The Omniscient Mussel » Video

Making The Score Come Alive

Miss Mussel — Wed, 01 Jul 2009 13:02:03 +0000

@sinclairmusic from Greenwood Lake, New York brought these three minutes of loveliness to Miss Mussel’s attention this morning via Twitter. The video is a stop motion representation of Aaron Copland’s Hoedown from the ballet Rodeo (1942) created by Eleanor Stewart as her final degree project at the Glasgow School of Art. Well done, Eleanor!

Hoedown from Rodeo from Eleanor Stewart on Vimeo

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Because It’s Just So Jolly

Miss Mussel — Tue, 30 Jun 2009 23:21:33 +0000

Miss Mussel has a weakness for large groups of homogenous instruments – string quartet, cello ensemble, bassoon quartet, horn octet and even tuba choir, as long as the range and timbre variance is large. Saxophone ensembles are begrudgingly admired but groups of flutes, clarinets or oboes are avoided like that porcine influenza that seems to be popping up all over creation.

Here’s the horns of the Berliner and Vienna Philharmonikers hashing through a movement of Haydn’s String Quartet Hob.â…¢ 38 “The Joke” It’s a lovely idea except for the small technical problem of French horns not being built to play very high relative to, say, the violin. The highest note in orchestra horn literature can easily be reached in first position on the violin.

All goes well until 1:27 when the gentlemen third from the right decides to play his line in the correct octave. His valiant reach for a super D (G on top of the treble staff in concert pitch) goes a bit awry. At that altitude, the notes are attainable but only just and very unreliably. The odds are better for him than Icarus but the end result is the same.

Here are eight Berliners rocking Glinka’s Ruslan and Ludmilla Overture. Say what you wish about French horns – that opening lick is pretty impressive stuff.

And finally, one for the kids.

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Rowan For A Sunday

Miss Mussel — Sun, 05 Apr 2009 07:24:19 +0000

Rowan Atkinson during the 1981 Secret Policeman’s Ball. Why does Miss Mussel feel like she’s seen every single one of these moves at various concerts she’s attended? Except for maybe the air oboe.

And then, of course, there is this – Pathetique, Piano Hero style.

Finally, if you have some hours to while away, you may find the OM Video Collection to be the perfect accomplice.

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The Story Of My Life

Miss Mussel — Wed, 18 Feb 2009 16:18:15 +0000

A 1979 National Film Board project by Richard Condie illustrates what happened in nearly every practice session Miss Mussel undertook no matter what the instrument. There were only two situations in which good, productive practice was guaranteed to happen.

1) Miss Mussel was overcome by a significant amount of terror regarding what would happen if she didn’t practice. This happened rarely.
2) She was supposed to be practicing another instrument or writing a paper.

Anyone recognize the piece?

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Supernumaries Gone Wild

Miss Mussel — Fri, 13 Feb 2009 23:03:32 +0000

French and Saunders

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Verdi Helps Steelers Win Superbowl XLIII

Miss Mussel — Mon, 02 Feb 2009 06:38:53 +0000

The Pittsburgh Steelers defeated the Arizona Cardinals last night, winning their second Super Bowl in four years. With 47 seconds remaining, Big Red was ahead by 3 points but then, Roethlisberger found Holmes in the endzone to seal the deal for the Steelers.

The Steelers won four more games during the regular season but scored 80 less points and 13 less touchdowns than the Cardinals. Big Red’s strong offense was cancelled out by the Steelers’ legendary defense leaving the teams evenly matched.

In a previously released statement, the General Director of the PIttsburgh Opera Christopher Hahn pointed out what might have been Pittsburgh’s only concrete advantage, “we have not one, but two fight songs, and…has used the aria ‘Celeste Aida’ in its…TV commercials. [That] gives us a distinct advantage.”

While the Steelers’ two fight existing fights songs have rather literal texts, this new addition to the repertoire, composed in 1871 by the Italian Giuseppe Verdi, is far more metaphorical.

If I were that warrior!
If my dream came true!
An army of brave men lead by me
And all victories and the praise of Menfi
And to you, my sweet Aida,
Returning wrapped in laurels
I would say: I’ve fought for you,
I’ve won for you!

When asked to supply music for the opening of the Suez Canal, Verdi sniffily replied that he did not write occasional music. In light of this it is not clear if inclusion in the Steelers’ Fight Song canon constitutes unauthorised usage. Telephone calls and email messages requesting comment were not immediately returned.

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The Artist’s Curse or Madness’ Cure?

Miss Mussel — Sat, 24 Jan 2009 03:27:29 +0000

While doing some TV watching via the interwebs this weekend, Miss Mussel stumbled upon a Horizon documentary entitled Mad but Glad that explores the idea of the mad genius. It’s a bit of a chicken and egg problem that is has become one of the most enduring tropes of any discussion of the creative arts:

Does madness breed artists or are artists predisposed to going mad?

The main focus was the once-promising British pianist Nick van Bloss who suffers from Tourette’s Syndrome but the program also talked to musicians and artists with autism, hypergraphia and schizophrenia.

Horizon usually covers all the bases in its programs but one thing about this film struck Miss Mussel as quite peculiar: throughout the film, Nick doesn’t make a single sound that would be considered out of place in regular conversation. In an article in the Independent, Bloss wrote that,

I vocally tic practically each time I exhale and, at certain points during the day, I’m compelled to let rip with various mega-loud yelps, which tend not only to startle me, but everyone in my vicinity. I ooh and I ahh, I spit and I smash my jaws together, I flex, shake, contort and nod, I blow comical raspberries, some small, some huge, and I touch things and people.

It’s not that Miss Mussel is looking for unusual behaviour to authenticate his condition, it’s just that in a film about Tourette’s why would part of appears to be essential von Bloss be edited out?

[film is approx 50 minutes long]

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Aural Advent Calendar: Day 24

Miss Mussel — Wed, 24 Dec 2008 06:19:40 +0000

Not much to say today other than do what the song says and have a good one.
[The deets for those that are dying to know: Judy Garland - Meet Me In St Louis 1944 - third most recorded Christmas song ever]

If you’ve got time between tomorrow and New Year’s Day, tune in for the full Paul McCreesh version of Michael Praetorius’ stupendous Christmas Mass.

All the best to you and yours,

Miss Mussel

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Aural Advent Calendar: Day 23

Miss Mussel — Tue, 23 Dec 2008 10:22:10 +0000

Here is a literal, non-OM translation:

It’s a beautiful Christmas night
Snow spreads its white coat
And eyes lift toward the sky
On their knees, small children
Before closing their eyes
Say a last prayer.

Little Father Christmas
When you come down from the sky
With thousands of toys
Don’t forget my little stocking.

But before you leave
You should dress warmly
Outside you will be so cold
And it’s kind of my fault.

I can’t wait for sunrise
To see if you brought me
All the lovely toys that I see in my dreams
And that I ordered from you

Refrain

The sandman has passed
The children are going to sleep
And you will be able to begin,
With your sack on your back,
To the sound of church bells,
Your distribution of surprises.

And when you are on your beautiful cloud
Come first to our house
I wasn’t always very good
But I ask for your forgiveness.

Refrain

The penultimate installment of this year’s Advent Odyssey comes from La France (obvs) and is the song Petit Papa Noel. Papa does have his own Facebook page but details about the song are not to be found anywhere on the interwebs, making it far and away the most mysterious installment in our Advent journey.

Tino Rossi gave this performance on Christmas Eve 1977 along with a dozen or so irresistably bescarfed and betoqued poppets [pop-pay] presumably on French television although that is quite possibly an Apochryphal Factoid.

Rossi himself was, in his day, quite the sensation. He was a French cabaret singer who also sang art songs by Jules Massenet and Reynaldo Hahn. Like Liszt and Lennon, he could have the ladies swooning with just a few bars of a romantic ballad.

Petit Papa was a hit for Rossi the very first time he recorded it in 1946, selling over 30 million copies. A staggering figure, to say the least.

Despite his success with acting and singing, Rossi would be known as the most famous person from his French island homeland, Corsica. That honour was stolen by an enterprising artillery officer called Napoléon.

Miss Mussel doesn’t usually go in for singing animals but this little item pulls at heartstrings she never knew she had.

Puppy! French-speaking toddler! Christmas!

*wilt*

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Aural Advent Calendar: Day 22

Miss Mussel — Mon, 22 Dec 2008 05:34:27 +0000

We seem to be oscillating between the austere and the ridiculous on this calendar, not a bad thing considering that’s how Miss Mussel’s mind generally works. It’s all about keeping it real here at OM Headquarters…er…or something. Foshizzle et al.

*Sigh*

There’s not even any teenagers about and Miss Mussel still managed to outed herself as Terminally Uncool And Out Of Touch With The Kids.

Anyway….this should cure any case of the Mondays that might be lurking in your place of employment. Crank up those speakers, gather folks around your Microsoft-approved hearth and take a listen to this Christmas classic. It will knock the socks off that Messiah on Crack thing that is circulating through the interwebs.

The song in question is the heavyweight of the Christmas repertoire. It’s the one everyone man of a certain age with a moderately decent set of pipes fantasizes about conquering each Christmas Eve. Personally, Miss Mussel has witnessed 5 years of a man well into his eighties and barely able to climb the altar stairs unassisted, teeter into position, give a slight nod to the organist and proceed to belt this lovely out of the park with astonishing conviction.

Other friends have reported versions in their hometowns, one involving a pair of men who have, for years, happily transformed the piece into a duet. They mark the significance of this event by making their performance the only time of the year they upgrade from black sweatpants to something with a non-elasticated waist and a zipper.

[Note to feed reader peeps: You're going to have to click through on this one]

It’s very likely our featured soloist is doing this on purpose…..but that somehow makes it all the more impressive.

The carol was composed in 1847 by the French composer and critic Adolphe Adam. A teacher of Léo Delibes, Adam was a prolific composer of operas and ballet and is most famous for his ballets Giselle and Le Corsaire.

Dubious factoid you can wow your family with: “On 24 December 1906, Reginald Fessenden, a Canadian inventor, broadcast the first AM radio program, which included him playing “O Holy Night” on the violin. The carol therefore appears to have been the first piece of music to be broadcast on radio.”

What would Christmas be without a little Wikiality?

Just another Thursday.

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