Jing-reed's Musings from Thailand

Only Boys Aloud "Calon Lân"

The Welsh choir 'Only Boys Aloud' sang "Calon Lân",  a traditional Welsh hymn during their audition, and later at the final of Britain's Got Talent, 2012, 

   Nid wy'n gofyn bywyd moethus,
   Aur y byd na'i berlau mân:
   Gofyn wyf am galon hapus,
   Calon onest, calon lân.

      Calon lân yn llawn daioni,
      Tecach yw na'r lili dlos:
      Dim ond calon lân all ganu
      Canu'r dydd a chanu'r nos.


   I’d not ask a life that’s easy,
   Gold and pearls so little mean,
   Rather seek a heart that’s joyful,
   Heart that’s honest, heart that’s clean.

      Heart that’s clean and filled with virtue,
      Fairer far than lilies white,
      Only pure hearts praise God truly,
      Praise him all the day and night.

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Harvey Lavan Cliburn 1934-2013

"Pianist Van Cliburn, the tall, gangly Texan whose 1958 victory at the International Tchaikovsky Competition in Moscow brought Cold War politics into the world of classical music and launched his own starry, though brief, career on the concert stage, died Wednesday morning at his home in Fort Worth. He was 78.

The cause of death was bone cancer, according to his longtime publicist, Mary Lou Falcone.

Mr. Cliburn's Moscow success, which came a mere six months after the anxiety-inducing launch of the Sputnik satellite, was seen as a cultural triumph for the West in a sphere that had been dominated by the Soviets. Mr. Cliburn's final performances in the competition were of concertos by Tchaikovsky and Rachmaninoff.

The 23-year-old pianist came home to a ticker-tape parade in New York City and adulatory press coverage, including an appearance on the cover of Time magazine hailing him as "The Texan Who Conquered Russia."

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Eric Whitacre's 'Virtual Choir'

   Only connect! That was the whole of her sermon.
   Only connect the prose and the passion, and both will be exalted,
   And human love will be seen at its height.
   Live in fragments no longer.
   Only connect...

        --E.M. Forster, Howards End

Our human ability to connect with one another anywhere on the planet has become a reality with the advent of the internet.  And nowhere is this more evident than with Erik Whitacre's 'Virtual Choir' where singers from around the globe can 'virtually' sing together with beauty, love and harmony. 

Eric Whitacre is an American Grammy Award-winning composer and conductor. He is one of the most popular and performed composers of his generation. In 2008, the all-Whitacre choral CD Cloudburst (released by the British ensemble Polyphony on Hyperion Records) became an international best-seller, topping the classical charts and earning a Grammy nomination. In addition to Whitacre's litany of choral and wind ensemble compositions, he is also known for his "Virtual Choir" projects, bringing individual voices from around the globe together into an online choir.

  Eric Whitacre: A virtual choir 2,000 voices strong [Ted Talk]

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  Eric Whitacre's Virtual Choir - 'Lux Aurumque'

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  Eric Whitacre - Eric Whitacre's Virtual Choir 2.0, 'Sleep'

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Sung Bong Choi

Korea's Got Talent contestant Sung Bong Choi surprised both judges and audience with his wonderful vocal talent and the amaziing story of his life.  

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Mad But Glad

Is there really such a thing as the mad genius? Can an illness be both a blessing and a curse?

At seven years old, Nick van Bloss started shaking his head, grinding his teeth and making wild whooping noises. Nick had Tourette's syndrome. No medical intervention helped him. But one activity stopped it all...

The moment Nick placed his hands on the piano keys his symptoms vanished. By the age of 20, he was an award winning international pianist. He felt sure that his illness had made him the success he was.

But there is a catch. The brain state necessary for his genius can also be dangerously close to mental chaos. Nick's personal journey reveals how close he came to the edge and how determined he is to triumph.

Mad But Glad [BBC Horizon]

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Nick van Bloss Bach Goldberg Variations

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A. Dvořák - Symphony No. 9 in E minor, Op. 95

Popularly known as the 'New World Symphony', this work was composed by Antonín Dvořák in 1893 during his visit to the United States from 1892 to 1895. It is by far his most popular symphony, and one of the most popular in the modern repertoire.

It is generally considered that, like other Dvořák pieces, this work has more in common with folk music of his native Bohemia than with that of the United States. Leonard Bernstein averred that the work was truly multinational in its foundations.

It never fails to remind me of the beautiful music and lovely folk tunes of my native Slovakia.


A. Dvořák - Symphony No. 9 in E minor, Op. 95 "From the New World - Z nového světa" " - Sinfonieorchester des Bayerischen Rundfunks     Lorin Maazel, conductor

     I.      Adagio -- Allegro molto
     II.     Largo
     III.  Scherzo. Molto vivace -- Poco sostenuto
     IV.   Allegro con fuoco

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"Lascia la spina, cogli la rosa" - Handel

Handel's "Lascia la spina, cogli la rosa" From "Il Trionfo del Tempo e del Disinganno" sung by the incomparable Cecilia Bartoli.

Such moving, divine elegance - from the composition, muscians, and vocalist.  Moments of beauty such as this are what make life truly worth living. .

[Cecilia Bartoli (mezzo-soprano) Live in Italy - Jean-Yves Thibaudet (piano). Teatro Olimpico, Vicenza, June 1998]
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John Field 1782 - 1837

"John Field was an Irish pianist, composer, and teacher. He was born in Dublin into a musical family, and received his early education there. The Fields soon moved to London, where Field studied under Muzio Clementi. Under his tutelage, Field quickly became a famous and sought-after concert pianist; together, master and pupil visited Paris, Vienna, and St. Petersburg. The Russian capital impressed Field so much that he eventually decided to stay behind when Clementi left, and from about 1804 was particularly active in Russia.

Field was very highly regarded by his contemporaries and his playing and compositions influenced many major composers, including Frédéric Chopin, Johannes Brahms, Robert Schumann, and Franz Liszt. He is best known today for originating the piano nocturne, a form later made famous by Chopin, as well as for his substantial contribution, through concerts and teaching, to the development of the Russian piano school. ....."  [Wikipedia]


I have been familiar with, and loved, the Chopin noctures for more than 65 years, but just recently learned that he had not orignally developed this musical form - it was John Field.  Eighteen of Field's Noctures, performed by Irish pianist John O'Conor, are available on YouTube. They are all quite charming, but it was Chopin who became the master of the Nocture form.

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Gavin George

Another day of beginning to browse the utterly predictable news items of the day:

     The Chick-Fil-A mess - Prosthelytizing bigots are major pain in the ass...

     Middle eastern dictators continuing to kill their own people....

     Politicians openly lying about everything imaginable - including their taxes... 

 

    

I don't know about anyone else , but I get sick and tired of all the negative bulllshit that we are subjected to every day on news broadcasts and on the internet news outlets.


THEN, I finally enoounter someting worthwhile - human creativity.

"At 9 years old, Gavin deftly plays some of the most difficult piano pieces ever composed and performs at concerts around the world. THNKR invites you into Gavin's universe -- revealing his genius, his consuming drive, but also the naiveté and playfulness of an ordinary nine-year-old boy. Also featured in the episode are Gavin's parents, who support and nurture his prodigious gifts while maintaining balance for their son."

 

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Beethoven's Ninth, 'Ode to Joy' - 歓喜に寄せて

The performance of "Daiku", "The Ninth", Beethoven's 9th symphony, is a Japanese highlight every year in the end of December.  This year it was performed with  10,000 (amateur) chorus singers. Here is the last movement, recorded at the December, 2011 concert in Osaka.   This year the performance was dedicated to the memory of the victims of the disastrous tsunami in March.

Ludwig van Beethoven (1770-1827)
Symphony No. 9 in D minor, Op. 125
Finale.  [with Chorus on Friedrich Schiller's "Ode an die Freude" / "Ode to Joy" / "歓喜に寄せて"]

      Keiko Yokoyama, soprano
      Masako Teshima, mezzo-soprano
      Satoshi Nishimura, tenor
      Eijiro Kai, baritone
      Choir of the 10,000 from Osaka and Sendai
      Yutaka Sado, conductor
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