Category: music

“While pop musicians and classical composers alike are always going on about computer software, acoustic instruments and the people who play them are a far more cultish affair. They’re still doing things by hand in traditional, sometimes outlandish, sometimes messy ways.”

The music site Guitarati unveiled a unique new way of categorizing music this week: they’re using colored dots to organize dozens of genres and thousands of songs. “To find music that suits your current mood, you first decide which color best represents it. Clicking on the color ostensibly brings up music that fits your state of mind.”

“Composer Andrew Lloyd Webber will be presented with the outstanding achievement prize at the annual Classical Brits awards.” As near as anyone associated with actual classical music can tell, there is no ironic intent.

“Scotland’s national orchestra yesterday admitted it was having to prepare a Plan B’ should the late-running redevelopment work at the Usher Hall in Edinburgh mean the removal of its vital winter season from the venue.” The orchestra has delayed ticket sales for next season until the construction timetable is solidified.

A tiny record store in Devon, England, has received an unexpected donation of more than 4000 LP records, covering “a near-comprehensive record of four decades’ worth of recorded classical music… The music spans the ages, from Mozart and Haydn to Stravinsky and Ligeti.”

The Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra has canceled the premiere of a new work by Dror Feiler after orchestra members said that it was simply too loud to even contemplate performing. “The 20-minute composition starts with the rattle of machine-gun fire and gets louder.”

The international press is aflame with the news that Luciano Pavarotti and his backing orchestra were faking in a performance at the Turin Olympics. “How will history judge him for lip-synching? Luckily, it already has for similar behavior in a 1992 concert in Modena, Italy. It rated a sentence in his New York Times obituary, while others didn’t mention it at all.”

Late last week, a Toronto Symphony violinist stepped onto a streetcar, and as the doors closed, realized that he’d left his violin behind on the street. By the time he managed to get back to the stop, ten minutes later, the instrument, a gift from the musician’s mother, was gone. He’s cruising pawn shops and offering a reward for the violin’s safe return.

At 72, Helmut Lachenmann “is probably the most highly regarded German composer alive… His music seems so grounded in his country’s 20th-century narrative that it’s hard to picture him anywhere else.” These days, though, he’s in residence at Harvard, “and his presence has been quickening the pulse of musical life both on campus and off.”

“David Lang’s The Little Match Girl Passion has been awarded the 2008 Pulitzer Prize in Music. The award, for distinguished musical composition by an American that has had its first performance or recording in the United States during the year, comes with a $10,000 cash prize. In addition, a Special Citation was awarded to Bob Dylan for his profound impact on popular music and American culture.”