4 Part Music Blog

If there is anyone out there actually reading this then you may well have noticed that I haven’t written anything for a few months. Without wishing to sound like I am making excuses this is mostly due to the rather hectic schedule I have had recently.

In the last few weeks we have completed a number of new recordings and I have been busy working on some compositions for a private client. As well as this we have also been looking into some new equipment which I will talk about in another post. Briefly our idea was to explore whether or not there was any merit in having a portable system which (if running on battery power) would enable us to record in the middle of a field. Whether or not this would be useful to us remains to be seen. Watch this space for a full review.

In other news we are also busy perfecting our Internet producer system which will enable us work with producers at arms length (or indeed in another country). This will work alongside our current talk back system and we are even working on a new system of control which may incorporate a number of Apple iPads. Whilst this may sound all very technical the purpose is to make everything easier, not just for us but most importantly for our clients.

I will talk more about this system in a dedicated article discussing in greater detail the benefits of our technology.

Sir Colin Davis was presented with Her Majesty’s Medal for Music for 2009 by the Queen on 8 December at Mansion House. The conductor also performed for the Queen with the LSO, of which he is President.

The award was presented for the first time in 2005, and Sir Colin is its fifth recipient. It is given to an individual or group of musicians judged to have had a major influence on the musical life of the nation. These have included Sir Charles Mackerras (2005), Bryn Terfel (2006), Professor Judith Weir (2007) and Kathryn Tickell (2008).

Sir Colin Davis & HM The Queen

Sir Peter Maxwell Davies, Master of the Queen’s Music, chairs the music committee which decides on the nominations for the award. Sir Peter commented not only on Sir Colin’s ‘work as a conductor and ambassador of classical music at the highest possible level’, but also ‘his involvement with the musical education of young people, making classical music a vital contribution to their development as whole human beings’.

The other music committee members are The Lord Moser, William Lyne, Sir Nicholas Kenyon, Richard Morrison, The Hon. Sir Humphrey Maud and Michael Berkeley.

Tonight saw the return of Gareth Malone to our television screens with another quest to create a choir from scratch.  Having taken some school kids to the Choir Olympics in China and some boys to the Royal Albert Hall, Gareth’s latest challenge is to create a “community choir” in the town of South Oxhey.

South Oxhey is built on land which was once part of the Oxhey Hall Estate and was created after the second world war to help alleviate housing pressures on London caused by the Blitz.  Today the area has rather a poor reputation which goes back several decades. Gareth’s concept is to create a Community Choir which will give the area its much needed boost.

Gareth Malone

As a musician and singer (well a keen amateur choir member at any rate), I hope that Gareth’s efforts prove to be successful. As with anything a choir is never going to be everyone’s idea of fun but it’s good to see the BBC promoting the benefits of group singing.  I found it particularly amusing when Gareth admitted to being “middle class” as if this was something to be kept quiet.  Admittedly perhaps in South Oxhey maybe that is the case?  However, what this shows is that music and singing breaks down so called social barriers.

Traditionally I think choirs are often seen as for the middle classes which is a shame because it certainly shouldn’t be about that at all.  Personally I am hoping that Gareth’s work aside of developing a great choir in South Oxhey will also inspire other people to join or indeed form their local choirs.

This year sees the inaugural “Office Choir of the Year” competition which is being organised by “Music in Offices” in partnership with Classic FM.

The competition is open to all office choirs based in London with 12 or more members and also has a category for newly formed ensembles.

David Lawrence is running some choral workshops to which all applicants are invited before they perform in the competitive heats from which the finalists will be chosen.  Every choir will perform at the heats (Judges Janet Shell and Ralph Allwood) and five finalist choirs will compete in front of our panel of adjudicators on 22nd April 2010. Judges will include Suzi Digby (Lady Eatwell) OBE, Emma Johnson and Lucy Parham.

Further information and application forms can be downloaded from the Music in Offices Website.

The Royal Opera House has initiated a new project by joining forces with the social networking site and creating the world’s first ‘Twitter’ opera.  The Royal Opera House is encouraging users to contribute ‘tweets’ – mini blogs of 140 characters – to form a libretto for an opera which will be performed at the Deloitte Ignite Festival next month.

The opera will be created as each user submits a ‘tweet’ which becomes the next part of the story. So far the story includes William who is locked in a tower with birds, Hans who has promised to rescue him and a woman who is creating a potion to speak to birds in her biochemistry lab. The full libretto can be found on the Royal Opera House website.

Excerpts of the text will be set to music by composer Helen Porter, who will be using both original music and familiar opera melodies, to create a fun take on opera. Throughout the performance there will be a chance to ‘tweet’ on one of the 20 laptops that will be available.

Opinions are split as to whether this experimental project is degrading opera and threatening the reputation of the prestigious opera house, or if it is an attempt to appeal to the masses and prove that the elitism of opera is a thing of the past. “It’s the people’s opera. The perfect way for everyone to become involved with the inventiveness of opera as the ultimate form of storytelling,” Alison Duthie of the Royal Opera House explains.

This project is part of the Royal Opera House’s ongoing dialogue with internet users, including 18,000 Facebook and 2,000 Twitter followers. The Royal Opera House is hoping to change its image from being elitist and middle-class to being a fashionable establishment which is up to date with modern life.

Two new works for piano, which are believed to have been composed by the young Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, have been discovered by the International Mozarteum Foundation in Salzburg.  The pieces are to be performed on Mozart’s original piano on 2nd August 2009 by Florian Birsak.

Mozart was a child prodigy who began composing at the age of 5 and wrote over 600 pieces of music before his untimely death in 1791. His compositions spanned all genres, including symphonies, chamber music and choral works.

This recent finding follows the discovery of a work in a French library which was authenticated as Mozart in September 2008. In January 2009 it was first publicly played by violinist Daniel Cuiller to a small audience in Nantes, France.

This forthcoming week see’s the annual festival of St Mary Magdalen.  At the chapel of the same name in Holloway, Bath, where I play the organ most weeks, we are celebrating this festival with 2 evening concerts. The first will be given by the Eberle String Quartet on Tuesday 21 July starting at 19.30.

The Eberle Quartet take their name from the leader’s violin which was made in Naples by Tomaso Eberle. The quartet consists of Daphne Moody (Violin), Jennifer Gibbs (Violin), Moira Alabaster (Viola) and Muriel Daniels (‘Cello).  The Eberle musicians travel extensively, giving recitals, workshops and master classes in Britain and Europe. All four string players are members of the Sarum Orchestra under whose umbrella they play many chamber works.

The second concert will be given by Adam’s Apple, a fabulous accoustic jazz trio who specialise in the performance of hymns with a jazz twist to them.  The trio is made up of Adam Biggs ­on Piano, Ben Groenevelt ­ on Double Bass and Rob Brian ­ on Drums.  The group play in churches for concerts, services and give workshops offering a variety of original arrangments of familiar hymn tunes.  This has introduced many new and stimulating dimensions to church music by using the breadth and posibilities of jazz.

Further details are available by contacting 4 Part Music or the Revd William Burman at Mary Magdalen Chapel on 01225 312140.

He may have been known as the King of Pop, but recent evidence has suggested that Michael Jackson was working on several instrumental and classical music compositions shortly before he died.

US composer David Michael Frank , who worked with Jackson on a TV tribute to Sammy Davis Jr in 1989, claims he had met with the star a few months ago to discuss helping him with the orchestral arrangements of two new classical compositions he was working on.

Michael Jackson

Jackson, who once told German magazine Bunte that he didn’t really like pop music and would much rather listen to classical music, ‘impressed’ Frank with his knowledge of classical music.  “For one of [the pieces], he had a whole section of it done in his head,” Frank told Billboard Magazine. “He had not recorded it. He hummed it to me as I sat at the keyboard in his pool house and we figured out the chords – I guess this recording I made is the only copy that exists of this music.”

That was the last time the composer saw Jackson, although the star called Frank few weeks ago about the progress on the arrangements and working on more instrumental music – including a jazz piece.

“I hope one day his family will decide to record this music as a tribute and show the world the depth of his artistry,” said Frank.

Jackson’s death from cardiac arrest at the age of 50 stunned his fans across the world and sent some of his biggest hits back to the top of pop music charts. His single ‘Man in the Mirror’ skyrocketed to number one in the UK’s Big Top 40 singles chart , over 20 years after it was first released, thanks to an unprecedented number of downloads and radio airplay.

Today I took some time out to attend the lunchtime recital at Bath Abbey which today was given by Peter King, the Abbey Organist and Director of Music. As a former student of Dame Gillian Weir and Allan Wicks, Peter King was appointed as the Director of Music at Bath Abbey in 1986.  Along with Nicholas Kynaston, Peter was also responsible for the design and installation of the Abbey’s Klais Organ.

Peter King, Bath Abbey

In 1997 Peter started a girls choir at Bath Abbey which is now widely regarded as one of the finest musical ensembles in Bath.

Today’s organ recital included the following programme:

Prelude & Fugue in A minor – JS Bach

A Song of Sunshine – Alfred Hollins

Sonata in C Minor – Giovanni Battista Pescetti

In a Persian Market – Alfred Ketelbey

Voices of the Night Op 142 i – Sigfrid Karg-Elert

Entry of the Gladiators – Julius Fucik

Peter’s playing was as usual flawless throughout and I felt it was a particularly good rendition of the Bach Prelude and Fugue in A Minor.  This rather grand work is one of the most popular organ fugues, distinguished by its long and exceptionally tuneful subject, its unusually think textures and its relentless dynamic energy.

I also particularly enjoyed the Pescetti Sonata in C minor. “In a Persian Market” and “Entry of the Gladiators” gave Peter King, (ever the showman) an opportunity to use the fabulous Cymbelstern to great effect.  Overall it was another excellent recital.

Bath Abbey Lunchtime organ recitals are currently every Wednesday at 1.10pm until the end of August.  More information on Peter King can be found on his website.

Every now and again I like to keep people up to date with things that are happening at 4 Part Music.  This month we are working on the company website and there are two things of note which will be launched in the near future.

The first of these is a venue directory.  The idea behind this is to provide a comprehensive database of venues which can be used to make recordings.  These do not necessarily have to be venues we have used before and indeed we will be giving people the opportunity to upload their venue details onto the site free of charge.  It came about largely because there doesnt seem to be anything similar and it would help potential clients decide where they could record.

The second thing coming in a few weeks is an online forum for musicians.  We are still working out the details on this to see what would be most useful. If anyone has any thoughts or suggestions as to the sort of thing we should incorporate then do please let us know.