted to actually buy a proper copy if possible. I was also impressed by the same composer's 'Premier Choral' which I heard and fancied having a look at, but, again, haven't been able to track it down. Has anybody got any ideas, please?
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Now I've got visions of the scene from "Airplane" where the woman playing the guitar knocks the drip out of the arm of the very sick girl!
They'll never be off course, though.
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I had decided not to post anymore on this board and, indeed, wrote to JPM to tell him as such and to give my reasoning but this thread, possibly more than any other I have read, has annoyed me beyond measure, hence this post.
I can't say that I particularly like Cameron Carpenter's style of dress but I'm certainly not offended by it. It isn't important - I might have dressed like that when I was in my 20's - but not now and we have all, at some time, made fashion 'faux-pas'!!! His playing doesn't particularly do an awful lot for me either, I admire his phenomenal technique but think that his musicianship is, perhaps sometimes, a little misplaced but we can all look with a certain horror at performances we gave when younger and not as wise as we are now. I could say that about a good many other musicians I know, some of whom post on here! - and we have all heard performances, in some cases by distinguished players, where we have wondered "why do it like that?"
My grandmother gave me my first keyboard lessons. She was an FRCO and a fine player in the days when women weren't encouraged to pursue academic careers. As well as imparting a lot of music she also sort to instill into me what you might call 'old fashioned' values. One of them was that it is better to say nothing about someone than to say something bad or to cause them upset or to malign them in public. Sadly, I have to say that, I think, some of the comments here have not reflected those values and, in my opinion, have been less than one would expect from professional, intelligent, articulate members of this community.
Consider this without cynicism. If Cameron Carpenter is so bad why have the BBC invited him to take part in the countries most prestigious music festival? A festival broadcast throughout the world and a festival running at a time when large numbers of people ( I will refrain from falling into 'commentator mode' and saying 'the whole world') are focusing on other events also being broadcast from this country. Why is it that he has been invited, next season, to residencies at two of Europe’s great concert halls, the Berlin Philharmonie and the Mozarteum in Salzburg. Perhaps what some can't cope with are that some of the comments made by Carpenter in the 'Evening Standard' article. comments that, perhaps, don't live up to my grandmothers high ideals, and posted by Philip J Wells are more true than some of us would really like to admit and point directly at some of us.
I could go on but, in short, I think that some of the comments on this thread are reprehensible and some of them are not worthy of intelligent, articulate musicians or of this board..
I fully expect to be shot down in flames but it is high time this thread was put to sleep!
There is a clear inconsistency here, though. You say that his playing doesn't do much for you, but at the same time imply that others who have expressed negative reactions are wrong given that he has been invited to play at prestigious venues. I don't think that Carpenter's style - fashion or music - can be attributed to his youth (he's 31). Indeed, he appears extremely intelligent and speaks much truth about "the organ scene" that is perhaps a bit too close to home for some. His style is carefully cultivated, and actually rather old fashioned in many ways. I can understand that people would find it galling that he could pack the Royal Albert Hall while an organ recital, even one given by a fine player, typically attracts a handful of strange anoraked folk, and few music lovers who are not themselves in some way related to the organ. Does that mean that Carpenter should be vilified for doing so? Of course not. But I can understand those who are uncomfortable with the music itself being relegated to a position of secondary interest, and, having gone to hear Carpenter's prom on Saturday, can say that I personally found it tedious and one dimensional. However, the reaction of the audience would suggest that I was in the minority, so who I am I to say? (Incidentally, what was the point of him playing the F major toccata in F sharp, apart from it being announced with the sole intention of impressing? That got the concert of to a bad start for me even before a note was played.) Funnily enough, I would rather have listened to him speak about music for an hour rather than listening to him play.
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http://www.thebrag.com/2012/06/26/music-interview-cameron-carpenter/
"he doesn’t believe in announcing programs before the night – he thinks people should come for the performer, not the music..."
Therein lies an interesting insight.
"Carpenter has confirmed that he’ll definitely be playing what he calls the ‘Syncretic Prelude and Fugue in D’: his own arrangement of Bach’s Chaconne in D Minor (“which is, at 15 minutes, one of the ultimate statements of humanity,” he gushes)"
Why is it necessary for him to "arrange" a piece he himself describes as one of the ultimate statements of humanity?
I know little of this chap's music making beyond a few YouTube clips, but the more I read of his attitude the less I would actually want to hear him.
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Here is an interesting article from a couple of years ago. I couldn't resist reproducing one quotation from it: "Cavaillé-Coll? Cameron and I played one recently. Extremely limited. The rest of the European organs? I really have no interest in them. Relics". I shall make no further comment.
http://www.counterpunch.org/2010/04/09/storm-over-cameron-carpenter/
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No music here, but some interesting points???
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Ignoring the state of the organ I think this is appalling and I can't understand why this gentleman is so lauded.
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I don't think there's any such thing as absolute music, as defined.
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Not sure if we've had it already (what a long thread), but this is exciting.
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One of the most important things is to avoid pressure on the elbow, which can certainly exacerbate a nerve which is prone to compression at points where it passes through tight areas; the most common of these you can find between the two bony prominences on the inside of the elbow joint (medial humoral epicondyle and olecranon). We lean on our elbows all the time, and apply pressure on this area in a variety of situations. It is a matter of being aware and trying to avoid this. It is important to ensure that the symptoms resolve with this conservative approach, as a more chronic entrapment can lead to wasting and weakness of the small hand muscles, of which the ulnar nerve supplies the majority. Any sign that these muscles are becoming weak is an indication to consider surgery to decompress the nerve, which is why your doctor will want to monitor the progress. Be vigilant for this.
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The distribution of the paraesthesia sounds like the territory supplied by the ulnar nerve. Do you lean on that elbow? The ulnar nerve not uncommonly gets entrapped as it passes around the back of the elbow.
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Daft question, but is the bench at the correct height? If it was too high I could imagine the knee being stretched awkwardly when playing. Imagine you've already thought of that, though.
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Can he cite an occasion on which the audience were physically laughing at his conclusion of Beethoven's sonata op 31 no 1? Incidentally, in the same article he states his lack of sympathy with the music of Rachmaninov as relating to the latter's lack of invention: this coming from a man whose performing career consisted in a large part of the piano music of Beethoven, and nothing (or very little) contemporary.
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Just for a laugh:
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I have found this topic illuminating - thank you. I have one observation which I share and one which really has come about by my hearing many students and others practice.
I believe that there is a distinction between i) playing the organ and ii) practicing at the organ. The former suggests to me that we have the stops drawn and there is much sound. With the latter, we surely aim to get the correct notes by the best arrangement of fingering and pedaling, articulation and phrasing. Therefore for the home we need only to address and purchase what is necessary for ii) - which surely answers the topic heading. If we need performance, then we require i)
I perform at home - but normally in the kitchen or on my piano. Having now got two manuals and pedals and two extraordinary 8fts, under my roof (and in a most handsome piece of furniture to boot), I can honestly say my cup has overflowed. The excitement of putting the sound to all the domestic labour is tremendous when you reach the church or concert hall. In retrospect, I would only have an digital instrument to mess around with the sounds (and no doubt at the expense of doing work). and all the time imagining of being somewhere where I wasn't. I would then slip into the same rut that numerous students find themselves in. Readers might be interested to know that once I did an experiment with a student who made oodles of noise all the day and drove everyone in three Quadrangles mad. We made a pact that if he only practiced on a single 8ft or 4ft we would use all necessary sounds in the lesson. Do you know, he learned things far better and almost twice the amount; was immeasurably more secure; and the frison that ensued from adding stops for the first time in the lesson was hugely rewarding.
You can draw your own conclusions.
All best wishes,
N
I found these remarks illuminating. In essence, a digital vs one or two ranks of pipes provides the facility - and hence temptation - to start performing a piece long before one has really learnt it. It seems obvious, I suppose, but I hadn't really thought of it that way before. Thank you. Practice on single flutes it is, then.
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I don't think this has been announced here until now.
http://www.strath.ac.uk/music/baronyorganproject/
40 stops of Koegler heading to the West of Scotland is very exciting indeed!
Greetings
Bazuin
In view of the thread in "Nuts and bolts" regarding the ergonomics of consoles, and stop jambs in particular, what do people think of how this console is shaping up? Scroll down to the bottom of the above link: there are pictures of the console taking shape.
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Ir was rebuilt by H&H so taking on a typical H&H spec: open woods, ophicleides, choir/solo wth orch reeds and Tuba, Gt with trombas 8,4, usual swell. See NPOR N11998. I heard Rawsthorne (I think) recite on it back in the 1960s. Lovely church (used to be anyway) near the CofS cathedral, like a JL Pearson, but (I think) by Burnet.
Any idea why it was removed?
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Why a "baroque" instrument? I don't remember much about it, but there was a pipe organ in there before, NPOR showing it as having been removed in 1990, soon after the University acquired the building. It is, indeed, laudable that they recognise the importance of such an instrument; it does make me wonder what has changed during the last 19 years. Perhaps someone else knows more about that instrument, as NPOR doesn't have any details beyond 3 manuals and pedal, by Brindley and Foster.
The Glasgow Royal Concert Hall uses an electronic instrument when required, but it is never satisfactory.
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Thanks to everyone for their advice so far. I'll have to have a play about with combinations as suggested on the swell organ when I have a chance, to see whether I can come up with a passable Voix Humaine (no such problems on the toaster at home as I have one!). The more I look at this wonderful piece the more difficulties become apparent: it will take a bit of work, but should be ultimately satisfying, I think.
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I apologise for shamelessly taking advantage of your collective knowledge and experience, but I'm just starting out with this piece, and a few questions are immediately obvious.
The first is a few impossible (for me) stretches: I don't have a small hand, but there are a few I couldn't manage. Presumably one has to juggle the notes around and sacrifice the voice-leading at points for keeping the harmony. Does anyone have any particular/clever solutions, particularly in bars 20 and 35 for a start? The second thing is those occasions in which the pedal line is duplicated in the left hand. From what I know of the St. Clotilde instrument, there was no recit to pedal coupler, and so presumably this explains the doubling; in the presence of a swell to pedal coupler, surely this doubling could be omitted? Thirdly, in the absence of a Voix Humaine, the celeste is probably the best bet, but it isn't right: what do people use?
Any other pointers?
Thanks.
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As has been said, the monetary value of the electricity consumed will be, on average, pretty minimal. I repay my practice time with filling in for services when required. This has saved the church paying for deputies: in fact, I'll almost certainly be the one out of pocket. This has proved to be a perectly satisfactory arrangement.
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I must say I was extremely impressed with the sound from a Hauptwerk set-up on this recording:
I'd love a Cavaille-Coll in my front room.
(Nice playing too).
Monnikendam, Andriessen et. al. back in print
in The Organ
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Thanks for this. I had acquired the Sonata da Chiesa earlier in the year via Boeijenga (http://www.boeijengamusic.com), who were extremely helpful, so thought it must be back in print again.
I have enjoyed immensely the Thema met Variaties and the Sonata da Chiesa, and would like to learn some more. Is there anyone who plays Andriessen's toccata that can attest to how hard it is?