#Bassoon in Live Performances

[evscomposer]

On Friday, May 26, one of my recently completed compositions "Miniature" No. 14 for bassoon and piano will be performed by Charlotte Naden and Beniko Almgren!

If you find yourself at Malmö Academy of Music in Sweden, I invite you to room D206 at 16.30 so you'll get to hear this piece! ☺️

Many thanks to the fantastic musicians who are going to perform my music, it's an honour to collaborate with you! I really look forward to finally hearing this live!

[wembleygoodboy]

Wembley, may I ask where you got your name? Were you named after the puppet?

itis actuolly kindof a Lomg Storey, so iwill let dadmom tellit! 😊👍 (it also doubols as My Orogin Storey!)

[story time! this is gonna be a long one, so strap in, ahaha

so, i went to college for music (education and performance; flute performance, specifically. i can wipe my ass w that degree now tho lol), so i was in a couple different ensembles at any given time. in 2013, we were playing a multi-movement piece called "3 Ayres from Gloucester" by Hugh Stuart. the 3rd movement is called "The Fiefs of Wembley." you can listen to a performance of it here. wembley is apparently a location within london. think "wembley stadium!"

i always joked with my fellow flutist friend (we'll call her M) who i shared a stand with that Wembley sounded like the name of a mischievous cat. "wembley get off the counter!!!" "UGH NO why always on the carpet, wembley?!" etc. it helped that the tune itself totally sounds like the theme song of a somewhat skittish yet naughty little cat, parading around causing chaos until he's spotted, then darting away.

on october 3rd, 2013, i came into rehearsal and find M looking pretty distraught. i ask whats up, and shes like "i think i saw a kitten in the middle of the club lawn, it was just laying there, maybe its hurt, idk what to do!" im like okay lets check it out together, and our conductor (huge sweetheart) gives us the okay to go investigate.

sure enough, theres a tiny black blob just laying there in the middle of the lawn; not hidden away in the bushes where a mama cat wouldve left him. as we approached, the blob got up and awkwardly darted away towards the lil decorative pine shrubs dividing the lawn from a small parking lot. we followed it, and there he was: a small black kitten, crouched in terror, hiding in the shelter of the shrubbery.

i dont remember when exactly it happened, but it suddenly dawned on me. i turned to my friend. "M... its WEMBLEY..."

we tried to coax him out to no avail- not even food would persuade him, and he looked very thin- and he was a bit too close to the road for our comfort, so i asked my roommate to keep an eye on the lil guy while M and i went back to rehearsal. after it ended, we recruited a small gaggle of band geeks to capture the kitten. it was the bassoon player who finally caught him, plucking him out of a miniature shrub he'd tried to climb.

i swaddled wembley up in a black bandana i kept in my back pocket (for the Fashion™���), hopped into my roommate's car with my stuff, and headed back with my roommate to our little on-campus apartment. as i stood in the living room, waiting for him to bring our stuff from the car, wembley began to purr in my arms :,)

(to be fair, cats may purr to self-soothe when theyre stressed; its not exclusively an indicator of pleasure. but. Still, lol.)

turns out lil wembley was only a month old: just old enough for solid food, thankfully, but much younger than the age at which kittens are generally separated from their mothers for adoption, which generally occurs after 3 months. he also had a sprained leg, which made walking very difficult and painful for him. the leg was likely the reason he was abandoned by his feral mother, as if he couldnt keep up, she couldnt afford to stop for him when she likely had a whole litter to care for. understandable, but her loss was my (and wembley's!) gain. 💚

i had to tame him, as he was feral, and EXTREMELY fearful of humans, but i spent hours that night sitting on the opposite side of the bathroom, slowly earning his trust until, little by little, i was able to scoot close enough to him to pet him. he'd obviously never been petted before; the look on his little face was pure magic. he completely opened up to me after that moment.

i totally had myself fooled, thinking id find a home for him once his leg was all healed up (my vet major pal showed me how to make him a splint), but... then he started sleeping with me and... well..... yeah. nope. he was my son, and i was his dadmom.

and i always will be. 💚

BONUS PICTURES:

the first picture i ever took of Wembley (thats the bottom of a red solo cup i sewed fabric around so he could drink water from it without risking him getting cut on the plastic):

baby's first petting 💚:

he relaxed a lot after discovering the joy of Petting :)

settling down for his first night with us, too sleepy for this world 💚:

days later, with his lil foot in a splint, sitting in his temporary makeshift litterbox. the Poopie Prince!

...TL;DR, its the name of a part of london, and i chose it because of an instrumental piece of music. coulda just said that, i suppose, but I'll ALWAYS jump at the chance to tell wembley's Origin Story and share baby pics, ahaha 💚

-dadmom]

[anasthesi]

”The Bullet Catch Trick” – a “Good Omens” inspired original piece~👼😈

«The Bullet Catch Trick« – a “Good Omens” inspired original composition!👼😈

Music by Anasthesi (@_anasthesi_; aka moi heh)~🎶

Illustration by the wonderful @makoyanaplays !!🎨 (Permission to repost granted!)

Performed by my talented classmates and I~🌟

Finally got one of my GO pieces performed live uaaaaa!! So thankful to the classmates and professor, who made it possible, truly an amazing opportunity🥹

This piece was based on the S2E4 scene, where Aziraphale and Crowley were performing “The Bullet Catch” trick on the ~West End Stage~. You can read a ~fancier and proper (lol)~ story of the piece in the video’s description☺️

The piece is written for: 3 violins, viola, cello, harp, accordion, bassoon

If you want the sheet music to play it, write me on anasthesi.21@gmail.com!☺️ But do remember to credit!!

The series still keeps its immense grip on me lol, so worry not, many more pieces will come your way, and I’m SO GALD it also still inspires me to write music~🌟 So I will keep saying BIG THANK YOU TO NEIL GAIMAN, TERRY PRATCHETT AND DAVID ARNOLD FOR YOUR AMAZING WORK AND INSPIRING SO MANY🔥

Keep on a look out for mooooore heheheh~~🌌

Hope you enjoy it!!🥺

!! DO NOT RE-UPLOAD, CLIP, or USE WITHOUT PERMISSION !! or we’ll send a legion of Demons after you👁️👁️

[jgthirlwell]

FLORIDA!!! This Saturday January 13 2024, Alterity Chamber Orchestra will be performing major new chamber works written for them by JG Thirlwell in Orlando, Florida. This is a FREE CONCERT! The program will feature the new orchestral works Magnus Morbus and Exulansis. Alterity will also perform a woodwind quintet entitled Hernea, Thirlwell's first piece for that instrumentation. In addition Alterity will perform a string quartet version of the Manorexia classic Armadillo Stance. Alterity Chamber Orchestra’s instrumentation is two violins, viola, cello, bass, flute, clarinet, oboe, bass clarinet, bassoon, horn, trumpet, trombone, piano and two percussionists. The show is at Delaney Street Baptist Church, 1919 Delaney Ave, Orlando, FL 32806 and is presented by the Timucua Arts Foundation. The performance is free, although you can donate if you wish. The show will also be live streamed, Video On Demand. You can reserve tickets and get the live stream HERE See you there!

[me-myself-and-my-oboe]

Chapter 2: A Breath of Fresh Air

Pairing: Bucky Barnes x original female character

Summary

Chapter 1

Bucky’s heart pounded as he entered the music room, the familiar but almost-forgotten smell of polished brass and well-used sheet music meeting him like a warm embrace. The space was larger than he’d expected, filled with soft echoes of past rehearsals and pieces of music lingering in the walls. It felt alive, like it had seen countless performers pour their hearts into every note. He took a deep breath, hoping it would steady the nerves tugging at him.

“Hey, Buck!” Steve called from across the room with a warm smile. The drummer was setting up, his focus and energy unmistakable. “Didn’t think you’d actually make it.”

Bucky returned the smile, his tension easing just a little. “Yeah, well… you twisted my arm,” he replied, only half-joking.

Steve gave him an encouraging nod from where he was, gesturing for Bucky to find his seat. “Grab a spot next to Sam,” he called, flashing a thumbs-up.

Sam was already there, adjusting his music stand with an easygoing grin on his face. “So you’re the famous trumpet player Steve’s been telling us about, huh?” he teased, nudging Bucky as he sat down. Sam played the bugle, and there was an infectious excitement in his voice. “Can’t wait to see you in action.”

Bucky chuckled nervously, gripping his trumpet case. “Yeah, let’s hope I can still manage a few notes,” he murmured. It had been so long since he last played—almost another lifetime. His mind drifted to memories of the army, where he’d first learned the trumpet, the sound of it giving him a sense of grounding even amid the chaos. But now, with his metal arm and a long stretch of silence between him and the instrument, he didn’t know how he’d fare.

Across the room, Natasha waved at him, her flute resting on her lap as she chatted with Wanda, who was preparing her clarinet. Clint sat nearby, adjusting his bassoon with a focused expression, glancing over to share a friendly nod with Bucky. Peter, sitting with his percussion instruments, gave him a thumbs-up, looking thrilled to see him there. Bucky raised his hand in return, feeling a bit of his apprehension ease with each familiar face he spotted.

As he settled in, a warm laugh rang out from nearby, clear and bright like a melody in itself. Bucky looked up and spotted a young woman with wavy brown hair, her eyes alight as she laughed at something Natasha had said. She had an easygoing warmth to her, gesturing as she spoke, her hands moving as animatedly as her voice.

Sam leaned over, nodding in her direction. “Tara,” he said quietly. “She’s… well, she’s someone you’ll want to meet. Plays the oboe, and she’s one of those people who lights up a room, y’know?”

Bucky nodded, his curiosity piqued. Tara’s energy seemed magnetic, adding a new brightness to the already lively room. For the first time since he’d arrived, he felt a hint of eagerness mixing in with his nerves.

Before he could take in more, Nick Fury’s voice cut through the hum of voices in the room. “All right, people. Let’s get this session started. We’re here to make music, so I hope you’re all ready to work.” His commanding presence was softened by a hint of amusement as he took in the group, his hands clapping for attention.

Bucky adjusted his grip on his trumpet, lifting it to his lips as they started to play. The first note came out a little unsteady, but he adjusted quickly, finding his balance as he played, letting the music carry him. Each note felt like a piece of himself he was rediscovering, something long lost but deeply familiar.

The music filled the room, voices merging as the players found their collective rhythm. For a moment, Bucky closed his eyes, feeling at home again. He’d forgotten how grounding it felt, how playing took him out of his head and into a flow he couldn’t find anywhere else.

He stole one more glance at Tara, who was focused on her sheet music, seemingly unaware of the impression she’d already made. As they moved through the piece, he couldn’t help but feel a spark of something new, an excitement he hadn’t expected to find here.

[bittersweetresilience]

songs from my playlist kitty section adrien and felukagami would listen to (5)

let's get some classical music in here

ADRIEN AGRESTE

"It is not meant to create a powerful effect; it is rather a Romance, calm and melancholy, giving the impression of someone looking gently towards a spot that calls to mind a thousand happy memories. It is a kind of reverie in the moonlight on a beautiful spring evening."

As a pianist, Adrien would definitely have heard of Chopin, a virtuoso of the Romantic period who composed primarily for solo piano. This is one of his two piano concertos, which Chopin performed himself at his final public appearance in Poland before he left for Vienna and Paris. I think Adrien would enjoy playing with an orchestra more than playing alone, and he would love the gentle musicality in this second movement as well as its interplay with piano and bassoon.

It's a classic dreamlike piano piece, which Adrien would listen to while unwinding. Unlike Debussy's later works, this one is not marked by exciting climaxes and color, but maintains a peaceful atmosphere. I imagine Adrien might have heard it first with his mother.

Let Adrien have fun playing piano with other people! He'd love these four hand piano dances so much.

FELIX FATHOM

"An hour ago I finished the score of two movements of a large symphonic composition. If I succeed in carrying it off, if I manage to complete the third and fourth movements, then perhaps I'll be able to call it my Seventh Symphony. Why am I telling you this? So that the radio listeners who are listening to me now will know that life in our city is proceeding normally."

Shostakovich's wartime compositions are some of his richest. This symphony is a requiem for the beseiged city in which he was living during the Second World War. After the Leningrad Philharmonic Orchestra was evacuated, the symphony premiered with surviving members of the Leningrad Radio Orchestra, most suffering from starvation and three of whom died during rehearsals; musicians, civilians, and military united to support the performance, which was broadcast to German lines by loudspeakers to silence their forces. Not only is it an incredibly powerful and moving piece, but it is also rich with history. Félix would listen to the full duration each time.

Félix is undoubtedly a violinist. He likes violin concertos. He likes skilled players. I wanted to fit Vivaldi in here as well but he did not want to admit to being even more basic than he already is.

LUKA COUFFAINE

"He's awake night after night, plays wonderful things, and can't tear himself away from the marvelous music he plays—there are so many ideas that one can't believe it is true, all of them so rich in possibilities for development, so full of life. But if I have been excited by all of this, I have also suffered too."

Luka and Sibelius are an absolutely divine match in my eyes. I chose this concerto specifically because Luka as a violinist means so much to me. Its technical aspects combine with its rhapsodic nature, and it is full of genuine emotion, as Luka would desire from any musical work. Originally composed during a dark and melancholy period of Sibelius's life, it was revised later on and gained its recognition and distinct beauty. Sibelius himself longed to be a successful violinist, but he was known far more for his compositions and in this sense was a failed musician. One might hear his grief and farewell to the instrument in this piece, his only concerto.

The trajectory of this symphony from mourning to triumph reflects the course of Mahler's life as he wrote it. Mostly I just want Luka to be listening to these sorts of masterpieces in order to learn from them. He builds and plays stringed instruments. Can we get some counterpoint or something?

TSURUGI KAGAMI

I have no reasoning for this but I know with all of my heart Kagami and Félix would both listen to Tchaikovsky. This recording specifically sneaks in a Romeo and Juliet overture they might enjoy roleplaying with. Such romantics.

Kagami would really enjoy quartets. They are uncomplicated in the sense of having only four instruments, which can be picked out and focused on one by one; simultaneously, they form a complete and interwoven whole. Listening to these would be comforting to her in their perfection through togetherness and even simplicity. As the father of the string quartet, Haydn would be a reliable choice.

(playlist masterpost)

[burlveneer-music]

John Metcalfe - Tree - a modern classical suite with both chamber and orchestral arrangements.

Tree is eight immersive compositions that take the listener through twenty-four hours in the life of one of nature’s most majestic creations The Durutti Column viola-playing master - a composer and arranger for the likes of U2, Coldplay, Peter Gabriel and Blur, as well as co-founder with Tony Wilson of the Factory Classical label – had been composing music spontaneously, instinctively, when the idea of Tree arrived. The album came from a desire in John Metcalfe to write at scale – perhaps a natural reaction for a composer writing out of the silences and solitude of our recent pandemic years. “The pieces I was writing were big and trying to be bigger, so I knew they had to be to do with something – and then I thought about one of the most profound experiences of my life.” He is referring to seeing Tāne Mahuta as an adult, the largest known living kauri tree in the world. Set in an ancient subtropical rainforest on the North Island of Aoreatoa / New Zealand, John had spent his early childhood living in that part of the world after his British father had "escaped there as a ten-pound Pom". Having emigrated to England as a child, he went back to New Zealand with his wife when he was 26. He explains, “…we thought we’d tick something off the tourist list, and I thought we're going to see trees, which is great – but we weren’t prepared for what happened.”. They both cried when they found Tãne Mahuta, and Metcalfe is still amazed at the reaction he had: “… as an atheist, it was the closest I’ve ever got to a spiritual moment… there was something extraordinary about the atmosphere in the forest and the size of this tree, and the sense that it had been there a long time. It was about the protection it gave, and the sense of connection we had with that protection.” Written for live players and recorded in Abbey Road Studios to convey human connection at scale, Tree imagines what it would be like to be sat completely still under a tree that you love, being alive to the ever-shifting interplay of light, colour, weather and sound. Shimmering pulsating layered tracks take the listener on a voyage that takes in the dawn chorus, depicted by conversations between chirruping woodwind and staccato strings, through to the solemnity of dusk and into the playful night. The album at times summons up the folkloric power of ancient forests through an emotional crescendo in emotion and sound, before bringing us back to sunrise, and a reflection on the journey we’ve taken. Tree isn’t just about Tãne Mahuta, explains Metcalfe: “It could be about any tree – they’re all very magical.” This record isn’t a political statement, but it's clear to him that as science progresses, and as climate breakdown progresses, people are trying to find deeper ways to understand and cherish nature. "It’s about the music that people are trying to create to connect with things that are huge and beautiful and inexplicable around them." Tree is John's beautiful, emotional attempt. "My album's about describing our relationship with something as every-day and extraordinary as a tree, and how it can be an incredibly important part of who we are.”  All tracks written, produced and performed by John Metcalfe Additional Strings on Tracks 1,3,5,6,8 Violins Everton Nelson (leader), Natalia Bonner, Charlie Brown, Emil Chakalov, Alison Dods, Louisa Fuller, Richard George, Raja Halder, Marianne Haynes, Rick Koster, Oli Langford, Steve Morris, Charles Mutter, Tom Pigott-Smith, Cathy Thompson, Debbie Widdup Violas, Peter Lale, Reiad Chibah, Gillianne Haddow, Kate Musker, Andy Parker, Rachel Robson Celli Richard Harwood, Adrian Bradbury, Ian Burdge, David Daniels, James Douglas, Julia Graham, Sophie Harris, Tony Woollard, Double Basses Stacey Watton, Roger Linley, Richard Pryce, Lucy Shaw Woodwind on Tracks 3,4,5,6,7,8 Oboe Alun Derbyshire Bassoon Sarah Burnet Strings fixed by Jenny Goshawk for Isobel Griffiths Ltd. Cover Design; Marc Bessant

[nathanielbellows]

Live video performance of my song "Keep in Mind," with Mason Jar Music and an ensemble of violins, oboe, clarinet, French horn, and bassoon (arranged by Gabriel Gall) in the woods of Connecticut.

[lesser-known-composers]

Ludwig Thuille (1861-1907) - Sextet in B-flat major Op. 6 for piano and woodwind quintet Anton Nel, piano; Mark Teplitsky, flute; Paul Lueders, oboe; Ilya Shterenberg, clarinet; Sharon Kuster, bassoon; Jeff Garza, horn

Live performance: May 17, 2021 Laurel Heights Church in San Antonio

[theloniousbach]

FRIENDS OF MUSIC, #1 in 2024-2025 at ELIOT CHAPEL

Friends Bob Chamberlin and Jan Chamberlin are organizers of this fine chamber music series and Bob opened the program and the season with Debussy’s Clair de Lune. Also before intermission was Kenji Bunch’s Summer Sounds performed by the Xylem Collective, a wind ensemble. The showpiece though was the Mendelssohn Piano Trio #1 featuring Daniel Schene/Wanda Becker/Andrew Ruben.

Clair de Lune suffers from familiarity, so, in a variation on Yogi Berra, nobody listens to it any more. Bob let me listen to it and that’s a gift. In this setting, of course, he’d play it straight through. But too often in popular culture, a relatively few seconds of the theme fills in for the work as a whole. Hearing it as a whole and with much more experience with Debussy’s piano music made it more than the appealing theme. The full five minutes allows the song, the tune to breathe. Putting it with the rest of the Suite Bergamasque might have provided even more context. But Bob’s unrushed reading was an opportunity to let go of preconceptions.

The Xylem Collective finds underperformed, often contemporary, compositions for wind quintet (and sometimes, this time, piano) Bunch’s suite was lively and appealing both in its own right and for this appealing instrumentation to explore. There were pairings that introduced themes and movements—bassoon/clarinet, piano/oboe, bassoon/horn, piano, then bassoon (my favorite), and piccolo/piano. They all got to explore each mostly American theme. That favorite bassoon section began with an extended note before giving way to an oh so familiar theme. While I thought it was a hymn, but, as they told me, it was a heart wrenching song I know from Bruce Molsky, Peg and Awl, about the displacement of crafts people by industrialization. The bassoon is properly plaintive. Check out about the 30 minute mark of the video below. But I just like bassoons and the harmonies with clarinet and horn in those sections were evocative..

After intermission, Daniel Schene offered crisp comments about the Mendelssohn Trio. The crispest comment was that “it’s a helluva piece.” Indeed it is. I prepped for this by watching versions featuring, in turn, Martha Argerich, Joshua Bell, and Stefan Hofmeyer of the ATOS trio. I was drawn sequentially to the piano, violin, and cello. But Thomas Hoppe from ATOS was impressive too, so as fine as the trio and chamber music elements of the work, today and generally, the piano work is compelling. Movements one and four roar, three is brisk and reminiscent of Midsummer’s Night Music. Schene did roar, but like Argerich and Hoppe, he was an attentive ensemble player. Becker and Ruben were unassuming but right there and Mendelssohn gave all three (and us) lots to work with. My first piano trio was #2 and that is immediately familiar—and now this one is too.

Here it is: https://www.youtube.com/live/3Dm-BTO96pY?si=If2wT-5H8wlaEjrz

[law334-blog]

ANOHNI and The Johnsons

Lately, because of really annoying IP addresses and zones I have been locked out of my streaming music and I only have with me some of the actually physical CD’s that I burnt into my computer and exported to my phone a long time ago.

Is nice because I have a lot of Prince, Björk, Gazelle Twin, Paul Simon, Falete, my humble beginnings on Philip Glass’ wonderworld, and funnily enough, one Cindytalk album: In This World.

Because of different reasons, this time coming back to Berlin did not feel as exciting as other times, so I boarded a plane to this city I really adore not so full of beans, as I would have usually done.

B. U. T.

When I was on the Sbahn from the airport, a friend of someone I know from London shared on a story about one spare ticket for ANOHNI and The Johnsons. I replied straight away asking if it was still available, and happily for me it was!

The reason why came across the artist formerly known as Antony and The Johnsons in the first place was through Björk’s Dull Flame of Desire. I found her voice to be so intoxicating and beautiful, as if the ocean’s foam was made of carpet-thick velvet.

I cannot take pride in having dwelled extensively on their discography back then, other than just enjoying the odd song here and there. Regardless of this, when I saw that they were playing I could not resist attending a show lead by one of the seldom voices that is able to show you the depth of emotions within just one note.

When I found out that the last time they toured was 14 years ago in 2010 it already started to look very good but I was not ready for what was to overcome.

-

During my years living in London, while at a festival in Portugal I got to meet Cinder Sharp, the lead musician and vocalist from the legendary industrial / post-punk band Cindytalk. She couldn’t believe she met two bassoonists at the same time, (this story for another time), so when back to the concrete jungle we both called home, she invited me over for a music session. We were both living in the same area so this made it even more special: not many people in my world lived SW.

After a beautiful evening, she invited me to join Cindytalk with my bassoon. This thrilled me to the bones as I was on the look for another band; the one before didn’t go too well because of a not-as-lovely-as-she-seemed drummer. Sadly, Cinder moved back to Scotland before this got to become a reality.

Following Mamma Chadd’s advise: NATO (Not Attached To Outcome), I still can proudly say the fact that I, wif ma bassoon m8, was a good enough musician to be invited to join Cindytalk, a band formed 12 years before I was born.

The concert started with a performance executed by someone that seemed familiar, and after its conclusion, ANOHNI came on to the stage, looking stunning and really embracing herself after 14 years of not touring with this one project of hers.

She started singing and, like a kid in a candy store, I just couldn’t take my eyes of her. Her beautiful voice, accompanied by one of the tightest bands I have ever heard, sailed through some of their old material as well as new.

One third or so into the the full piece, an old recording reproduced the voice of a NY hooker who after exposing her struggles and the difficulties of just existing as she had to exist, called for a revolution and to do something about the situation which her and many others in the community suffered from.

Then, You Are My Sister happened, and she beautifully advocated to embrace the unity of women as the saving tool in the toolbox that we still have not used. The one that most likely will work in order to help society move forward in a healthier way. Because advocating for the unity of women means embracing the love, care and compassion of mothers, daughters; of sisters.

As the concert was getting closer to the end, Anohni told the audience that the recording that had played earlier was from the voice of Marsha P. Johnson, the trans icon that together with Sylvia Rivera started the riot that we today know as Pride. She told us her was the reason why she named the band the way she did. In line with her statements before, she mentioned though, that we should always act out of kindness, and to have as a mentality a concept that I can only recall as the ‘debt of kindness’ that we should all owe one another. Known or unknown.

I think this was beautiful because even though we needed Marsha and Sylvia to throw that first brick so we, as queer people, can just exist, we are now in 2024 and there are other ways to get around problems and seeking solutions. She also advocated for the power that Berlin has in order to change things for the good, being closer to the source, so to speak.

After a second performance from the same familiar artist, she then introduced the band. Believe me, I have not heard such a tight and amazing band in a very, very long time. Even at top-tier classical performances. Not only in terms of sound, timbre, timing and complex layered polyrhythms, but the tuning was spectacular. But we are talking espectacular like swaying in and out of microtonal harmonies with extreme accuracy. I thought they maybe were tired or something and that’s why things suddenly got a bit out, but no, the fact that then they got back to traditional tuning and back into microtonal was quite something. I want to follow my instinct and believe this was premeditated as it felt extremely accurate and in the right moments portraying exactly the right moods - we’re talking about highly skilled musicians after all.

Before heading to the concert, while reading more about Anohni, I learnt that she had transitioned and was publicly out since 2015. My ignorant ass had only learnt about her and her musicianship during the early albums era under the previous name and had no idea of the journey she had undergone.

Seeing her embracing her true identity and exploring the topics of womanhood through songs like You Are My Sister and the cover of Sometimes I Feel Like A Motherless Child felt really special and also brought me back to the first time I met, and performed (at someone else’s piece) with Cinder back in Portugal. It was so inspiring to see this pure beauty take shape in front of our eyes.

I guess, attending Madrid’s pride for the first time after I left the city 12 years ago had given me the extra queer oomph that I didn’t know I needed to tap into this deep feeling of queer sisterhood, brotherhood, the hood, siblinghood? and let my feelings take over me as if I was standing at the bottom of a waterfall*.

The concert concluded, but not without me noticing that during the show, there were certain characteristics in the performative movements of Anohni’s arms that definitely reminded me to some of the ceremonial practices I learnt back in the day in Treadwells, which gave this interesting aspect to the overall piece, as if a ritual was being carried on stage. The reason why I also bring this up (not just to give context of the way I see the world and interpret things around me) is because one of the reasons why I got interested in occultism in the first place was because of KAOS and it’s magick approach to a club setting. When Anon introduced the band, she also did introduced the performer, who had started the band with back in the day in New York. No wonder she seemed familiar, as she was Johanna Constantine, a close friend to the people in London I consider my chosen family, who very much are behind KAOS and its origins.

Seeing all of this come together into one 2 hour long performance, and be able to enjoy all of that washing over me was a spectacular experience that will always cherish and that will always remind me of the importance of music as social glue and being one of the driving forces of what I like to call social engineering (for some reason this term has really bad connotations, but I disagree. My thoughts on that for another day).

In the end Berlin welcomed me with open arms and made me feel right at home. Did some music here too (which was the main reason of my visit), and now waiting for a Sunday boogie at the big old power plant before heading back to Madrid.

Till next time.

[autistic-autumn]

Music Ramblings #1

Decided to start doing these every now and again. Will tag all posts with music I've found and my thoughts on it with '#Autumn's Music Ramblings'. My inbox is always open if you want to send music in and I love people doing that. Will sort out exactly what's happening later but for now I just have this. If you want to send me music then feel free. Always like people sending in whatever. I'll probably respond to ask and then later give more rambling though. If you want me to give you music then you can also ask and I can find you something. I mostly just like rambling about music a lot.

Capital Punishment by Abuse Ken This one was suggested by @aroace-poly-show (sorry marlo for ping, didn't get chance to respond earlier when you shared). This isn't a style I tend to listen to very often but was very cool. The way the piece constantly plays with shifting the rhythm in the sections is very cool and gives a lot of drive between sections. I quite like how the chorus is effectively just pedaling the high G while shifting chords underneath. The leaps here are nice. Makes for a very strong sound compared to the more melodic verses. Do enjoy a nice modulation during final chorus. Overall very cool piece and will likely continue to listen to in future. Used to listen to a fair bit more vocaloid but never got that far into finding new stuff.

Samuel Barber, Adagio for Strings, Op. 11 This is honestly one of the best pieces I've found recently. It's so sublime and beautiful. I personally prefer the 1960 version Barber wrote for choir. Something about closely set voices that is particularly pleasing. It's just a little softer and smoother than the string. I'm pretty sure there's some psychological reason why critical bandwidth doesn't really apply so much to human voices. I've been listening to this almost on loop recently. Was particularly nice while walking in the rain yesterday while it was a bit dark and kind of cold. Hearing this live in a venue like a church with all that resonance would be incredible and I hope to be able to see a performance one day.

Samuel Barber, Toccata Festiva, Op. 36 Been on a bit of a Samuel Barber roll recently and just picked a bunch of his stuff out of the library. Did not realize this one was an organ concertina really. Very exciting and organs are such cool instruments that really don't have enough soloist + orchestra repertoire. I actually posted a video of this one after listening to it with just the organ pedal cadenza because that thing is wild to watch someone play. You never really know what you're getting with Samuel Barber and this was certainly a fun and dynamic piece.

Tchaikovsky Symphony No.4 in F minor, Op. 36 Generally a very nice symphony but that's sort of expected with Tchaikovsky. A bit frilly at times but that is also just how Tchaikovsky is. Not much really stood out to me as particularly notable in this but was generally nice enough. The third movement however is extremely cool and the high speed pizz reminds me a lot of the second movement from the Ravel string quartet. Certainly a lot of a fun with that movement and was quite interesting. Not my favourite Tchaikovsky symphony but nice enough.

Gustav Holst Op.3 Quintet in A minor This is quite a nice short set of four movement for Oboe, Clarinet, Horn, Bassoon and Piano. I do like wind ensembles particularly so this was nice. It's from Holst's student years and never got performed till after his death in 1989. Likely written around the turn of the century. Does sound like a late romantic piece rather than the later Holst works. I personally thing the first and second movements are the best. The first has some very nice melodies and is smooth and elegant. The second movement is highly paced and neat but nothing hugely notable I don't think. Third movement is pretty interesting and the B section is particularly pleasing, although doesn't last very long. This is admittedly the first time I have seen a proper score use quadruple dotted notes, normally you only ever get a double if you're lucky. Fourth movement is quite nice too although nothing really stands out to me other than the cadence at the end which is quite interesting and is certainly hinting towards Holst's later harmonic development.

[tellthemeerkatsitsfine]

Went out to see live comedy last night, for the first time in months. It was also a rare time for me to go to a proper comedy clubs, rather than just to pubs where people work out material. This was a Saturday night at one of our two major dedicated clubs – the height of comedy in the area. The night all the comedians work their way up until they can play that. A club that I yesterday heard John Hasting’s call “Canada’s equivalent of Jongleurs” on the ComCom podcast, which makes me immediately understand exactly what British comedians mean when they use “Jongleurs” as shorthand for “a certain type of comedy club”. I mean I’d worked out what they mean from context anyway, but that comparison makes it clearer to me. A club where I’m not going to write its name, not because I’m avoiding doxing myself (this club is a franchise that’s all over Canada so saying its name wouldn’t tell you where I live, also this post would already let people look up where I live by Googling where John Hastings is now, but I can’t imagine anyone cares enough to bother doing that), but because I’m vaguely paranoid about showing up in Google searches for it. I don’t want to talk too much shit about this level of comedy in a public forum, because this has people I know personally in it and some of them are nice.

However, it was really interesting going to that club after hearing Hastings’ ComCom interviews yesterday, and seeing what he was talking about in action. Saying this club is the equivalent of Jongleurs (a UK club I have never been to and never heard anything recorded there so I can’t actually talk about it, I’m not talking about whatever happens for real there because I don’t know, I’m talking about the thing it represents in the way comedians talk about it), and UK comedians talk about how there’s Jongleurs where they cordon off the “lowest common denominator” comedy and then other places for “proper comedy”, but the difference is that here, our club like that is the main thing and there’s hardly anything else. And I’m pretty sure that’s the case in most places in Canada outside of our couple of biggest cities.

So I won’t go too far into it, but I will say, of the three comedians who went on before a headliner, one is a guy who performed on the same bill as me on two of the seven occasions that I have performed stand-up comedy, both times at open mic nights in a pub. On one of those occasions I did well, and on another I did badly, and then afterward I stood outside with comedians who were all smoking and that guy told me I had good material and just need to be less nervous and shouldn’t feel bad about it not going great. He was very nice. Another one of the guys who was on last night is a teacher who used to be the teacher supervisor for a school team I coached, I knew him fairly well as I saw him at two practices a week for the five-month season and he traveled to a couple of tournament with us, very nice guy, I didn’t even know he was a comedian until the one time I performed at an actual club last year, and he was also on the bill. So technically – technically, on a technicality – I have gigged with two different people who have gigged with John Hastings.

There were three acts on before him, the two people I knew and one person I didn’t, and it was… well, it made me think of the thing I posted yesterday, the ComCom interview from 2014 where John Hastings described himself as “alt” and Stuart Goldsmith basically said “but are you, though?” And I thought, no he isn’t alt compared to Tony Law playing a bassoon (that was the example they used in the 2014 interview, I might now come up with a more recent example that’s gone less right-wing). But he’s alt compared to the local stuff I’ve heard, just because he tells stories that are more than a few sentences, that have a few different layers that you have to remember in order for them to make sense, he employs structure and callbacks to things he said more than like four minutes ago, he touches on a few topics that are slightly outside the incredibly obvious, he occasionally sneaks in just a touch of a genuine message with a bit of thought behind it. And I will say that during the pre-headline acts last night, I repeatedly thought, “Yep, this is proving the point John made ten years ago, that all those things make him alt compared to this.”

In that interview ten years ago, John talked about oscillating between two styles of comedy, going to the Jongleurs places and doing the largely crowd work-based simple stuff that made him feel soulless and shitty, and then getting the confidence to do more involved “alt” material that made him feel better about his own work. This interview would have taken place while he was previewing his 2014 Edinburgh show, which is on his Bandcamp page with the title Adventure, and which I also listened to yesterday and quite liked. It’s a standard Edinburgh hour – stories about his childhood and culture shock when he moved to the UK and getting angry about things that go badly. He had a lot of clever turns of phrase, he was great with using little comparisons to illustrate his points, he did fun things with language, he jumped around between high and low status, it was a funny and really enjoyable hour. I can absolutely see why, when he was working on that show but was used to comedy those first few acts I heard last night, he considered himself as alternative in a way that confused Stuart Goldsmith.

I also heard the ComCom interview he did in 2023, once he’d moved to LA. In that interview, he described the world of curating stand-up for social media, setting up crowd interactions and filming them to feed the algorithms, doing lots of crowd-work based stuff because that’s what works online. He described this with full awareness that it’s a messed up thing, if you treat comedy as an art, but also admitted that he’s employed an expert in SEO and algorithmic stuff to help him optimize his social media, has been playing this game for a while and it’s been working.

The show I saw last night was being filmed on a whole bunch of cameras for another John Hastings special, and his set, like most of what was on that night, had at least as much crowd work as material. He didn’t get deeper into any story than the people who were on before him, with the exception of maybe one story, he played the same game they did of lots of short little things designed for people who weren’t trying to think too hard. It wasn’t “comedian destroys heckler” stuff or anything – the audience was lively but not very rough compared to a lot of local crowds I’ve been in, and they mostly had fun together. To be fair to him, there was a lot of weird stuff going on in that audience. He seemed like he had planned to do slightly more prepared material than that, but he kept hitting different audience members who’d provide something else that he had to get into. He definitely got a lot of stuff that will appeal to crowd-work-heavy social media.

But here’s the thing. I didn’t genuinely laugh once in the three acts who were on before him (though I tried to look like I was laughing for the couple of people I knew, because I was near the front and, you know, nice people), but when John Hastings came out and did similar really simple stuff like that, he absolutely killed me. I laughed so much. I want to clarify that I didn’t laugh at the previous acts just to defend the fact that this hasn’t suddenly become my preferred style of comedy or anything. But apparently it can in fact be very very funny. I mean of course it can. Daniel Kitson has made me nearly cry laughing with crowd work before. The existence of annoying people on Tik-Tok shouldn’t mean that crowd work can never be actually funny.

From when John Hastings came on stage until the end of the night, I had an absolutely fantastic time. He was incredibly fun. He did do some jokes/stories, and I liked them. He did a lot of crowd stuff, and I liked that. Everyone was on board, he got a great response across the room, I’m sure the internet will love it whenever he releases whatever the video is going to be. However, Stuart Goldsmith would definitely have a point if he watched that set and then told John Hastings that it’s inaccurate to call himself “alt”. It was nothing like his Edinburgh shows.

He did a lot of local stuff, which I’d normally also think of as sort of cheap comedy, but it was really funny. I think it helps that he actually grew up here, he didn’t just Google two or three things about a place before performing there on a tour. He was able to be very accurate about all the bits of the city. You’re right, John, that is the highway exit where you’re most likely to get mugged! He also had the fun perspective of being enough of an insider to know the city very well, but because he’s lived in other places for so long, enough of an outsider to be able to point out absurdities that seem normal when you live here. It was fun. I have learned so many intricacies of culture and geography and sociology in Britain just so I can understand all their little local references; it was fun to hear a local reference, automatically do that thing I always do where I start bringing up the stuff I’ve learned so I can understand it, and then realize I don’t have to do any translating because he’s talking about the train I take to work every morning.

Oh, I said in a post yesterday that I think he might have gone to a high school where I used to coach their team. He mentioned the name of his high school on stage last night, and it wasn’t the school I thought it was, but it was a different school where I also used to coach their team. One I coached in the same year – but a different school still – as the school where I coached with that teacher who was on earlier in the night. Small world. Small fucking world. Small world but hopefully I’m fine making this post because it’s a big internet.

Anyway, it was a great time. On the way out I stuck around and chatted to the guy I know who’s a teacher, he’s a ridiculously nice guy whom I like so much and it made me feel bad for being judgemental of his set and that whole style of comedy, a thing I’d already started feeling bad about because I’d spent the first half of the night judging people for doing it and then the last half dying laughing at John Hastings doing the same type of stuff but just doing it very well. I told him I’m going to the Edinburgh Festival and he asked me if I’m seeing Stewart Lee, and I said no I don’t think he’s going there this year, and then I said I’m going to try to come out to local comedy more, and I meant it. And then I got in the truck with my roommate and my roommate asked me if John Hastings was gay, because he seemed very gregarious and flamboyant, and I said no, but there's a reminder, I guess, that a guy who comes across as incredibly mainstream to some people can come across differently to others (not that... I mean lots of gay comics are mainstream, but I think my roommate specifically meant that he had a bit of an outsider vibe that read as gay, which I guess might be true if you're not used to meeting anyone outside the sphere of combat sports).

[eviesessays]

24. What is one of your favorite children's stories?

As I look back, children’s literature was pretty scary when I was a child.  Hansel and Gretel were deliberately lost in the woods by a wicked stepmother.  Snow White was fed a poisoned apple.  Jack and Jill went up a hill and Jack ended up with a skull fracture.  Tommy Green put his poor cat in the well for no good reason.  It was all pretty violent,  By the time my children were born, children’s literature flourished.  The old Mother Goose stories were passe.  There were more children’s books about real people, heroes and heroines and space exploration.  

By the time my grandchildren were born, Mother Goose was not high on any child’s reading list.  Children’s authors were writing about real people and real life situations.  Toami dePaola wrote about 270 books and several were  about his Italian grandmother, Strega Nona.  His illustrations were exquisite.  He  was a favorite of mine and my grandchildren who all of whom own a signed copy of one of his books.  

Two friends of mine in Warner were children’s authors and illustrators.  True Kelly wrote a book about the blueberry farm in Warner.  Her depiction of Margit, the owner, was perfect. Lucy McQueen was a  friend of mine and she was also a children’s author and illustrator.  Her Easter Bunny book made the New York Times best seller book in the children’s category.  There were many writers and artists living in Warner but Lucy and True I knew personally.  

Now I have great grandchildren and am becoming acquainted with a new era of children’s books.  Joanie is now five and is learning to read.  She is taking dancing lessons and is enamored with Angelina Ballerina.  I have become an avid fan of John Lithgow, the actor, who also writes very funny children’s books.  My first exposure to him was his story about a runaway pancake.  the pancake makes his escape when carelessly being flipped and the pursuit is on.  The chorus gets longer with each additional pursuer.  The growing crowd goes on until the sly old fox meets the pancake and to the dismay of the singing followers the pancake disappears in one gulp.  In his book, “Never Go to a Concert Next to a Zoo”, was a favorite dream fantasy.  The narrator does just that and falls asleep.  Chaos reigns supreme.  The baboon is playing the bassoon and the hippo is playing drums. His dream has all the animals playing all the instruments.   They give an excellent performance, restore  perfect order, and the animals return to the zoo.   

I have just purchased, “The Remarkable Farkle McBride”, and I have one avid follower thus far.  Joan had to go to school so I read to Laura.  She requested a second reading immediately. Farkle is very musically talented and learns to play every instrument in the orchestra. This is invaluable when the big concert date arrives  and the conductor is very ill.  Farkle leads the orchestra and receives a standing ovation for the performance.  Laura went to her “Mita’s” house saying, “Farkle McBride, Farkle McBride.”

We await a copy of, “Micawber” to arrive at Gibson’s Book Store here in Concord and for now this is our favorite author.

[tfblovesmusic]

How Ian Bostridge Unlocked my American Elementary School Memories

I have been swooning over Ian Bostridge's voice since middle school.

From watching the David Alden film of Franz Schubert's Winterreise on Ovation TV to borrowing a CD of Johann Sebastian Bach choral works with the Choir of King's College Cambridge and the Academy of Ancient Music under the late Sir Stephen Cleobury (His rendition of "Deposuit Potentes" in BWV 243 was FIRE!) a couple of times from the local library while I was living in the USA, the three-time GRAMMY winner's voice never has since failed to amaze me.

But it hasn't been his timbre that has made him my favorite classical music tenor of all time.

In April 2024, Ginong Bostridge stopped a performance of Benjamin Britten's Les Illuminations at the Brum Symphony Hall for a glaring reason - young people were taping or photographing him on their phones. He interceded out loud, "The lights are shining directly in my eyes – it’s very distracting. Would you please put your phones down?"

He wasn't aware of the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra's then-new policy that started enabling audiences to film in a maximum of a minute or photograph classical music concerts, in a vain bid to attract more young audiences.

But it came with reservations. The rules stated, "We ask that you are mindful of disturbing artists and other audience members and suggest that you take pictures and videos during applause breaks. Please dim the brightness on your phone, and do not use your flash."

Ginong Bostridge - oblivious of the new rules during his performance - wasn't having any of that.

This video STRAIGHT-UP metaphorizes Bostridge responding to an errant phone light or ringtone at a concert.

"You're looking at the audience and it's very interrupting and distracting to have phones being held up," he told BBC Radio 4, "It breaks the spell. I didn't know about this policy and I wasn't making a protest of any sort to begin with, I simply couldn't carry on because I couldn't concentrate."

"Performances are a dialogue with the audience," baritone Christopher Maltman (who collaborated with Bostridge several times) commented to a Classic FM post on IG, We as performers rely on the audience’s attention and concentration. We are flesh and blood artists who are not unaffected by how audience members behave."

"We can see and hear you as you can see and hear us, and are distracted by movements in the audience and the glint of light reflected off phones, faces and arms as they are held up, whether they are dimmed or not. Fundamentally, we spend thousands and thousands of hours during our professional lives to hone our skills to be able to accomplish feats of dexterity, memory, concentration and artistic expression which are at or near the limit of human ability."

"We need the audience to be with us on that musical journey and even if the physical act of filming or taking photographs isn’t distracting to the point that it is at the detriment of our own focus, it’s is at the bare minimum a moment of departure for those who film from the covenant of live performance which is the beating heart of what we do."

"No photo, no video, and no recording can ever even remotely reproduce the magic of live performance and any marginal fringe benefit in terms of social media likes is nothing compared with the damage that is done by saying that it is fine to switch your brain off and switch your phone on in the concert hall or opera house. I personally have had to stop in my recitals more than once to request people view me with their eyes and listen with their ears rather than watch me second hand on a screen."

Sir Simon Rattle would also be most disappointed with the phone policies. Back in BBC Prom 55 with the Berlin Philharmonic in 2003, he stopped a performance of Igor Stravinsky's The Rite of Spring because someone's Nokia blasted an abridged, chiptuned version of Francisco Tárrega's Gran Vals during the bassoon solo. The reviewer of MusicWeb Int'l heard a fellow audience member seated in front of him call the offending other the w-word.

Funnily enough, Ginong Bostridge unlocked many core memories of watching orchestras perform live - during the Garden State Ballet's productions of The Nutcracker and Cinderella and numerous field trips with my elementary and private schools.

The most memorable elementary school orchestra-centered field trip was in 2001. And it WASN'T ANY JUST ANY ORCHESTRA.

IT WAS THE FLORIDA ORCHESTRA.

I would be entranced by Lanky Kong's Trombone Tremor when I would play Donkey Kong 64. I would watch The Lawrence Welk Show on WEDU each Saturday night. Throw in mornings with Classic Arts Showcase on my public access TV channel; several documentaries (Howard Goodall's notwithstanding) and performances I would see on Ovation TV; and previous experiences seeing orchestras live, and I was WELL-PREPPED.

Our 5th grade teacher told us what to expect AND how to dress for the concert - no jeans, T-shirts, or shorts. I wore the closest thing to jeans but much dressier - a denim midi dress. And we were too young to have cell phones back then!

The finest moment of the FL Orchestra's performance I and my 5th grade class attended was their opening orchestral excerpt, the overture to Leonard Bernstein's Candide. As Asher pointed out, I wished I would've taped it. But with us too young to have phones, with phones then lacking video capabilities, AND with us knowing concert etiquette from the back of our hands, taping it would've been all but so inconsiderate.

I would've gotten into trouble at school if I had done that.

"(The CBSO's phone policy) ignores the fact that allowing the use of phones during musical or theatrical performances is bad for everyone," Alexandra WIlson griped in The Critic.

To Ginong Bostridge: here's our power anthem! LET'S DO A DUET ON THIS!

"It’s bad for the performer, who is distracted by a sea of bright lights, or by the blaring of ring tones, and struggles to get into the zone or into character. A live classical concert, what’s more, is not a recording session, and comes with an element of risk for the musician involved. The singer lays bare his or her soul, and in doing so relies upon a certain amount of implied contractual trust — the understanding that people aren’t going to stick that fluffed top note on YouTube."

"Phone use is also bad for other audience members, for whom this concert or play may be a long-saved-up-for treat, and who should have a reasonable expectation to be able to concentrate."

"You certainly don’t have to be a finishing-school graduate to be irked by a thoughtless neighbor who gives a damn about no-one but themselves."

"All live music is precious and fragile," Maltman summarized, "Switch your phones off and allow your mind to engage with the beauty of it. Please."

To conclude this post, lemme show y'all the March 1995 Beeb broadcast of various Henry Purcell choral works and songs! JUST scroll to 49:25 and press play - 30-year-old Ginong Bostridge in a FLUTIN' TRIO WITH DAME EMMA KIRKBY AND MICHAEL CHANCE is SO FIRE! Cell phones with touchscreens and built-in cameras had YET to stymie that magical moment back when it was broadcasted!

[soubndbanrs]

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