by Kenneth Woods | Jan 30, 2007 | A view from the podium, Mahler
After months of worry, possible repertoire changes, concern about personnel and budgets, travel problems, back problems, general irritability….. when Ken is flipping through his score 20 minutes before the first rehearsal and gradually, all around him, players...
by Kenneth Woods | Jan 28, 2007 | A view from the podium, Performing Life
Five years ago, I would never have guessed he would be the one. He was known in the orchestra for his acerbic wit and penchant for practicing Paganini. He knew more about violins than anyone else in the band. He didn’t seem to exude job satisfaction, but he had that...
by Kenneth Woods | Jan 27, 2007 | A view from the podium, Mahler
Mahler/Schoenberg • The Song of the Earth Das Lied von der Erde (” The Song of the Earth “) is a large-scale work for two vocal soloists and orchestra by the Austrian composer Gustav Mahler . Laid out in six separate movements, each of them an independent...
by Kenneth Woods | Jan 26, 2007 | A view from the podium, News and Reviews
Upcoming Concert Rose City Chamber Orchestra Saturday, February 3, 7pm @ Colonial Heights Presbyterian Church Ken Woods, Conductor Chris Thomas • World premiere of a new work: “Snapshots” Mahler/Schoenberg • Das Lied von der Erde (Song of the Earth) Alexis...
by Kenneth Woods | Jan 18, 2007 | A view from the podium, Mahler
If this is your first visit to this thread, you may wish to start from the first song of the cycle, which you can read about and listen to here. One of the recurring literary themes of Kindertotenlieder is the notion of haunting. Wenn dein Mutterlein is the poem that...
by Kenneth Woods | Jan 17, 2007 | A view from the podium, Performing Life
As someone who grew up in Wisconsin in the 70’s, that glorious era of blizzards and ice storms, I love snow- it’s my favorite weather. Of course, snow has become a bit like free beer- a rarity- and I miss it. I can’t remember when I last had a white Christmas. So, I...
by Kenneth Woods | Jan 17, 2007 | A view from the podium, News and Reviews
UPCOMING CONCERT Symphony Chamber Music Pendleton Center for the Arts 2:00 PM, Sunday, January 21st, 2007 Rick Rowley, piano Kenneth Woods, cello Debussy- Cello Sonata Janacek- Pohadka Strauss- Cello Sonata in F Major Information from the OES office...
by Kenneth Woods | Jan 16, 2007 | A view from the podium
Beethoven 6 shows Beethoven more or less inventing a new way of composing- something none of his earlier symphonies actually did. Music of the generation before Beethoven was composed in a highly rhetorical manner. Musical ideas interact with each other in patterns...
by Kenneth Woods | Jan 15, 2007 | A view from the podium
To those of you waiting anxiously for the next Kindertotenlieder piece, I’m sorry for the delay. I had a long trans-Atlantic this week en route to the current Oregon East Symphony concert, and I’m trying to whip my cello playing back into shape for a concert on...
by Kenneth Woods | Jan 15, 2007 | A view from the podium, News and Reviews
UPCOMING CONCERT- Oregon East Symphony Saturday, January 20th, 2007 7:30 PM, Vert Auditorium Pendleton Oregon Program- Nielsen- Helios Oveture Grieg- Piano Concerto Rick Rowley, piano Beethoven- Symphony No. 6 “Pastoral” Concert information available at oes@uci.net...
by Kenneth Woods | Jan 10, 2007 | A view from the podium, Mahler
Finally, on to the emotional heart of the cycle, “Wenn dein Mutterlein.” If the text of the second song is the most intense, the music of this song is probably the most overtly funereal. Mahler even marks the tempo as schwer (heavy) and dumpf (dull or muffled). If...
by Kenneth Woods | Jan 10, 2007 | A view from the podium, Favorite posts, Mahler, Nuts and bolts
Music, even vocal music, is ultimately an abstract art form. Musical ideas, even those attached to words, are inherently abstract. Nevertheless, we all find ourselves searching for the meaning of musical ideas. Wagner went so far as to assign meanings to themes...
by Kenneth Woods | Jan 9, 2007 | A view from the podium, Mahler, Nuts and bolts
There are some pieces of music which are widely misunderstood because they’re too popular. I had a “teacher” in grad school who taught the History of Opera course who thought Puccini was an idiot because he was popular, and that we should all be listening to Pfitzner...
by Kenneth Woods | Jan 7, 2007 | A view from the podium
Good news, and not surprising to me at all, from Alex Ross. The internet can solve one of the great problems of the classical recording industry- classical buyers tend to graze in larger pasteurs than pop fans. The gap between the best and the worst selling discs is...
by Kenneth Woods | Jan 7, 2007 | A view from the podium, Mahler
On to the second song now, and back into the capable hands of Mitch Friedfeld. From a purely subjective point of view, I find this is in many ways the most anguished of all the songs. This poem contains the most intense imagery and the most stylized and heightened use...
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