NZ Music Month

May is New Zealand Music Month in 2010. Over the last decade, New Zealand Music Month has drawn attention to the vast talent and diversity we enjoy in the New Zealand Music Industry. Check out the details at http://sounz.org.nz/content/eSOUNZ_update_April30_2010

War memories: The Man Who Stopped The War With A Violin

The following story was passed to me from one of my daughter's kindergarten teachers, and relates a true event involving a soldier from Dunedin in WW2.

We thought that these days following ANZAC Day would be an appropriate time to share this moving story. I hope you enjoy it as I did.

---

The man who stopped the war with a violin

His name was Ian Pringle.

The place was Monte Cassino.

The time was late at night. The date was sometimes in 1944 when the battle for the town continued, both night and day, with heavy street fighting taking place.

The ruins of Monte Cassino, after the battle (photo from Wikipedia).

I remember this time especially because of the very late hour when I had no serious work to do myself, nor did Ian who was the 2 inch mortar operator with my platoon. Ian happened to be an accomplished violinist, and was a special friend of mine also.

The violin had been found in the basement of the house and was shown to him as the only known violinist present in the building at this time. Ian tuned the instrument and decided to play it. The music he chose was classical and very beautiful. It was a well-known piece, which was familiar to me, but I cannot now remember what it was.

In the meantime the noise of battle was reaching a crescendo with much shouting, hand grenades exploding, and machine guns firing. Ian started to play the instrument most beautifully!

He had only played a few notes when the battle noises ceased! All that could be heard was the sound of the lovely music, which was certainly being listened to by the people on both sides of the conflict.

When he had finished, strangely enough, there were the sounds of applause coming from both sides, and a short period of silence, before the war started again!

I asked Ian whether it was a very good instrument, and he told me it was a beautiful one, and I asked him what he proposed to do with it. His reply was, that the person who had originally found it, would be asked to return it to exactly where he had found it in the first place, in the hope that its rightful owner would return after the battle, and retrieve his violin.

Account submitted by Lawson Pitcher,
7th Platoon 24th Infantry Battalion,
2nd New Zealand Expeditionary Force.

Saint-Saens Les fleurs et les arbres

City of Dunedin Choir sings Saint-Saëns's Les fleurs et les arbres in the Fauré and Friends concert on 13 June 2010.

Sung here by Chora Nova:

Saint-Saens Calme des Nuits

City of Dunedin Choir sings Saint-Saëns's Calme des Nuits in the Fauré and Friends concert on 13 June 2010.

Sung here by the Umeå Studentchoir:

Saint-Saens Ave Maria

City of Dunedin Choir sings Saint-Saëns's Ave Maria in the Fauré and Friends concert on 13 June 2010.

Faure Tantum Ergo

City of Dunedin Choir sings Fauré's Tantum Ergo in the Fauré and Friends concert on 13 June 2010.

Faure Maria Mater Gratiae

City of Dunedin Choir sings Fauré's Maria, Mater Gratiae in the Fauré and Friends concert on 13 June 2010.

Here are some clips - one for listening pleasure (Westminster Cathedral Choir) and two for practicing:



Go to this Youtube video to practice the Soprano line: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t9EldjJiMcE

Go to this Youtube video to practice the Alto line: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dHDVIW0eSds

(Unfortunately embedding these clips have been disabled.)

Faure Madrigal

City of Dunedin Choir will sing Fauré's Op. 35 Madrigal at the concert on 13 June 2010.

Requiem

A Requiem or Requiem Mass, also known as Mass for the dead (Latin: Missa pro defunctis) or Mass of the dead (Latin: Missa defunctorum), is a Mass celebrated for the repose of the soul or souls of one or more deceased persons, using a particular formula of the Roman Missal. It is frequently, but not necessarily, celebrated in the context of a funeral.

Gabriel Fauré composed his Requiem in D minor, Op. 48 between 1887 and 1890. This choral-orchestral setting of the Roman Catholic Mass for the Dead is the best known of his large works. The most famous movement is the soprano aria Pie Jesu. Camille Saint-Saëns said of it, "just as Mozart's is the only Ave verum Corpus, this is the only Pie Jesu."

Fauré on his Requiem

• “Everything I managed to entertain by way of religious illusion I put into my Requiem, which moreover is dominated from beginning to end by a very human feeling of faith in eternal rest.”

• "It has been said that my Requiem does not express the fear of death and someone has called it a lullaby of death. But it is thus that I see death: as a happy deliverance, an aspiration towards happiness above, rather than as a painful experience. The music of Gounod has been criticized for its overinclination towards human tenderness. But his nature predisposed him to feel this way: religious emotion took this form inside him. Is it not necessary to accept the artist's nature? As to my Requiem, perhaps I have also instinctively sought to escape from what is thought right and proper, after all the years of accompanying burial services on the organ! I know it all by heart. I wanted to write something different."

After doing the St John Passion with its intense high drama it is sheer relief and a joy to be singing Fauré's "lullaby of death".

Many of the movements from this Requiem have been used in movies, in TV shows, and by other artists. The two most used are Pie Jesu and In paradisum.

In Paradisum sung by the All Angels:



In the movie 28 Days Later, 2002 British post-apocalyptic horror/science fiction film directed by Danny Boyle:

Ten easy tips for fabulous superstardom!

I bet you're all bored stiff your week-long break from choir, right? So here's a little fun to get you in the groove for tomorrow night! Enjoy!

If you're sick and tired of being a chorister, maybe you've decided it's time to jump ship and become a super mega-million single selling MTV legend-making popstar!

And why not?

I mean, let's face it, choir can be pretty dull when the basses are still making a mess of that semi-quaver run, and you've nothing to do but re-read that tattered copy of Woman's Day while listening to their off notes.

But help is at hand!

If you want to be a superstar, all you have to do is follow my ten simple tips for superstardom. Within months, you'll be knocking the latest Irish sensation from their perch, and claiming legend status that may last at least a month.

"Bardot" were the winning entrants in an Australian Popstars competition. They were legends and household names just long enough to see their first single go platinum, before becoming unknown guest stars on variety shows, and self-publishing autobiography writers.


So go for it! What have you got to lose?

And as you'll find out, absolutely no talent is required...

Ten easy tips for fabulous superstardom

Here's what you're going to need. Maybe:

• 10. Good pitch: Pitch used to be really, really important. But these days, I'd argue it doesn't matter so much.
  
  Pitch can be improved with lessons, and in recording studios autotune can adjust notes from unrecognisable to perfect.
  
  Bad pitch has not stopped Dannii Minogue from singing flatly throughout Europe. Charlotte Church's off notes have been declared "divine" by tone deaf grannies the world over, and Paper Lace's mega selling hit Billy Don't Be A Hero continues to horrify those with a good ear every time they enter a disco, and possibly for decades to come.
  
  While Madonna's middle C may forever remain uncertain, one thing remains sure: good pitch is no longer a necessity for superstardom.
  
  
• 9. Vocal power: Again, power in the voice used to be important, but now, not so much.
  
  With the likes of flat-singing, powerless crooning budgerigars like Kylie Minogue having multi-million selling recording careers, I think it is absolutely clear that in order to sell records, vocal power is far less important than being a soapie star.
  
  
  Kylie and Dannii Minogue on the path to greatness prove that singing flat and complete lack of vocal power are no hindrance whatsoever.
  
  However, if you're not a soapie star, a powerful voice can definitely help you on your way to fabulousness. Or having a sister in Young Talent Time.
  
  
• 8. Vocal projection: The ability to project is important. If no-one can hear you, and you're a mousy singer, you ain't gonna be fabulous.
  
  There's nothing worse than a breathy, mousy little would-be Mariah Carey getting up on stage and doing a karaoke version of one of her hits. And you can't hear a thing.
  
  Project! Project! Project! Then even if you're awful, the crowd will be able to hear it! But even if people think you're awful, you know they're wrong. You're fabulous, right!
  
  Of course, if you make no sound at all, you can still sell millions of records. Just follow Milli Vanilli's example, and get someone else to do the singing for you.
  
  
• 7. Vocal clarity: Vocal clarity used to be cherished, but these days anything goes, so it only ranks in at number 7.
  
  A pure, bright, clear sound used to be appreciated musically, but these days if you want to be fabulous, the more unusual and pained your vocal chords appear to be, the more likely you are to sell records.
  
  So go on, drink heaps, do drugs, lower your vocal register by an octave or two, and smoke anything that can be wrapped into a rollie. The damage you do to your voice might just set you up with an international career.
  
  Just look at Jimmy Barnes:
  
  
  Jimmy killing his vocal chords, and making bucketloads of money.
  
  
• 6. Taste: Taste is all-important.
  
  Three tenors are better than one. Ten tenors are better than three. And if you're Irish, better yet - you'll sell millions. So twelve Irish tenors should be absolutely fricking awesome.
  
  If you're not Irish, pretend to be. No-one will know (except the Irish).
  
  Choose your genre carefully. If you're going to sing Church music, ensure that you look virginal, wear white, are filmed in over-exposed footage with a gold filter, and sing everything in slow motion.
  
  
  With incredibly slow singing, autotune, and gold filters, you're bound to sell millions of records to people with no taste.
  
  
• 5. Intelligence: For decades now, Madonna has proved that intelligence is critical to being a fabulous singer. You don't need talent, as long as you have the smarts to keep ahead of the fashion world, and have the nouse to know how to freak out the media.
  
  Keep track of fashion trends, publish dodgy sex books and wear the odd pointy bra or two - and your musical career is guaranteed.
  
  
  If you haven't got the vocal goods, a pointy bra will work wonders. (Maybe a pointy codpiece for the males among my readers?)
  
  In short, shock treatment works in the music world.
  
  Don't blend in. If you must wear a uniform in your choir, wear thigh-high boots to match, or shave your head.
  
  Push the boundaries and get noticed. Even if you can't sing (it never stopped Madonna), look like you're worth noticing, and you will be.
  
  
• 4. Good rhythm: Rhythm is far more important than good pitch if you want to be fabulous. Singing in the rests never did anyone's career any good, and yours is no exception. Learn to sing in time, and you're on your way to fabulousness.
  
  And if you are completely tone-deaf, there's always rap.
  
  
• 3. Great diction: James Reyne's Dead Canada Beavers is a classic example of how great diction may have been important in the past, but now unique diction is what makes the grade and sells singles.
  
  
  
  James singing Dead Canada Beavers
  
  The line is (apparently) "she don't like...that kind of behaviour" but the guy's diction is so unique that it sounds like "she don't like dead canada beavers."
  
  James is an artist in creative manipulation of English vowels. No-one is quite like him. He's a one-off. And if you want to be fabulous, you need to be just like him. Maybe.
  
  
• 2. Attitude: On your way to fabulousness, you must have attitude.
  
  Swear a lot. Be rude to people. Be scary. Treat people like the scum they are, in comparison to your own absolute amazingness.
  
  Make outrageous demands - ask for beluga caviar sandwiches in the middle of the desert, and bathe in nothing but Evian water. Make sure your demands are catered to, or have tantrums. Break things.
  
  Never let anyone stand in the spotlight - except you. Be a Diva. No-one notices the back-up singers, no matter how good they might be. So make sure no one is in that spotlight except - YOU!
  
  
• 1. Sexiness: Be sexy. You can't be thin enough, have enough curves (or muscles and tattoos if you're a bloke), or be blonde enough in the music world. Buy your clothes at the local Fredericks Of Hollywood outlet store.
  
  Another career option is retro mimicry. Retro mimicry is in. If you can look almost exactly like James Dean or Marilyn Monroe, your career is set.
  
  
  Marilyn Monroe does Marilyn Monroe rather well.
  
  
  Madonna does Marilyn Monroe badly.
  
  
  Kylie Minogue does Marilyn Monroe even more badly than Madonna.
  
  And if you're not sexy, then at least look like someone who was sexy, is dead now, and can't sue your pants off.
  

OK. That's my top 10 tips for fabulousness. There's really not much to being a superstar these days. I mean, with Autotune around you don't need to be able to sing in tune. With recording studios that do takes bar by bar, you don't need good rhythm or timing. And with Botox around, you too can look like Madonna or Tom Cruise for decades to come. So - see you at the next Grammies! :-) -- Actually, see you at rehearsal! And don't forget to bring something for the Trade Table!

Parody on BA ad

I just had to share this with you all - it is so funny! And lovely voices too! It's a parody of the classic British Airways commercial - the lovely 'Flower Duet' from 'Lakme' by Delibes.

If I had an iPad

By the time the iPad is available in New Zealand the forScore app might already be available.

How cool would that be? Great for practicing, and it even has a visual metronome feature, "allowing you to see, not hear, the timing. It's the metronome Beethoven never had".

Not that the visual metronome would be the hot selling point for me, but the whole concept of carrying the score along in this handy and useful format is mind-blowing. I wondered if our genre of music would be covered, but no excuses, they claim: "With forScore, you can add your own files - digitize your own sheet music, or find thousands of pieces available for free online at sites like bandmusicpdf.org or imslp.org."
 
IMSLP and other sources of that ilk would do it for us.

Here's their official announcement:
Portland, OR, April 2, 2010 — MGS Development today officially announced the upcoming release and pricing of forScore, exclusively for iPad.
ForScore, the musical score reader for iPad, will be available in early April for $2.99 through iTunes and the iPad App Store. ForScore allows users to take over 1300 pages of beautifully rendered score with them on the go, featuring 18 world-renowned composers and almost 300 different titles. With innovative and remarkable features like the visual metronome, forScore is more than just a library of score - it’s a musician’s perfect companion.

Read more about what you can do with it...

Accolades for St John Passion

This letter from Dr David Galloway (Dr Patricia Payne, the opera singer’s husband) was published in the ODT this morning:

Monday 29 March, 2010

Editor Otago Daily Times

Yesterday I attended Bach’s St John Passion by the City of Dunedin Choir and the Southern Sinfonia in the Town Hall. To hear this wonderfully dramatic work sung with such warmth and conviction (and dare I say passion) in German, the language of its composition, was a treat indeed. The performance easily bears comparison with any British or European live performances of the work that I have heard. Besides the splendid contributions of conductor, soloists, choir and orchestra, the continuo players (organ, cello and flute) sensitively and deftly provided accompaniments to the several solo arias, adding a further dimension of great subtlety and beauty to the whole work. It was a glorious start to Holy Week. Warmest congratulations to the City of Dunedin Choir and their supporters, for allowing us to share in this outstanding musical event. More please!

David Galloway (Opoho)

City of Dunedin Choir blog hits ChoralNet and international fame....sorta, kinda...

Well, we've attained notoriety. Of a sort.

The recent informative post, Ten Facts You May Not Know About Bach has hit the big time, being picked up by the internationally-followed Choral Net.

It is even being discussed at length and in detail.

For example, Choral Net blog commenter Tim Sharps writes:

"I, for one, am tired of Bach's music being endlessly compared to the theme song from Gilligan's Island.

ChoralNet, ACDA Interest Sessions, papers at AMS, and other venues continue to provide a forum for perpetuating this sort of thing, but the truth is Bach NEVER used a lowered 6, lowered 7, tonic cadential formula as was so credibly established with the words "a three-hour tour" of the classic theme.

Further, I can find no modulations between chorale verses in any of his strophic works, which obviously predominates the architecture in the dramatic build up that begins "Just sit right back and you'll hear a tale, A tale of a fateful trip..."

To be fair, I will give some credence to the inner universal symbolism Albert Schweitzer identified (which was remarkable, if you think about it) in the use of the word "minnow", a fish that can be either freshwater or saltwater, and the potential "lostness" of the minnow, a pietistic, but also universal image."

And commenter Leanne Veitch says,

"I have reason to believe that Bach was the real composer behind the emotionally intense "Abba" pop classic "Geben Sie mich geben mich geben mir einen Mann nach Mitternacht."

The similarities between the above "Abba" (yeah, right) tune and "Jesu, Meine Freude" clarifies the truth of the matter. Abba were obviously simply fraudsters ripping off the genius of this pop tune master.

Bach. Obviously Swedish.
Abba. Obviously plagiarists.
The proof is in the pudding.

'Nuff said, methinks.

I think we've killed Bach off, for now.

Stay tuned. If you enjoyed these hitherto unknown jigsaw pieces of information about the esteemed BachMeister, you'll be pleased to know I'm currently in the process of researching French Composer Fauré for a similar series of informative snippets.

Which will, of course, also be entirely accurate.

Virtual Choir

Ever heard of Eric Whitacre's Virtual Choir? I am instantly a fan! Here's a taste, 'Lux Aurumque', and then you can read the story behind the Virtual Choir.

Faure Requiem

The Fauré Requiem forms part of the Choir's concert planned for 13 June in St Paul's Cathedral. Here is a "preview" of the music for your enjoyment:

I Introit et Kyrie


II Offertoire


III Sanctus


IV Pie Jesu


V Agnus Dei


VI Libera Me


VII In Paradisum