Music Education
You often hear the expression “film music” used pejoratively. “It’s just film music.” There is a kind of listener who first becomes acquainted with the symphony orchestra through film music. And many such listeners want to hear the music again – willingly attending concerts devoted to scores whose original function
Music Education
I’ll fess up: I’m a podcast addict. They’re the morphine drip that gets me through the day. But I’ve only dabbled in shows that focus on classical voice, and that’s a problem. As an antidote, I’ve found five series, with different focuses, that are
Music Education
This text was quickly sketched before an evening seminar, “The Collaborative Pianist” at The Bangalore School of Music, 18th June during the festival “Voices of Bangalore”. Apart from my own experiences as a singer and vocal coach, the text is based on the brilliant book by Martin Katz, “The Complete
Music Education
Composers tend to be a peculiar lot, particularly as it pertains to the best and most conducive circumstances in which they compose their best music. Of course, reports of that nature tend to be highly anecdotal, but more often then not, they do contain at least a kernel of truth.
Music Education
In Parts 1 and 2 we considered how the pedal works and its effect on tone, texture and legato. Now we will examine how pedalling applies to one of my favourite pieces, the Danza de la Moza Donosa from Danzas Argentinas by Alberto Ginastera. This dance is graceful and gentle,
Music Education
It’s precisely the absence of philosophical reflection that has led to the invasion of the musical arena by half-baked ideas. Not as music, I grant, as philosophers need music, but nevertheless the need is real. In the past our musical culture had secure foundations in the church, in the
Music Education
If you’ve not yet seen Connection Lost (The Tinder Opera), you should probably stop what you’re doing and watch it now. Seriously, it’s our current obsession. Written and directed by Adam Taylor, with music brilliantly composed by tenor Scott Joiner, Connection Lost isn’t just funny “for
Music Education
We’ve all been there. It’s a Friday night after a long week. We’re exhausted. Our boss has taken every ounce of motivation and joy out of our job, which otherwise would be palatable. We get home and scramble to fix something remotely tasty, disregarding to a certain
Music Education
In the previous article we considered the tone enhancing function of the pedal and this time we will explore how to use the pedal for best results. It is essential, for correct use of the pedal, to have good use of the whole body. Although some professional pianists can adopt
Music Education
There’s no faking what opera singers do onstage. It’s the result of legitimate hard work, and the staggering skills they show come precisely from not taking shortcuts or band-aid approaches to fixing problems. Real as it is, these artists have their bags of tricks. Singers, please forgive us
Music Education
Last but not least, the burning question of repertoire. For classical music as a genre to survive in modern times, renewal of the repertoire is a fundamental requirement: without renewal, the art form petrifies and audiences will stay away because they will have the repertoire of works on CD at
Music Education
Satyajit Ray’s cinema was redolent of Indian and Western sensibilities. So was the music he loved, listened to, used in his movies and composed. By Manohar Parnerkar Satyajit Ray (1921-92), along with Sergei Eisenstein, Ingmar Bergman, Charles Chaplin, Federico Fellini and Akira Kurosawa, has been one of the giants