farewell October 5, 2007
Posted by Charles Noble in : Uncategorized, add a commentGoodbye, M. With much love and affection.
quartet for the end of time October 4, 2007
Posted by Charles Noble in : Uncategorized, add a commentI was watching the last installment of the PBS series “The War” when they came to a segment about the liberation of the death camps across Europe. The music chosen for this was Olivier Messiaen’s Quartet for the End of Time.
How appropriate - this music which largely ignores the concept of human time, and goes for the inexpressible language of Eternity.
I’ve been hearing the cello/piano movement in my head - “Louange à l’Éternité de Jésus” (Praise to the eternity of Jesus) today.
So ecstatically slow (a metronome marking of 44 to the sixteenth note) that time seems to stop. Like for those poor souls consigned to the camps, like those of us waiting for news of a desperately ill friend, colleague, loved one, daughter, sister, aunt.
Time is in suspension - we almost dare not draw a breath, for that would move time forward - we will our hearts to stop, for time to really stop.
So the inevitable will be rendered moot.
It is times like this that remind me why personkind invented religion. We need a way to make the infinite, inevitable, instinctual, ineffable somehow manageable.
Pax tibi in vitam aeternam
east meets west September 21, 2007
Posted by Charles Noble in : Uncategorized, add a commentEvery now and then I stumble upon some insight that really throws me. These gems, big and small, rough or brilliantly polished, turn my conceptions of the world upside down, make me think of things anew, and get me to question what I know of myself and my view of the world.
Today I was trolling the now premium-content-free New York Times website, when I took a look in the small box that shows the “most viewed” “most emailed” “most blogged” and “most searched” articles and terms of the day. I clicked on the blogged tab and saw a link for an article about this YouTube guitar phenomenon - a Korean guitarist known as FunTwo. In the article (by NYTimes TV columnist Virginia Heffernan) there is an exchange about how Asians and Europeans (and by extension, Americans) differ in their respective approaches to music and music-making. The explanation by FunTwo really threw me for a loop - not in that it was unexpected, but that it seemed so “right”.
Here’s an excerpt:
Jeong-Hyun Lim says that, in his experience, Korean and Chinese kids like difficult, neoclassical music–which he identifies as “soloing” music–because they don’t like to listen to music. They like to play it. They don’t enjoy concerts. They prefer private effort, discipline and production.
He seemed to think this was a cultural shortcoming, although surely it could be seen as a great strength.
Producers of music outnumber consumers of music in Asia, he believes, so producers turn into soloists, working alone in their rooms, perfecting their technique for nothing but the pleasure of getting it right.
Europeans and Americans, he said, with intense admiration and some bewilderment, love to listen to music. Consumers of music outnumber producers in Europe and America, so they have clubs and concert halls and bars and seats to fill. There’s a lot of space on the stages, just ready to be filled with any kind of happy clamor–band music, bar music, three-chord cacophony, Green Day, whatever.
There has been, at least in my experience as a musician, both as a professional and as a student, a perception that there are some subtly different dynamics at work between Asian and Western musicians. It has always been a touchy subject, because there have been a lot of harmful stereotypes and slurs against Asian musicians. This is ridiculous, since anything you can say about an Asian musician you can equally say about a non-Asian musician. I’ve performed with and heard concerts by Chinese, Korean, and Japanese classical musicians that were some of the most thrilling experiences of my life, musically and personally, and by the same token also heard concerts by or played concerts with American, European and Russian musicians that took up time from my life that I’ll never get back, much to my chagrin.
Enough lame pseudo-analysis - go enjoy some cool guitar playing!
Coincidently - just noticed that David Stabler wrote about this article, too - read it here.
eartha kitt tears up new york September 19, 2007
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Photo: Richard Termine for the New York Times
She’s appearing with the OSO this season, and by the sound of this review in the New York Times, you’d better score your tickets sooner than later, she’s red hot.
Here’s an excerpt from the review by Times writer Stephen Holden:
It is fascinating to watch the flickers at the corners of Ms. Kitt’s lips and eyes during these audience questionnaires. The peevish scowl of an arrogant siren who has been through this ritual a thousand times can suddenly turn into the cunning grin of a carnivore about to pounce on a juicy morsel of filet mignon.
it’s getting hot around here! July 9, 2007
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nike = yellow cab? June 19, 2007
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[photo by nookly]
My trip back from New York was memorable, to say the least. It involved one of those mythical New York City cab rides that one only hears about, but almost never directly experiences. (more…)
my nyc brush with young hollywood… June 16, 2007
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I was walking back to the hotel after the Emerson Quartet concert on Thursday night, and happened to pass a pissed-off starlet who was being pursued by a pack of “tween” girls and their chaperone. (more…)
why be effective today, when… May 23, 2007
Posted by Charles Noble in : Uncategorized, 4commentsJen has a great list of Seven Habits for Highly Ineffective People - read it now!
old friend in town May 23, 2007
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Over the weekend we had a visit from my old college roommate Tom Joyce, who is the bass trombonist of the Charleston (SC) Symphony. (more…)
all violists can’t be happy March 10, 2007
Posted by Charles Noble in : Uncategorized, add a commentThe story that launched a thousand jokes:
‘Mrs. Grumpy’ Allegedly Hits Pupil With Bow
AP
BOULDER, Colo. (March 8th) - A substitute music teacher has been arrested after allegedly whacking a 10-year-old student on the head with a viola bow after telling the class they were “the worst players I’ve ever heard.”
Newspaper and television reports said the trouble began when Carla Shinners, 63, a teacher for more than 30 years in the district, was interrupted by a call on her own cell phone. She allegedly began swearing Feb. 12 at the Creekside Elementary School, where she had earned the nickname “Mrs. Grumpy Lady.”
Principal Karen Daly said parents and students complained.
The 10-year-old said Shinners also pulled her hair.
Shinners allegedly said the students complained because she was white and they are Hispanic. There was no phone number listed for her in Boulder. It wasn’t clear if she had retained an attorney.
Briggs Gamblin, a spokesman for the school district, confirmed in a telephone interview Thursday night that she had been fired.
Shinners could face a charge of child abuse resulting in injury. She is free on $1,000 bond.
