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Explore the score- Gal Symphony no. 4 “Sinfonia Concertante”
(First time using “Explore the score?” Just click on the hyperlinks within the text to hear the musical excerpts.) “Up to the present, however, Brahms has maintained his place as the “last classical...
View ArticleWhatever happened to good old C major, anyway?
In the comments for my previous blog post on the Real Top 20 C Major Symphonies of All Time“, I assembled a list of the greatest “C minor symphonies that end in C major.” The first four pieces I...
View ArticleA spring cleaning for the Goldberg Variations
Last month, my colleagues in Ensemble Epomeo and I had a chance to dust off our scores to Dmitri Sitkovetsky’s wonderful string trio arrangement of Bach’s Goldberg Variations. Coming back to this most...
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Explore the Score- Bobby Schumann busts out the Klangfarbenmelodie
Klangfarbenmelodie, or “tone colour melody” is one of those 2 dollar words we all learned in undergraduate music history class. Simply described, in Klangfarbenmelodie, a single melodic line jumps from...
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Which would you rather conduct? Or: Joining the Mozart Protection Society
Eighteen months ago in a program planning session, this sentence filled me with dread: “How about a clarinet concerto?” Don’t get me wrong- I love the clarinet as much as the next guy, but, in my...
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Concert Review- Birmingham Post, Orchestra of the Swan at Civic Hall, “Spring...
A review from senior critic Christopher Morley at the Birmingham Post of last week’s Orchestra of the Swan performance in Stratford-upon-Avon featuring trumpet virtuoso, Simon Desbruslais. For space...
View ArticleSession Diaries- Bobby and Hans vol. 3 with Orchestra of the Swan, Monday...
Monday, 3 December, 2012 Session 1- 10:00 AM Scheduled: Schumann- Symphony no. 4, mvts 1 and 2 Recording is like nothing else- getting great material on disc requires a rather unforgiving balance of...
View ArticleEssay- Rosbaud conducts Mahler
I’ve just turned in program notes for an upcoming CD in ICA Classics commemorating the 50th anniversary of the passing of Hans Rosbaud, one of the most interesting of 20th C conductors. That disc of...
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KW Messiah thoughts, 2013
It’s that time of year again, when musicians all around the world are taking another stab at Handel’s Messiah. For me, it means coming back to a piece I’ve done many times after a long-ish break....
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The worst conducting advice in the history of the universe
Several months ago I was sipping a flat white in a café with a friend and former student who was describing the teaching methods of one of America’s more eminent conducting pedagogues- a gentleman I’ve...
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Explore the Score- Robert Schumann, Symphony no. 1 in B-flat Major, “Spring
‘When his time to reach for the stars had arrived, Schumann’s personal language was fully formed, and just as the subtlety of his piano style had been an immense asset for the songwriter, so the...
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Haydn’s Music- Bathed in Fire and Blood
(Disclaimer- I’ve broken my no-swearing rule in this post. Apologies for any offense. I think Haydn’s music merits a bit of good profanity) Long-time Vftp readers will know that I’m quite the Haydn...
View ArticleNine reasons you might just get away with a mistake in concert
So you made a mistake on the gig yesterday. I feel your pain. We all make mistakes- I made a real howler twice in the same place on a cello gig recently and it’s been bothering me ever since. Mistakes...
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Special arrangements have been made
NOW AVAILABLE Elgar- Piano Quintet, Sea Pictures. Orchestrated by Donald Fraser. £12.00 Add to cart As many of you know, all of us at the English Symphony Orchestra are busy gearing up for our 2015...
View ArticleHow to rehearse an ensemble
Earlier this week I gave a talk on “how to rehearse” for a regional consortium of music educators. The following list formed the basis of our discussions. It’s by no means a complete or exclusive list,...
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Wagner’s Walküre – Who are these people and how did they get here?
2 for £22 Act One of Richard Wagner‘s Valkyrie in Worcester’s The Swan Theatre. Phone Booking 01905 611427 In person at the Huntingdon Hall Box office, CrownGate Worcester, WR1 2ES It was a dark and...
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Tchaikovsky’s Magnificent Manuscript
I’m really looking forward to conducting this incredible piece this Sunday, the 24th of November in Cheltenham Town Hall. Tickets are here. I’ve wanted to make a string orchestra version of...
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Explore the Score – Ralph Vaughan Williams Symphony no. 5
Ken will be conducting Vaughan Williams Fifth Symphony with the English Symphony Orchestra at the 2019 Elgar Festival in Worcester Cathedral on Saturday the 1st of June, 2019. Details here. RVW c. 1952...
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Tchaikovsky’s Vibrant Brass
Vibrato has been a subject of lively debate in the discussion of performance practice for a couple of generations now, but usually when we talk about orchestral vibrato, we mean string vibrato, and,...
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Meeting the Music of Steven R. Gerber: Conductor Kenneth Woods and Arranger...
Feature Article by Colin Clarke A fair amount of the music of Steven R. Gerber has been covered in the Fanfare Archive, including the First Symphony and Viola Concerto (Chandos, Fanfare 24:2), and a...
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