Hello to all from the US...

Started by Pohjolas Daughter, November 12, 2018, 05:45:07 AM

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relm1

Quote from: Ghost of Baron Scarpia on November 12, 2018, 03:58:47 PM
I'm also in California, but in my case about 150 miles away. Even at this distance there is a detectable change in air quality due to the smoke.

This is the otherwise lovely coast of Malibu from Saturday - 30 minutes drive from me. :(


Pohjolas Daughter

Vandermolen,

I've been to Westminster Abbey before but it was some time ago and at that time don't recall seeing his grave (the 'lightbulb moment' hadn't yet occurred ).  I googled the image and saw that Ursula was given a small stone of her own too as she is apparently buried there with him.  I noticed that Stanford and Howells are also near him...will have to revisit the abbey next time I'm in the UK.

Relm 1,

:(  And, of course, all the traffic is outbound.  Last I heard there were about 300,000 who had evacuated between the various fires?  Any rain predicted in the near future?
Pohjolas Daughter

Ghost of Baron Scarpia

#22
Quote from: Pohjolas Daughter on November 13, 2018, 07:23:58 AMAny rain predicted in the near future?

Rainy season in most of California begins around November. Some rain is predicted late next week in the southern and central coast. If the winds would die down the Southern California fires could probably be brought under control without much further damage. Heavy rain could cause more problems, because coastal land cleared of vegetation is subject to mud slides. That is what happened in Santa Barbara last year.

One problem in California is that some of the most beautiful places, where people aspire to live, are vulnerable to relatively predictable natural disasters.

Karl Henning

♫ . . . but, girl, don't they warn ya . . . .
Karl Henning, Ph.D.
Composer & Clarinetist
Boston MA
http://www.karlhenning.com/
[Matisse] was interested neither in fending off opposition,
nor in competing for the favor of wayward friends.
His only competition was with himself. — Françoise Gilot

Cato

Quote from: Pohjolas Daughter on November 13, 2018, 04:34:02 AM
Yes, I agree:  there are many fine Russian composers too--I particularly enjoy Rachmaninov, Tchaikovsky and Shostakovich (as I had mentioned earlier)....operas like Boris Godunov are thrilling....and the ballets!

PD

Greetings!

Watch for remarks concerning the lesser-known Russian composers - whose works are not necessarily lower in quality than the better-known composers  ;)  - e.g. Sergei Taneyev, Nicolai and Alexander Tcherepnin, Serge Protopopov, Leo Ornstein, Ivan Wyschnegradsky* Vyacheslav Ovchinnikov.

Other suggestions will soon follow, I am sure!   ;D



* Wyschnegradsky  q.v. is perhaps an acquired taste!   8)
"Meet Miss Ruth Sherwood, from Columbus, Ohio, the Middle of the Universe!"

- Brian Aherne introducing Rosalind Russell in  My Sister Eileen (1942)

Pohjolas Daughter

I will certainly look out for a thread on either Russian composers or the individual ones that you've suggested at some point in time--thanks! :-)

PD
Pohjolas Daughter

North Star

For a fan of Shostakovich, I'd definitely also suggest Weinberg, his younger colleague & friend whose music was very much influenced by Shostakovich, who was also influenced by Weinberg.
"Everything has beauty, but not everyone sees it." - Confucius

My photographs on Flickr

Karl Henning

Quote from: North Star on November 14, 2018, 08:56:17 AM
For a fan of Shostakovich, I'd definitely also suggest Weinberg, his younger colleague & friend whose music was very much influenced by Shostakovich, who was also influenced by Weinberg.

Esp. the pf quintet and the string quartets!
Karl Henning, Ph.D.
Composer & Clarinetist
Boston MA
http://www.karlhenning.com/
[Matisse] was interested neither in fending off opposition,
nor in competing for the favor of wayward friends.
His only competition was with himself. — Françoise Gilot

North Star

Quote from: k a rl h e nn i ng on November 14, 2018, 09:05:51 AM
Esp. the pf quintet and the string quartets!
Indeed! Although mostly because I don't know Weinberg's symphonies, concertos, piano music, or operas, etc, well enough to comment..
"Everything has beauty, but not everyone sees it." - Confucius

My photographs on Flickr

zamyrabyrd

Hi, Pohjola's Daughter, I missed your intro. Welcome!
There are not too many dames around here, but the guys are mostly OK.
Janet,  the "zamyra-byrd" (singing-byrd)
"Men, it has been well said, think in herds; it will be seen that they go mad in herds, while they only recover their senses slowly, one by one."

― Charles MacKay, Extraordinary Popular Delusions and the Madness of Crowds

relm1

Quote from: zamyrabyrd on December 09, 2018, 03:04:08 AM
Hi, Pohjola's Daughter, I missed your intro. Welcome!
There are not too many dames around here, but the guys are mostly OK.
Janet,  the "zamyra-byrd" (singing-byrd)

I don't think "pohjola's daughter" is a dame.  That is the name of a famous tone poem by Jean Sibelius, "Pohjola's Daughter" based on Finnish myth. 

kyjo

Welcome aboard, and great username! Looking forward to your posts.  :)
"Music is enough for a lifetime, but a lifetime is not enough for music" - Sergei Rachmaninoff

Pohjolas Daughter

Quote from: zamyrabyrd on December 09, 2018, 03:04:08 AM
Hi, Pohjola's Daughter, I missed your intro. Welcome!
There are not too many dames around here, but the guys are mostly OK.
Janet,  the "zamyra-byrd" (singing-byrd)

Hi Janet! 

Apologies for missing your (and the 2-3?) following 'welcomes' too; life has been incredibly busy over the past few months so I haven't had much time (or energy) to catch up on this forum.   :(

Are you a singer (for fun or professionally)?  If so, I am envious!

And, yes, I picked the forum name PD not only because I like Sibelius' music, but was also trying to think of something having to do with a female figure(s).   ;)

Best wishes--and Happy Holidays too,

PD
Pohjolas Daughter

Pohjolas Daughter

Quote from: relm1 on December 09, 2018, 06:40:58 AM
I don't think "pohjola's daughter" is a dame.  That is the name of a famous tone poem by Jean Sibelius, "Pohjola's Daughter" based on Finnish myth.

Hi Relm1,

Yes, you're correct about the tone poem, but ahem, please see my above reply.   :)

Though, alas, I'm not a dame (Dame) in the British sense!   :(

Warm wishes and Merry, Merry!

PD
Pohjolas Daughter

Pohjolas Daughter

Quote from: kyjo on December 21, 2018, 10:37:38 AM
Welcome aboard, and great username! Looking forward to your posts.  :)

Thank you very much Kyjo!

Happy Holidays too,

PD
Pohjolas Daughter

zamyrabyrd

Quote from: Pohjolas Daughter on December 21, 2018, 02:32:21 PM
Hi Janet! 
Apologies for missing your (and the 2-3?) following 'welcomes' too; life has been incredibly busy over the past few months so I haven't had much time (or energy) to catch up on this forum.   :(
Are you a singer (for fun or professionally)?  If so, I am envious!
And, yes, I picked the forum name PD not only because I like Sibelius' music, but was also trying to think of something having to do with a female figure(s).   ;)
Best wishes--and Happy Holidays too,
PD

Hi PD,

I just noticed your answer to my post a year later (well, not really).
To answer your question about my being a singer, I prefer to say I am an all-around musician.
I taught piano, voice and music history at the Edward Said Conservatory and other institutions.
So maybe I spoke more about music than actually performed it, but practiced a lot both piano and voice and learned violin in high school that I always wanted to take up again.
I did sing some soprano solos in oratorios, Beethoven's "Christ on the Mt. of Olives", for instance.
If I really had to define my musicianship, I would say I am a listener, having started out that way.
Hearing something beautiful gives me the incentive to try and reproduce it.
Musical analysis always fascinated me, so I did pursue that subject on university masters level.
As an adolescent, I wanted to compose music but a conservatory teacher told me my compositions weren't "modern" enough. So I gave that up.
It's good that this was not told to Emily Bear or Alma Deustcher.
That's about it.
Janet
"Men, it has been well said, think in herds; it will be seen that they go mad in herds, while they only recover their senses slowly, one by one."

― Charles MacKay, Extraordinary Popular Delusions and the Madness of Crowds

Pohjolas Daughter

Quote from: zamyrabyrd on January 04, 2019, 12:56:23 AM
Hi PD,

I just noticed your answer to my post a year later (well, not really).
To answer your question about my being a singer, I prefer to say I am an all-around musician.
I taught piano, voice and music history at the Edward Said Conservatory and other institutions.
So maybe I spoke more about music than actually performed it, but practiced a lot both piano and voice and learned violin in high school that I always wanted to take up again.
I did sing some soprano solos in oratorios, Beethoven's "Christ on the Mt. of Olives", for instance.
If I really had to define my musicianship, I would say I am a listener, having started out that way.
Hearing something beautiful gives me the incentive to try and reproduce it.
Musical analysis always fascinated me, so I did pursue that subject on university masters level.
As an adolescent, I wanted to compose music but a conservatory teacher told me my compositions weren't "modern" enough. So I gave that up.
It's good that this was not told to Emily Bear or Alma Deustcher.
That's about it.
Janet

Hi Janet,

Oh, neat!  And impressive!  When asked whether or not I am a musician (after I've voiced an interest in music, etc.), my reply is "I like to say that I clap well". 

And regarding the part of your quote that I highlighted:  I understand you're feeling.  With me, however, well, let's just say that you don't want to be around me when I have a Callas recording on and I have the impulse to sing along with her; the results ain't pretty! 

Best wishes,

PD

p.s.  And your conservatory teacher should have been fired for discouraging you like that!   >:( :(
Pohjolas Daughter

Mirror Image

Welcome aboard! Love your screen name! Certainly one of my favorites from Sibelius.

Pohjolas Daughter

Quote from: Mirror Image on January 13, 2019, 07:13:21 AM
Welcome aboard! Love your screen name! Certainly one of my favorites from Sibelius.
Thank you on both accounts!

PD
Pohjolas Daughter

XB-70 Valkyrie

#39
Hello fellow vinyl enthusiast! Where in California are you? My wife and I live in Pasadena, which I have a soft spot for, but I viscerally hate the rest of SoCal, and I long to be in the Bay Area, or better yet Ireland (whence my ancestors came), or possibly further north in the land of the Hyperboreans. I love that avatar and have had a fascination with the aurora borealis and northern latitudes for many years.

If you really dislike Bach you keep quiet about it! - Andras Schiff