Archive for July, 2008
Rautavaara: Piano Concerto No. 1 Op 45
Einojuhani Rautavaara (b. 1928)
[pronounced: Eye-know-joo-ha-nee Row (rhymes with now)-tah-VAH-rah]
Piano Concerto No.1 Op. 45 (1969)
Con grandezza
Andante
Molto Vivace
Like most composers who have been afforded the luxury of sixty plus years in which to refine their craft, Einojuhani Rautavaara has gone through a complex stylistic development over the course of his career. As Sibelius’ natural successor, Rautavaara [...]
Summer Book Meme
Here is a quick variation on the iTunes meme from yesterday intended specifically for those who have written books.
All you need to do is:
Copy the entire text of your book to the clipboard.
Go to Wordle.net, open a new Wordle and paste the text.
Change all the style settings et voila! Some art to complement your publication.
Here’s [...]
Summer iTunes Meme
Every day you chase the carrot and are about 99% certain you’ll never get to cut it into sticks and serve it along side a tuna melt and some 5-Alive. Today, fate has intervened and granted Miss Mussel a small taste of success.
Ladies and gents, boys and girls, music nerds of all genres–
The Omniscient [...]
Messiaen: Offrandes Oubliées
Olivier Messiaen (1908-1992)
Offrandes Oubliées (1930)
When asserting that Messiaen was one of the most influential composer of the 20th century, there is very little danger of overstating the matter. There is simply no other composer that had such a profound influence over such a broad spectrum of artists. Stockhausen, Boulez, Pärt, Grisey, Takemitsu and [...]
Program Notes Catalogue
Miss Mussel writes programme notes for orchestral and chamber music concerts in England and would be happy to create an original set of notes for your next concert. Her preferred method is to write an essay that links the whole program together and discusses overarching themes rather than writing three or four independent notes. [...]
Contact
Questions/comments/corrections/snarks may be sent to hello [at] theomniscientmussel [dot] com
CDs, DVDs and books for review may be sent care of The Omniscient Mussel to:
51 Pheasant Run | Guelph | Ontario | Canada | N1C 1E7
Recordings of repertoire that is a little bit off the beaten track are most welcome as source material for The Weekly [...]
All The Great Operas In 10 Minutes
Courtesy of Philly Markowitz at the CBC Radio 2 blog:
All The Great Operas in 10 Minutes by Kim Thompson
All About Spine Tinglers
Spine Tinglers is a section devoted to stories about those moments in music that are out of this world; the ones that make you stop and reconsider life as you had previously known it.
Some people get the shivers, others find that hair the back of their neck stands up and still others getting a [...]
Review: Guy Few, Nadina Mackie Jackson @ The Elora Festival
Duo Affinité
19th July, 2008
St John’s Anglican Church, Elora
If a bassoon and trumpet recital didn’t qualify as my daily dose of bizzarerie, getting stuck behind a 1985 Lincoln limousine weaving down a country road at 65kph certainly did. The dodgy driving meant I had to leg it to the church but thankfully I only missed [...]
Book Meme Vol. 2
Posting has slowed to a crawl here at OM headquarters although that is not in anyway indicative of a diminishing in the Things That Need Doing department. Miss Mussel will be away from the internet [GASP] most of next week at the cottage and will be devoting much energy to evening it out her [...]
