Thursday, August 11, 2022
Love is in the Air - Gimnazija Kranj Symphony Orchestra
245,836 views Jan 13, 2013 Gimnazija Kranj Great Spring Concert 2012 in Gallus Hall, Cankarjev dom. 20.th concert aniversary. Music, Rhytm and Dance. 10 years of Gimnazija Kranj Symphony Orchestra. Also celebration of 20th year of our lead sponsor: Hranilnica Lon bank. They performed disco legend: Love is in the Air. Arrangement: Nejc Bečan. Sold out concert and amazing performance.
Sponsor: Hranilnica Lon d.d., Kranj. Conductor: Nejc Bečan; concert direction: Primož Zevnik; glasba:
The 110-year-old Titanic violin that miraculously survived the sinking ship
This violin holds a lifetime of stories in the grain of its wood...
Of all the instruments in the world, violins and other string instruments are often renowned for their longevity, with the centuries-old creations of Italian luthiers, Amati and Stradivari, holding hundreds of years’ worth of stories, and selling for millions of pounds today.
Few, however, can compete with that of the Titanic violin – the instrument played in April 1912, as the RMS Titanic sank into the North Atlantic Ocean after its fatal collision with an iceberg.
Today, the violin is held at the Titanic Museum in Tennessee, as part of their public display of artefacts and memorabilia from the ship.
But the story of how it got there is not quite so simple...
A wedding that never took place
The now-famous violin was crafted in Germany in 1910, and was gifted to Wallace Hartley of Colne, Lancashire, as an engagement present from his new fiancée Maria Robinson. An inscription on the instrument’s tailpiece read, ‘For Wallace, on the occasion of our engagement, from Maria’.
The sweethearts likely met in Leeds, where Hartley played as a musician in various institutions around the city. Having previously provided musical entertainment on the RMS Mauretania, Hartley was contacted shortly before the RMS Titanic departed from Southampton on its maiden voyage with a request that he become its bandleader.
After his initial reluctance at leaving his fiancée, Hartley agreed to join the transatlantic crossing, hoping to secure future work with some new contacts before returning for his June wedding.
Tragically, the wedding never took place. Four days into the crossing, the Titanic hit an iceberg in the North Atlantic ocean, and sank on the 15 April 1912, taking more than 1,500 passengers and crew members with it – Hartley included.
‘Gentlemen, it has been a privilege playing with you tonight’
In a depiction made famous by the 1997 film (see above), the eight musicians on board the ship continued to play amid the havoc, as women, children and first-class passengers were loaded hurriedly onto lifeboats.
At maximum capacity, the lifeboats barely had space for half the people on the ship, and as the wooden boats began to depart with seats still vacant, it soon became clear that many of those still on board the rapidly sinking cruise liner would not be saved.
As was his command, bandleader Wallace H. Hartley gathered his seven fellow musicians to play music in an attempt to calm the pandemonium and still people’s fears. Survivors of the ship report that the band played upbeat music, including ragtime and popular comic songs of the late 19th and early 20th century.
One of the popular myths surrounding the Titanic and its historic fate is that the band played the hymn ‘Nearer, My God, to Thee’ in their final moments. Some accounts dispute this, claiming that the musicians were last heard playing Archibald Joyce’s waltz, ‘Dream of Autumn’, before abandoning their instruments.
If the musicians were indeed playing music to the very end, it does seem likely that Hartley would have chosen the hymn as their swan song.
Hartley’s father, Albion, was the choirmaster at the Methodist chapel in the family’s hometown, and had introduced ‘Nearer, My God, to Thee’ to the congregation.
Hartley had also told a former colleague on the Mauretania that, should he ever find himself aboard a sinking ship, the hymn would be one of two pieces he would play in his final moments – a chilling foreshadowing of events to come.
Only three of the musicians’ bodies were recovered from the wreckage, including Hartley’s. A detailed inventory documents the personal effects that were found with him, including a gold fountain pen and silver match box, both engraved with his initials, and a diamond solitaire ring.
Rediscovered in an attic
Despite some reports to the contrary, there is no evidence that his violin was found strapped to his chest in its case. We do know, however, that it must have been recovered, along with a satchel embossed with Hartley’s initials, as a telegram transcript from Maria Robinson to the Provincial Secretary of Nova Scotia reads, ‘I would be most grateful if you could convey my heartfelt thanks to all who have made possible the return of my late fiancé’s violin’.
When Robinson died in 1939, her sister gave the violin to the Bridlington Salvation Army, who passed it on to a violin teacher. The teacher passed it on further, and in 2004 it was rediscovered in an attic in the UK.
Sceptics initially refused to believe that this could be the real thing, assuming that the violin would have been so badly damaged by water that it simply could not have survived.
However, after nine years of evidence gathering and forensic analysis, including CT scans and a certification by the Gemological Association of Great Britain, it was confirmed that this was, in fact, the violin that Wallace Hartley had played aboard the RMS Titanic.
Forensic experts certified that the engraving on the metal tailpiece was “contemporary with those made in 1910”, and that the instrument’s “corrosion deposits were considered compatible with immersion in sea water”.
Sold for nearly a million
On 19 October 2013, the violin was sold at auction by Henry Aldridge & Son in Wiltshire for £900,000 (equivalent to over £1,000,000 in 2022), a record figure for Titanic memorabilia. The previous record was thought to have been £220,000 paid in 2011 for a plan of the ship that had been used to inform the inquiry into the ship’s sinking.
The violin is irreparably damaged and deemed unplayable, with two large cracks caused by water damage and only two remaining strings. Its current owners are unknown, but believed to be British.
As for Hartley, he was buried in his hometown of Colne in Lancashire, at a funeral service that was attended by over 20,000 people, and included the hymn that will forever be associated with him, ‘Nearer, My God, to Thee’.
The headstone of his final resting place includes an inscription of the hymn’s opening notes, above a violin carved out of stone.
Tuesday, August 9, 2022
24 Amazing Facts About JS Bach
Published by Revelle Team on June 10, 2016
Baroque and Bach are two words that are very often linked together. Widely regarded as one of the definitive composers of the Baroque period, Johann Sebastian Bach’s works are still loved today as each new generation discovers his incredible gift.
However, many people are unaware that without some specific enthusiasm and recognition for this master’s classical works, Bach might have been relegated to obscurity. Only having been known as a skilled organist, musical mathematician, and that guy with the perfectly curled, white wig.
Fortunately however, his musical compositions were admired and appreciated by geniuses like of Mozart and Beethoven; and in 1829, nearly 60 years after his death, Felix Mendelssohn, carried Bach’s Passion According to St. Matthew out of oblivion and into the German concert hall for a significant historical event. Although it had been nearly a hundred years after this beautiful masterpiece had been composed, the concert ignited a flame of curiosity and re-evaluation of Bach’s work, resulting in a world-wide acknowledgement of his brilliance and importance to Baroque classical music.
Here are 24 additional facts and trivia about this famous composer:
Johann Sebastian Bach was born March 31, 1685 in Eisenach, Thuringia, Germany.
His father, Johann Ambrosius Bach was a 7th generation musician, and carried on the tradition by teaching him how to play the violin.
Bach lost both his parents when he was 10 years old. While living in Ohrdruf, Germany, his older brother Johann Christoph Bach taught him organ.
In 1700, he was granted a scholarship at St. Michael’s School in Luneburg for his fine voice.
During an inaugural recital on the new organ his talents earned him the job of organist in Arnstadt, in 1703, at New Church, where he provided music for the services at the church, as well as instruction in music to the local children.
Bach moved to Muhlhausen in 1707 to become the organist in the Church of St. Blaise.
Bach married his cousin, Maria Barbara Bach, and they had seven children. His sons Wilhelm Friedemann and Carl Philipp Emanuel became composers and musicians like their father.
Bach’s next position was as court organist in Weimer, in 1708 for Duke Wilhelm Ernst. It was here he composed his very famous Toccata in D Minor.
Bach was given a diamond ring in 1714 from the Crown Prince Fredrick of Sweden who was amazed at his playing.
Having angered Duke Wilhelm for requesting release from his position on short notice and desiring to go work for Prince Leopold of Koethen, Bach was arrested and put in jail for several weeks in 1716.
Upon his release from jail, Bach became the conductor of the court orchestra, in which Prince Leopold played.
In 1719, Bach tried to arrange a meeting with another prolific composer of that era, George Frideric Handel. Despite being only 130 kilometers apart, the two never did meet.
Bach’s wife, Maria, died suddenly in 1720 while he was away with Prince Leopold. She was 35 years old. The fifth and final movement of the Partita in D Minor for solo violin, “Chaconne,” was written to commemorate her.
In 1721, Bach married Anna Magdalena Wülcken. They had thirteen children.
Bach wrote the majority of his instrumental works during the Koethen period.
In 1723, he became the choir leader for two churches in Leipzig, Germany, in addition to teaching music classes and giving private lessons.
Most of Bach’s choral music was composed in Leipzig.
Bach’s deep religious faith could be found even in his secular music. He would put the initials “I.N.J.,” a Latin abbreviation that means, In Nomine Jesu, or “in the name of Jesus,”on his manuscripts.
The Brandenburg Concertos were written in 1721 as a tribute to the Duke of Brandenburg.
The Well-Tempered Clavier was composed as a collection of keyboard pieces to help students learn various keyboard techniques and methods.
Fredrick the Great, King of Prussia inspired Bach’s composition of a set of fugues called Musical Offering in 1740.
The Art of Fugue was begun in 1749 but was not completed.
After struggling with blindness and a failed surgery on his eyesight, Bach suffered a stroke and died in Leipzig, July 28, 1750. He was 65 years old.
His entire career was spent in a contracted area of Germany that is smaller than most of the States in America.
Johann Sebastian Bach is considered the quintessential composer of the Baroque era, and one of the most important figures in classical music in general. His complex musical style was nearly lost in history but gratefully it survives to be studied and enjoyed today. You can learn more about this icon by visiting his dedicated website. In the words of Johannes Brahms (1833-1897), “Study Bach: there you will find everything.”
30 Inspirational Quotes For Every Musician
Published by StringOvation Team on February 09, 2017
Most of us, from time to time feel discouraged. In fact, because we all need emotional boosts every once in a while, a large portion of social media content is motivational, designed to uplift your soul and the souls of others. So, in the spirit of time-honored encouragement, the following quotes are specifically for musicians. If you’ve been feeling down about your progress as a musician or just about where your talent might take you, the musings of these various composers and performers should help elevate your psyche.
The following inspirational quotes for musicians were gleaned from a variety of sources, including BrainyQuotes, Musicians Buy Line, Classic FM, and Quotes-Inspirational. They feature insights from musicians of all genres and levels of success, as well as a few from composers, philosophers, and other iconic thinkers.
Igor Stravinsky: "Lesser artists borrow, great artists steal."
J.S. Bach: "I was obliged to be industrious. Whoever is equally industrious will succeed equally well."
Robert Schumann: "To send light into the darkness of men's hearts - such is the duty of the artist."
Dmitri Shostakovich: "A creative artist works on his next composition because he was not satisfied with his previous one."
Elvis Presley: “The truth is like the sun. You can shut it out for a time, but it ain't goin' away.”
Mick Jagger: “Lose your dreams and you might lose your mind.”
BB King: “The beautiful thing about learning is that nobody can take it away from you.”
Bob Marley: “One good thing about music, when it hits you, you feel no pain."
Pablo Casals: “Music is the divine way to tell beautiful, poetic things to the heart."
Billy Joel: “I think music in itself is healing. It's an explosive expression of humanity. It's something we are all touched by. No matter what culture we're from, everyone loves music."
John Lennon: “Life is what happens when you’re making other plans.”
Marcus Miller: “It's a great thing about being a musician; you don't stop until the day you die, you can improve. So it's a wonderful thing to do."
Thelonious Monk: “All musicians are potential band leaders.”
Sting: “If you play music with passion and love and honesty, then it will nourish your soul, heal your wounds and make your life worth living. Music is its own reward.”
Ludwig van Beethoven: “Music is a higher revelation than all wisdom and philosophy. Music is the electrical soil in which the spirit lives, thinks and invents.”
Bono (U2): “Music can change the world because it can change people.”
Carlos Santana: “Just as Jesus created wine from water, we humans are capable of transmuting emotion into music.”
John Denver: “Music does bring people together. It allows us to experience the same emotions. People everywhere are the same in heart and spirit. No matter what language we speak, what color we are, the form of our politics or the expression of our love and our faith, music proves: We are the same.”
Plato: “Music is the movement of sound to reach the soul for the education of its virtue.”
Thomas Carlyle: “Music is well said to be the speech of angels.”
Roy Ayers: “The true beauty of music is that it connects people. It carries a message, and we, the musicians, are the messengers.”
William Congreve: “Music hath charms to soothe the savage beast, to soften rocks or bend a knotted oak.”
Oliver Wendell Holmes: “Take a music bath once or twice a week for a few seasons, and you will find that it is to the soul what the water bath is to the body.”
Chris S. Salazar: “Music is by far the most wonderful method we have to remind us each day of the power of personal accomplishment.”
Karlheinz Stockhausen: “Whenever I felt happy about having discovered something, the first encounter, not only with the public, with other musicians, with specialists, etc, was that they rejected it.”
John McLaughlin: “At the risk of sounding hopelessly romantic, love is the key element. I really love to play with different musicians who come from different cultural backgrounds.”
Billy Joel: “Musicians want to be the loud voice for so many quiet hearts.”
Neil Diamond: “Because my musical training has been limited, I've never been restricted by what technical musicians might call a song.”
Igor Stravinsky: “Too many pieces of music finish too long after the end.”
Plato: “Music gives a soul to the universe, wings to the mind, flight to the imagination, and life to everything.”
You may have already heard some of these inspirational quotes for musicians, but it never hurts to hear them again.
Monday, August 8, 2022
"SCHINDLER'S LIST" IN THE LARGEST EUROPEAN SYNAGOGUE: XAVER VARNUS & CS...
"Schindler's List" in the largest European synagogue in Budapest. Csongor Korossy-Khayll (Violin) & Xaver Varnus at the great Jemlich Organ of the synagogue, with the participation of Balazs Barnkopf (Theater Organ) and Balazs Elischer (Hammond Organ). Recorded live in 2017. Special thanks to Chief Rabbi Robert Frolich, Kati Frolich, Dr. Peter Kunos & Ivan Róna.
The Varnus Organ Hall needs your help. We are asking the community's support to restoring and operating Varnus Hall, Canada's only private organ concert venue owned by Xaver Varnus, to provide a worthy home for organists, famous artists and young talent alike, from around the world to perform, and broadcast their concerts online. We are grateful to you if you can help our work with any donations. https://ca.gofundme.com/f/fundraising
Csongor Korossy-Khayll is a Hungarian violin prodigy, who played one of his first public appearances with the legendary Budapest Festival Orchestra, conducted by Ivan Fischer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FjbS1...
Born in Budapest, his first piano teacher was Emma Németh, one of the last pupils of Claude Debussy. Xaver Varnus has played virtually every important organ in the world, including those in Bach's Thomaskirche in Leipzig (2014), Berliner Dom (2013), Notre-Dame (1981), Saint-Sulpice (2006) and Saint-Eustache (1996) in Paris, National Shrine in Washington, D.C. (1985), and Canterbury Cathedral (2004), as well as the largest existing instrument in the world, the Wanamaker Organ in Philadelphia (1985). His Quadruple Platinum Disc winning album From Ravel to Vangelis, released by Sony BMG in 2007, is the best-selling organ CD ever. As a Canadian citizen, Xaver Varnus resides in Berlin, Germany. "Put simply, Varnus is a monster talent, every bit as stimulating and individual as the late Glenn Gould" (The Globe & Mail, Canada's National Newspaper).
Morricone conducts Morricone: The Mission (Gabriel's Oboe)
Live recording at the Philharmonie im Gasteig, 20 October 2004,
The Mission's main theme performed by Munchen Radio Orchestra under the direction of Morricone himself and recorded by Giovanni Morricone.
Morricone received the Academy Honorary Award in 2007 "for his magnificent and multifaceted contributions to the art of film music." He also received 5 Oscar nominations and he won 3 Grammy Awards, 2 Golden Globes as well as numerous other awards, which are too many to mention. A composer of music for the cinema, whose music was an element in itself.
「めぐり逢い An Affair To Remember」サウンド・トラック Sound Track
An Affair to Remember is a 1957 American romance film directed by Leo McCarey and starring Cary Grant and Deborah Kerr. Filmed in CinemaScope, it was distributed by 20th Century Fox. It is considered among the most romantic films of all time according to the American Film Institute.
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The film was a remake of McCarey's 1939 film Love Affair, starring Irene Dunne and Charles Boyer.
Sunday, August 7, 2022
Mantovani - his music and his life
Birth name Annunzio Paolo Mantovani
Also known as Tulio Trapani
Born 15 November 1905
Venice, Veneto, Italy
Died 29 March 1980 (aged 74)
Tunbridge Wells, Kent, England
Genres Light music
Occupation(s) Conductor
Composer
Years active 1939–1980
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Annunzio Paolo Mantovani (Italian: [anˈnuntsjo ˈpaːolo mantoˈvaːni]; 15 November 1905 – 29 March 1980) was an Anglo-Italian conductor, composer and light orchestra-styled entertainer with a cascading strings musical signature.
The book British Hit Singles & Albums stated that he was "Britain's most successful album act before the Beatles ... the first act to sell over one million stereo albums and [have] six albums simultaneously in the US Top 30 in 1959"
Biography
Mantovani was born in Venice, Italy, into a musical family.His father, Benedetto Paolo "Bismarck" Mantovani, was a violinist and served as the concertmaster of La Scala opera house's orchestra in Milan, under the baton of Arturo Toscanini. The family moved to England in 1912, where young Annunzio studied at Trinity College of Music in London. After graduation, he formed his own orchestra, which played in and around Birmingham. He married Winifred Moss in 1934, having two children: Kenneth (born 12 July 1935) and Paula Irene (born 11 April 1939). By the time World War II broke out, his orchestra was one of the most popular British dance bands, both on BBC radio broadcasts and in live performances.
He was also musical director for a large number of musicals and other plays, including Noël Coward's Pacific 1860 (1946) and Vivian Ellis's musical setting of J. B. Fagan's And So to Bed (1951).After the war, he concentrated on recording, and eventually gave up live performance altogether. He worked with arranger and composer Ronald "Ronnie" Binge, who developed the "cascading strings" effect (also known as the "Mantovani sound") His records were regularly used for demonstration purposes in stores selling hi-fi stereo equipment, as they were produced and arranged for stereo reproduction. He became the first person to sell a million stereophonic records] In 1952, Binge ceased to arrange for Mantovani but the distinctive sound of the orchestra remained.
Mantovani recorded for Decca and London Records the US arm of the Decca Record Company, exclusively. He recorded in excess of 50 albums on that label, many of which were Top 40 hits. His single tracks included "The Song from Moulin Rouge", which reached number one in the UK Singles Chart in 1953 "Cara Mia" (with him and his orchestra backing David Whitfield) in 1954; "Around the World" in 1957; and "Main Theme from Exodus (Ari's Theme)" in 1960. In the United States, between 1955 and 1972, he released more than 40 albums with 27 reaching the "Top 40", and 11 in the "Top Ten". His biggest success came with the album Film Encores, which attained number one in 1957
Similarly, Mantovani Plays Music From 'Exodus' and Other Great Themes made it to the Top Ten in 1961, with over one million albums sold
Mantovani starred in his own syndicated television series, Mantovani, which was produced in England and which aired in the United States in 1959. Thirty-nine episodes were filmed Mantovani made his last recordings in the mid-1970s.
He died at a care home in Royal Tunbridge Wells Kent.[1] His funeral was held at the Kent and Sussex Crematorium and Cemetery on 8 April 1980.
Music style and influences
The cascading strings technique developed by Binge became Mantovani's hallmark in such hits arranged by Binge as "Charmaine". Binge developed this technique to replicate the echo experienced in venues such as cathedrals and he achieved this goal through arranging skill alone.
Author Joseph Lanza describes Mantovani's string arrangements as the most "rich and mellifluous" of the emerging light music style during the early 1950s. He stated that Mantovani was a leader in the use of new studio technologies to "create sound tapestries with innumerable strings", and that "the sustained hum of Mantovani's reverberated violins produced a sonic vaporizer foreshadowing the synthesizer harmonics of space music." His style survived through an ever-changing variety of musical styles prompting Variety to call him "the biggest musical phenomenon of the twentieth century"
From 1961 to 1971, David McCallum Sr was leader of Mantovani's orchestra. At this time, his son David McCallum Jr was at the height of his fame, prompting Mantovani to introduce his leader to audiences with the quip, "We can afford the father but not the son!"
Mantovani is referred to by name in The Kinks song "Prince of the Punks". He also had a big influence on Brian May, Queen guitarist.
During his lifetime, Mantovani did not always get respect from his fellow musicians. When George Martin first suggested overdubbing Paul McCartney's recording of "Yesterday" with strings, McCartney's initial reaction, according to Martin, was that he did not want it sounding like Mantovani. Martin therefore used a more classical sound, employing a string quartet.
Friday, August 5, 2022
Four Phantoms Medley ft. Sarah Brightman | The Phantom of The Opera
2,735,059 views Oct 20, 2020 Sarah Brightman returns as Christine when she's joined by four legendary Phantom's from years gone by as they sing the show's hit numbers, 'The Phantom of The Opera' and 'Music of The Night' in celebration of 25 years.
Phantom Quartet - Colm Wilkinson, John Owen-Jones, Anthony Warlow, Peter Jöback
Who's your favourite Phantom?
SONGS
00:00 - The Phantom of The Opera
05:27 - The Music of The Night
From Phantom of The Opera at the Royal Albert Hall (2011): In celebration of the 25th Anniversary of Andrew Lloyd Webber's The Phantom of the Opera, Cameron Mackintosh produced a unique, spectacular staging of the musical on a scale which had never been seen before. Inspired by the original staging by Hal Prince and Gillian Lynne, this lavish, fully-staged production set in the sumptuous Victorian splendour of London's legendary Royal Albert Hall features a cast and orchestra of over 200, plus some very special guest appearances.
Can't Take My Eyes Off You (Stunnig Gimnazija Kranj Symphony Orchestra)
2017 - Invitation to the Dance. Gimnazija Kranj Symphony Orchestra and United Choirs performed this stunning music under the baton of maestro Nejc Bečan. They played as usual with great spirit and musical excelence. Concert master is Nejc Avbelj. Our youth orchestra set another musical milestone. Concert and film director: Primož Zevnik
You can connect with maestro Nejc Bečan and his work on
https://upbeateditions.com.
You can find there his amazing compositions, arrangements.
"Can't Take My Eyes Off You" is a 1967 single credited to Frankie Valli. The song was among his biggest hits, earning a gold record and reaching No. 2 on the Billboard Hot 100 for a week.] It was co-written by Bob Gaudio, a bandmate of Valli's in The Four Seasons. It was Valli's biggest solo hit until he hit #1 in 1974. The song was written by Bob Crewe and Bob Gaudio.
Solo vocal: Ana Bertoncelj, Ana Koprivnikar, Regina Selan
Arrangement: Marjan Peternel
sound design: Mitja Krže
assistant director and editorial: Juš Hrastnik
concert director: Primož Zevnik
GIMNAZIJA KRANJ SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA 2017
Flutes, pikolo: Vita Benko, Julia Ana Irgelj, Karin Primožič, Ajda Kajdiž, Brina Robinik Kobal, Neža Peternel, Ana Bergant, Neža Čadež, Vito Krajnik, Katjuša Rupnik; Oboa: Ana Souza Leban, Ana Stoschitzky; English Horn: Neža Podbršček; Clarinets: Domen Kos, Peter Franc Letonja, Aiden Franko, Klara Polajnar, Jaka Bodlaj, Hana Grobovšek, Peter Kuder (Es klarinet); Base Clarinet: Nejc Herman; Fagot: Boštjan Žekar, Dejan Rihtarič
Saksofon: Primož Lah, Juš Lesjak, Martin Verbič, Gal Grobovšek; Francoski rog: Mihajlo Bulajić, Tadej Kopitar, Marko Pirc, Aljaž Praprotnik, Jernej Klenovšek; Trobenta: Oskar Šubic, Aleš Klančar, Blaž Avbar, Matej Kravcar; Tubes: Žan Škrjanec, Filip Istenič, Domen Gantar, Urban Turjak, Jakob Istenič (Evfonij); Tuba: Tilen Jelenc; 1. violins: Nejc Avbelj, Leja Meglič, Laura Ana Oman, Ana Poklukar, Maruša Lučič Bolka, Lara Bogataj, Lana Grbič, Katarina Miklavčič, Oskar Longyka, Ana Krpan, Matija Udovič, Kaja Sešek, Anja Šoštarič, Neža Capuder; 2. violins: Tim Skalar Demšar, Veronica Radigna, Ajda Azocar, Ana Sešek, Tonka Pogačnik Pirnat, Mojca Batič, Ana Marija Jurečič, Nežka Starc, Tina Jamšek, Anja Šoštarič, Metka Udovč, Klara Gruden; Viola: Taja Starčič Križnar, Špela Pirnat, Ricardo Azocar, Anuša Plesničar, Neža Papler, Kristijan Dražil, Hana Lavrinc, Petar Njegovan, Anastazija Krenn, Eva Kovačič ,
Violončelo: Ana Zupan, Hana Ekar Grlj, Maruša Bogataj, Nika Vremšak, Katarina Kozjek, Ema Kobal, Romana Šimbera, Tadeja Žele , Arslan Hamidulin, Katarina Minatti; Kontrabas: Miha Firšt, Marie Elaine Malowerschnig, Gašper Livk, Urban Čefarin, Rok Hozjan, Janez Krevel, Karim Zajec; Tolkala: Vid Ušeničnik, Dan Ažman Pistotnik, Marko Jurečič, Filip Okrožnik, Leon Ostanek Jurina, Miha Ogris, Klemen Jelenc, Lenart Kolja Kokalj
Klavir: Liza Rozman, Eva Zupan, Katja Jerič, Vita Naglič
Kitara, bas kitara: Urh Zupan, Luka Štibelj, Emir Ibrakić
Harmonika: Ana Lombar; Harfa: Urša Rihtaršič, Zala Hrastnik
GIMNAZIJA KRANJ MIXED CHOIR (chorus master Erik Šmid)
Sopran: Gaja Šegula, Luna Rozman, Ana Čop, Hana Pristavec, Anita Hudobivnik, Karmen Jošt, Tjaša Ribnikar, Jedrt Mikelj, Karmen Zalokar, Mirjam Šenk, Brina Sitar; Alt: Lana Šumi, Kaja Križaj, Ajda Debelak, Gaja Nemanič, Špela Vovk, Nina Lukan, Meta Logar, Janina Gašperlin, Živa Krajnik, Nika Markun, Tinkara Krišelj, Tajda Škraba, Ema Oblak; Tenor: Maj Čufer, Tevž Sitar, Lovro Krišelj, Tilen Lotrič; Bas: Urban Erzar Frantar, Erazem Pivk, Žan Žnidar, Andraž Rakovec, Marko Zupan, Andrej Svoljšak, Matej Naglič, Matej Logar, Matic Oman, Jernej Šmid
GIMNAZIJA KRANJ GIRLS CHOIR (chorus master Marjeta Oblak)
Sopran: Ema Ažbe, Neža Majnik, Tea Aljaž, Tina Urh, Ana Krek, Neža Šolar, Lea Krampl, Lina Peharc, Nina Žumer, Manca Peternelj, Maja Pogačnik, Evelina Stare, Katja Potočnik, Lara Juvan, Tinkara Torkar, Kim Klančar; Alt: Saša Peterlin, Nika Mali, Kaja Železnikar, Kristina Čop, Ana Žerovnik, Anja Horvat, Eva Kern, Ema Jelenc, Ana Remic, Brina Avsec, Ana Lombar, Rea Legat, Ela Štirn, Ana Bertoncelj, Marija Pogačnik, Ema Soklič, Regina Selan, Lucija Brina Arvaj
Joys and Sorrows of Outdoor Concerts
by Janet Horvath, Interlude
The Prague Symphony Orchestra outdoor performance © cleveland.com
Ah! It’s finally summer festival and outdoor concert time. Families love to picnic while orchestras play in various outdoor venues.
The audiences come to our outdoor performances in droves. They are excited to introduce the orchestra to their children where they can run around freely and dance to the music waving their little arms conducting as it were. I can remember the joys and sorrows of playing outside. Either it was extremely hot with humidity that caused the fingerboard of one of our cellos to melt off, or so cold that we were reduced to wearing mittens with the fingertips cut off! We would often set up right on the grass with barely a shell behind us, exposed to the sun, rain and wind. We had long clothespins to hold the music down and I was the lunger — I’d unclip the page and whip it over while my stand-partner continued playing. Then he would leap up to clip the newly turned page on the left side of the stand — teamwork to say the least. We were ok as long as the stands didn’t blow over as well! Our survival kit had to include the clothespins, sunglasses, cloths to protect our instruments from direct sun, bug spray, seat cushions for the hard folding chairs, a white jacket if it was cold which one could whip off if it was hot, sunscreen, and water bottles.
One summer black and green thick clouds rolled in and sure enough torrential rains engulfed us. With only one canvas bass case among the 10 players, the bass players took turns rushing each bass to the wooden trunks, which were several feet away behind the meager shell.
Another summer when I was principal cello I performed the famous cello solo in Poet and Peasant Overture, by Franz von Suppé, which I thought I did famously even on my “outdoor” cello. Evidently, a bird thought otherwise and dropped one on my cello. Editorial comment no doubt.
Franz von Suppé: Dichter und Bauer (Poet and Peasant): Overture (London Philharmonic Orchestra; Neville Marriner, cond.)
No concert was complete without Tchaikovsky’s 1812 Overture, and since it was outdoors we used real cannons. One year we played sitting on hay bales in an open field. Everyone was happy but the cows. They were terrified by the noise.
We and many other orchestras always finish with the encore The Stars and Stripes Forever, the famous march of America’s “March King” John Philip Sousa, which always gets the audience clapping in rhythm.
John Philip Sousa: The Stars and Stripes Forever (Royal Artillery Band; Keith Brion, cond.)
As a child Sousa attended band rehearsals with his father. His heartfelt ambition was to play with the local circus band but his parents disapproved so vigorously that he became an apprentice musician with the Marine Band. At the tender age of twenty-six he became the Band’s director. During his tenure Sousa expanded the Band’s repertoire with not only the work of Tchaikovsky, Verdi, Wagner and others — Europe’s then contemporary composers — but his own compositions such as President Garfield’s Inauguration March, Semper Fidelis, and The Washington Post. Sousa was extremely popular so much so that he left the Marine Band to start his own band in 1892.
The USA Marine Band with conductor John Philip Sousa © Keystone/Getty Images
While on vacation in Europe four years later, Sousa received word that his band manager, David Blakely, a good friend, had died. Sousa immediately sailed back to the States. The music of The Stars and Stripes Forever began to come to him. Sousa wrote: ” …absorbed in thoughts of my manager’s death and the many duties and decisions which awaited me in New York, suddenly, I began to sense a rhythmic beat of a band playing within my brain. Throughout the whole tense voyage, that imaginary band continued to unfold the same themes, echoing and re-echoing the most distant melody. I did not transfer a note of that music to paper while I was on the steamer, but when we reached shore, I set down the measures that my brain-band had been playing for me, and not a note of it has ever changed.” Sousa’s Band played the march at almost every concert it held after that. Interestingly, Sousa set words to it, but it is rarely performed that way.
© The Bow and Baton
Usually our outdoor concerts were scheduled to coincide with late summer sunsets for the fireworks displays. The stage managers erected great big tall lights so we could see our music. Sure enough, as soon as it became dark, out came the insects. We could see them swarming around the lights and descending on us juicy unsuspecting victims. We couldn’t stop playing to swat a mosquito that had landed on us in the middle of Tchaikovsky! Sometimes we would have the opportunity in a bar or two of rest to hit a couple of them with our bows while they crawled on our music. One year a child came running up to the stage to spray bug repellant on our exposed ankles while we continued our playing and flailing.
Despite years of promises from the sponsors, as soon as the fireworks trigger person heard The Stars and Stripes Forever he invariably launched the fireworks, usually right behind the orchestra shell. We hurried frantically to pack up our instruments while cinders landed on us. The noise of course was deafening both from the booms and the ooohs and aahhhs of the crowds.
Some festivals have fancy facilities like Tanglewood in Massachusetts, home of the Boston Symphony, where there is a permanent stage and benches for seating the audience. The orchestra has air conditioning blowing up from the floor and a roof over their heads, good chairs and lighting, and a backstage. Audiences can purchase picnic baskets filled with everything one would want for dinner including wine! Santa Fe Opera is a state-of-the-art outdoor facility too as is the Aspen Festival. In Europe there are many festivals some with indoor facilities. The famous Verbier Festival’s main hall The Salle des Combins seats 1700. Each row is on a separate tier, which guarantees and excellent view of the stage. Improvements to the soundproofing and heat insulation make this a very high quality non-permanent venue. Others include Flanderies Musicales de Reims, and Granada International Festival of Music and Dance and many others (you can check on the festivals section for more information.)
Next summer we look forward to the throngs who love hearing the orchestra outside and in!
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