Henning's Headquarters

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

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karlhenning


Bogey

Two incredible artists under one roof.  I know some have appeared, but would love to see other works by her when possible Karl.
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

karlhenning

Thanks much, Bill!  And I am delighted that you are enjoying Doodles & The Mousetrap.

karlhenning

Just found this on a friend's blog:

Quote from: Russell ShawBeware of people who say that they know nothing about opera — or poetry or painting or whatever other form of artistic expression is in question — but they do know what they like. No doubt they do. But ignorance of the genre itself makes it all too probable that what they happen to like isn't terribly good.

lukeottevanger

Karl, I may not know much about blogging, but I know I like that!


karlhenning

It looks like I got to the end, and not under any duress . . . .

karlhenning

Since only a select fraction even of the membership of GMG visit here, I shall post something without fearing for it being terribly immodest.

A Belgian (IIRC) pianist named Luk Vaes came to Buffalo to study with Yvar Mikhashoff (and how many Europeans came to Buffalo for that purpose, thinking, How bad could Buffalo be? and . . . finding themselves surprised one way or another, I don't like to think).  Luk very gamely permitted me to write him a set of three pieces, Little Towns, Low Countries, which he played very nicely on a recital.  I felt further honored when he also selected one of my pieces to play on his piano jury.

Anyway, in my latest scanning-fest, I ran into the copies of Luk's jury-sheets which he passed on to me, and these were Yvar's comments:

greg

That's cool. I hope he actually kept it in his repertoire.

Cato

Hi Karl!

I just quickly skimmed through the past days, since the Internet is FINALLY working here at school!

Is the Toccata a cousin to the piano piece you showed me?
"Meet Miss Ruth Sherwood, from Columbus, Ohio, the Middle of the Universe!"

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

karlhenning

Yes, composed at roughly the same time, and like it, originally intended for a greatly expanded Little Towns, Low Countries suite.

J.Z. Herrenberg

Quote from: karlhenning on September 22, 2008, 04:55:20 AM
Since only a select fraction even of the membership of GMG visit here, I shall post something without fearing for it being terribly immodest.

Your fearlessness is warranted. Nice commentary!
Music gives a soul to the universe, wings to the mind, flight to the imagination and life to everything. -- Plato

M forever

Quote from: karlhenning on September 22, 2008, 04:55:20 AM
to study with Yvar Mikhashoff

Did you tell Yvar that his name should really be spelled Mikhashov?

lukeottevanger

 >:D 0:)  What on earth could you be referring to?  ;D

karlhenning

Quote from: bhodges on September 22, 2008, 01:24:20 PM
I should add that I've heard the Tenth live at least twice that I can recall, by two conductors who make a very good case for it: Chailly and Rattle.  The latter, especially, makes it sound incredibly modern, really emphasizing its weird sonorities and structure. 

Just saw Karl's post... ;D

--Bruce

I didn't want to derail the Mahler Mania thread (further) with a tangent . . . but this reminded me of a Montreal Thing which a fellow I knew in Buffalo (playing whose music was the only occasion I have had to use sponge baffles in my ears while performing on clarinet) was always raving about, called PoMo CoMo.  From time to time, I try to search it up on the Interweb, but I wonder if (in a curious irony which some might consider delicious) it's already a thing of the past . . . ?

karlhenning

A kind of milestone today.  I must have composed the earliest in the day I have ever composed on a moving vehicle.

lukeottevanger

Congratulations, Karl! Details, please...

karlhenning

Well, not the most exciting of details, I'm sure, though it is kind of you to enquire, Luke.

A trumpeter friend I hadn't heard from in a couple of years is now back in Boston, and no longer part of a quintet;  he asked if I had anything for trumpet solo, but I don't have much.  So he's agreed to have a look if I punch out an unaccompanied trumpet piece.  I probably started this last Wednesday, and I'm doing most of the work on the bus or train either into or out of Boston.  This morning, I was on an unusually early bus (the first on the schedule, actually) . . . so there it is.

There was a fellow chatting a couple of seats behind me, and at first I wondered if that might prove a distraction.  But I got focused surprisingly quickly, reaching that 'state' in which I 'hear' only the piece I'm working on, and not 'outward sounds'.

Wrote up some eleven and two-thirds measures . . . not an enormous patch of music, to be sure.  But, making some slight gains twice a day each day, it is not only that the piece itself makes some definite progress, but my 'grasp' of the piece gets firmer, and the drive to the end actually picks up excellent energy.

Plucked out of the air, really, my working title for the piece is The Angel Who Bears the Flaming Sword.  That would be the angel who bars humanity's return to Eden, and this was a thought at the end of a chain inspired by a documentary on ancient Mesopotamia which is available at the Exhibition Shop at the MFA, now that the Assyrian exhibit has opened.

Just another little illustration of how inspiration can come from anywhere; the trick is being attuned to it, and having one's hands at the ready.

lukeottevanger

Quote from: karlhenning on September 23, 2008, 03:57:06 AM
Well, not the most exciting of details, I'm sure, though it is kind of you to enquire, Luke.

A trumpeter friend I hadn't heard from in a couple of years is now back in Boston, and no longer part of a quintet;  he asked if I had anything for trumpet solo, but I don't have much.  So he's agreed to have a look if I punch out an unaccompanied trumpet piece.  I probably started this last Wednesday, and I'm doing most of the work on the bus or train either into or out of Boston.  This morning, I was on an unusually early bus (the first on the schedule, actually) . . . so there it is.

There was a fellow chatting a couple of seats behind me, and at first I wondered if that might prove a distraction.  But I got focused surprisingly quickly, reaching that 'state' in which I 'hear' only the piece I'm working on, and not 'outward sounds'.

Wrote up some eleven and two-thirds measures . . . not an enormous patch of music, to be sure.  But, making some slight gains twice a day each day, it is not only that the piece itself makes some definite progress, but my 'grasp' of the piece gets firmer, and the drive to the end actually picks up excellent energy.

[wistful sigh]

Quote from: karlhenning on September 23, 2008, 03:57:06 AM
Plucked out of the air, really, my working title for the piece is The Angel Who Bears the Flaming Sword.  That would be the angel who bars humanity's return to Eden, and this was a thought at the end of a chain inspired by a documentary on ancient Mesopotamia which is available at the Exhibition Shop at the MFA, now that the Assyrian exhibit has opened.

Just another little illustration of how inspiration can come from anywhere; the trick is being attuned to it, and having one's hands at the ready.

A great title! I've noticed that you have quite a way with titles in general, though...

karlhenning