JOHANNESBURG—Members of the South Africa Vuvuzela Philharmonic Orchestra, widely considered to be among the best large-scale monotonic wind instrument ensembles in the world, told reporters Friday they were furious over the recent outbreaks of international soccer matches during their traditional outdoor concerts. From The Onion (warning: satire) Look for the reference to Arvo Pärt.
The Rest is Applause
Alex Ross, music critic for New Yorker magazine and author of the excellent book The Rest is Noise which I reviewed recently, gave a fascinating lecture to the Royal Philharmonic Society in March on the subject of applause, which can now be read online (PDF). He reminds us that audiences in Mozart's time applauded not […]
The First Thousand Years
Jeffrey Tucker points us to a new book on the history of music in the church in the middle ages: This book is an absolute inspiration. I feel profound gratitude to the author. It is readable and not merely an academic work. The prose is elegant and warm. The "apparatus" in the back is just […]
Auto-tuning gone wild
This is why live music is so much better. Soon you won’t be able to tell music recorded by humans from processed electronica.
The Art of Choral Conducting
A Slovenian television network produces a 40-minute documentary on choral conducting. It’s in English, though, interviewing conductors from many countries. Can’t embed; you’ll have to click on the link to see it. h/t Alan Davis
Iowa Stubborn, cont’d
I just went to a performance of The Music Man at the local middle school, and apart from the irony of seeing all these parents gush about their children's incompetent performance after seeing a show in which parents are parodied for doing that exact thing, it called to mind that my recent post about this […]