Lee Hoiby, a composer of operas and songs that balance unabashed lyricism and careful craftsmanship, died Monday in New York. He was 85.
I have changed the template theme of the blog again. I have found that the other one didn’t display well on an iPad, so I chose one that will allow (I hope) for better viewing on that fabulous toy.
If you don’t like the new template you’ll just have to start a blog of your own okay? 🙂
The diary has been put online of William Steinway, one of the most important members of the Steinway family, who ran the piano company for most of the second half of the 19th century.
The Smithsonian Institution, who now own the diary, spearheaded the project, which as well their own curatorial staff, included over 100 volunteers. The diary, which covers 36 years of Steinway’s life, is now available both in facsimile and transcription.
Steinway writes about riots in New York during the civil war, and about the lengths he went to to protect the factory. He also goes into detail about the political machinations behind the drive to bring mass transportation to New York in the 1890s.
RTWT
Go here to start reading the diary. You can see the original handwritten pages and read from a clearer, typed version.
Rock Filarmonica Oradea
i am so exited for my oboe solo sonata no. 1 yeah its three pages long:)
I have always enjoyed Bart Schneemann’s oboe playing, ever since purchasing the CD It Takes Two. He’s a fine player, and seems to delve into a vast amount of music; old, new, he can do it!
I wish I could find something from It Takes Two, but I’m not seeing (or hearing) anything on YouTube yet. I’ll keep looking!
I can barely understand a word (although of course there are a few words I — and you two! — can clearly recognize) of this next video, but get a load of the double reed instrument!
So … anyone out there want to fill me in on what he’s saying?
And I’ve just ordered my copy of Melodies sans Paroles for Oboe & Piano (no language problems here; it’s all about the music!):
At 9:30 this morning, the principal of the Ron Brown Academy in Brooklyn stood in her school’s auditorium, watching a fight break out.
Across from her, a tall girl in a tight pink shirt slapped at the girl in front of her. Three other girls grabbed the tall one’s arms and kicked at her legs. The girls broke apart as two boys doing cartwheels chased them off stage.
The principal, Celeste Douglas, broke into applause. She was watching the teenagers — who had grins plastered to their faces, and whose fight moves had been carefully choreographed by their teachers — perform their winter dance routine.
“Music makes me feel free,” said Justin, one of the dancers, after the performance. He is a seventh grader at Ron Brown, a middle school in Bedford-Stuyvesant.
Music has also provided the school with an opportunity to improve its test scores, boost attendance and jump off the state’s watch list.
Thanks to Tony Clements for bringing the article to my attention.
Read online:
The Barbirolli International Oboe Festival and Competition, scheduled for March 2012, has been cancelled ‘due to the loss of crucial grants’.
RTWT
I found this here. He begins by talking about Marcel Tabuteau, and moves on to Ralph Gomberg and further on talks about giving the A and “the box” … so much oboe history!
(I’m seeing that this won’t work on the iPad … no Adobe Flash Player here. Sorry all! … and will they eventually get this, I wonder?!)
Really enjoyed the marching oboe band this morning marching past the apartment, drumming away. What a tuneful bunch they were. NOT.
