Matthew Whiteside is in his final year of the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland studying a Masters in Composition with Alistair MacDonald and David Fennessy with previous teachers including Piers Hellawell and Gareth Williams. He is a founding member of Edit-Point and Said Ensemble, both Glasgow based new music ensembles.
Matthew’s interest lies in the combination of acoustic and electronic domains both through using live electronics and electronic influences in his work. When using electronics he is careful to give them a distinct personality in order for it to be an integral part of the ensemble.
He has had performances of his music throughout the UK, Ireland and Italy with notable performances being Dublin’s Nation Concert Hall, Glasgow City Halls and as part of Sonorities Festival in Belfast.
Matthew extends his thanks to the RSAMD/RCS trust and May Turtle scholarship for funding his Masters education.
Cameron Carpenter performs Leroy Anderson’s ‘Sleigh Ride’. Download this track on iTunes (or at http://tinyurl.com/bnw87xv ). All proceeds from sales of the download will benefit The American Boychoir School in Princeton, NJ (see http://www.AmericanBoychoir.org). This video and the iTunes single were recorded on the Marshall & Ogletree organ at Middle Collegiate Church in New York City. The organ is Marshall & Ogletree’s Opus 4 and was designed by Cameron Carpenter.
Sunday October 9, 2011, will be a very special day for me. No, I am not thinking about the Japanese F1 Grand Prix (even though I am getting up early to see that as well). This Sunday I will hear the music of French composer Jehan Alain played live for the first time.
I discovered the melancholic music of this legendary organist and composer at a very early age. As a teenager I travelled to Warsaw (dabbling with marxism in high school, my father thought it was a good idea that I experienced the east bloc first hand, which later turned out to be a really excellent idea, but for all the wrong reasons) and changing my valuable dollars into zloty on the black market in the eighties left me with bundles of local cash, that I did not know what to do with.
Visiting a record store looking for jazz records, I decided it was easier to buy a copy of every single record there. Then I could listen to records when I came home to Copenhagen. This crazy arrogant venture would later turn into one of the most important moments in my life.
By accident, I discovered the music of Krzysztof Penderecki, Witold Lutoslawski and – the very underrated female composer – Grażyna Bacewicz. Listening to these contemporary Polish composers as a young boy left a lasting impression on me and I still feel very privileged when I enter the unique world of these European cultural icons.
In the boxes there was also a record by a Polish organist playing the music of Jehan Alain. It was the saddest music I had ever heard in my life. Remember, this was in the eighties, so anything dark and suicidal was very appreciated. Learning that Alain was a motorcyclist for the French army during the war and killing 16 nazis in a dramatic shootout before getting shot himself in 1940 did not make the story less interesting.
One of Alain’s seminal organ works, Le jardin suspendu (The Hanging Garden) is a feat of cross-cultural legerdemain. Ostensibly a dreamy evocation of Babylon and the 1,001 Nights, the piece is built upon a great structure of the European Baroque: the chaconne. Slow, soft, and remote, the work begins its four-bar ostinato not in the bass as expected, but in a very high register. (In keeping with the image of a suspended garden, no truly low notes tether the composition to the Earth.) Part of the melody seems a slow-motion version of “All the girls in France do the hoochie-coochie dance,” although this may simply be an unfortunate coincidence. The music varies little during its several repetitions, except for a thicker, more animated section just past the midpoint. Before long, the piece reverts to its opening mood: mysterious, exotic, hypnotic.
This is what it sounds like:
Also performed at the concert:
Here is another fan celebrating this years 100th birthday of Jehan Alain:
Another personal favourite:
Here is an introduction to the organist Olivier Latry:
A native of Boulogne-sur-Mer since 1985, Olivier Latry is one of the four titular organist of Notre-Dame de Paris, one of the most prestigious organist posts in France. At the same time he has the reputation of being one of the most successful concert organists of his time. He discovered his instrument at the age of 12 years after he had already played several years of piano. After his training, he spent four years as organist at the cathedral in Meaux, before he, just 23-years old, received his Paris assignment. Olivier Latry is also conducting educational activities. Since 1995, as the successor of Michel Chapuis,he leads the organ class at the Paris Conservatoire. From his CD releases are of particular note the complete recordings of all the organ works of Olivier Messiaen and the recording of the Organ Symphonies No. 5 & 6 by Charles-Marie Widor.
Anne-Sophie Mutter recently stopped by CBS’s “The Late Show with David Letterman” to perform a selection from her new album collection — “ASM 35”, a compilation of music celebrating her 35 years as a violinist. Mutter was joined by her ex-husband André Previn, who accompanied her on the piano. Letterman had some trouble handling the large plastic casing for the album, joking that it would make an ideal home for a hamster. Following her performance, Mutter asked Letterman if he had a hamster at home, to which the comedian responded that he will get one. [Source]
Leoš Janáček’s opera deals with power, relationships, passions and indignities; ultimately it portrays the hopeless misery of a Siberian prison camp, which could be seen as a symbol of a society that exists parallel to ours. Each of the three acts tells a story that tries to cope with life and the desperate melancholy: a dream, a report of a crime and the memory of a woman. The narrative helps to survive and a utopia of freedom to come.
Read the synopsis and watch previews (from a production by Theater Bonn and Beethovenfest Bonn in 2004 directed by Tomaž Pandur) here:
ACT I
Daybreak at a prison camp. The prisoners are attending to their morning tasks before assembling for the drudgery ahead. Quarrels are rife. They are interrupted by the arrival of the new inmate Goryanchikov, imprisoned for political activism and who immediately becomes the centre of attention for the common-law detainees and the focus of the commandant’s hostility. His possessions are confiscated and he is beaten. In the meantime the prisoners are admiring an eagle, brought by the old prisoner.
Some of the prisoners march off to work, the others go about their daily chores in the camp. Among those are the young Tartar Alyeya, Luka and Skuratov, who recalls his life in Moscow. Luka relates how he came to kill he commandant during a previous spell behind bars and the flogging he received for that, before being sent to the labour camp. Goryanchikov is dragged in, half dead from his flogging.
ACT II
Half a year later. The prisoners are busy with their chores. Goryanchikov and Alyeya have become friends, and the boy is talking about his sister and his mother. The elder one offers to teach him to read and to write. The sound of the bells marks the end of the chores and the start of a night of celebration.
After the visit of a pope, the prisoners eat. Before the show which is about to be performed by some of the group, Skuratov recounts why he landed in the labour camp: the murder of a rich German his sweetheart Luisa was forced to marry. Guests arrive and all take their places for the performance about to commence.
The prisoners enact »Kedril and Don Juan«, followed by »The Miller’s Fair Wife«, tales of seduction. The evening was coming to a close. One of the prostitutes who entered the camp goes off with a prisoner. Goryanchikov and Alyeya are drinking tea together. This arouses the envy of an inmate, who attacks Alyeya and injures him with a knife.
ACT III
In the prison hospital, Goryanchikov watches over the feverish Alyeya. Chekunov offers them some tea, provoking words of contempt from the dying Luka. Shapkin recounts the tale of his burglary that backfired, as Skuratov lapses into madness.
Shishkov’s story draws the group’s attention: he relates how he married a young girl named Akulina that a certain Filka had boasted of having dishonoured. But it turned out that Akulina was still a virgin on her wedding night. Anyway he learned from his wife that she actually loved Filka. Losing control of himself, Shishkov slit her throat. As the story winds to an end, Luka dies. Shishkov now recognizes him as none other than his rival Filka and reviles his corpse. A guard comes to get Goryanchikov.
The governor announces to Goryanchikov that he is to be released. Alyeya embraces him, calling him dad: he now knows how to read. The prisoners release the restored eagle. Goryanchikov leaves the camp as the convicts return to their chores.
Listen to a recording of the Vienna Philharmonic conducted by Claudio Abbado on Spotify here.
Listen to a recording of the Vienna Philharmonic conducted by Sir Charles Mackerras on Spotifyhere.
Tonight the Staatballet Berlin marks the new season opening with the traditional opening gala show. There are three German premieres supervised by maestro Vladimir Malakhov and the performance is also the return of solo dancer Shoko Nakamura to the stage after her year long maternity leave.
Once a year the company of Staatsballett Berlin makes his audience – and itself – a special present. With the ballet gala we are celebrating the prelude of our new season. Choreographic masterpieces, curiosities of ballet history or complete new contemporary pieces will be performed. The special nature of this event is always the programme. What the artists would like to show to the audience is co-sculpting the evening. Therefore surprises should be taken into account.
The performances includes eight pieces in two sets.
“Araz” with music from Philip Glass: Songs & Poems, Tissue No. 6
“Die vier Jahreszeiten” with music from Giuseppe Verdi: Divertissment 3rd act “I vespri siciliani“
As a “warm-up” service you can listen to the music on this selection of music clips. Some of them are old recordings – some even with the sounds of vinyl scratches – and some of them includes rare video footage.
Enjoy the music and break a leg to all the dancers tonight. I look forward to the show!
1. “Araz” with music from Philip Glass: Songs & Poems, Tissue No. 6
Metaphorically speaking, Harold Budd is a soaring bird, and rock music a supersonic rocket ship. Budd may play as few as six notes in 10 seconds — I’m guessing the average rock band plays 60. It’s the space left between those few notes that makes Budd’s music so alluring, so calming and so timeless. Budd has been making music with a minimal number of notes for a long time. Sometimes his music is filled with drones, sometimes solo piano; sometimes the piano is altered physically or electronically, and sometimes there are string ensembles. But the music is always thoughtful and thought-provoking.
If you’ve never put on a record by Harold Budd, put your headphones on and watch the world change around you. I find that the visual world shifts cinematically, with clouds and people seeming to move as one big bit of choreography. (No, I’m not high.)
The constant background nature of music can deaden its impact. Budd’s music is a slow trickle, a source of appreciation for the sounds and sights around us. His collaborations with Brian Eno in the 1970s provided a counterpoint to the progressive rock of the day, much the way reggae was a counterpoint to punk. We need that — one enriches the other. The 75-year-old composer brings the landscape of the desert, where he’s often lived, right into the heart of the city.
In the Mist, out Sept. 27, is an album most Budd fans thought we’d never hear. Seven years ago, he told his friends and fans that he’d said all he wanted to say with music, and was retiring. But he had a change of heart, and now we have this rare gem. I’m glad he’s back — and I’d love to know how you feel after hearing it, especially if you’ve never heard his music before.
Listen to Harold Budd. You deserve the vacation, and the listening you do to anything else for the rest of the day will be supercharged. [Source]
Listen to the album in its entirety here. Listen to the album track by track here.
A series of orchestral teasers for Peter Gabriel’s ‘New Blood’ record. The New Blood Orchestra recorded versions of Peter’s songs for a forthcoming album at Air Studios in June. The arrangements are by John Metcalfe and Richard Chappell led the team magically capturing the audio with the lovely people at Air. For more information on the album release and live dates visit petergabriel.com.
