Henning's Headquarters

Started by BachQ, April 07, 2007, 12:21:26 PM

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BachQ

Quote from: karlhenning on October 30, 2007, 02:46:32 PM
Tapestry will perform Castelo dos Anjos as part of their "In the Company of Angels" program at 7:30pm, December 1st at Denver's Newman Center for the Performing Arts.

Where is the Newman Center for the Performing Arts in relation to St. Barnabas Episcopal Church (1280 Vine)?

karlhenning

For that information, we must apply to our esteemed jochanaan or Bill.

Cato

Quote from: karlhenning on October 23, 2007, 04:50:06 PM


Also, the choir may possibly read my unaccompanied setting of the Advent Responsory I Look from Afar at tomorrow night's choir rehearsal.  When I talked with Ed this Sunday past, I sounded him out delicately, and he seems actually to want to put it on;  so I asked if he would mind just having a read of it tomorrow, so it will have been under everyone's eyes at an early stage.

(My emphasis above)

8)   I have known far too many such musicians!   :o   Especially connected to churches!   0:)

I hope he turns out to be reliable!  Otherwise, call the Music Police for fraud!   $:)

"Meet Miss Ruth Sherwood, from Columbus, Ohio, the Middle of the Universe!"

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

karlhenning

This is Ed's second year at St Paul's, Cato, and he is still somewhat 'out of his element' with such a choir, in such repertory.  Part of his 'scheduling-chaos' and base-level-frazzle issues are a matter of his not having a grasp of (a) his own learning-curve with some of the pieces he schedules, but plans to learn on the fly, (b) what the choir is capable of, and (c) what he needs to do to guide the choir into a state of finished preparation.  An apt (though perforce overemphasised) analogy that one chorister proposed is:  when you hire a blindman as a traffic cop, it isn't the blindman's fault that he underperforms at the job.

Now, since the Dean (there is no point in saying "the Cathedral," it was all the Dean's decision, and all the apprearances of communal input were just that: appearances) turned me down for the job of choir director, it just is not my part on a volunteer to train Ed to the job I know much better how to do.  But also, since Ed seems genuinely to like my work, he deserves some support from my quarter (and again, my 'quarrel' is with the Dean, not with Ed).  I am walking a peculiar balance of being as helpful as I believe is right, in an odd tangle of circumstances.  By and large, I don't mind.

Tying in with your thread on the challenges of being a composer:  if my own situation is imperfect, nonetheless I have a sense of gratitude for much positive reinforcement that even my imperfect situation yields me, for I know there are many composers who get less blood from their respective stones.  In a broad sense, I wonder if your own situation is not a little like Schoenberg's, Cato, in that what your musical impulses drive you to create finds no resonance (and some hostility) in your environment.

In comparison to Schoenberg, Stravinsky's situation seems perfect (premieres in Paris, a composer in Dyagilev's 'stable');  yet the lesson from reading Stephen Walsh's excellent account of Stravinsky's career, is that even in that celebrated hey-day, Stravinsky's situation had its share of imperfections.  Even the greatest of us, it seems, doesn't really have it 'made in the shade' to the degree that it may appear to our removed optics.

Cato

#204
Yes, a delicate situation, when the person whose help you need is not on the same level of competence!

It sounds like most of the school administrators I have dealt with in my career, where the general rule is that they are mainly failed teachers who could not pass the grocery-bagging test down at Kroger's!

And at least gaining renown in Boston is a start for greater things!   0:)  Let's hope Denver will be added soon!
"Meet Miss Ruth Sherwood, from Columbus, Ohio, the Middle of the Universe!"

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

karlhenning

And this week, the question is: Will Nuhro, or will it not?

karlhenning


karlhenning

Why compose? Well, sometimes, your fellow musicians might like what you write.

The President of the New England chapter of the American Composers Forum just called to say that the chamber ensemble Brave New Works has accepted my quartet (fl/cl/hp/pf) Radiant Maples for their reading on the 15th.

greg

that's cool, how'd you get that arranged?

locrian

Quote from: karlhenning on November 08, 2007, 11:56:14 AM
Why compose? Well, sometimes, your fellow musicians might like what you write.

The President of the New England chapter of the American Composers Forum just called to say that the chamber ensemble Brave New Works has accepted my quartet (fl/cl/hp/pf) Radiant Maples for their reading on the 15th.

Congratulations!

Cato

Yay Team!

When the band breaks,
The crescendo will rock!
"Meet Miss Ruth Sherwood, from Columbus, Ohio, the Middle of the Universe!"

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

BachQ

Quote from: G...R...E...G... on November 08, 2007, 01:50:06 PM
that's cool, how'd you get that arranged?

His agent hired an arranger .........

karlhenning

Quote from: G...R...E...G... on November 08, 2007, 01:50:06 PM
that's cool, how'd you get that arranged?

I submitted a blind score, and other people did the rest.

(a) There was a call for scores(b) I saw right away that Radiant Maples, a piece for whose premiere I have always been keen to find some occasion, fit within the instrumentation;  (c) I sent the score;  (d) they liked it.

(a) and (d) were dumb-luck breaks which happened to fall my way;  (b) and (c) were readiness on my part.

BachQ

Quote from: karlhenning on November 09, 2007, 04:22:03 AM
I submitted a blind score, and other people did the rest.

(a) There was a call for scores(b) I saw right away that Radiant Maples, a piece for whose premiere I have always been keen to find some occasion, fit within the instrumentation;  (c) I sent the score;  (d) they liked it.

(a) and (d) were dumb-luck breaks which happened to fall my way;  (b) and (c) were readiness on my part.

(e) they notified you of their fondness for and acceptance of the score .........

karlhenning

(f) Now I've got to think details for the harp pedaling, and page-turns for the harpist . . . .

karlhenning

This week's Cathedral newsletter includes the following advisory (not composed by, erm, the composer, nota bene):

QuoteKarl Henning's Nuhro (Hymn of Light) will open the 10 am service early. Come ten minutes before the hour to enjoy this sacred offering. Listen, reflect—hear the glory!

karlhenning

All right, now to extract and spiff up some parts . . . .

BachQ

Quote from: karlhenning on November 10, 2007, 09:03:02 AM
All right, now to extract and spiff up some parts . . . .

(g) Extracting and spiffing up ........

karlhenning

Nuhro went very well indeed this morning;  the choir did me proud.

The bad news is, Ed did not restore the mics in the loft;  so my strong suspicion is that the document will not meet QC standards.

Bogey

Quote from: karlhenning on October 30, 2007, 02:46:32 PM
Tapestry will perform Castelo dos Anjos as part of their "In the Company of Angels" program at 7:30pm, December 1st at Denver's Newman Center for the Performing Arts.

Just caught this Karl....I will see if I can make it.
There will never be another era like the Golden Age of Hollywood.  We didn't know how to blow up buildings then so we had no choice but to tell great stories with great characters.-Ben Mankiewicz