Category: music

A team of scientists worked on it. “Answering the musician’s simple question turned into a seven-year project in which the team examined the acoustic dynamics of stringed instruments through time, from the oud, lute, and medieval fiddles to the guitar and ultimately the violin — a period spanning from the 10th century to the 18th century.”

“If the chart is to be a true barometer of what music is most popular in the UK, it can no longer look solely at purchases – it must also take into account individual listens. Downloads were fully integrated into the singles chart in 2007, but that part of the market has started to plateau while streaming has surged forward. At the start of 2014, the OCC was tracking an average of 192m streams per week; at the start of this year, that had jumped to 360m per week.”

“No one is doubting that ENO is capable of extraordinary artistic work, but we have serious concerns about their governance and business model and we expect them to improve or they could face the removal of our funding.”

“[Bass clarinetist David] Howard, 59, practices yoga to strengthen his lungs. Timpanist Joseph Pereira stretches damp calfskins across drums and fashions mallets out of wine corks and felt. Thomas Hooten … runs trumpet scales late into the night. And Christopher Hanulik, who calls his 25-pound bass ‘the beast,’ guards against strained ligaments and tendinitis: ‘I’ve got to be nimble, my muscles quick.'”

A native of Québec, Marie-Hélène Bernard has been executive director and CEO of Boston’s early-music Handel and Haydn Society since 2007. Earlier, she worked for the Philadelphia Orchestra, the Cleveland Orchestra and the Canton (Ohio) Symphony Orchestra.

“The income data sourced from the 2011 US Census corresponds to the number of instruments playing, from 3 to 30, and the strength of their sound. For example, the blaring 1:37 mark represents the median income of $205,192 between Park Place and Chambers Street in the Financial District, while the most subdued movement of the song at 3:53 is between East 180th Street and Bronx Park East, an area with a median income of $13,750.”

The move to expand the contest outside Europe prompted bemusement, confusion and pride Down Under. An article on The Conversation website said Australia’s inclusion in Eurovision’s “unabashed and joyous celebration of musical kitsch can be seen as recognition of our growing national maturity and connectedness”.

“Yes, he’s a tenor, and what he does is vocal performance, and it’s strikingly compelling. But classical singers produce sound in a certain way, with a certain kind of vocal support and certain accepted wisdoms about sound and line and diction. Bostridge, by contrast, comes at singing from entirely his own direction and arrives at his own unique conclusions and results.”

“The Senegalese filmmaker … effectively created an African film industry out of nothing: … French colonial authorities had made it illegal for Africans to make films of their own, so countries like Senegal had no film equipment, no professional actors, and no funding.”