One of the usernames that controls this website was hacked, which resulted in malware causing issues.
Eventually my entire site got deleted, and when we were ready to restore a backup, found that that folder on a separate server had been deleted, too.
We found a backup from 2014, made a few adjustments, but all that content since then is…
My next composition isn’t quite ready yet.
But I really like it and want to share it with you NOW.
So, there’s a sample below!
It may seem my 7 year #PsalmQuest has been on hiatus and maybe you even thought I’d given up already.
Well, I was ahead of schedule so after all the Christmas performances I did take some time off over Christmas and New Year to visit lots of people up and down East Coast USA, and then I embarked on my long-awaited Concerto for Bass Clarinet and strings.
It’s almost ready and we all have to be thankful to Calvin Falwell and Diana Hessinger for commissioning this piece upfront, as well as all the bass clarinet players around the world who are signing up for first year rights to perform – it’s very exciting being involved in such a forward-thinking, risk-taking consortium. Thank you!
So, without further ado, click on the video below for a sneak preview:
What do you think? Tell me below… if you dare!
Would you like to be part of the commissioning consortium? It’s very easy: promise to perform it at least once and send us some proof, basically.
Let me know in the comments below if you’re interested and I’ll make sure you and Calvin are connected – he has all the details.
Thanks for listening, and here’s looking forward to the full monty in the next week or two!
More and more musicians are doing it.
Apparently there were over 40 reported incidents worldwide in 2013.
Fortunately, many of them were caught on camera.
Which of the following incidents from the past few years are worthy of international attention, and which are lucky not to find themselves in the Establishment’s penal custody for flashing in public?
I’ll tell you my fave if you tell me yours! Share your thoughts and your favorites in the comments below…
1.
2.
3.
4.
Haven’t reached my favourite one, yet! Remember – I’m a percussionist at heart…
5.
6.
7.
Er, yeah. That’ll be it. Love it! What a welcome off the commute train 🙂
8.
Share your thoughts below, as well as links to any other of your favorite orchestra flashmobs
I have to say, though, it was tough limiting this to orchestral music – there are so many dance and singing flashmobs I thoroughly enjoy, especially the original train station one of the Sound of Music that started the modern public movement, quickly heading to 30m views!
(Of course, this was, in turn, inspired by the 2001 prison “Thriller” flashmob, now on 53m views:Â http://youtu.be/hMnk7lh9M3o)
I’m working hard on my next #PsalmQuest piece – a concerto for Bass Clarinet and Strings, and it is going well, but with the holidays and lots of travel it’s been hard to keep up. Should have something to share with you in a month or so.
In the meantime, here is a list of 12 books all budding/ growing… people should read (At first I wrote “musicians” but realized there is a great deal of info here that is relevant for anyone trying to grow a business or even just their own career, even in the music-related books!).
If you or someone you love is trying to build a [music or other] career, these books will come in most useful. And if they say they have no time to read, unsubtlely mention that reading 10 pages a day (about 10 minutes) takes about 20 days to read an average size book. All 12 of these recommendations can be read in 2014!
That’s a list of my favourite most useful reading over the past year (I read a total of 32 books). It’s one book per month if you want to take it slow during 2014. Or you can plow through the list and finish them sooner. The choice is up to you.
Question: What book would you recommend reading this year? Please share your recommendation in the comment section below and help out your fellow readers.
Over the past few years I’ve noticed I’m usually the slowest car on the road.
Today, find out why.
And hear about one of the decisions/ choices I’ve made that causes it!
And then, if you dare, listen to how your own driving decisions are directly affecting the society we live in today.
Click to play the video below to reveal all.
In case you’re wondering: yes, my wife gets totally embarrassed whilst everyone else is passing us!
We all have a multitude of decisions to make everyday, and I’d love to know why you think it is OK (or not) to exceed the speed limits. Seriously, whilst I am not yet convinced that my own desires and assessment of safety are more important than the law of the land I choose to live in, you may have some valid reasons for speeding that I’d like to hear about.
Please let me know in the comments below what you think about speeding/ ignoring the laws of the road/ whether or not driving has become a right more than a privilege, and any other related thoughts.
As always, I reserve the right to delete any inappropriate comments.
Time for a rant/ rave/ vent, methinks. It’s been a while. Bear with me:
Everywhere I look there are stories of musicians being yelled off their stage, performers crying for “decent” pay, orchestras and opera houses closing down, music schools diminishing beyond recognition, and a host of other music-related news that simply doesn’t play a pretty tune.
So, who actually still cares about music?
Who else?
But despite the seemingly exhaustive list of supporters, first: look how many people who experienced music directly in their lives are those who remain passionate about it, and second: I can’t help but feel an underlying podium of obligation and hidden-agenda persuasion.
The fact is, in 2013 there are very few people who care about one of humankind’s most fundamental forms of expression. “Music” has been around for as long as birds could whistle and people could control the pitch of their voices. For centuries it was just a part of everyday life for just about everyone.
This 16thC songbook in Seville Cathedral contains many chants “composed” over hundreds of years
Then, about 500+ years ago, someone figured out a way to write it down so others could repeat what was being expressed. (Actually, music was used in the church to aid priests with their memorization of liturgical text – a trick that is still used today.) I’ve seen one of the earliest songbooks known to exist, currently housed in Seville cathedral, and when people stop to consider what it represents, it is an awesome thing. But, like so many museum pieces, most people just wander by and say ¡QuĂ© Bueno! (“That’s nice.”) You can hear the apathy in their tone.
Since then, there’s been a direct split between formal music and popular music. Even these words seem insufficient to describe the horrors of classifying and labeling just about each individual’s specific tastes, desires, likes and academic output of organized sound-based expression.
But what really scares me are these two facts:
1. Older generations are telling younger generations that music is unworthy, not to be valued, and an interrupting annoyance. Instead, we are taught by decision-makers and influencers that it is a gimmick, a sometimes useful but very expensive tool of persuasion, and wholly unessential or unnecessary for anyone’s well-being. Example: “Our youth groups don’t want to see an orchestra on stage – that’s not our vision for them.” Example: “Oh! That youth orchestra is just way too loud whilst we’re shopping. C’mon, let’s leave.” Example: This whole flashmob was commercially staged, including the little girl at the beginning – the bank the performers were in front of was celebrating its 130th birthday.
2. Musicians are out to prove their relevance/ worth/ value, demand certain rights, and are using Music as a political means to get what they want (be that income, satisfaction, their own worth/ value, proof that they matter or haven’t wasted their lives pursuing something pointless, etc.).
Ouch.
And I’m fed up with it.
In today’s technological digitized world, is there even a future for music? At all? We have created machines that compose and conduct, and devices that source every piece of music that has ever been recorded or constructed as an audio file. [And that’s a whole other rant – are we listening to the performers, or the sound system? More on that another time.] Music provides some sort of background sensory stimulation in almost every activity many Western humans undertake, including shopping, using public toilets, driving, office work, jogging, and so on.
The recent spike in popularity of orchestras playing music whilst a film is displayed above them is an extension of the old piano-playing cinemas of… wait for it… not even a hundred years ago. In Beethoven’s time it was rare for concert halls to have seats. People mingled, chatted, ate & drank, and had a good old time hanging out. In Mozart’s time, operas told stories of faraway places and unknown cultures with drama and costumes and scenery and, of course, dramatic music.
Mention opera nowadays and most people yawn.
What’s happened? What’s going on? Where are humans headed next? Hardly the dearly desired World Peace, that’s for sure! And I fear the loss of music and the senses that rely on it for their useful/ proper/ full development, will transform humans into unthinking creatures of survival habit.
And yet we’ve come so far…
What do you think? Add a comment below and let’s talk about it…
Maybe it’s just in specific cultures. Maybe this is all totally imagined. Regardless, I’m upset so many humans around us are dismissing live music making, and I’m getting angry enough to do something about it in my little circle of influence. More about that soon!
But here’s one thing any valuable and interesting article or document shouldn’t start with: a definition.
The term “Classical Music” is difficult to embrace for three reasons:
– It conjures up images of rich elitism, boringness and dead white men.
– It actually refers to a specific period in musical history (1750-1830)
– Much of society is prejudiced against anything associated with it.
The enigmatic Founder and Artistic Director of The Discovery Orchestra, George Marriner Maull, visited two inner-city schools one week and worked with young children on “listening.” The heart-warming outcome is that every child was fully engaged, improved their communication skills, and loved the music.
Interestingly, when Maestro Maull starting working with the music he deliberately did not mention the composers’ names or when the music was written or give it a stylistic label, which is the normal practice when giving a workshop or lecture (heck, I even did it when giving this post a title!). The children just thoroughly enjoyed the music which happened to be written by some chaps named Bach and Vivaldi some 300 years ago. To them, it could have been last written last year.
Fascinating. And we have a problem.
Unfortunately, by the time these children become adults they may very well be turned off of the “Classical Music” genre or style they’ve come to appreciate and enjoy, just because society tells them to.
We could explore the sociological and psychological reasons why that might be, and perhaps that should be the topic of a future missive, but it’s not this one. Instead, let’s recognize that the term “Classical Music” has, despite it’s actual reference to a specific period in history, come to refer to anything not in the popular mainstream realms of music, or which has another generic label.
Jazz is jazz, rock is rock, and so on. Many styles of music have their own sub-styles, but as far as you and I are concerned, let’s define Classical Music as:
Audio entertainment that is constructed around in-depth formulas and functions of sound presented with the intent of active and engaged listening and feeling, mostly using instruments that do not require electricity to function.
Sounds boring? Maybe.
Audio entertainment that is constructed around in-depth formulas and functions of sound presented with the intent of active and engaged listening and feeling, mostly using instruments that do not require electricity to function.
Have you really actively listened at a concert and engaged with what you hear? If you’re relatively new to classical music, probably not. Usually your mind wanders to problems of the day, what you’ll have for dinner later, or the lovely dangling earrings of the person sitting three rows in front of you.
It takes a certain amount of effort to listen to and engage in anything worthwhile, and classical music is no exception. But it’s hard for us when everything is so physical and instant these days. Instant gratification = surface material. Those who want more, who want meaningful relationships, who want something solid, grounded, stable, reliable, a cornerstone… can thoroughly enjoy classical music.
What do you think? Am I close? Is that definition too broad or too technical or just too plain… “huh?” Let me know in the comments below what you think of my definition, and if you have a better one – I really want to know!
Click here for the BBC News Obituary about Nelson Mandela
Well, we can decidedly close an entire volume of human history: another era has come to a close. Although we still have a 110 year old pianist who remembers meeting Gustav Mahler, we have lost the last bastion of trustworthy social leadership. Nelson Mandela worked for a living despite his royal heritage, and all the while stood up for equality principles before finally leading an entire nation of different peoples into a more cohesive and prosperous future for all. At least for a while. I’m sure being in prison for 27 years imbued much substance that supported his convictions.
When any leader takes a stance on anything, many other people often choose to polarize themselves either for or against them (Conductors are not exempt!), so it will be very interesting to see how South Africans react to the death of Mandela: Will we see unprecedented collaboration or will it be all smoke and mirrors? Will there be continued peace or after a period of global mourning will the old divisions arise? Will there be no noticeable difference because our memories of his actions have faded and been overshadowed by so much else since then?
It is extremely doubtful we will ever see the likes of Mandela, Thatcher, Reagan, and Gorbachev ever again: regardless of their politics, they were people who earned a living in a trade and who learned the ways of the world from similar places you and I stand, and who earned the positions we entrusted them with through hard work and matters of substance. Not funding, slick marketing or family connections.
It is clear that the last chapter in the volume of political honesty, integrity and conviction in social leadership has ended, and as we ride the journey of the internet and corporately funded politics, we are in a new age of human existence that will take us and our leaders lacking in their own substance through an existence never before considered. It’s quite exciting, really!
It feels like forever since I published a #PsalmQuest piece, and I guess it was, really – over a month ago! In fact, I finished composing that last piece at the end of September, so it’s really been 8 weeks.
Some of that time was spent resting, but much of it was actually spent re-writing. This was a difficult piece to extrapolate from the recesses of reality and it saw several completely written-out ideas before I hit the ‘delete’ button on the whole lot. But it’s here now, and it has quite a story to it, methinks…
String Quartet 2 (actually, the title was bothersome for quite some time as well, until I realized how simple it could be) is based on Psalm 97 and whereas the Longman/ Garland commentary has it broken into 4 sections, many other sources actually have it broken into 3. I went with C.E.O White’s “A Christian Handbook to the Psalms” and chose three movements for this piece.
The ideas and concepts behind each movement shifted slightly, and although they started out encompassing three of the more easily defined names for God they each ended up as an intriguing mystery.
is about Yahweh. The opening passages of the psalm reflect glory and affirmation, magnificence and revelation. An overwhelming presence. I thought this could be nicely summed up as “Righteousness.” But, is it mankind assuming his own righteousness or it is God as righteousness?
Musically, this movement is rather awkward but it seems to reflect the unstable authority with which anyone declares themselves as righteousness. The main theme is based on the phrase “I am Righteousness. Don’t you forget it!” This was the hardest movement to complete and it went through multiple manifestations.
is about Adonai, the lord of lords, master of all. Somewhere online I found this also summarized as Justice. Currently true Justice in the Western world is a but of a joke with everyday folk moving at different paces to governments which are operating under different expectations of big Corporations, etc, all under the pretense of harmony. But, is it mankind demanding their own kind of Justice like a petulant child, or is it God declaring the fact that he is going to have justice whether we like it or not?
Musically, this is my favourite movement. It has a slow pulse but that hardly means the music is slow. The main melody is based on the aggressive phrase “Justice! I want Justice!” and leads us into a twisting and turning finger-numbing world of dizzying adventures, with lots of teamwork between the two violinists and a rarely-used key E minor, which is actually the enharmonic equivalent of the key that should be used: Fb minor (seven flats, if you know what that means. Er… no thanks).
is about Elyon, which reflects thoughts of strength, the most high, sovereignty and supremacy. In other words, Judgement. Again, we’re not too clear on who is declaring judgement – it could be one of mankind’s follies, or perhaps it is God reminding us that He actually created everything (in the same way that Bill Cosby once said to his son: “You know I brought you into this world, I can take you out!”)
Musically this movement starts with an actual conversation! The first violin shares with us a little reminiscing, before the cello starts a new conversation whilst the viola and second violin try to keep the topic on track (you’ll hear the “I am righteousness” and “I want Justice!” themes reappear). As the cello and viola head off in a new direction, the two violins stick together until one of them adds a comment and the other tries to stop them “Oh no you don’t!” Eventually, though, everyone’s on board, there’s a big “ta-dah!” in celebration, and then we explore Judgement to the end of time.
I take it back – maybe this last movement is my favourite. It was certainly the quickest to be written after the other two struggled to appear.
Anyway, here it is in its complete form.
Click here to get your own copy of the sheet music
Please leave a comment below letting me know what you think, and if you plan to perform it, be sure to add it to this page:Â https://www.stephenpbrown.com/concerts/
A couple of months ago I was appointed Conductor of the 40+ year old Clearwater Chorus. It’s an ensemble of people who like to sing, and encourages adults of varying ages and abilities to make and share music together.
At least, that’s what it is now.
The Clearwater Chorus
Although not titled a “Director” that is effectively my role and as a result, I’ve grabbed hold of the reins and am guiding the ensemble through a new perspective: who we have and what we do now is what we are, and as long as we work together to share music, we’ll be doing something of value to the world.
[Click here: I’m giving away four tickets to our concert on Dec 22!]
Why is this so new? Because like so many institutions that are founded and/or led by an individual for so long (in this case, Arthur Goetze who directed the group from 1975-2005), its members can become entrenched in “the way things were.” This is also a very typical perspective of older generations, especially those who have worked their whole lives and are now enjoying a few special comforts in retirement: they expect things to stay the way they know them. But that is so rarely beneficial for anyone, and certainly not how the world spins.
So whilst respecting the past and honoring those who have gained far more experience with this ensemble than I ever hope to, it is now time to focus not on what we don’t have but on what we do…
Doesn’t this pertain to life in general?
For example, over the past 12 years I have mourned the loss of an active performing and teaching career founded in music, something I have known to be a primary part of my existence since I was in single digits. My music career after moving to the USA has been patchy, fraught with unconfidence, some expensive decisions, and a distinct lack of industry contacts that don’t label me an outsider.
But this current appointment has, unexpectedly, brought me right back to square one – the roots from which my fascination with music grew.
The Anglo Saxon village church in Cuxton UK, where I was a choir boy
I was 7 years old when I began playing the piano, but that was after I began singing in my English village church choir. I remember joining the village Junior School choir around the same time, as well, but by the time I had moved to my UK secondary school at age 11, I was fully immersed in singing, piano and clarinet. It wasn’t until just before I moved to the USA the first time that I showed any interest in percussion (and if you know me, it was an incredible 4 years of percussion playing that got me into college at 17 years old! More on that another time, perhaps).
During my college years a budding-conductor buddy of mine, Chris Kiver now a Choral Professor at Penn State University, and I would organize “Scratch” singing sessions in which anyone who wanted to play and sing the repertoire we had planned could do so. Of course we did much recruiting, but giving solo parts to multiple singers throughout each piece enabled them to get much needed experience, and Chris and I to learn many differing needs of accompaniment.
In the years that followed college I conducted various ensembles such as the Ealing Choral Society (thanks to the late great James Gaddarn), the Yalding Choral Society, the Medway Community College Singers, and a whole host of other one-off groups. Four highlights in particular were:
Melissa and I hanging out with John Rutter in NYC
In addition, I played timpani or percussion for countless choral societies around the UK in more pieces of music than I can remember – hundreds. And, being a percussionist usually with lots of time not actually playing, I got to listen to conductors rehearse their choirs, listen to the choir members mutter under their breath, and have choir members (usually altos) unsolicitally (?!) share their awe about how anyone could actually play the timpani: “I never knew they had pedals like that!”
Interestingly, only a handful of these choral activities “made the cut” onto my resume, so when most folk read my history of musical performance, they see “instrumental conductor” or even just “music teacher.” It’s quite annoying, really, because although conductors in the UK and Europe are trained to be teachers (hence the general reference to them as “Maestro“) in all genres of “formal” music – orchestral, choral, opera, musicals, some concert/wind band and maybe even ballet – in the USA conductors are labelled at a young age and ‘specialize’ not in leadership or motivation, but as a topical expert in just one of those genres. It’s such a pity.
Of course there are exceptions such as James Levine. Kind of. And the incomparable Leonard Bernstein. But generally, conductors in the USA are rarely recognized as even “capable” of conducting well in more than one musical genre. You can tell when a choral conductor has an orchestra in front of them, and you can tell when an orchestral conductor now has to deal with a choir, too. I’m quite proud of the fact that I was taught and expected to work with both, so now that I’m working with the Clearwater Chorus (this links to our Facebook page – please Like it!), not only do I feel comfortable and confident that I can help produce a good sound, help the singers sing together, and focus on sharing good stories and music with others (including the audience), but it is also bringing me back to my roots in music – as that little angelic Church of England choir boy in my village.
For your entertainment: This is one of my favourite Bernstein performances of showmanship, especially around the 5 minute mark. It’s even more engaging because of the video/ audio mis-synching!