by Kenneth Woods | Sep 29, 2009 | A view from the podium
For some time, I’ve been meaning to offer up a list of pieces that pose special dangers to conductors and librarians. These are works that exist in more than one version or edition, where an incompatible set of parts can mean more than just a frustrating rehearsal...
by Kenneth Woods | Sep 26, 2009 | A view from the podium, Haydn, Nuts and bolts
It was a fine evening of music with the SMP- Schumann and Haydn make for a very good pair anytime they appear on the same program together. Both criminally under-rated, both great inventors and innovators, both with supreme wit… On top of this, they both seem masters...
by Kenneth Woods | Aug 10, 2009 | A view from the podium, Haydn
There’s a nice story in The Oregonian today from senior music critic David Stabler on Haydn and the never-ending Haydn/Mozart rivalry. In spite of the fact that David quotes from me extensively, it is a very good piece. Audiences love Mozart, but Haydn’s...
by Kenneth Woods | Aug 2, 2009 | A view from the podium, Haydn
Solomon Volkov, best known for his role in assembling Shostakovich’s memoirs, Testimony, once described him as the second (Mussorgsky being the first) great “yurodivy” composer. Volkov defines the yurodivy as follows- “The yurodivy is a Russian religious phenomenon,...
by Kenneth Woods | Jun 17, 2009 | A view from the podium, Explore the Score, Haydn, Nuts and bolts
“You can only analyze music from beginning to end, because the listener can’t know what they haven’t heard.” Those words were spoken by my friend David Hoose at the RCICW a few years ago. At first, I thought “that can’t be entirely right,” but as the years go by, I...
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