by Kenneth Woods | Nov 3, 2007 | A view from the podium, Mahler, Music and Media, Nuts and bolts
12-tone music is popping up all over the blogosphere lately, or, that is, discussions about it- how all those empty halls for performances of Beethoven symphonies were actually caused by Milton Babbitt and about how so much insipid monotonal neo-pasctichio music is...
by Kenneth Woods | Oct 24, 2007 | A view from the podium, Mahler
I’m enjoying a fairly quiet day between concert sequences- Our redneck Mahler 4 is now history and tomorrow rehearsals start up for the Rose City Chamber Orchestra performance on Sunday. Later today I’ll take the evening to study and make sure I’m focused on the right...
by Kenneth Woods | Oct 20, 2007 | A view from the podium, Mahler, Nuts and bolts
It’s generally accepted that if you want an orchestra to improve, you should rehearse and perform a great deal of Haydn and Mozart. True! However, one thing I’ve been surprised at is what an effective orchestral etude Mahler 4 is. Perhaps it’s not surprising, since...
by Kenneth Woods | Oct 19, 2007 | A view from the podium, Mahler, Nuts and bolts, Performing Life
Friday morning and I’m moving a little slower after a long rehearsal last night. We’ve now got about %95 of the out of town players here, so we’re starting to get a good sense of what the issues are going to be this week. The Fourth may be the hardest Mahler symphony...
by Kenneth Woods | Aug 21, 2007 | A view from the podium, Mahler, Nuts and bolts
Yes, composition is analysis. Let’s start by remembering I didn’t say composition is only analysis. Take for a moment Sibelius’ Fifth Symphony, which I wrote about here. If one sits down and carefully analyzes the piece in its final form, you can’t help but be struck...
by Kenneth Woods | Aug 20, 2007 | A view from the podium, Mahler, Nuts and bolts
Sometimes the best lessons come to us when we haven’t had enough coffee. I’d been working late on the score of Mahler 4, which I’m conducting in October for the first time in three or four years. I’d been doing what conductors are trained to do- analyzing everything...
Recent Comments