Eric Whitacre and Opening Your Ears

Eric Whitacre is one of the world's greatest living choral composers, in my humble opinion. I was first exposed to his work in my freshman year of University, when our Chamber Choir studied his piece entitled "Water Night." It was also my first exposure to singing modern choral works, as prior to that my experience had been limited to Renaissance/ Sacred Polyphony.

Technically, this is one of the more challenging pieces I've worked on as a chorister. Whitacre's changing metre, long and demanding legato phrasing, and dense harmonic washes are difficult enough to master, but in this piece what was more challenging were the moments of perfect unison between the voice parts. When achieved, it takes the listener's breath away.

Whitacre's music also taught me something besides the technical challenges. This piece taught me to open my ears and to realise that there is so much beautiful music that works well outside of the traditional harmonic structures I'd been used to singing and listening to. "Water Night" isn't a difficult piece to open your ears and mind to, simply because of its transcendent beauty, but it still challenges the listener and served as a good stepping stone to the rest of the realm of modern music.

In addition, "Water Night" also introduced me to the wonderful poetry of Octavio Paz.

Praise God, that there is so much that is beautiful in this world!

Enjoy!

Missa Pange Lingua- Josquin des Prez

As I mentioned in an earlier post, I was assigned to do an analysis of the Kyrie from Josquin's Missa Pange Lingua for Written Theory class. We were actually allowed to chose our own piece to analyse, and it was fun to see what pieces my colleagues had chosen to work on.

I chose the Josquin for a few reasons, the first being that Missa Pange Lingua is probably my most favourite polyphonic Mass out of the countless settings our choir has sung. I also chose it because I was always fascinated by the counterpoint that Josquin uses throughout the Mass. Years ago, when first starting out as Alto section leader, this Mass was a huge challenge for me to sing. In an attempt to make it easier, I went through the score and indicated all the places where the alto line mimicked or was mimicked by another part, as well as those passages in which the alto line moved with another part rhythmically. Little did I know that I was outlining in broad strokes Josquin's use of counterpoint. And it makes my musicianly heart swell with pride to see my teenaged handwriting all over my score, with the notes pointing out all the parallels between the voice parts. Also, the Pange Lingua chant is my favourite plainchant, and one thing I never had done, and wanted to do, was to figure out how much of the plainchant Josquin used in order to set the motifs for his paraphrase Mass.

As I worked on the analysis, I was amazed to find that in the Kyrie alone, Josquin pulled at least 3 motifs from the chant, and incorporated them into his polyphonic setting. The main theme, which is pulled from the first 10 notes of the chant, is used repeatedly, with different embellishments, and it jumps from voice part to voice part in an intricate fugue-like setting. Josquin also likes to set up his counterpoint between the Altos/Basses and then the Sopranos/Tenors. It's not until the third movement of the Kyrie that Josquin puts the counterpoint between the two outer voices, setting up a sequential motif that leads the Sopranos and Basses to move in parallel thirds, while the inner voices move in contrary motion to the outer lines.

It is just simply brilliant composing, which is even more impressive considering it's use of modality rather than tonality, as Josquin keeps the Mass in the Phrygian mode in which the original chant was set. This also explains the extensive use of counterpoint between two voices, rather than extensive homophonic writing, relying more on the implied harmony than harmonic progressions. Indeed, Josquin's use of an open fifth at cadences underscores his use of implied harmony, and to the listener it is positively striking.

Well, before I bore my readers any further, I'd just like to add that in my study of the piece, I learned that the Missa Pange Lingua is believed to be the last Mass that des Prez composed. As a musician, I cannot imagine having written a more fitting final piece.

Pange lingua gloriosi

Sing, O tongue,

Corporis mysterium

of the mystery of the glorious Body

Sanguinisque pretiosi

and of the precious Blood

Quem in mundi pretium

which the King of the nations,

Fructus ventris generosi

the fruit of a noble womb

Rex effudit gentium

shed for the sake of the world. 

More Debussy

A friend posted this on Facebook the other day, and I thought I would share it with you all. What follows is a beautiful and practically flawless performance of Claude Debussy's Reverie, transcribed and arranged for Harp.





Even more interesting is to compare this version with the original for piano; The same music with very different moods, due in part to the atmospheric effects of the different instruments.



I hope you all enjoy the pieces as much as I do!

Heh... and now I must stop procrastinating and get back to work on my paper comparing Salman Rushdie's Midnight's Children with Gabriel García Márquez's A Very Old Man with Enormous Wings.

Counterpoint!

Yes, I'm re-blogging. Sorry.

Honestly, though, I'm glad I came across this, as I have to do an analysis of the Kyrie from Josquin des Prez's Missa Pange Lingua as my final assignment for Advanced Music Theory. The Kyrie is almost all imitative counterpoint, so this video was really helpful in clarifying some of my vague understanding of contrapuntal (I love that word!!) music.

Thanks to Jeffrey Tucker over at The Chant Cafe for sharing this!

Claude Debussy - Prelude to the Afternoon of a Faun

There are days that I am so happy to be a music major...

Today was one of them, as one of my assignments for Written Theory was to do a harmonic analysis of Debussy's Prélude Á "L'aprés-midi d'un faune" or Prelude to "Afternoon of a Faun."

It's a challenging piece of music as it has little real harmonic function, lots of what he does is linear, and there's lots of chromaticism... and oh! whole tone scales! Yay!

Regardless of it's difficulties analytically, it's a pleasure to get to listen to it over and over while I complete my homework. Debussy is responsible for some truly beautiful music, and this piece is among his masterpieces. God truly blessed him with musical genius.

I hope you enjoy listening to it as much as I did. It was a much needed respite from the craziness that is known as my life. Thank the Lord for beautiful moments like this...

Eep...

Wow, I've been pretty quiet here for a good while...

Sorry about that. Life, as usual, has gotten pretty hectic, especially since this semester.

Some big things have happened since I last updated. The biggest thing was that I auditioned for a BIG music conservatory over Spring Break. It's one of the top music conservatories in the country, to be honest. I auditioned as an incoming transfer, so I'd hopefully finish my last two years in my undergraduate program there... provided I get in, of course.

If I do get in, it'll mean moving to a big city, far away from everyone I know. The prospect is a little scary, but I think the change will be very good. The music program is better, they have an actual Opera Department (yay!), and just the shear size of the music program will hopefully negate some of the ridiculous politicking like what goes on at the University where I currently study.

The audition went very well, and I should hear back sometime this week regarding whether or not I've been accepted into the program. Prayers that God's Will may be done in this would be greatly appreciated!

The next most important thing is the big recital that I'll be singing in later this month. I'll be giving the recital with a good friend of mine who is also a fabulous baritone. It's pretty exciting preparing for the event, because it'll be the first big solo-ish thing that I'm undertaking, plus the venue is spectacular, our accompanist is top-notch, and the repertoire selection is challenging, but also a lot of fun.

However, this means that much of my spare time is spent practising and memorizing foreign languages. Oh, the life of a singer!

Speaking of Opera and singing and such, over break one thing that I did was to go into New York City to the Metropolitan Opera. I went to go and see the Season Premiere of the new production of Gounod's Romeo et Juliette.

It. was. AMAZING.

The cast was incredible. Piotr Beczala sang Romeo and, in a last minute change from Angela Gheorghiu, Juliette was sung by Hei-Kyung Hong. It was, quite frankly, one of the most beautiful things I've ever experienced.

Beczala was a perfect Romeo, delivering a performance that was breathtakingly nuanced. His voice is truly one that I could listen to for hours, and he didn't disappoint in this production either. The role of Romeo isn't easy, by any means, but Beczala owned it, with beautiful high notes and great depth of expression. I was reduced to tears in the final act.

Hong was equally impressive as Juliette. She was convincing as a young girl in love, yet torn by the rivalry that in the end destroys her happiness. She was in exceptional vocal form for the opening night, and the Je veux vivre was a delight to hear. I did miss Gheorghiu however, as she has more depth and body in her upper register than Hong does at times. Still, Hong's performance was effortless and the sparkle in her voice was gorgeous.

I definitely recommend going to see the production if you have a chance.

Finally, but not least, we are now upon Ash Wednesday, the first day of Lent. Usually I cringe when I know Lent is approaching, but somehow not this year. On a personal level, things have been very trying in the last few months, and I know that Lent is the perfect time to help sort things out. I need to be more disciplined in my spiritual life, especially as I'm discerning a decision that may have a huge impact on my life. 

I've spent a lot of time thinking about what I should do for Lent this year, and I think I may have come up with a good regimen. I'm going to try to fast and abstain for all of Lent this year, provided my health will allow (it hasn't in the past...). Also, I'm giving up dessert, as usual. I'm going to make sure I say morning and evening prayers as well as daily spiritual reading (which has sadly fallen by the wayside) and definitely saying the Rosary every day. One of the biggest sacrifices, which will help with the last one immensely, is giving up instant messenger.

For me, IM eats up a huge amount of free time, although I'm not sorry for it. Two of my best friends live quite far away, so phone calls are expensive and IM is the best way to keep in touch. However, all my local friends are on as well, so I always end up in random conversations instead of, say, cleaning or doing homework or praying...

So, we'll see how Lent goes this year. So far, so good, but I'm not even a whole day through yet. ;) I'm going to try and keep this updated more often, so I should be posting again soon.

Have a Blessed Lent everyone!

*yawn*

Ugh... I hate early mornings. I am not a morning person by any means, especially when it is cold and dark out when your alarm clock goes off. Personally, I think that if the sun isn't up yet, no human being in their right mind has any business being out of bed.

Unfortunately, this semester I have early classes every morning, the earliest of which are on Tuesdays & Thursdays. On these days I feel some very anti-alarm clock leanings, and desire to chuck the thing out the window when it goes off... after hitting the snooze button three or four times, of course.

I suppose it's not so bad, but the 8:30 class on Tues & Thurs is my Intro to World Lit class, which requires having a fully functioning brain. The rest of the week my first class is one in which I can leisurely power up my brain cells. World Lit class, however, requires that I be on the top of my game, ready to make obscure connections, thorough character analysis and catch every iota of symbolism.

I was kind of worried about this World Lit class at the beginning of the semester, because the book list revealed that my teacher is obsessed with modern literature (Woolf, Rushdie, Marat/Sade, etc.). It's not even good modern literature! Where is Lewis, Chesterton, Waugh??

However, the beginning of the class hasn't been terrible, thankfully. I'm actually enjoying the reading we've done so far- Kipling, Yeats and Joyce- but we'll see what happens the further we get away from Romanticism...

Anyway, speaking of Joyce, I've just read The Dead, which is a lovely short story. It's full of depth and symbolism, and it resonated deeply with me, perhaps because I identify with some of the characters. Although a short story, by the end Joyce had hooked me, and the final paragraphs made me verclempt. I definitely recommend it, especially if you're looking for something to read that has some philosophical depth to it.

Favoritism!? You don't say!

Alas, one of the greatest ills plaguing academia is favoritism.

I've always been staunchly opposed to it, even when I've been on the positive end of such nonsense. It does nothing for anyone, if you ask me. And personally, I'd rather come by a reward by my hard work, instead of merely because I knew the right person. I suppose my attitude is a nod to the Christian work ethic my wonderful parents instilled in me, but it's also only fair.

I suppose I've been naive, however, in thinking that others, especially those at a Catholic University, would hold that same ethic. Which makes some of the recent events at my University even more hurtful.

It's not right or fair to intentionally undercut someone's confidence and hard work. It is not right to only criticise one's students and never give an ounce of praise. It is equally unfair to only praise and never correct honest faults. As a teacher, I feel obligated to make available to my students every tool they need in order to fulfill their goals-- it is what they pay me for, after all, and they deserve my encouragement and support-- and happy will be the day when all teachers feel and acknowledge this same obligation.

However, principles set aside, one can learn from such hurtful and unfair circumstances. Confidence can be rebuilt, faith in oneself can grow, and those who truly care for your well-being can be discerned. All with grace, of course.

That being said, I shall hold my head up high, dust off my battered confidence, resolve to work harder and to become better than before, with the help of God. It is He, after all, who picks our crosses and He who knows what is best for us at any moment in time. I can only pray for the strength to carry my cross well and cheerfully, and in a spirit of humility.

To aid me in this difficult task, I rely on God's grace, especially those granted by reciting the following Litany:

Litany of Humility

O Jesus! meek and humble of heart, Hear me.
From the desire of being esteemed,
Deliver me, Jesus.
 
From the desire of being loved...
From the desire of being extolled ...
From the desire of being honored ...
From the desire of being praised ...
From the desire of being preferred to others...
From the desire of being consulted ...
From the desire of being approved ...
From the fear of being humiliated ...
From the fear of being despised...
From the fear of suffering rebukes ...
From the fear of being calumniated ...
From the fear of being forgotten ...
From the fear of being ridiculed ...
From the fear of being wronged ...
From the fear of being suspected ...

That others may be loved more than I,
Jesus, grant me the grace to desire it.

That others may be esteemed more than I ...
That, in the opinion of the world,
others may increase and I may decrease ...
That others may be chosen and I set aside ...
That others may be praised and I unnoticed ...
That others may be preferred to me in everything...
That others may become holier than I, provided that I may become as holy as I should…

Rafael Cardinal Merry del Val (1865-1930),
Secretary of State for Pope Saint Pius X

A Great Day... but with a wee bit of disappointing news.

Ah, what a lovely day!

University is on break for the Thanksgiving holidays, I got to sleep in today for the first time in a long while, and I have nothing to do today besides whatever strikes my fancy.

When one has a schedule as busy as I, days like this are joyous, indeed!

The only thing marring the glad state of things is the unfortunate problem I'm having with my right arm.

On Saturday, while working on staging scenes for an opera, a colleague and I got a little to enthusiastic about a quick exit we had to make off the stage, resulting in an unhappy accident. Said accident has left me with a bruised radius, which thankfully did not cause a stress fracture as well. This makes it painful to open doors and jars, carry objects in my right hand, play the piano and type.

Sadly, this leaves me unable to complete NaNoWriMo this year, as typing with one hand is  exceptionally slow. I'm a bit upset about it, but not too upset, as it means I won't have to make the mad dash to get caught up over break that I was planning on.

Honestly, I wasn't doing too well this year, especially with all the troubles we've been having with Dad's health, but who is also doing much better now! Thanks for your prayers!

As it stands, my word count is currently at 10,784. I think that's still a respectable bit of writing, considering. I'm really enjoying the story, so I know that I'm in no danger of letting it fall to the wayside just because NaNo will be over.

I'm actually thinking of posting it here in bits, much like Seraphic is doing over at her blog, in order to help keep my momentum up. That is, provided I have reader feedback. It is very helpful to have feedback, especially when you hit a rough spot and you're tempted to think, "Gah! This is just rubbish anyway! Who would even read this?" and then give up.

I think I'm less inclined to let that happen in this case, but if you feel so inspired, feel free to leave comments in my comm box. :D They'll be much appreciated!

Now, I must let my hand rest for a little while, and then I may post the first bit later on.

If I don't blog again, I'd like to wish a Happy Thanksgiving to my American readers!

A Day in the Life of a Music Teacher

Well, today was quite interesting.

After a late night at my parents' (didn't get home until 2am), I awoke early this morning to be ready for my first round of voice students at my new teaching job. I'm now teaching at two music schools, and the second school very promptly filled up my Saturday schedule. Hooray for income!

So, it was to this school that I directed myself at 9:30. My first student was at 10am, but I wanted enough time to settle into the new studio before having to run scales with my newest vic-- erm... I mean, student.

Before I left the house, I very prudently grabbed all of my vocal music, not knowing what my students might want to study, or even if they had books of their own.

At 9:45, I arrived at the studio, my messenger bag filled with books, and a staggeringly large stack of Broadway rep in my arms as well. It was all I could do to pull the door open without falling over.

As I walked in, a nice looking gentleman exclaimed to his young daughter, "Look! Here's your teacher now!"

I smiled brightly over my stack of books and asked, "Voice lessons?"

"Oh, no. Piano."

"Not me, then," I replied cheerily, moving towards the front counter to collect my list of students for the day.

"Hey!" the owner greeted, looking up and brushing back his long, blonde, hippie-like hair. "Your first student is here."

"Oh, awesome!" I looked about, but saw no one besides the little girl and her parents. A nervous flutter started, which I promptly pushed down.

"Yeah," the owner agreed. "Hey, Di! Here's your piano teacher!"

It took everything I had not to show the surprise on my face. "Oh! I forgot my first student was for piano!" I exclaimed, laughing. "Hi, Di! I'm your new piano teacher!"

The seven-year-old girl smiled cutely and gave a little skip of excitement. I grinned, but was feeling very uncertain all of a sudden, especially as the owner happily announced, "All your students today are for piano. Didn't my wife tell you?"

I smiled brightly. "No, but that's okay! Come on, Di! Let's get you to a piano!"

Inwardly I was freaking out a little-- I wasn't expecting to teach piano, I had no method books with me, and how in the world was I supposed to fill 30 minutes in a way that would keep a seven-year-old occupied and interested???

Thanks be to God that I was inspired and I suddenly remembered-- in ridiculous clarity-- my very first piano lesson. So, for 30 minutes, Di and I numbered our fingers, found notes on the keyboard, practiced arching our hands, playing with our fingers independently, and I taught her two rote songs called C-D-E and C-B-A (If anyone ever used the Lila Fletcher piano method books, they'll remember those songs instantly).

At the end of the half-hour, Di blithely skipped upstairs and announced to her Dad that, "Piano is fun!"

One student down, three to go...

Student two turned out to be a 10-year-old boy named Tony, with startlingly vivid blue eyes. He had been playing for awhile, and we had fun reading through a simplified version of Beethoven's Moonlight Sonata, while talking about chord inversions and how to finger them properly. (Thank you, Keyboard Harmony class!!)

Feeling a bit more confident, I returned Tony to his mom, and happily went out for a cup of tea. I had an hour until my next student, so I walked a few blocks to the awesome independent cafe on the square. Saturday mornings are blissfully low-key at the cafe, which is a nice change from it's night scene. The cafe regularly hosts independent musicians, and artists always have their work on display. Most nights, Friday's especially, the cafe is jammed with people and it's hard enough to order your coffee, let alone find a place to sit.

Today, there were a few students listening to their iPods while studying quietly and sipping on their caffeinated beverage of choice. In one corner, nestled into the plush couches, an elderly couple quietly enjoyed each other's company by drinking tea and reading. Outside on the patio, a black garbed young man alternately took a drag of his cigarette and sipped his espresso, all the while scribbling thoughtfully in a notebook.

Feeling at home amidst this quiet, cheery, Bohemian atmosphere, I approached the counter and ordered a cup of their Organic Irish Breakfast tea and a coffee cake. The dude serving me (and yes, he was a 'dude' in every sense of the word) commented on my name when he took my credit card.

"Hey!" he exclaimed, grinning. "This is going to seem, like, totally random, and unrelated, but your name reminded me of a YouTube video I just saw!"

I laughed. "Really?"

"Yeah," he said, handing me my tea. "Get online and check out Marcel the Shell with Shoes On! It's this awesome and cute stop-action animation video about a shell... named Marcel." Very obligingly he wrote the name of the video on my receipt, and I promised him I would check it out.

I enjoyed my little break at the coffee shop. The coffee cake was very good, but unfortunately, my tea refused to cool off, and I was impatient, so I burnt my tongue taking a sip. Despite that, the tea was still very good. I really like the blend, and I'll definitely be back for more.

11:50 came much too soon, and so I had to walk back to the music school for my last two lessons. The weather was beautiful and very warm for this time of the year, and I enjoyed letting the sun warm my face as I navigated the quiet streets.

My next two students were two, very cute, Chinese sisters. I never did get the name of the older sister come to think of it... *headdesk*

Thankfully, they used a method book I was familiar with, but it is going to be a challenge teaching them. Their father drops them off at the school, and the sisters sit in on each other's lesson. They are very quiet children, so I didn't have any trouble with disruption. However, the younger sister is significantly more adept at playing the keyboard than the elder one. The older sister doesn't seem to mind this, but already I'm foreseeing potential problems, being that they witness each other's lessons. The younger girl can read notes and rhythm, and is a much quicker learner. It was easy to cover a great deal of material with her in the half hour. Her sister, however, struggles to remember note names, and overall, seems very uncomfortable at the instrument.  Perhaps she was nervous, but I didn't get that vibe from her... The situation is going to require some thought... I really don't want the older girl to get frustrated because she sees her younger sister excelling and moving beyond her, and I don't want the younger sister to feel 'superior' over her older sister, because she's watching her sister struggle with things that come easily to her.

*sigh* St. Cecilia? Help, please?

In any case, I survived my first day as a (surprised and unprepared) piano teacher, and at 1pm I lugged myself and all my books back home. Happily, I'm $50 richer than when I started, and I was informed before I left that I would, indeed, have one voice student next week.

For now, I'm going to try and enjoy the rest of the weekend, and finish the tea that had very unkindly scalded my mouth.

*Big Yawn*

This week has been amazing... and sorrowful... and stressful... and draining.

The first week of classes practically flew by, and I must say, despite the craziness, that I'm glad to be back. The orderliness of knowing where you have to be and what you have to be doing is positively wonderful. This is especially true for someone like me who procrastinates quite regularly. This orderliness means that I have no choice except to manage my time wisely.

Wednesday night was probably the highlight of the week. This semester I've joined the University Wind Ensemble, despite having not played my clarinet in over 6 years. I'm starting to think that I'm being a bit crazy for attempting this, but our Band Director is so pleasantly cheerful and irrepressibly optimistic that I couldn't turn him down. So, Wednesday night I filed into the band room with my clarinet, and timidly took my place amongst the 3rd/4th Clarinets.

The best part of this is that my stand partner is my younger brother, Ravioli. Ravioli is only in his early teens, and has been taking clarinet lessons for a year and a half, but he's utterly amazing. I convinced my mom to let him join, because I knew that if he didn't have any performance opportunities, Ravioli would grow bored with his instrument, and he would let his incredible talent wither away. (I know this from experience...)

You see, being home schooled can really stink sometimes, especially when you're in a school district that is none too friendly towards homeschoolers. Legally, the school districts are supposed to let homeschoolers participate in school activities, but our particular school district doesn't like kids who don't attend the schools on a daily basis. So, we're excluded from swim team and chorus and band and orchestra and soccer and basketball and cheerleading and the list goes on and on. Basically, if it's in any way affiliated with the school district, we can't take part.

And, even if they did let us join, there is the great controlling factor known as "Mom." My mother, God bless her, is an extremely firm believer in homeschooling, and therefore the one constant whenever she's considering allowing her children to do anything is whether or not her children will have any contact with "public school kids." She is very wary of said "public school kids," and I can see her point. She's worked very hard to protect her children from all the influences of the culture of death, and the last thing she wants is her 13-year-old coming home and asking, "Mom, what's a *insert shocking word here* ?"

So, when I fielded my Mom about Wind Ensemble for Ravioli, I was very sure to mention that he'd be next to me the whole time, it's a very professional band (which it is), and rehearsal time is rehearsal time, not social hour, so he won't have to speak to any "questionable" people. He'll just have to talk to his half-crazy, stressed-out sister. 

Let me tell you, after the first rehearsal I was so glad that Mom said Ravioli could join. He is the most amazing sight-reader ever! I was getting lost-- me the college student taking Advanced Music Theory and Education Methods classes-- and my kid brother was just chugging right along. It was very impressive.

Aside from that, he was really handy as a stand partner. For instance:

Band Director counts us in at an insane tempo for a piece the ensemble is just sight-reading.

I look at the key signature, as I put my lips to the mouthpiece. A muffled "Eep!" is heard.

Ravioli looks at me, half his attention on the Director. "What?" he whispers.

Then we begin.

--A page and a half later during a 16 measure break and I had managed only to get out 25% of the notes on the page--

"Ravioli," I hiss, ducking my head behind the music stand.

"What?" he hisses back.

I grin sheepishly. "How do you finger A-flat?"

"High A-flat? Like this..." His fingers rapidly move to the appropriate position.

"No, not high A-flat. Just normal A-flat. You know, the one above middle C?"

"What? Really?" Ravioli squeaks, revealing that his voice hasn't finished changing just quite yet...

"Yes,"  I respond wryly.

"Oh. Like this."

Ravioli shows me the proper fingering and I nod my thanks as we take off once again.

Oh yes, he was quite handy, indeed... Now, where is that clarinet fingering chart...?