Quick reply to assignment

Hello All,

this is a test! I’m checking to see how the Canvas discussions work.

Here is the version of the Paganini caprice that I will be discussing. The original video showed Alexander Markov played Caprice no. 24. The link I’m posting is a piano performance by Daniil Trifonov. He is playing a series of variations on Paganini, composed by Franz Liszt. The section that is adapted from Caprice no. 24 begins at the 20:22 mark and continues to the end. I loved watching this video because it shows the sheet music in realtime. I’ll be back with my full discussion later.

Note, I don’t understand how the discussions on Canvas work. Are we posting them to the group at large, or is this just a communication with the prof? If the former, it’s worrisome that no one else has responded yet.

 

 

 

Assignment on Paganini’s Caprice #24

Paganini’s Caprice No. 24 for violin

In order to receive full credit, you must answer the questions thoroughly in your own words.

What other composers wrote variations, fantasies, or other versions of this caprice?

Please post other performances and/or versions of this work.  Comment how they are similar to the original caprice.

Which piece do you like the most and what makes it an interesting, exciting, or beautiful performance?

 

Link to Alexander Markov’s performance that we heard in class :

Yuja Wang:  Rachmaninoff’s Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini  (15:22 is the most famous variation, but please watch the entire work; it’s incredibly beautiful)

Click below to  listen to the Accordare Piano Duo, Dr. Rehwoldt and Dr. Suter performing Lutoslawski’s Variations on a Theme of Paganini at a live concert in San Diego.

 

 

Terrible Earworm

I am having trouble knowing how much time to allot for my homework assignments. Several times I’ve would up working past 1 am. I have been a night owl for many years and and I seem to have my best focus around 1 and 2 am, but…now I have to get up at 7 in order to catch the bus. 5 hrs of sleep makes for a long stressful day. This past week I came into a Wednesday very short on sleep and had not allotted enough time to practice for voice lessons. Since one of the new songs I’m learning is in Italian, I spent time on the bus (and in the stairwell) practicing the Italian, saying the syllables as clearly as possible, with very pure vowels. Over and over. In rhythm, with the tune in my head. The combination of the lack of sleep, over-studying, and adrenaline about the lesson led to the worst earworm I have had in a very long time. I COULD NOT get the song to stop. It kept playing in continuous repeats. When I came home I was able to take a nap, which helped. I also took a break from that song for a few days. This afternoon was the first I had sung it since Wednesday. The first page is gently playing in the background right now. I wish my brain would move on to pg. 3 which is the part I actually need to work on. “Di belezza non s’aprezza lo splendor / se non vien dun fido cor, dun fido cor. / Di belezza non s’a…prez…ZA lo-o-o splendor, se non vien (carefully) d’un fido (very carefully) co-o-or, d’un (F# major) fido cor!”

I wonder what actually causes the “earworm” phenomenon, and why some days are worse than others.

Update after the First Week of Class

The first week of class was not what I was expecting.

  • Missing the first class because of parking trouble — and then having brake problems on the way home. This was very much like one of my anxiety dreams. Greg’s comment was “What are you complaining about. You had your clothes on, didn’t you?”
  • Needing Greg to drive me to classes because my car was in the shop
  • Last minute decision to take keyboard lessons
  • At that late date can’t register online — has to be in person — with paperwork. Chasing down signatures, making a stop at an office and then at what we used to call the Bursar’s office. “How do I get my schedule?” “It’s right there on the papers I gave you”.
  • Keyboard class is not lecture based. Instead, there is a list of skills that we must be able to demonstrate by the end of the semester. (Greg said it’s like my son’s proficiency requirements for his black belt exam.) We have the list, and we spend class working on our own — with the presence and availability of the prof. This is why I decided to add keyboard lessons! Piano’s very different from organ.
  • Ear training (so far) has not been the neat methodical progression that it is in Ear Master. It is more like a race through a wind tunnel.
  • I got 2 faculty members’ names mixed up in an embarrassing way even though I tried to do my research ahead of time and study their photos.
  • Voice lessons make my sinuses feel weird.
  • All the handouts are posted in the ether, in this shadow-realm with many facets, and we’re expected to print them out ourselves. I’m still not sure I’ve found all the places the documents can be hidden.

Things I did expect.

  • Being hungry — not figuring out what to take for lunch
  • Feeling awkward talking to students
  • Feeling awkward participating in class (The “Hermione Effect”)
  • Enthusiasm because of enthusiastic profs
  • Absolutely exhausted

More unexpected things!

  • Playing scales before bed makes me sleepy, in a good way.
  • I got a lovely orientation (about composition) from the prof. who designed the ear training class. This woman is a treasure. I didn’t expect her to take me seriously or to understand what I was getting at.
  • Basically feeling VERY welcomed!
  • Choir rehearsal started up again, had not seen my friends since 15 lbs ago. No comments except from one guy who asked me if I’d been sick (!).
  • Working on scales, getting distracted by improvisation, then feeling frustrated because I can’t play what I hear in my head. Left hand pinky finger hurts.
  • Trying to copy out some choir music by hand, feeling frustrated with my grade-school printing. Feeling like I’m already behind the other students and running to catch up.

I did not expect MUSIC BOOT CAMP

 

Do, super strong, like a fist

Here’s a great set of mnemonics for the hand signs for solfege syllables

DO   super strong like a fist

RE   always sliding up and down

ME   super stable so it’s flat

FA   always feels falling down

SO   also strong, like a slap

LA   a balloon floating up

TI   always pushing to the top

DO   super strong like a fist

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NcGFiTnA0HA

 

Le Roi Danse

Today we had a “sidebar” in  Music Theory about double-dotted notes, the French Overture, and Jean Batiste Lully. The prof. mentioned a movie Le Roi Danse. It is in French. I found parts of it with English subtitles, and the whole thing dubbed in Spanish. It’s a glorious spectacle. Here’s the whole film in Spanish — note that you must sign into Youtube and vouch that you are over 18.

 

Here is a clip with subtitles in English. Lully gains the young king’s favor by giving him some golden high-heeled  dancing shoes. The scene with Louis — surrounded with sparklers– emerging through a hole in the stage makes me think of something from a Lady Gaga concert.

And finally, here is an article that talks about how the film distorts history. I wondered about that. I love Amadeus and Immortal Beloved but I know that those films are both loose adaptations.

[The King is Dancing] and [The King’s Way]

 

 

Reducing anxiety by being “meta”

This summer I worked on a diet and fitness program based on Intermittent Fasting. It was a huge change from my regular habits. Usually I eat as a transitional activity. Come home from a stressful doctor appointment? Grab a snack. Finish the dishes and the next thing to do is clean the aviary? Get something to eat to “fortify” myself. Time to edit the newsletter? Definitely gotta eat something first. The responsibility I’m anxious about can’t nag at me if I’m eating something.

The way I got around this habit was to WRITE ABOUT how I was feeling during those times. I called it my “Journal of Whining” and I filled 5 spiral bound notebooks this summer.

Yesterday I drove to HCC by myself for the first time. I knew I was going to be terrified. Previously I had made the trip with my son riding shotgun, and talking to him took my mind off the fear. Yesterday I had the brilliant idea to bring my digital recorder along with me, and spend the whole trip narrating how I felt at any given time. “I’m scared. I’m sooooo scared. I have to pee. Can I just turn around and go home? Oh sh-t I nearly missed that stop sign”.

It worked quite well — my own narration was so over-the-top that I cracked myself up. And “look out for the speed bump” is useful self-talk.

This led to another idea. My plan is to have a chunk of composing work done every two weeks. (That’s why this blog now has 9 pages — one for each 2-week period this semester.) My brilliant idea was to make a short video every 2 weeks talking about what I had accomplished during that period of time. Narrate my own creative process! I got very excited about this and wrote a script for episode 1, and sketched out a script for episode 2.

For  some reason, being meta about this — not just composing, but talking about the process of composing — was helpful to my attitude. The thought of spending 2 weeks beating my head against the wall is terrifying. Talking about the process of beating my head against the wall could be hilarious.

I’m also getting excited about the idea of narrating something. I will be starting voice lessons next week. It would be cool to work on my speaking voice as well as my singing voice.

I wish I could sound like this, but there’s only one Emily Reese!

A Color wheel of themes

The way my brain works, it helps to have what I’m working on sitting out where I can see it. Otherwise I get distracted and forget! I had the idea that I could have some kind of visual reminder of my composing project hanging on the wall, and I could stick post-it notes on it.

I arranged those 12 images (representing the 12 themes) around a color wheel. This made me realize that just as a color wheel has a range of color values (yellow is the “lightest” and blue violet is the “darkest”), a suite of compositions would have a lowest point and a highest point. I don’t think that the way I have the music themes arranged around the color wheel necessarily corresponds to the color values. In other words, I don’t think that the Empty Planet theme has to be the “darkest” and the Desert Planet theme has to be the “lightest”. But I should consider “how light does it get, how dark does it get” and arrange everything between those two extremes.

I have often thought about this while watching episodes of Doctor Who. The actor Peter Capaldi has such a range of emotions and I’m sure they sat down at the beginning of the season to sketch out “this scene is when you’re going to be in the most pain. This scene is when you experience the most joy. This is when you’re the most flat, bored, withdrawn, lethargic”.

One of my professors at HCC yesterday talked about “character development” in program music — does the music capture a character’s personality? Some composers do this especially well. She mentioned Ennio Morricone — a name I had not heard before. Though I did recognize this!

 

 

My mentors are with me

One side of the Green Room is looking good!

Note that the “still life with bifocals” on the right hand side includes a little angel statue — a gift from my choir director in 2008 — and a tiny picture that says “Jesus Loves Me”. The latter is a gift from a friend who was a big influence on me in high school (and onward). She introduced me to the works of Tolkien and C.S. Lewis, and encouraged me to join the choir! The placard has an inscription on the back with the date 1983.

It’s wonderful to be reminded of the ongoing love and encouragement from my musical mentors. I had a two-hour talk with my high school friend yesterday. At the end of the conversation she said a prayer for me, a blessing on this upcoming year. And my other mentor, my choir director, will be back in my weekly routine soon; choir rehearsal resumes next week!