The Vulcan Lute

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Lute playing Trekkies rejoice – you can now learn the instrument of your choice!

The Vulcan lute (sometimes referred to as Vulcan harp, Vulcan lyre, orVulcan Lyrette) was a twelve-stringed instrument, played on the planet Vulcan, that was tuned on a diatonic scale and noted to be very soothing. (VOY: “Innocence“)

Spock was proficient at playing the Vulcan lute and was known to play it often during his off-duty hours. (TOS: “Charlie X“, “The Conscience of the King“, “Amok Time“, “The Way to Eden“; Star Trek V: The Final Frontier)

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Brazilian Mozart

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He had two brothers, one named Verdi, the other Rossine, so it isn’t surprising that his parents had musical ambitions for Mozart Guarnieri. In an act of self effacement (and probably to ward off unkind comments) he changed his name to M.Camargo Guarnieri (Camargo was his mother’s maiden name, and M. stands, of course, for Mozart).
He is arguably the most important Brazilian composer after Heitor Villa-Lobos having written 6 symphonies, 6 piano concertos and many chamber works. Continue reading →

Music touches places nothing else can reach

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In its onward march, science is always trampling over folk-wisdom. But sometimes a piece of research comes along which shows folk-wisdom might have a point after all. There’s been one in the past week, in a paper given at the European Society of Cardiology Annual Conference in Amsterdam. Professor Deljanin and her colleagues in Belgrade discovered a 19% improvement in a vital bit of heart tissue in patients with coronary artery disease, when they listened to their favourite music,

…We are not brains in vats, we are embodied creatures, and ‘mind’ – that is, the experience of being a living, feeling thing – is surely spread out through that body. In any case, the musical experience doesn’t stop at the boundary of the individual person. Music is a social thing, connected to dancing and singing. It becomes most vividly alive in those moments when we do it, rather than passively witness it, says Ivan Hewett

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Thanks to Alison Smith for bringing this to my attention

Antiche Variazioni

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Luigi Mozzani was a famous and respected guitarist who died in 1943. He also made guitars and travelled widely, living in England for 6 months. His most famous work is “Feste Lariane” the favourite of many an aspiring concert guitarist.
He lived in Bologna, which is where he had a large library of music in which Angel Gilardino found a neatly written manuscript of a solo guitar piece which was signed “Respighi” at both top and bottom. The one and the same person who wrote three orchestral suites called  Antiche arid e danze per liuto in 1917, 1923 and 1931.

He was evidently keen on the guitar and would have asked Mozzani, who lived in Bologna at the same period (1900-1909). It us very likely that Respighi wrote the guitar piece, not at the request of Mozzani, but as a study to learn about the instrument. He was a master at writing for different instruments and would have asked Mozzani for advice. However, it seems this was not forthcoming, and Respighi may have dropped the matter. Segovia subsequently came to know Respighi, but there is no mention of the piece or any attempt to write something for the maestro which we know of. I think the main problem with the Variazioni is that they are in quite unusual flat keys for the guitar, going from C major, through F, then Bb, G minor, C minor,Ab,  Db (eek!)Bb minor. Then he runs out of flat keys and the editor kindly puts us back into C major! Continue reading →

All in the golden Afternoon – Betty Roe

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Betty Roe – her father was a fishmonger in Shepherd’s Bush – is a distinguished composer (in 2011 she was awarded an MBE) and performer of English song, instrumental music, choral music and musicals She was Director of Music at the London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art from 1968–78. Her website simply states ‘Musician’. Continue reading →

Chou Wen-chung’s 90th

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Kenneth Kwan’s facebook post on Chou Wen-chung’s 90th birthday celebration concert in Taiwan prompted me to find out more about this remarkable musician, calligrapher and pedagogue. He found his way to the USA after travels in China evading the Japanese. He was then offered a scholarship to study architecture in Yale after the war He returned to music and eventually met Edgard Varèse with whom he studied for seven years and whose assistant he became.

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Jacob do Bandolim

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What do you get if you substitute an ‘M’ for a ‘B’ and an ‘n’ for an ‘m’?
You get a virtuosic Brazilian mandolinist whose day job was a pharmacist (and also a public notary) and who was impeccably dressed for concerts. He also wrote many of the Brazilian hits of all time, aptly named Jacob Pick Bittencourt, whose stage name was Jacob do Bandolim, “Jacob Mandolin”.
In addition to his virtuoso playing, he is famous for his many choro compositions, more than 103 tunes, which range from the lyrical melodies of “Noites Cariocas” (“Carioca Nights”), Receita de Samba and “Dôce de Coco” to the aggressively jazzy “Assanhado”, which is reminiscent of bebop. He also researched and attempted to preserve the older choro tradition, as well as that of other Brazilian music styles.

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