oboeinsight

But please don’t mess with either. That just ticks me off.

Cockman is gaining renown in the world of piano competitions with his hybrid arrangements that combine hymns with secular pieces.

Last summer, he won grand prize for instrumental performance at the Gospel Music Association’s Music in the Rockies competition. He also won the national award for instrumental solo or ensemble performance.

For the competition, Cockman performed two original pieces he wrote.

The first combined the hymn “Abide With Me” with Frederick Chopin’s “Etude Op. 10 No. 9” and Franz Liszt’s “Concert Etude No. 3.” The second used the works of George Gershwin, Scott Joplin and Louis Moreau Gottschalk to embellish the hymn “He Set Me Free.”

“Independently, they’re fine, but they’re more accessible if you combine that hymn with something else,” Cockman says. “I love to do it. It takes a creative process to think, I love this hymn. How can I make it more than it is?”

You can read the entire article here. There is so much I disagree with here I won’t go into it all. But …

The thing is, hymns—the good ones, that is—really can stand on their own. And if they aren’t any good, they can simply disappear. And good classical works? Let ’em be good classical works. (And yes, I realize that some hymns are actually old tunes, be they drinkng or just popular songs. I’m not going into that right now. And that was then, this is now … or something … maybe.)

I have no problem with playing Telemann or Bach or … well … whatever for a church offeratory or special music. I also have no problem playing It Is Well With My Soul … but you aren’t going to catch me playing “Jesu Joy Of What a Friend We Have In Jesus”. Simply isn’t going to happen. Sorry to disappoint.

“As a former professional ballerina and current owner of my own dance studio, I cannot believe how you can speak with such a lack of knowledge. How do you dare to even write about an art form you obviously know nothing about????”

This is the response the reviewer Marc Shulgold received when he “dissed” (minimally, from what I can tell) The Nutcracker.

I only want to ask this dancer why she’s using four question marks. 😉

The article is interesting, asking the question, “What level of experience and expertise does it take to report intelligently on dance and classical music?”

I’ve often wondered that myself. I’ve read reviews that have made me wonder just what the heck the reviewer knows … or if he or she was at the same performance I attended. I’ve also read reviews that made it clear the reviewer didn’t attend part of all of the performance (bad idea, folks). And I’ve read some where I feel as if the reviewer nailed it … merely because he or she agreed with little old me. Go figure.
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The classic part of a classical music is that it will not distract the attention of the listener and at the same time be able to instill relaxed feeling in the minds of listener.

Sigh. Grumble.

SCREAM.

Read it here. Read it and weep.

Here’s something else to read, written by someone who is a bit more knowledgeable about classical music. He admits to having a “PCMSQ — Personal Classical Music Snootiness Quotient” and it’s a fun read. I, too, cringe at certain words being used, and certain promitions that come out, regarding classical music.

But oh well.

I don’t think I’m a snob. (Well, okay, sometimes I think I am, but not always.) I’m just better than most people.

… I’m KIDDING, folks. Really! 😉