Saturday, December 20, 2008
Wednesday, November 19, 2008
Running for the Drum
OMG! OMG!
Buffy's new album is on the way from Canada! I can hardly wait. Anne Linnets nyt album er også ude nu. Jeg også venter for det.
This has been a really good semester. My music research professors are looking for potential awards for one of my research papers, an overview of the douçaine. I'm also feeling really good about my larger paper, the historiography of the douçaine. I got my own copy of Barra Boydell's book on crumhorns yesterday and I am inspired to do a similar book for the douçaine farther down the line. I spent a little time on the method book yesterday. I can't imagine that too many people would want to play anything in Eb minor on the douçaine, but I think it is good practice in dealing with the difficult forked fingerings. That type of practice really helped me in a concert on Monday, where I did the cantus parts on some Landini ballatas. I found a couple with the right tessitura for tenor douçaine with lute playing the tenor line. Joe is a great improviser, so the role reversal worked out great.
Buffy's new album is on the way from Canada! I can hardly wait. Anne Linnets nyt album er også ude nu. Jeg også venter for det.
This has been a really good semester. My music research professors are looking for potential awards for one of my research papers, an overview of the douçaine. I'm also feeling really good about my larger paper, the historiography of the douçaine. I got my own copy of Barra Boydell's book on crumhorns yesterday and I am inspired to do a similar book for the douçaine farther down the line. I spent a little time on the method book yesterday. I can't imagine that too many people would want to play anything in Eb minor on the douçaine, but I think it is good practice in dealing with the difficult forked fingerings. That type of practice really helped me in a concert on Monday, where I did the cantus parts on some Landini ballatas. I found a couple with the right tessitura for tenor douçaine with lute playing the tenor line. Joe is a great improviser, so the role reversal worked out great.
Sunday, November 2, 2008
Congratulations! You are: a Medieval!
I took a goofy on-line philosophy test. It had remarkably bad grammar and spelling. I have never seen anyone refer to Bach as medieval. It's only a few centuries off.
At any rate, here are the results
The Medieval
25% Ancient, 31% Medieval, 31% Modern and 13% Post-Modern!
Medieval philosophy is probably more pessimistic than any other. One really gets the sense that medieval thinkers lived in a cold, dark, unreliable world, where pleasure was so hard to find that the desire for it became nearly uncontrollable. This is a world where the sinner is clearly divided from the saint
I tried to write the test in such a way that you didn’t have to be a religious person to get this result. The medieval way of looking at the world is not simply religious. It’s a serious, hierarchial, compulsive worldview, with a moral seriousness missing from some other eras. Medieval philosophers include some brilliant incisive minds, like that of Thomas Aquinas. What makes medieval philosophers unusual is the direction of their inquiries--they turned their gazes inward, to examine themselves, or upward, towards God, but hardly ever outward, towards the world around them.
Some medieval philosophers: Augustine, Anselm, Aquinas, Maimonides, Abelard, Erasmus
Some medieval artists: Dante, Chrétien de Troyes, Christine de Pisan, Rabelais, Chaucer, Bach
Typical medieval art forms: the morality play, war stories, contrapuntal music, the sermon, scatological humor, romantic poetry
At any rate, here are the results
The Medieval
25% Ancient, 31% Medieval, 31% Modern and 13% Post-Modern!
Medieval philosophy is probably more pessimistic than any other. One really gets the sense that medieval thinkers lived in a cold, dark, unreliable world, where pleasure was so hard to find that the desire for it became nearly uncontrollable. This is a world where the sinner is clearly divided from the saint
I tried to write the test in such a way that you didn’t have to be a religious person to get this result. The medieval way of looking at the world is not simply religious. It’s a serious, hierarchial, compulsive worldview, with a moral seriousness missing from some other eras. Medieval philosophers include some brilliant incisive minds, like that of Thomas Aquinas. What makes medieval philosophers unusual is the direction of their inquiries--they turned their gazes inward, to examine themselves, or upward, towards God, but hardly ever outward, towards the world around them.
Some medieval philosophers: Augustine, Anselm, Aquinas, Maimonides, Abelard, Erasmus
Some medieval artists: Dante, Chrétien de Troyes, Christine de Pisan, Rabelais, Chaucer, Bach
Typical medieval art forms: the morality play, war stories, contrapuntal music, the sermon, scatological humor, romantic poetry
Friday, October 31, 2008
Historiography of the douçaine
Well, its time to buckle down on the research papers. The 10-15 page paper for the music research class is in pretty good shape. It will only take some tweaking. It's just an overview of the douçaine and I doubt that it will have any chance of being published. Now I need to get busy on a 30-page historiography. I need to at least do an outline today. It will be interesting working with the etymology, as I have found 31 spellings so far for double reed instruments derived from the Latin word dulcis. Fun.
Wednesday, October 22, 2008
Jeg har det godt
I think I have my bearings now. Grad school is actually going well. I'm happy with my writing and looking forward to next semester's classes. After a few days of seeimg to not play a single note in tune, I've been scraping on the douçaine reeds, rediscovering my embouchure, and finding that I really can play the thing. My research on it has been going well. I like the tone of the first paper, so I have high hopes for the historiography.
My last couple of rehearsals with Jen have seen me playing douçaine instead of bass clarinet. Things started coming together really nicely today. Our first faculty recital of the season at NNU is coming up in less than two weeks, and for the first time, I am doubling on both instruments. We are doing some medieval dances, 5 Machaut ballades and virelais, some di Lasso ricercari, and the Hert setting of O Rosa Bella. With bass clarinet we are doing a few works from our CDs and some South American music. She asked if we could do some medieval music with me on BC (to help sell some CDs) and I agreed, but I came home and arranged some Bozza to do on douçaine. It will be a really fun program.
I'm looking forward to her getting a vielle, but In the meantime she is refitting a viola with gut strings and some other adjustments.
I had a great time playing some landini with Joe on lute today. It's nice to be able to play the top parts on some of those. I'm usually relegated to tenor or contratenor parts, which is fine.
I also commissioned a douçaine and organ piece from Ray this week. I asked for a piece that we could do in mass, at the AGO convention in 2011 and on my graduate recital.
very fun stuff...
My last couple of rehearsals with Jen have seen me playing douçaine instead of bass clarinet. Things started coming together really nicely today. Our first faculty recital of the season at NNU is coming up in less than two weeks, and for the first time, I am doubling on both instruments. We are doing some medieval dances, 5 Machaut ballades and virelais, some di Lasso ricercari, and the Hert setting of O Rosa Bella. With bass clarinet we are doing a few works from our CDs and some South American music. She asked if we could do some medieval music with me on BC (to help sell some CDs) and I agreed, but I came home and arranged some Bozza to do on douçaine. It will be a really fun program.
I'm looking forward to her getting a vielle, but In the meantime she is refitting a viola with gut strings and some other adjustments.
I had a great time playing some landini with Joe on lute today. It's nice to be able to play the top parts on some of those. I'm usually relegated to tenor or contratenor parts, which is fine.
I also commissioned a douçaine and organ piece from Ray this week. I asked for a piece that we could do in mass, at the AGO convention in 2011 and on my graduate recital.
very fun stuff...
Thursday, October 9, 2008
well, it's been awhile
July was the last time I posted and it seems so long ago. The Sun Valley Summer Symphony went fine in August. I just had to come home on my days off for an emergency root canal. $2000 later, I just got my permanent crown yesterday.
I am actually in grad school, finally! I'm working on an M.A. in Interdisciplinary Studies: Early Music and History. I'm paying out of pocket when I already live hand to mouth. Time to fill out a damn FAFSA for next year! I'm taking two methodology classes, Historians and Historical Interpretation and Intro to music Research. Of course, I'm in the early music ensemble, where we are mostly playing medieval music.
I've settled on titles for my research papers.
A Historiography of the Douçaine: a Problem of Etymology and Nomenclature
Demystifying the Douçaine: an Overview of the Cylindrical-bored "Still Shawm" of the Middle Ages and Renaissance
Here I go, setting the world on fire. Until I started the history class, I didn't even have the words historiography, etymology and nomenclature in my vocabulary.
I am actually in grad school, finally! I'm working on an M.A. in Interdisciplinary Studies: Early Music and History. I'm paying out of pocket when I already live hand to mouth. Time to fill out a damn FAFSA for next year! I'm taking two methodology classes, Historians and Historical Interpretation and Intro to music Research. Of course, I'm in the early music ensemble, where we are mostly playing medieval music.
I've settled on titles for my research papers.
A Historiography of the Douçaine: a Problem of Etymology and Nomenclature
Demystifying the Douçaine: an Overview of the Cylindrical-bored "Still Shawm" of the Middle Ages and Renaissance
Here I go, setting the world on fire. Until I started the history class, I didn't even have the words historiography, etymology and nomenclature in my vocabulary.
Monday, July 28, 2008
med ren
I had a blast at Sonoma State. I got a lesson with Rotem Gilbert and played in two of Peter Maund's groups. I really want to work with them again! I finally got to meet and play with Margriet Tindemans! She is so nice.
I wish I could play more douçaine right now, but I am mostly practicing clarinet for the Sun Valley Summer Symphony, where I am the only one in my section who is not in the San Francisco Symphony. After that I'll dive back in to the douçaine, start grad school and teaching at NNU and C of I.
I wish I could play more douçaine right now, but I am mostly practicing clarinet for the Sun Valley Summer Symphony, where I am the only one in my section who is not in the San Francisco Symphony. After that I'll dive back in to the douçaine, start grad school and teaching at NNU and C of I.
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