Have you ever wondered what compels a person to chose their career or hobby? Something they enjoy, that invigorates them? I sometimes wonder why a person would choose to become a dentist and yet my own dentist is very happy with his career and he has at least one satisfied patient.
I am currently planning my wedding. Anyone who has been involved with a wedding knows that there are so many details and yet I am enjoying the planning process. That's right, I'm enjoying it. That has resulted in bewildered stares from others and comments such as my friend Krista, "I would rather study for the bar exam again than plan another wedding." For some reason I find looking at different flower options a release from my Monday through Friday desk job, I find creating my invitations a chance to expand my creative ability and I find looking for less expensive alternatives to details enjoyable. My fiance, Charles, is even wondering what I am going to plan after the wedding and has hinted that I should consider making invitations a career.
When it comes to music I can't help but think that someone had or is having a similar experience that I am having. I have a vision of Beethoven suddenly having an idea about a musical passage and being so focused on getting home to write it down that he nearly runs over several people on the street in his haste. I'm not sure why I have this vision, perhaps it is because no one in Hollywood has given me an alternative idea. I would like to think that Beethoven sought music as a release from his reality or for some inexplicable reason just found it enjoyable.
It is rather fitting that I am reminded of this idea that I have about Beethoven. Just a few years ago at Towson University, it was because of Beethoven that three musicians created a trio. On March 4th this same group, The Lenore Trio, will be featured during the fourth concert of the St. Louis Concert Series 2011-2012 season. The Lenore Trio started with Beethoven and have continued to provide music for DC/Baltimore area for fourteen years. Personally, I am excited to hear a trio that is different from the piano/violin/cello combination that I frequently hear. Also on the concert will be the talented Ennio Cominetti. He is an organist, composer and conductor from Italy and this is just one stop during his many worldwide engagements. I am continually amazed at the musicality of the organ and I am looking forward to hearing Signor Cominetti play the organ at St. Louis. While Beethoven will not be performed at this concert, there will be performances of Bach, Bossi, Bizet, Boismortier, Bruch and others. Fortunately for anyone attending this free concert, they will be able to see and hear the results of what happens when someone, in this case four, is compelled to choose their career.
Thursday, February 9, 2012
Thursday, February 2, 2012
Friday, January 27, 2012
Gloria
Well, it has been two months now since the start of the new English translation for Mass. Parish-wide at St. Louis we have started with Randall DeBruyn's Mass of the Resurrection as our first Mass Setting of the new translation for the Sanctus, Memorial Acclamation (When we eat this bread), and Amen. During the Christmas Season, we sang Daniel Laginya's revised setting of his Christmas Gloria which uses the Gloria in excelsis Deo refrain most commonly sung in Angels We Have Heard on High. With the Christmas Season now behind us, we introduced the Gloria from the Mass of the Resurrection last weekend at the 9:30am Mass (Youth Band) and 11:15am Mass (St. Louis Choir). The rest of the Masses will follow between now and the beginning of Lent. The Gloria is first on the video below. Our church space and acoustic at St. Louis will allow us to move the tempo a bit faster than on this recording, but the Youtube clip does give a good idea of the music.
Tuesday, November 22, 2011
Monday, November 21, 2011
New Translation
I’m very motivated to write after this past weekend, as the realization of the weekend’s importance shows itself. My attitude is always optimistic and I remain excited about the upcoming changes to the English translation of some of the texts in the Mass. Even so, this past weekend is extremely interesting to me. It was the last time I will play some of the music that I’ve come to know well over the last several years – some for my whole life.
Some of the music has become so second nature that I don’t need to concentrate on it very much at all. I find the page easily and can concentrate on the congregation rather than the notes. There is a parallel here, of course. We have texts – spoken or sung – that we have all become so familiar with that we don’t even think about them when we sing or speak them during Mass. Next week and following (for a little while, at least) we will all need to concentrate on what we are saying and – I hope – gain a deeper meaning and understanding. I hope everyone knows that this is not the primary reason for the new translation, but I think it is a positive secondary outcome.
Much has been written regarding the upcoming changes. It seems that each writer picks a few of the changes to discuss. I would like to do the same.
The USCCB (United States Conference of Catholic Bishops) have a clickable, side-by-side comparison of both old and new texts on their website.
Many
I’m thankful that most of the time when I hear something that sounds wrong or upsetting that there is a usually a logical explanation. Several years ago I remember playing a service for a different Christian denomination and hearing the text while taking the cup “this is my blood… which is shed for many.” Having always heard “for all” at that time, I thought “many” sounded rather exclusive. Who would be left out? In truth, “many”, I believe, is meant to show a large number of people (as opposed to the small group of 12 Apostles to whom Jesus was speaking). After His death and resurrection they were to “go, therefore and make disciples of all nations” (Matthew 28:19) See the USCCB commentary for more information.
Christ has died, Christ is risen, Christ will come again.
I understand the fact that this option for the Memorial Acclamation will be removed – the other three options are much richer in their text (at that moment) because they are opportunities for the community to directly address Christ and they show the relationship between Christ and us. “Christ has died, Christ is risen, Christ will come again” is true of course, but at that time during the Mass it does not show that same relationship.
Credo
When I travel to other countries I’ve often wondered about the Nicene Creed – about why we say “we believe” in English while everyone else seems to say “I believe” (and the Latin “Credo”, of course, means “I believe”. At the time of the first English translation, the idea was to use “we” to show the sense of the community. I’m excited to see how the statement “I believe in one God” said by each individual at Mass together with the rest of the community works to build an even greater sense of community. Though it will – at first – feel new, we can remember that Catholics throughout the world have proclaimed this Nicene Creed since its first adoption by the Church in the year 325.
I hope my comments here show that the upcoming changes are not so big. Of course, the Mass itself is not changing. However, for the first time in my life (I did not live during the Second Vatican Council) I played/said certain things at Mass this past weekend that will not be said in exactly the same way after this week. Very powerful!
Are you reading this blog? Let me know!
Some of the music has become so second nature that I don’t need to concentrate on it very much at all. I find the page easily and can concentrate on the congregation rather than the notes. There is a parallel here, of course. We have texts – spoken or sung – that we have all become so familiar with that we don’t even think about them when we sing or speak them during Mass. Next week and following (for a little while, at least) we will all need to concentrate on what we are saying and – I hope – gain a deeper meaning and understanding. I hope everyone knows that this is not the primary reason for the new translation, but I think it is a positive secondary outcome.
Much has been written regarding the upcoming changes. It seems that each writer picks a few of the changes to discuss. I would like to do the same.
The USCCB (United States Conference of Catholic Bishops) have a clickable, side-by-side comparison of both old and new texts on their website.
Many
I’m thankful that most of the time when I hear something that sounds wrong or upsetting that there is a usually a logical explanation. Several years ago I remember playing a service for a different Christian denomination and hearing the text while taking the cup “this is my blood… which is shed for many.” Having always heard “for all” at that time, I thought “many” sounded rather exclusive. Who would be left out? In truth, “many”, I believe, is meant to show a large number of people (as opposed to the small group of 12 Apostles to whom Jesus was speaking). After His death and resurrection they were to “go, therefore and make disciples of all nations” (Matthew 28:19) See the USCCB commentary for more information.
Christ has died, Christ is risen, Christ will come again.
I understand the fact that this option for the Memorial Acclamation will be removed – the other three options are much richer in their text (at that moment) because they are opportunities for the community to directly address Christ and they show the relationship between Christ and us. “Christ has died, Christ is risen, Christ will come again” is true of course, but at that time during the Mass it does not show that same relationship.
Credo
When I travel to other countries I’ve often wondered about the Nicene Creed – about why we say “we believe” in English while everyone else seems to say “I believe” (and the Latin “Credo”, of course, means “I believe”. At the time of the first English translation, the idea was to use “we” to show the sense of the community. I’m excited to see how the statement “I believe in one God” said by each individual at Mass together with the rest of the community works to build an even greater sense of community. Though it will – at first – feel new, we can remember that Catholics throughout the world have proclaimed this Nicene Creed since its first adoption by the Church in the year 325.
I hope my comments here show that the upcoming changes are not so big. Of course, the Mass itself is not changing. However, for the first time in my life (I did not live during the Second Vatican Council) I played/said certain things at Mass this past weekend that will not be said in exactly the same way after this week. Very powerful!
Are you reading this blog? Let me know!
Saturday, April 9, 2011
Royal Fireworks
Before any royal wedding was announced for Spring 2011, the Spring Concert - Sunday, May 1 at 4:00pm - on the St. Louis Church Concert Series was designated, Royal Fireworks. The performance will feature Music of England, soprano Crossley Hawn, and pianist Su-Young Nam with myself as the conductor of the St. Louis Concert Orchestra.
What's in a name?
The title of the concert comes from the 1749 piece Music for the Royal Fireworks of George Frederic Handel which includes the now-famous movement, La Réjouissance, played here with actual fireworks.
Concerto Competition
On February 20, 2011 we held the first-ever High School Concerto Competition. It was open to all high school students able to be at St. Louis on the day of competition. Four students from four different area high schools took part in the event - each with stellar performances on piano (two), flute, and double-bass. In the end, the judges unanimously chose pianist Su-Young Nam as the winner, so she will play her concerto, the first movement (Allegro) of Mozart's Piano Concerto No. 17 in G-Major (K.453) at the concert.
Lovely limpid colors with good harmony and musical intelligence
So writes a reviewer here after soprano Crossley Hawn's performances in Umbria, Italy. I look forward to welcoming her to St. Louis for the first time for this performance.
As always, the concert is free and no tickets are required. Please bring your family and friends to this performance and stay for the reception that will follow in the Social Hall.
Milwaukee bound
It was great to come home to Maryland to this Baltimore Sun article about the Baltimore Symphony, reaching new audiences, and about interacting with current audiences in new ways. I returned from a few days in Milwaukee (March 27-30) at the MTNA (Music Teachers National Association) National Conference. At first it may seem an odd choice of conference as I do not currently teach private music students in the traditional sense and I am no longer teaching regularly in high school. Instead, it was the perfect place to go for two reasons. First, MTNA has named this past year the Year of Collaborative Music - an opportunity for all of us to take a new look at possible musical or other music-inclusive collaborations. Second, there was a distinct theme at the conference - ideas for working with and communicating among non-musicians. As a church musician I constantly have opportunities to assemble a variety of people - singers/instrumentalists, musicians/non-musicians - together to make music.
In addition to concerts and masterclasses - of special note, a great concert featuring Denyce Graves, mezzo-soprano and Warren Jones, piano - I'm listing some topics of interest below.
Music Transcends Middle East Conflict - Presentation highlighting current efforts to promote cultural understanding through music, specifically US relations in Bahrain, Saudi Arabia, and Palestinian Territories.
Performance Medicine - New technology combining neuroscience with music pedagogy to fix and prevent performance related injury.
Recreational Music Making - Movement toward opening musical possibilities for all. This series of sessions has particular importance to me as I constantly hear from people that "someone told me I shouldn't sing" or "this person said I'm no good at piano, so I stopped when I was 8 years old". The Recreational Music Making sessions at the conference showed many great examples of adults regaining a love of music through playing or singing that they thought was previously unavailable to them.
Sight-Reading - Developing visual skills (peripheral vision, tracking, pattern recognition, and short-term memory as a means of better sight-reading.
Ultimate Music Theory - A new and extremely well-designed source for learning rudiments of music theory whether your goal is to read better for a choir or instrumental setting or whether you intend to pursue music as your career (Advanced Placement Music Theory Exam, College Entrance Exam, etc).
In the weeks ahead, I look forward to developing and incorporating some of the ideas of the conference - into daily use at St. Louis. Did someone tell you not to sing or play? Please tell me the story.
In addition to concerts and masterclasses - of special note, a great concert featuring Denyce Graves, mezzo-soprano and Warren Jones, piano - I'm listing some topics of interest below.
Music Transcends Middle East Conflict - Presentation highlighting current efforts to promote cultural understanding through music, specifically US relations in Bahrain, Saudi Arabia, and Palestinian Territories.
Performance Medicine - New technology combining neuroscience with music pedagogy to fix and prevent performance related injury.
Recreational Music Making - Movement toward opening musical possibilities for all. This series of sessions has particular importance to me as I constantly hear from people that "someone told me I shouldn't sing" or "this person said I'm no good at piano, so I stopped when I was 8 years old". The Recreational Music Making sessions at the conference showed many great examples of adults regaining a love of music through playing or singing that they thought was previously unavailable to them.
Sight-Reading - Developing visual skills (peripheral vision, tracking, pattern recognition, and short-term memory as a means of better sight-reading.
Ultimate Music Theory - A new and extremely well-designed source for learning rudiments of music theory whether your goal is to read better for a choir or instrumental setting or whether you intend to pursue music as your career (Advanced Placement Music Theory Exam, College Entrance Exam, etc).
In the weeks ahead, I look forward to developing and incorporating some of the ideas of the conference - into daily use at St. Louis. Did someone tell you not to sing or play? Please tell me the story.
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