Henning's Headquarters

[karlhenning]

Great story!  Safe-as-milk, as a musical virtue, is overrated.

First thing this morning, I got e-mail from the pianist for the 21 June concert, Eric Mazonson.  I had sent him the best-yet draught of the sextet arrangement of Scene vii of White Nights.  "When are we doing this?" he queried.

"On the 21^st, please," I replied.

"When are we going to rehearse it?" Immediate practicality to that question. One of the things I like about Eric.

"When we may," replied The Zen Composer.

Later this morning we rehearsed Mirage and Night of the Weeping Crocodiles with violinist Alexey Shabolin.  Good rehearsal, and our next rehearsal we should have everything in fine shape.  I suppose Eric must have looked at the sextet, for he agreed that we should have no great difficulty putting it together the day of the concert (which is, after all, the only time all six of us will be in the same place this month).

[Elgarian]

Safe-as-milk, as a musical virtue, is overrated.

Hang on a minute (he said, while swallowing a sword, taming three lions, and walking along a tightrope over a vast chasm while shakily raising a glass of white liquid to his lips): 'You're saying ... milk is safe?'

[greg]

It better be. I drink a half a gallon a day...

[Scarpia]

Great story!  Safe-as-milk, as a musical virtue, is overrated.

I was poking around to see if I could confirm my memory of this anecdote.  I came up with this, on the Wikipedia page for Ravel's Bolero

On May 4, 1930, Toscanini performed the work with the New York Philharmonic at the Paris Opéra as part of that orchestra's European tour. Toscanini's tempo was significantly faster than Ravel preferred, and Ravel signaled his disapproval by refusing to respond to Toscanini's gesture during the audience ovation.  An exchange took place between the two men backstage after the concert. According to one account Ravel said "It's too fast", to which Toscanini responded "It's the only way to save the work".  According to another report Ravel said "That's not my tempo". Toscanini replied "When I play it at your tempo, it is not effective", to which Ravel retorted "Then do not play it".

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bol%C3%A9ro

Exactly what was said is a matter of hearsay, but the language in my recollection is the most colorful, I think.  (In any case, the remarks were presumably in French anyway.)

[karlhenning]

Hang on a minute (he said, while swallowing a sword, taming three lions, and walking along a tightrope over a vast chasm while shakily raising a glass of white liquid to his lips): 'You're saying ... milk is safe?'

It will certainly douse that flaming sword tidily.

An interesting (I think) footnote to proposals to emend the Alleluia in D . . . fellow composer Nigel Harvey sent me a nice note via e-mail, and in classic English deadpan remarked: "No, I think it would take quite some exposure before anyone would cringe on hearing repetitions of Alleluia in D, Karl."

(This was in ignorance of the present thread, of course;  the remark of mine to which Nigel is responding was: You've read some of my scores, so you know that my work spans something of a range. In many ways, I think the greatest challenge is to make music which is both simple, and built to last. I don't know if I have quite achieved the latter with the Alleluia in D, but at least I do not yet cringe upon hearing it, time and again.)

[karlhenning]

Monday, 21 June 2010, 7:30pm

VOLCANIC AIRBORNE EVENT

The k a rl h e nn i ng Ensemble
& Special Guests in Concert

Nicole Chamberlain, flute
Brian Chamberlain, guitar
Alexey Shabalin, violin
Paul Cienniwa, harpsichord
Eric Mazonson, piano
Karl Henning, clarinet

First Congregational Church
322 Main Street, Woburn, MA  01801

Nicole Chamberlain, Toxicodendron (fl/cl/gtr) – première
N. Chamberlain, Maraschino (fl/cl) – première
Karl Henning, three for two, Opus 97 (fl/cl)
N. Chamberlain, Smörgåsbord (fl solo)
Brian Chamberlain, Chasing the Storm – III. The Storm (gtr solo)
B. Chamberlain, Lost Hollow Road – II. Reflections (fl/gtr)
Henning, Mirage, Opus 79 (cl/vn/pf)
Henning, Night of the Weeping Crocodiles, Opus 16 (cl/vn/pf)
Henning, Lunar Glare, Opus 98 (cl/hpschd)
Henning, Lutosławski's Lullaby, Opus 25 (pf solo)
Henning, Gaze Transfixt, Opus 23 (pf solo) – première
Henning, Nastenka's Story, Opus 75 № 10, Scene vii from the ballet White Nights, (sextet) – première

Free-will donation: All proceeds to benefit the Building Fund

[Cato]

"The k a rl h e nn i ng Ensemble
& Special Guests in Concert

Nicole Chamberlain, flute
Brian Chamberlain, guitar
Alexey Shabalin, violin
Paul Cienniwa, harpsichord
Eric Mazonson, piano
Karl Henning, clarinet"

That should sound like a group that NAXOS needs to sign, along with their composer.   

[greg]

*proceeds to track down this "Brian Chamberlain" fellow, take his guitar, and smash him over the head with it

"The k a rl h e nn i ng Ensemble
& Special Guests in Concert

Nicole Chamberlain, flute
Brian Chamberlain Greg Cook, guitar
Alexey Shabalin, violin
Paul Cienniwa, harpsichord
Eric Mazonson, piano
Karl Henning, clarinet"

Ah, that's better... and yes, we record for Naxos. 

[karlhenning]

Notes on the program.

[Saul]

Monday, 21 June 2010, 7:30pm

VOLCANIC AIRBORNE EVENT

The k a rl h e nn i ng Ensemble
& Special Guests in Concert

Nicole Chamberlain, flute
Brian Chamberlain, guitar
Alexey Shabalin, violin
Paul Cienniwa, harpsichord
Eric Mazonson, piano
Karl Henning, clarinet

First Congregational Church
322 Main Street, Woburn, MA  01801

Nicole Chamberlain, Toxicodendron (fl/cl/gtr) – première
N. Chamberlain, Maraschino (fl/cl) – première
Karl Henning, three for two, Opus 97 (fl/cl)
N. Chamberlain, Smörgåsbord (fl solo)
Brian Chamberlain, Chasing the Storm – III. The Storm (gtr solo)
B. Chamberlain, Lost Hollow Road – II. Reflections (fl/gtr)
Henning, Mirage, Opus 79 (cl/vn/pf)
Henning, Night of the Weeping Crocodiles, Opus 16 (cl/vn/pf)
Henning, Lunar Glare, Opus 98 (cl/hpschd)
Henning, Lutosławski's Lullaby, Opus 25 (pf solo)
Henning, Gaze Transfixt, Opus 23 (pf solo) – première
Henning, Nastenka's Story, Opus 75 № 10, Scene vii from the ballet White Nights, (sextet) – première

Free-will donation: All proceeds to benefit the Building Fund

Karl, are you performing anywhere outside the church perhaps in a more mainstream setting like a concert hall, or something?

For example, can someone hear your music in Carnegie Hall?

[karlhenning]

This performance is "outside the church";  it is a concert, not a part of any service.

To my knowledge, none of my music is to be performed at Carnegie Hall this season.

[Scarpia]

For example, can someone hear your music in Carnegie Hall?

Maybe you can perform some Henning at your next Carnegie Hall recital!   

[Saul]

Maybe you can perform some Henning at your next Carnegie Hall recital!   

I have never been inside Carnegie Hall 

[karlhenning]

Artwork by Maria Bablyak

[Luke]

Very nice, Karl! And, as an aside, so good to see the words 'The karlhenning Ensemble' in print! (what is it with the lower-casing and the idiosyncratic spacing, Mr H?)

Been following, btw, even if not contributing. Haven't been around much, as you might have noticed. It's been all go over here at the Headquarters, though, and it all makes for very exciting reading!

[karlhenning]

(what is it with the lower-casing and the idiosyncratic spacing, Mr H?)

Whim!  It gets mixed reactions . . . .

[karlhenning]

Lunar Glare, and the sextet version of the scene from White Nights

[Luke]

Lovely photos, Karl. Nice to be able to imagine these things from across the Atlantic...

[karlhenning]

Shauna was there to make (what I am sure will be) a fine audio recording of the event. And there is video, which the m.d. of the church is threatening to have shown on a local cable station.

[bhodges]

Yes, congrats, Karl!  Nice photos--definitely brings the event to life for those of us who couldn't be there. 

And hey, Karl + Cable TV sounds like a good idea!

--Bruce