by Kenneth Woods | Apr 10, 2006 | Mahler
I land in Seattle and have two messages on my voice mail from our principal trumpet. It seems that the third trumpet’s promise to find someone meant that he would ask the principal to find someone for him. Actually, James is remarkably good humored about it (he would...
by Kenneth Woods | Apr 8, 2006 | Mahler
Performing a Mahler symphony is like power lifting in ice skates. The musical demands are immense- it is heavy lifting for everyone- and yet the complicated logistics of extra players, off stage instruments, soloists and so on mean that you’re constantly putting...
by Kenneth Woods | Apr 5, 2006 | Explore the Score, Mahler, Mahler 2 Notes, Nuts and bolts
Mahler’s Second Symphony is in five movements and was completed in 1894, but the first of those was composed and published several years earlier in 1888 (at the same time as the First Symphony) as a tone poem called “Totenfeier” or “Funeral Rites.” It wasn’t until...
by Kenneth Woods | Mar 29, 2006 | A view from the podium
This is a site for listeners and audience members who like to keep track of my concert work. They can use these pages to follow me on my travel, get insights into how concerts happen, and get my thoughts on the concerts they’re coming to or just attended. I’ll also be...
by Kenneth Woods | Mar 28, 2006 | Explore the Score, Mahler, Mahler 2 Notes
After the highly-charged, dramatic and ultimately tragic arc of the first movement, it is natural that one would need some time to recover. After all, Mahler waited five years after completing Totenfeier before continuing on to the second movement. As it turns out,...
by Kenneth Woods | Mar 27, 2006 | Explore the Score, Mahler, Mahler 2 Notes
There is a strong relationship in Mahler’s 2nd between the first and last movement: in essence the finale resolves the questions posed in the first movement, both musically and spiritually. Likewise the 2nd and 3rd movements of the symphony form a pair. Both are...
by Kenneth Woods | Mar 25, 2006 | Explore the Score, Mahler, Mahler 2 Notes, Nuts and bolts
The third movement of this symphony ended with nothing less than “the appalling shriek of this tortured soul.” How magical, then, is the moment that follows? Mahler instructs us that the third, fourth and fifth movements should be played without any break, and so from...
by Kenneth Woods | Mar 22, 2006 | Explore the Score, Mahler, Mahler 2 Notes
As the fourth movement resolves into a vision of heavenly rest one could easily believe that our journey is at its end, but of course this short movement (only four minutes) could hardly balance out and resolve all the issues and challenges the symphony had posed up...
by Kenneth Woods | Mar 21, 2006 | Explore the Score, Mahler, Mahler 2 Notes
The great scene of the end of the world plays out as a march, mostly in F minor. Four flats in the key signature, far from the purity of the C major peroration that preceded it. The final scream Mahler describes is a masterstroke- we’ve been expecting him to...
by Kenneth Woods | Mar 18, 2006 | Mahler
One of the interesting aspects of this particular project is that for most of the Pendleton, Oregon audience, Mahler is completely unknown music. It’s a rare privilege for a conductor to be able to introduce this music, now so widely loved and accepted, to a new...
by Kenneth Woods | Mar 13, 2006 | Music and Media
Analyzing the decline of classical music has become a full-time job for many (and a lucrative one for some). It’s almost assumed that any newspaper piece on classical music will have some reference to “declining audiences” or “aging...
by Kenneth Woods | Feb 25, 2006 | Mahler
One thread I will be exploring on this blog involves an upcoming performance of Gustav Mahler’s 2nd Symphony with the Oregon East Symphony and Chorale in Pendleton, Oregon. The OES, 200 miles from Portland, 260 miles from Seattle and 300 miles from Boise has long been...
by Kenneth Woods | Oct 30, 2005 | Performing Life
Left early today for Lancashire Chamber Orchestra concert via Hereford where our dog will be spending the night. The car is actually quite comical- Suzanne, Steve and I and Murphy (the dog) with all of Steve’s travelling gear (he’s been in Europe for a...
by Kenneth Woods | Oct 28, 2005 | Performing Life
Steve and I go through his two pieces today. One is a world premiere by Gerald Garcia called Heart of the Rose, a concerto in three movements for strings and guitar. It’s a little pop for my usual tastes, but it makes up for it with a lot of fresh humor and very...
by Kenneth Woods | Oct 27, 2005 | Performing Life
Meeting Steve Thackuk at the train station this afternoon. Steve is a wonderful guitarist and twin brother of one of my best friends from my Cincinnati years, Brad Thackuk (who is a fine conductor). Steve will be soloing on this weekend’s Lancashire Chamber...
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