Re: Music [2]

by Norc Fri Apr 25, 2014 2:57 pm

yeah.... true.

by halfwise Fri Apr 25, 2014 3:02 pm

Ah, wikipedia says keyed shengs are a product of the 20th century: before then they had finger holes. So this is a modern instrument designed to be chromatic.

The article also lists a couple of 8 note scales (as opposed to our 7 notes), basically Dorian with a sharp 3rd added in, or our major scale with a flat 7 added in.

by Lancebloke Fri Apr 25, 2014 3:25 pm

My music theory sucks so badly!

by Bluebottle Fri Apr 25, 2014 9:37 pm

I haven't had all that much theorethical training either, Lance.

Though I always seem to remember this quote from a classicly trained musician:

"There's only twelve notes in music, there's no need to be affraid."

by bungobaggins Sun Apr 27, 2014 7:10 am

http://www.startribune.com/entertainment/music/256611111.html

With musicians lockout over, Vanska to return as Minnesota Orchestra music director

MINNEAPOLIS — After quitting last fall amid a protracted lockout of union musicians, Finnish conductor Osmo Vanska is returning as music director of the Grammy-winning Minnesota Orchestra, its board of directors said Thursday.

Vanska, 61, will lead at least 10 weeks of concerts for each of the next two seasons, the board said.

In a statement, Vanska said he looks forward to "getting back to music-making with the players and together re-establishing our worldwide reputation for artistic excellence."

Board Chair Gordon Sprenger said Vanska led the orchestra to "great heights" during his decade as music director.

"We are delighted he is back," Sprenger said in the statement.

Vanska resigned in October during a lockout of musicians that lasted 16 months. The dispute ended in January, when musicians agreed to pay cuts in a new three-year contract.

After the lockout ended, Vanska said orchestra President and CEO Michael Henson would have to step down for the orchestra to heal. Henson resigned last month but will remain in his post until Aug. 31.

In a statement, the musicians said they are excited about Vanska's return.

"This is a major step in rebuilding the trust and collaborative spirit within our organization as well as with our community," the musicians said.

Vanska already has conducted the orchestra three times at Orchestra Hall in downtown Minneapolis since the lockout ended and had been negotiating with management for his return. The board approved his new contract Thursday and said he accepted the same pay cut as the musicians.

In January, the Minnesota Orchestra won its first Grammy for best orchestral performance, for "Sibelius: Symphonies Nos. 1 & 4" that were recorded with Vanska in 2012.

The orchestra was founded in 1903.

by bungobaggins Sun Apr 27, 2014 5:21 pm

by Norc Sun Apr 27, 2014 5:44 pm

awesome. and awesome acoustic Very Happy

by Bluebottle Sun Apr 27, 2014 7:35 pm

Yeah, gorgeous. Nod

It's interesting from a Norwegian perspective that you can pretty much understand the Icelandic text.

Heyr, himna smiður,
hvers skáldið biður.
Komi mjúk til mín
miskunnin þín.
Því heit eg á þig,
þú hefur skaptan mig.
Eg er þrællinn þinn,
þú ert drottinn minn.

Guð, heit eg á þig,
að þú græðir mig.
Minnst þú, mildingur, mín,
mest þurfum þín.
Ryð þú, röðla gramur,
ríklyndur og framur,
hölds hverri sorg
úr hjartaborg.

Gæt þú, mildingur, mín,
mest þurfum þín,
helzt hverja stund
á hölda grund.
Send þú, meyjar mögur,
málsefnin fögur,
öll er hjálp af þér,
í hjarta mér.

by Bluebottle Sun Apr 27, 2014 7:36 pm

English translation for the rest of you.

Hear, smith of the heavens,
what the poet asks.
May softly come unto me
thy mercy.
So I call on thee,
for thou hast created me.
I am thy slave,
thou art my Lord.

God, I call on thee
to heal me.
Remember me, mild one, (or mild king. This is a pun on the word mildingur).
Most we need thee.
Drive out, O king of suns,
generous and great,
human every sorrow
from the city of the heart.

Watch over me, mild one,
Most we need thee,
truly every moment
in the world of men.
send us, son of the virgin,
good causes,
all aid is from thee,
in my heart.

by Norc Sun Apr 27, 2014 8:46 pm

pretty much my ass.

wait, hold up.. i can Shocked

not "pretty much" but i can at least get the idea what it is about..

by Norc Sun Apr 27, 2014 8:47 pm

also, did u know the icelandic word for aquarium is "fiskabur" which literally, LITERALLY! translates to "fish-cage"(reference http://translate.google.com/#no/is/akvarium )

by Bluebottle Sun Apr 27, 2014 9:37 pm

I didn't.

It's a very literal language, I guess.

And you have a point about the text. The first verse is pretty straight forward, but the second and third have a lot more purely Icelandic words so are more difficult. Still, it's fun to see how much one can actually understand.

by Norc Sun Apr 27, 2014 10:18 pm

yupp. also icelanders have a much more strict word-policy when using new words, lone(?)words (låneord, fremmedord) they rather make new.

by bungobaggins Mon Apr 28, 2014 4:10 am

Bluebottle wrote:English translation for the rest of you.

Hear, smith of the heavens,
what the poet asks.
May softly come unto me
thy mercy.
So I call on thee,
for thou hast created me.
I am thy slave,
thou art my Lord.

God, I call on thee
to heal me.
Remember me, mild one, (or mild king. This is a pun on the word mildingur).
Most we need thee.
Drive out, O king of suns,
generous and great,
human every sorrow
from the city of the heart.

Watch over me, mild one,
Most we need thee,
truly every moment
in the world of men.
send us, son of the virgin,
good causes,
all aid is from thee,
in my heart.

Those are beautiful lyrics, thanks for translating, Blue. Nod

by bungobaggins Mon Apr 28, 2014 11:36 pm

From music history's greatest hits. The cadence at the end of the first phrase is probably one of my favorite in all of music, the double leading-tone with the f sharp and c sharp.

by halfwise Mon Apr 28, 2014 11:59 pm

Bungo! I didn't know you were an early music aficionado! Very Happy

I've been into it since high school, always found new groups to play with, had to finally leave it behind when I move to New York. Sad

The Ars Nova (nicknamed the Medieval Avant Garde) of around Machaut's time is definitely a favorite. So intellectual. For those who don't know, many 20th century composers studied this period for inspiration.

My favorite story about this I've heard 3rd hand so don't have any names, but a couple of conductors put together a Stravinsky/Machaut concert. They tried to get a music critic to come, but he pooh-poohed the medieval part and said he'd come to the Stravinsky half only, which was to be the second half. Couldn't be bothered with out of date backwater music.

So on the day of the concert they announced to the audience before the first half began that they would switch the order as shown in the program: first they'd perform Stravinsky, then Machaut. The critic showed up during the intermission and sat enraptured during the second half (being Machaut), and left gushing about "that amazing Stravinsky, always looking for new sounds and textures!"

by bungobaggins Tue Apr 29, 2014 2:37 am

I do love early music, just...not all of it. Razz

You will never catch me listening to organum. And while I love the double-leading tone cadence, the Landini cadence is like nails on a chalkboard.

I love all the interesting harmonies, chord relationships we don't typically see again until the early romantic period, or ever again. (Pretty sure I've only seen double-leading tone cadences in 14th century music. Although I feel it should make a comeback.)

When I think about it, western music has a kind of ironic struggle to it. Starting mostly without rules and restrictions, people then imposed rules through the development of treatises in rhythm and harmony. And then during the late 19th century there is this breaking away from the harmonic and formal rules, back to freedom, but it is a completely different kind of freedom. People like Arny Schoenberg begin creating their own kind of freedom, but with limitations. The ultimate struggle for the liberation of music came from John Cage in finding a way to take control of the music out of the hands of the composer and performer. Of course, people could always do whatever they wanted with music, but I'm mostly speaking in terms of artistic trends. Interesting thing, music.

by bungobaggins Tue Apr 29, 2014 2:39 am

I would like to learn the crumhorn. But I'm thinking that an alto recorder may be a safer/cheaper option. Haven't played recorder since those halcyon days in elementary school shrieking on a soprano recorder.

by halfwise Tue Apr 29, 2014 2:45 am

Oh that's right, you did post the King's Singers before, and I had saluted your good taste.

Yeah, the Landini cadence is usually after a nice flowing passage that ends with "say what?" type of thing.

When done right the duplem and triplem stuff that flowed out of organum is pretty fun. Then there was all this popular music that was never notated and we only get guesses at it from centuries later. It's too bad we'll never get a chance to trace greek and roman music into what came after.

And uh...I played Krumhorn! Great instrument, that. Norc knows about them if I remember right.

by bungobaggins Tue Apr 29, 2014 2:46 am

halfwise wrote:Bungo! I didn't know you were an early music aficionado! I've been into it since high school, always found new groups to play with, had to finally leave it behind when I move to New York.

The Ars Nova (nicknamed the Medieval Avant Garde) of around Machaut's time is definitely a favorite. So intellectual. For those who don't know, many 20th century composers studied this period for inspiration.

My favorite story about this I've heard 3rd hand so don't have any names, but a couple of conductors put together a Stravinsky/Machaut concert. They tried to get a music critic to come, but he pooh-poohed the medieval part and said he'd come to the Stravinsky half only, which was to be the second half. Couldn't be bothered with out of date backwater music.

So on the day of the concert they announced to the audience before the first half began that they would switch the order as shown in the program: first they'd perform Stravinsky, then Machaut. The critic showed up during the intermission and sat enraptured during the second half (being Machaut), and left gushing about "that amazing Stravinsky, always looking for new sounds and textures!"

That's really cool that you got to participate in early music ensembles. Very Happy

What instrument/voice-range did/do you play?

I've never heard that story, but it does sound like something a music critic would fall for. Laughing

by bungobaggins Tue Apr 29, 2014 2:56 am

halfwise wrote:

When done right the duplem and triplem stuff that flowed out of organum is pretty fun. Then there was all this popular music that was never notated and we only get guesses at it from centuries later. It's too bad we'll never get a chance to trace greek and roman music into what came after.

And uh...I played Krumhorn! Great instrument, that. Norc knows about them if I remember right.

Well, we'll always have the Epitaph of Seiklos. Every music student's favorite (as it's usually the first piece in any history text and is always on the listening exam!)! Razz

It does suck, though. It's like, "Ok, here's a brief overview of Greek music theory. Aaaaand, 1000 years later!"

Krumhorn. I love you

Too bad they didn't bother to film the whole chanson. Mad

by bungobaggins Tue Apr 29, 2014 3:08 am

Hmmm, I could build my own krumhorn for 400 dollars, or get an alto recorder for around 20 dollars on Amazon. Razz

by halfwise Tue Apr 29, 2014 3:12 am

Yep, the epitaph is fittingly named: the one single solitary complete piece of ancient melody we have. All else is fragments. Sad

I played krumhorn, recorders, did a brief stint on viola di gamba; tried shawm but didn't have the chops for it. Ever since I've heard about the Krumhorn Conclave I'd wanted to do it, but you need to own a krumhorn. The cheapest ones look and sound like shit but cost a few hundred bucks. I had the chance to play a beautiful boxwood one, left it in a bathroom where it disappeared, put up posters and had to ransom it back. Only cost me $50 to reclaim it, it's a good thing the guy didn't know it was worth $1300.

by bungobaggins Tue Apr 29, 2014 3:20 am

1300 is a pretty hefty sum. pale

Good thing it was returned. I think recorder would be a good place to start. I've only ever played piano, other than the time that I failed at teaching myself guitar.

You know, I was pleasantly surprised while viewing DOS; they had that little band playing as the company departs for the mountain and one of the guys was playing a serpent! That was the only part of the movie that I enjoyed besides the end! Laughing

by Pettytyrant101 Tue Apr 29, 2014 3:30 am

I played chanter in primary school- had a fierce teacher, when you made a mistake he rapped your knuckles with the metal end- I left more than one of his classes with a lot less skin on my knuckles than I went in with Mad