by Kenneth Woods | Oct 30, 2020 | A view from the podium
I pity pianists and I pity singers. The rest of us have the luxury of choosing the instrument which best allows us to express ourselves. I found my cello, a somewhat motley Italian instrument made in the 1600’s but with a ‘modern’ (ie 100-year-old) top in 1991. Within...
by Kenneth Woods | Oct 28, 2020 | Mahler, Mahler- Performer's Perspective
This article (from 2016, but circulating this week online) is simply not on. The Neurotic Genius – Inside Mahler’s Mind by Alicia Watson Not at all. The author (a therapist) says “”neurotic” has been clinically retired,” and I wish she...
by Kenneth Woods | Oct 12, 2020 | A view from the podium, Explore the Score
I’m excited to share my thoughts on the Fourth and Fifth Symphonies of Matthew Taylor. His Fifth Symphony was written as part of the English Symphony Orchestra’s 21st Century Project, and premiered by the orchestra in Cadogan Hall in June, 2019. His Fourth...
by Kenneth Woods | Oct 11, 2020 | A view from the podium
English Symphony Orchestra Presents “Visions of Childhood” on Music from Wyastone, 16 October BBC Radio 3 to broadcast Matthew Taylor’s Fourth Symphony with KW and BBC National Orchestra of Wales on 13 October Ken’s recording of Taylor’s...
by Kenneth Woods | Oct 11, 2020 | A view from the podium
“The emergence of Philip Sawyers as a major symphonist of his generation has been among the more significant aspects of latter-day British music.” A wonderful interview with composer Philip Sawyers by critic Richard Whitehouse in the October 2020 issue of...
by Kenneth Woods | Sep 15, 2020 | A view from the podium
I was deeply saddened today to hear of the passing of composer Paul Méfano. He died today at the age of 83. Méfano was the founder of the well-known French contemporary music ensemble, Ensemble 2e2m. As a composer and former pupil of Messiaen, we was in the very thick...
by Kenneth Woods | Aug 14, 2020 | A view from the podium
So today, I have to give a big shout-out to my dad, Claude Woods. Pop retires today from the University of Wisconsin-Madison, where he has served on the faculty of the Chemistry Department as Professor of Chemistry for 53 years. Fifty-three years! My dad is too...
by Kenneth Woods | Aug 14, 2020 | News and Reviews
Sawyers Symphony No 4. Hommage to Kandinsky BBC National Orchestra of Wales / Kenneth Woods Nimbus Alliance F NI6405 (65’ • DDD) Philip Sawyers – Symphony No. 4, Hommage to Kandinsky (NIMBUS)Rated 5.00 out of 5 £12.00 Like all great symphonists, Philip...
by Kenneth Woods | Aug 13, 2020 | Mahler, Mahler- Performer's Perspective
As a young musician for whom the music of Mahler was the most remarkable and unexpected discovery, I never thought that performances of his music would become so frequent and routine that music industry colleagues would begin to speak of “Mahler fatigue.” Although the...
by Kenneth Woods | Jun 14, 2020 | A view from the podium, News and Reviews
Philip Sawyers – Symphony No. 4, Hommage to Kandinsky (NIMBUS)Rated 5.00 out of 5 £12.00 The prolific and erudite Twitter commentator, Adam Philp, AKA “The Symphonist”, has dedicated an extensive thread to celebrating the music of Philip...
by Kenneth Woods | Apr 26, 2020 | A view from the podium
This article was originally written for the Catholic Herald Next time you are listening to Beethoven’s Fifth Symphony or Mahler’s Second, imagine what it would have been like to be there for the first performance. Imagine the excitement of buying a ticket to...
by Kenneth Woods | Apr 24, 2020 | Explore the Score
LUDWIG VAN BEETHOVEN (1770-1827) Piano Concerto No. 3 in C minor, Op. 37 Beethoven’s Third Piano Concerto had one of the longer gestations of any of his works. He first began sketching ideas for the piece in 1796, and did most of the main work on the piece in 1800,...
by Kenneth Woods | Apr 23, 2020 | A view from the podium
Re-blogged from the Colorado MahlerFest website. During the Mahler anniversaries of 2010-11, Norman Lebrecht published a book called Why Mahler? Now, as then, even the most fervent Mahlerian might well ask of any book on this subject, “Why Another Book About Mahler?”...
by Kenneth Woods | Apr 22, 2020 | A view from the podium, Explore the Score
This essay was written for the launch of the now hugely- disrupted English Symphony Orchestra celebrations of Beethoven’s 250th birthday ahead of wonderful performances of the 7th and 8th Symphonies in January and early February. I hope we’ll all be...
by Kenneth Woods | Apr 15, 2020 | A view from the podium, News and Reviews
In the absence of any forthcoming concerts, we did the best we could!...
Recent Comments