Sarah Wallin » Thought for the Day

V.T.C.M.A. - 8

Sarah — Wed, 20 Feb 2008 09:33:08 +0000

The Baltic Baroque play Vivaldi - in style!!

Vivaldi’s “La Folia“:

Vivaldi’s Allegro (RV 565):

Check out more videos from this incredible group here!

V.T.C.M.A. - 7

Sarah — Sun, 27 Jan 2008 01:22:06 +0000

Really nice video-work here! Shows off Ed Alleyne-Johnson’s electric violin mastery nicely, what he does and how he does it. And lovely scenery shots, too!

By the way, check out these great anecdotes about famous buskers, including Benjamin Franklin, Sting, Joshua Bell, and more!!…

Thought for the Day

Sarah — Wed, 23 Jan 2008 22:07:58 +0000

In the midst of my intense contemplations concerning my current in-progress work - my thesis composition for my Master’s degree, to be exact - I came across this fascinating interview with renowned composer, John Adams, concerning his Violin Concerto.

Excerpt:

Did the concerto genre and the expectations associated with it—especially that of virtuosic writing for the solo instrument—affect your customary compositional process in any ways that you can single out?

I think it did affect it a lot. I was very slow to come to the concerto form. In fact, even after finishing this work, I’m not entirely sure I’m comfortable with the form itself.

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An Amazing Realization

Sarah — Wed, 28 Nov 2007 21:53:50 +0000

Hey, get this:

Today is the 59th anniversary of the world premiere of “The Dirge” - the fourth section from Lenny Bernstein’s “Age of Anxiety” Symphony (that’s Symphony No. 2 for piano and orchestra, based on W. H. Auden’s 1946 poem by the same name). This partial premiere was given on Nov. 28, 1948, and was included in a fund-raising concert in Tel Aviv (Israel) held to mark the first anniversary of the UN partition resolution which had legitimized Israel’s claim to indepenedence.

I just realized this as I was working on my school paper - How cool is that?!

V.T.C.M.A. - 6

Sarah — Thu, 08 Nov 2007 06:29:03 +0000

“The trouble with you and me, Ned, is that we want everyone in the world to personally love us, and of course that’s impossible: you just don’t meet everyone in the world.”

-Leonard Bernstein, to composer Ned Rorem.

Presenting a brief clip from Bernstein’s acclaimed Norton Lectures at Harvard, 1973-74! A definite must-see for anyone interested in music, and the question of its existence as a universal language capable of conveying the metaphorics of human existence.

(You can get the book, too, Unanswered Question: Six Talks at Harvard, here!)

V.Com Welcomes Hilary Hahn to the Forums!

Sarah — Sun, 28 Oct 2007 02:10:15 +0000

Laurie Niles conducted this interview with the esteemed violinist, Hilary Hahn. Check it out!

Also, check out this great quote toward the end of the interview!

Hilary: “…In Schoenberg [his concerto] I find the first step is just getting people familiar with the notes, and that takes time and it’s a lot of work. It’s tricky for everyone. And then it’s really important to take the academic out of it. You’re supposed to do that from the start, but it’s kind of scary to try to do all of that at once. A lot of people prefer in the rehearsal process to tackle one thing at a time. Then you really try to sort of make it be almost Brahmsian in some ways, like Stravinsky or Shostakovich in others. Not that it is that music, every composer stands on his or her own. But it’s not acceptable to play any composers in an academic way, including Schoenberg.

Laurie: Is it a piece that’s built on tone rows?

Hilary: I don’t care. I really don’t look at things from that perspective. It doesn’t matter how a melody is constructed, it’s still a melody. It doesn’t matter whether a structural element is there because a composer woke up with it from a dream, or they sat down and mapped it out. It doesn’t really matter. That’s all in the music, and it’s all there to be interpreted. People draw their inspiration from different areas, and whatever helps them express what they want to express musically should not be the determining factor for how it’s interpreted.

Our idea of melody is really quite random. Just because we’ve been trained from birth to think of some things as melodies doesn’t mean that they have any more right to be called a melody than anything else we’re less familiar with. If you played tone rows for little kids, they would start humming them. The first things they hum are very structural elements that go into the traditional melodies.

If you take all emotional bias out, everything has equal musical importance.

V.T.C.M.A. - 5

Sarah — Mon, 08 Oct 2007 07:23:11 +0000

Being a part of the MIDI Band at Cal Poly, Pomona, now on six-string electric fiddle, the performing group of this V.T.C.M.A. really excites me! They’re called Soul in the Machine, and they hail from San Diego, CA. Their innovative presentation of electronica music, their visually entrancing, original instrumental creations, and their extraordinary musical talents are stunning. I encourage you to check them out!

This first video is a ten-minute medley of the group performing a few of their tunes, and the second video is a behind-the-scenes interview with the group, to find out a little more about them.

V.T.C.M.A. - 4

Sarah — Mon, 24 Sep 2007 03:22:15 +0000

Check out this excellent video of the 1972 composition, A Flight of Virtuosity, for Six Handclappers, by Greg A. Steinke. This performance was conducted by Stephen Rochford (and featured my friend and colleague, Alan Mautner as one of the handclappers!). Stick with it - there is a moment in the middle that is especially hilarious! Thanks to Kay Pech for sharing this!

When is the Best Time to Start?

Sarah — Tue, 21 Aug 2007 00:24:23 +0000

…to start learning to play the violin?

We’ve all heard about child prodigies who start lessons when they’re three (such as Stefan Milenkovich), and we’ve been bombarded with the thought that adult beginners cannot hope to achieve the success on the violin that a mere tot can. Well, I stumbled upon a thought-provoking thread from Violinist.com that illuminates all sides of the issue, and will, hopefully, bring hope to those older students who greatly desire - and have every right - to succeed.

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Thought for the Day

Sarah — Sun, 05 Aug 2007 08:00:13 +0000

“Notebook, food, drink & violin. What else does a man need to be happy?”

– Albert Einstein

Ah, the simple essentials of life…