My life has been somewhat chaotic the past few weeks. My mother (who lives in Maryland, while I am in Ohio) was hospitalized with a mild stroke. Luckily my sister lives in the same house and was able to care…
Clarinet Magazine, 1954
My clarinet colleague in the Columbus Symphony, Woody Jones, came across this very old copy of Clarinet Magazine published in 1954. He gave it to me because it contains an article by my old teacher, Sidney Forrest. It also contains…
The Other Side of Entertainment
“Nothing communicates better than art. It is quicker than language and clearer than philosophy.” Frederick Weisman “If the key is in question in Shostakovich, it’s always in the minor.” Gunther Herbig I’ve been using Twitter to query my followers about…
Playing in an Acoustical Vacuum
My sister and I played recitals the past two days in two different “recreation halls”, both at senior citizen centers. Not only were the pianos awful, but the acoustics were very dry in both places, caused by numerous curtains above…
Smiling through Sour Intonation
Today’s recital with my sister went well. Except the piano was flat AND out of tune. We played at a retirement recreation center, where my mother takes dance classes. At a place like that, you get what you get. Pianists…
Brahms Clarinet Quintet, Movt. 2
Here’s the second movement of the Brahms Quintet Op. 115 in B minor, written in 1891. The gypsy Brahms shows heavily in the middle of the piece, and then he smooths out his shirt and the music goes back to…