Reelfoot

I am a believer in the idea that music is all around us all the time. Sometimes it's in the form of "noise," but noise can be musical...not necessarily lyrical or up to our standards, but musical. Music is evident in nature, and here I post not noise, but nature's music in pictures on a cold, rainy day.

Finally! Choral Music!

Today I had the pleasure of conducting UT Martin's New Pacer Singers on Hymn to the Creator of Light. It was quite a different choral experience than I am used to. Usually I have to fix notes over and over and over and over...and over. Not so today! They actually allowed me to move beyond notes and make music. :::sigh::: I love my occupation.

Frisbee Day

I know it isn't necessarily "musical," but it's in my mind and worth blogging...

What to say?

Well...I guess it's about time I wrote on my Mom's condition. She's been diagnosed with cancer. I'm not certain as to how to take it, really. I am in firm belief that "all things work for good...," and I know where the good is in all of this. The good is, ironically, death. Seeing our Lord face to face. That's the easy part of the whole thing. Knowing that the end is easy is comforting. But knowing the process to the end is hard. Chemo. Surgery. Constant medication. Medical bills. On and on and on.
I think everyone believes somewhere deep down that their mother is invincible, as all of us reflect on, "sit up straight" and "don't eat that" and "don't touch that hot stove" and "if you're friends jumped off the empire state building, would you do it too?" I mean, knowledge like that is impeccable, so moms have to be stronger than the stoutest people living, right?
But if she could give me one more childhood piece of advice, I'm sure it would be something like, "don't cry over me, we know who's in charge so stop wasting time...there's a whole world of things to which to attend" (and she would say it EXACTLY like that, for she constantly corrected my grammar and still will as long as she lives).

But as I think on this process of cancer, of pains and sorrows, of bills and therapy, I can't help but remember, "where, o death, is thy sting..." And that's why I am at ease with this cancer issue and frustrated with it simultaneously.

Thomas Tallis

I have recently flooded my ears with Tallis' O sacrum convivium, as recorded by The Tallis Scholars. I can't say that I am even slightly an expert on how Tallis should be performed, but this group has done exceptionally well. Though I don't know anything about the group - their education, experience, etc...- at this point in my life and experience, I'll take their word that they are who they say they are: "The Tallis Scholars," and I will learn from them. As I listen, each note does something dynamically...nothing sits or twiddles thumbs. It's very exciting to listen to, and I can only hope to learn to teach people to sing in such a manner as this group. Good stuff.

vibrato

Am I the only one in the world who thinks vibrato can "hide" the voice? I mean, I like it...but I think I like it in moderation. If there is too much of it, I think it can really hide that true quality the voice possesses. If there is only a little, even no vibrato, I think it focuses on the quality. Sure there's the immature sound that comes with no vibrato, but I think a voice can certainly sound mature without vibrato as well. I listen to recordings of straight tone pieces of choral music, and I can tell that adults are singing. I can tell when solid children are singing as well. I may be wrong, but I still think that vibrato can cover up someone's true voice...something to be studied, I guess.

Statistics

I never thought I'd find myself taking a statistics class...I guess as soon as a person doesn't "see themself" doing something, they find they are in the middle of it. So here i am in the middle of this stat. class, and we have talked about the natural phenomena of central tendencies (where most people are average). I in no way exclude myself from "central tendency," for there are a lot of things I have to learn and I cannot ever learn everything there is to know about anything. But since we have talked about central tendency, I have observed my classes differently. Esecially teenagers. Especially choir. Motivating adolesence to go beyond their tendencies is a full time job. Those tendencies so often don't even get to the pinnacle of the bell shaped curve...and sometimes their efforts don't begin to climb it. Now, don't get me wrong...there are teenagers who are motivated and who excell in their work, but I'm talking about the majority of them. It's hard work, but I like it.

I guess I wouldn't have a job if the theory of Central Tendencies didn't exist.

Pummeled

59 - 20. UF - UTK football.

Man.

What's playing...?

And it's been too long since I have laid bare some thoughts...you might start to get the idea I'm not to musical, or mindful...or not too mindful about musical things and vice versa. Yet, where to begin...?

I'll start with what's on my iPod. Recently I put a piece on it by Rene Clausen called Tonight Eternity Alone, I had the privilege of singing it in high school my sophomore year with the All-state Honor Choir. Yeowzers. Quite a piece of choral music. Unaccompanied. Serene. Ethereal. It leaves you with such a solid aesthetic of truly experiencing something beautiful. Not too many words to it, but there are so many fascinating chords that let you hear a great balance of dissonance and consonance. If there is a piece of music that I remember dropping everything else so I could learn it, it's this one. I don't recall exactly what it was that commanded my attention to the piece, but every time I listen to it a whiff of nostalgia passes through my senses. I would do people a disservice if I did not do my best to create memories such as these with choral music.

I also put a really fun piece on my iPod called Betelehemu. The piece is from Africa, and the arrangement is scored for SATB choir, begining with this instrument called a Rainstick. It really sounds like rain! Way cool! Eventually adds some drums as the basses and tenors sing about Christ's birth in Swahili. The altos and sopranos join the fun and it turns into a really fun celebration piece.

The next time you see me, you MUST ask me to let you hear these two pieces!

Minimalism

Rachel and I were just watching a story that Nightline covered about this man and his family living in a minimalist fashion in New York City. The man calls himself "no impact man," and he does everything devoid of electricity, carbon monoxide emissions, and materials that require trees for their production. His life is changing in more ways than one; completely different behaviors and patterns to his everyday living.

Given the circumstances of global warming and environmental concern, we may think such a shift in life is a noble one. However, if the environment was not at the front of our minds we might think this guy to be ready for the loony bin. I think composers of minimalist music probably experienced something of the sort when they presented their ideas - this-stuff-is-crazy-and-whomever-calls-it-music-is-a-loon-too. (I'm sure they still get such sneers.) Why? Because it is against the grain. It causes people to think a bit differently about music, to look at it from a different angle, in a different light. It causes people to empathize with something new.

Why are some folks so apt to block certain things from their minds? Is it because they are afraid of empathizing with new things? Is it a narrow-minded environment from which they might come? (But if that's the reason, then people are enslaved to a way of thinking, and we know that slavery in America is unconstitutional...just thought I'd throw that in, I guess...) So what is it? Why are people quick to cast aside, and slow to consider?

Los Angeles, CA

I've been in LA this week, and it has been such a good trip...it would be better with Rachel, though. Yesterday our group went to the Ronald Reagan Library and Santa Barbara. Today we went to the Richard Nixon Library, Hollywood, and Beverly Hills. Tomorrow, we go to a couple of Missions and San Diego.

On Reagan's tomb memorial is written, "I know in my heart that man is good, that what is right will always eventually triumph, and there is purpose and worth to each and every life." This is one of the final messages the world has of former President Reagan, even from a man who was almost fatally shot and certainly severely wounded. Reagan wrote in his personal diary describing the shooter as "a mixed up young man" and did not seem to harbor any resentment toward that young man. Something worthy of respect.

Today is actually an historic date for the Nixon Library. Before we toured the facility, some staff members were cleaning up from a reception held in the main lobby, and we learned that the Library was being included in the National Presidential Library Circuit, which means the facility will now be eligible for federal funding, whereas before it had only been a museum and raised all of its own funding. Interesting to be a part of history so close.

Poppity pop music

NPR does a segment entitled, "This I Believe," where they feature solid essays written by people who convey worthy-of-sharing beliefs. Like them, I have beliefs too, and right now they happen to be about mainstream music.

Some good. Some not-so-good. Some never gets old no matter how much it's played. Some just isn't old enough and will always be immature crap. Some folks ask me about my work, and I tell them that I'm a choral director at a high school who hopes to further pursue the field with higher degrees. After the conversation goes so far, they ask something like, "So do you listen to any country or rap or rock?" My response is, "If it's good."

I do know some who believe the radio is completely ridiculous these days because "music just ain't what it used to be." And to such statements I would have to agree that music certainly isn't at all what it once was. But I would be agreeing for a different reason, rather than in support of sulky, pouting comments. Music can't help but change. It always will, and you can lay a high bid on that.

I believe pop music can be good. Of course there is a lot that isn't because I can't help but notice how poorly the musical lines are written or how less than thought provokingly scratched down lyrics can come out, as if these folks were in a hurry to write the song, produce the song, and sell it only to drive the market to feed their green pockets. But sometimes it's done well. There are those out there who actually think about solid material to present to the public and actually fearlessly (perhaps fearfully) put it out there for people to enjoy and connect with. Some folks ask me what constitutes good music and want me to name off specific people for them to listen to, but I tell them to listen for those people who cause you to reflect on your life, your current mode of operation, or anything that makes you stop and say to yourself, "I truly enjoyed that because of what it communicated to me personally, and not just because it's what other people are tuned into." When you can say things like this about a singer or songwriter, it is then you have encountered a musician, an artist. 

90 miles a minute

So you're thinking, "a blog for recording aesthetic moments emoting from music"...who's this guy? Why would I want to read this emoting stuff, much less leave comments on posts?
The truth is, my mind runs, you guessed it, 90 miles a minute when it comes to "musical moments," and I need one more place to write them down so I don't forget them. I usually put them in a journal, but I thought why not put it out for the public so I can welcome thoughts of others and learn from you guys? Sounded pretty cool to me.

Being a conductor, though I'm quite young at it, comes with its nearly cultish ways. Constant thought about how to convey information to people in an understandable way through words and body language. But that's not the beginning of it all. A conductor primarily exists within his thoughts and communicates to the world first through a pencil, leaving its graphite (or colored pigments) on the musical score. First, the obvious work: marking the dynamics. These are the things that protrude from the page in black and white. The hard work comes in figuring out how to phrase the piece. Long phrase? Short phrase? What musical context works in conjunction with the text being sung? Now what are the heights of the phrase? Which parts of the phrase should be most important, and what makes the most sense with the entire work? What is it the composer wants people to learn or like about this piece? ...and on and on and on...

So, you see. A conductor's mind, at least mine, can go crazy. Thus I post to welcome comments, questions, and food for thought to apply a little breakage to the 90mph I often experience.