So much for my prediction. Eagles got spanked 49 to 21. This has already been a very long season and looks to continue this way. Not fun. Almost makes me want to be a Giants fan again. Almost...

Highlights of last week:
Last week’s research seminar was a dissection of the second movement of Ives’ 4th symphony. It was given conjointly by one of our American professors and a guest German musicologist. The piece is seemingly impossible to analyze with its cacophony of brass bands and double orchestra, but both lecturers did a good job of explaining their connection with the piece and some of the possible sources Ives used for its composition. It seems that Ives’ use of quotation extends beyond the obvious use of ‘Columbia Gem of the Ocean’ and that there is actually a much more complicated method at work. Ives takes such small bits from pre-existing pieces (his own as well as popular American songs and hymns) that it becomes an almost serialist method of composition, with each section being based on different melodic and rhythmic materials. Ives shows a mastery at creating an intensely complicated, layered method of composition. It is interesting to discuss Ives with non-Americans. It seems that here Ives is more of a curiosity and less of an integral part of music history. In America, Ives gets a lot of discussion time and is held up as being the first truly original American composer. It’s funny how our national identity can influence our perception of music history...

I also caught a concert of Vivaldi and Bach chamber works. It was a lovely performance and I enjoyed getting to hear pieces I hadn’t heard before, including a sacred Vivaldi cantata and a secular Bach cantata (BWV 209, in Italian!) for soprano. I was again struck by how much more complex Bach is than Vivaldi. The Vivaldi works were all quite nice and pretty and full of virtuosity, but after the first few measures of the Bach, I realized I was in a different compositional dimension. That being said, I wasn’t crazy about the Bach work and feel like he gave so much more to his sacred works than his secular. End score: Bach 20, Vivaldi 17 (which is incidentally my pick for the Eagles/Broncos game, in favor of the Eagles. I still think the Eagles won’t really have a rushing attack, but the defense should basically be able to hold the Broncos offense. Look for some late-game heroics, possibly from the Eagles’ secondary or new kicker who just got ditched by the Cowboys. I’ve got my lucky shirt on, so I’m hoping for good things. I plan to listen to it tomorrow morning via the archived broadcast at NFL.com Field Pass. Go Birds!)

My first day of school

Things are finally underway here at York as I had a long day of lectures and rehearsal yesterday. In some ways I feel as if I used my brain more yesterday than I have in months, maybe years. That's kind of the point of my being here though.

Wednesday mornings consist of a research seminar in which we learn how to be effective researchers in our given field. (We also had an interesting conversation about the meaning of "research".) The seminars are divided generally into composition, musicology and performance. I'm doing the performance seminar. The second part of the morning, also a performance seminar, basically consists of a coaching class where students bring different pieces of repertoire and we explore performance practice problems. I'm excited because the lecturer is very knowledgeable on these things and we also have access to harpsichord and fortepiano. I'm looking forward to doing some Schubert and Zelter (who? you may ask) lieder with fortepiano. I imagine my approach will be somewhat different than I'm accustomed to due to the acoustical differences between the fortepiano and our modern piano.

The afternoon featured my first choir rehearsal of the semester. It's rather different singing with young voices again after singing primarily with adult singers for the past few years. The Chamber Choir has a nice light sound. I found myself having to listen extra hard to try to blend with my fellow tenors. It's definitely a different sound than I'm used to singing with, but I think I will fit in just fine. This semester we are working on Haydn's 'The Seasons'. I didn't know the piece prior, but find it to be charmingly rustic and lustig. The second part of the afternoon is a lecture which will be given by a different professor every week on a specific topic. I missed out on some great ones at Peabody, and so will try to go to as many as I can.

Nothing today, and tomorrow is our Vocal Studies meeting and small ensemble coaching. Our ensemble is still figuring out what to sing and so we haven't rehearsed yet. Tomorrow night is also the first rehearsal for the Yorkshire Bach Choir. We are doing a program of music for Guy Fawkes Day (a York native) of Tudor music with lots of Byrd and company. Good stuff. I guess I should probably go learn it or something...

Miscellaneous

Further reading about my post on British classical radio stations. I wonder if America had something like Classic FM if we could put more bums in the seats...

Rehearsals start this week. Looking forward to singing in an actual British choir instead of an American choir trying to sound like a British choir. Whatever that means...

Go see 'Wallace and Gromit'! It was very intelligently written and assembled and I found myself laughing for the entire film.

BBC!

I’ve really been enjoying listening to British radio stations in my room (when one does not have TV or internet in one’s room, one turns to the radio. I had a similar experience when I lived in Baltimore). Mainly it’s been BBC3 and ClassicFM. Occasionally I’ll put on the talk channel, BBC4. The programming on ClassicFM is kind of like Top 40 classical music, but like an I Pod shuffle. You get a movement of Mahler here, a song there, a sonata movement sometime else. I find the DJs rather enjoyable and witty. BBC3 plays slightly more obscure selections (yesterday was a delicious mass by Ockeghem, today a cantata by Kuhnau [for more on Kuhnau go here]), but isn’t a strictly classical formula, with jazz and world music coming on at night sometimes. I'm amazed at just how much vocal music they play. It's great to hear new repertoire every morning. Both stations have lots of features with performers and it’s also interesting that a lot of British recordings and performers are represented.

I was treated to a fabulous feature on Miles Davis’ Kind of Blue album over the weekend on Radio 3, in which each track of that magnificent album was taken apart musically. A special emphasis was given to the unique solo styles of each soloist on the record. It’s great to hear someone talk about Bill Evans’ love of Impressionism and tone clusters or about Miles Davis’ use of simple modal motives and then to actually hear Evans or Davis play the solo. The feature went into the overall construction of the album and how Miles Davis used specific players for each track in order to create the desired effect. Unfortunately, my copy of Kind of Blue was on tape and is no longer in my possession. Overall, I find the scholarship and high level of the features very good.

Perhaps I’ll begin to venture into the pop stations soon to try to pick up some new (to me) British bands. It seems that a large part of the programming is American music. It’s kind of funny to hear The Black Eyed Peas in a grocery store in England. I feel like we should be listening to Brit Pop all the time!

York!

Arrived in York a few days ago for the start of my year at the University here. I've mainly spent my time trying to stay warm (and dry!) and walking around the campus and the town. Last night we had a little party in my building so everyone could get to know each other. Our house is like the United Nations! It's kind of cool because everyone brings such a different perspective to their experience here. Things start in the Music Dept. on Tuesday and I am definitely looking forward to getting involved and not having so much free time. Hopefully I'll have my computer situation resolved soon so I can listen to the Eagles games online!

Travelling

Choralation will probably be on a brief hiatus, as I settle into my new surroundings at the University of York in the U.K. I'm looking forward to this great adventure and hope that I will have a lot to share in the coming months.

In the meantime, I would like to direct attention to a fine article by Terry Teachout at Commentary magazine. There is a new book which discusses popular song composition since 1950. The book is a sequel to Alec Wilder's classic American Popular Song which dealt with all of the great popular songs written from 1900-1950 in an informative but highly individual, wry manner. I hope to devote a post to Wilder's wonderful genre-straddling music in the future, but it deserves more than I can do right now. In the article, Teachout also explores the reasons for the decline of the "professional" tradition of popular song writing. Part of the reason, he says, is the combination of a shift in demographics, the rise of sophisticated rock and roll and singer-songwriters, and the decline of the Broadway theatre in the late 60's and 70's (What about Sondheim, you say? His music is, for the most part, character driven which makes it hard to perform out of context). While I do think the tradition of Arlen, Kern, Rodgers will probably never return, I am encouraged by a number of songwriters writing sophisticated songs both musically and lyrically, which could have life beyond the initial performance - Elvis Costello's North album and Rufus Wainwright are two that spring to mind. Songs will always live on and continue to speak of the human condition, we just have to be open to them wherever they may come from in the future.