April 15, 2004 at 6:07 PM

Dovrak and Vaughn-Williams. Simply amazing composers! I was listening to the Dvorak Serenade for Strings the other day, and it never ceases to amaze me at how beautiful and elegant that piece is. I'd love to play it sometime. I can't get over that piece!! :) Yesterday, or wait...the day before yesterday, I was very excited to hear that Vaughn-Williams' oboe concerto was going to be on the radio. It's got to be my favorite work for the instrument. It's melodies are very tuneful, and well orchestrated, without having that annoying re-run going through your head like some pieces. I'm trying to find a relatively decent and cheap recording of the work! After it being played on the radio 4 times in the past couple of weeks, I'm hooked! When I finally got down to the crunch last night and dug out my history textbook to do some studying, I decided that jazz wasn't going to cut it for me, so I decided to put on a recording I have of Dvorak's 8th symphony (or number 4 depending on the numbering system you are going by...). I think it was in the 3rd movement where the winds have a really beautiful where it seems each player really feeds of each other. I played that symphony last month for three concerts, and in many rehearsals, and I never got bored of it. Putting that recording on made me miss not playing it anymore! Oh well....I have to stay focused on Mussorgsky and Brahms at the moment...

I did manage to get a bunch of history done. I haven't had the best of weeks, so I haven't gotten much done and am rather behind for this weeks lesson. I still have yet to define Alexina Louie's Distant Memories from her pieces for piano, and finish up a few things on Stravinksy and the ballet Petrushka and a couple of little things in Debussy's Prelude to the Afternoon of a faun. After I get all that done, then I'm pretty much down to memorising everything from my list and notes for the exam.

Yesterday was a relatively good day, aside from an orthodontist appointment which has left my mouth rather sore. I had to do some stuff downtown, which I managed to mostly get done. I stopped in at the used bookstore for a bit, as I noticed some Beethoven and Schubert music sitting out, and I wanted to see what that was all about. I also looked through some of the vocal works to see if I could find any other ideas for a text for this vocal work I'm writing. I should have taken a look in the poetry section and seen what I could find, but didn't have the time as my ride was going to be coming soon, and I needed to get myself some breakfast, non the less, I did leave a very happy customer, with a brand new, hardcover, book called To Boulez and Beyond for only 13 dollars. I was very pleased with myself, and the book is proving to be very interesting! It discusses the musical style and various composers from Stravinsky on, and how music has evolved over the past 75 years. Being interested in composition and many of the composers in the book. I couldn't resist.

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April 15, 2004 at 6:07 PM

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