by Kenneth Woods | Jan 24, 2012 | Nuts and bolts
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 thought of were Beethoven 5 Brahms 1 Bruckner 8 and...
by Kenneth Woods | Sep 19, 2011 | Music and Media, Nuts and bolts, Performing Life
Reformist musicologists with a politically-correct worldview might find themselves raising an eyebrow at this week’s Surrey Mozart Players concert, where, with blatant disregard for all the latest scholarship, the orchestra and I will be playing Johannes Brahms’...
by Kenneth Woods | Jun 20, 2011 | A view from the podium
Part II of my look at the ins and outs of conducting Brahms 1. Part I is here. You can follow along on a pdf of the score here. There are whole books written about tempo relationships in Brahms. Many conductors drive themselves to drink trying to make the 8th...
by Kenneth Woods | Jun 12, 2011 | A view from the podium
It’s Brahms 1 week here at Vftp, and to bring in some fresh perspective, I thought I would get some thoughts on the work from another Brahmsian, my friend, the American conductor, Jonathan Pasternack. Jonathan and I met when we were both based in Oregon- he as...
by Kenneth Woods | Jun 8, 2011 | Music and Media, News and Reviews
I had a nice chat a month or so ago with Jeremy Pound, deputy editor of BBC Music Magazine about what I’ve been listening to with particular interest of late. The results of that chat form part of the “Music To My Ears” feature in the July...
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