RAIN (helen’s picks for a rainy afternoon)

Stuck indoors because of the rain? Need something to keep you from going mind-numbingly bored? (Because you are procrastinating your homework that you could be doing right now…) Check out these CDs at the music library!

Some notes from Asia:

Japanese Music for Piano (CD 5177) Rain tree sketch II

Sound of Five Chen Yi (CD 4972) Happy Rain on a Spring Night

This should be a good CD for those of us who really want to think of the last day of February as Spring

Soliloquies New Japanese and Chinese Music for Harpsichord and organ (CD 4852) Rain Dreaming for Harpsichord

For our Musical Theater Lovers:

Fela! Original Broadway cast recording (CD 5286) Rain

Although this isn’t the original Black President, the cast of Fela! Is amazing and definitely worth a listen…or a bus to NYC and a ticket to Broadway

Good ol’ Girls Original Broadway cast recording (CD 5299) Appalachian Rain

New(ish) Music:

Landscape with Figures Vocal Music of Tom Cipullo (CD 5112) Rain

Off the Map Silk Road Ensemble (CD 5468) Rain

Just Spring Arts Songs of John Duke (CD 2411) Bells in the rain, Walking in the rain

This is a double-wammy! Two songs about rain…

Burn Jo Dee Messina (CD 2514) Bring on the rain

Beatles Past Masters (CD 5296) Rain

How could I leave out the Beatles?

So, make a  dash for it! Run over to the music library and grab some CDs to set the mood for the rest of the afternoon!

Can you guess….more new CDs!!!!

We Want Mark Twain/Saxophone Concerto (in memory of Stan Getz)/Portraits for Orchestra (CD 5486)

Francisco Mignone – Fantasias Brasileiras (for piano and orchestra) – Alexandra Mascolo-David, piano with Kalamzaoo Symphony Orchestra conducted by Raymond Harvey (CD 5483)

Gilbert & Sullivan’s Patience – The Ohio Light Opera (CD 5485)

Julius Röntgen – Symphonies 8 & 15 – NDR RadioPhilharmonie conducted by David Porcelijn (CD 5509)

Grainger – “The President’s Own” United States Marine Band directed by Colonel Michael J. Colburn (CD 5482)

Johann Wensel Kalliwoda – Symphonies 2 & 4 – Kölner Akademie Michael Alexander Willens (CD 5510)

Sergey Prokofiev – Peter and the World (CD 5494)

Sergey Ivanovich – Taneyev Symphonies Nos. 2 & 4 – Polish State Philharmonic Orchestra directed by Stephen Gunzenhauser (CD 5493)

Antonio Vivaldi – Bassoon Concertos – Daniel Smith, Bassoon with English Chamber Orchestra directed by Philip Ledger, Volume 1 (CD 5490),  Volume 2 (CD 5491), Volume 4 (CD 5489)

The Music Lover’s Grainger – “The President’s Own” United States Marine Band featuring the Choral Arts Society of Washington (CD 5482)

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart – Complete String Quartets performed by American String Quartet, volume 1 (CD 5500) volume 2 (CD 5501)

Nicholas Maw – Scenes & Arias and Anthony Miller – Roman Spring and Salutatio Angelica (CD 5505)

Lorraine Hunt Lieberson – Schumann: Frauenliebe und -leben, Brahms: 8 Songs Op. 57 with Julius Drake, piano (CD 5504)

Trio Zimmerman – Mozart: Divertimento in E flat major,  Schubert: String Trio in B flat major (CD 5503)

Leonard Bernstein and Orchestre National de France – Frank: Symphonie, Roussel: Symphonie No. 3 (CD 5502)

Julianne Baird – Songs of Mozart with Colin Tilney, fortepiano (CD 5497)

Prague Philharmonia – Dvorak: Sernades, Josef Suk: Meditation Op. 35A (CD 5498)

Britten – The Young Person’s Guide to the Orchestra, Four Sea Interludes and Passicaglia from ‘Peter Grimes’ (CD 5508)

Glinka – Orchestral Works (CD 5507)

Friedrich Witt – Symphony in C major ‘Jena’ and Flute Concerto in G major (CD 5506)

Garrick Ohlsson – Beethoven Sonatas, Vol. 9 (CD 5484)

Ursula Mamlok – Volume 2 (CD 5487)

And if the Song be Worth a Smile – Songs by American composers, Bolcom, Getty, Heggie, Garner, Corigliano, Woolf (CD 5488)

Gounod – Symphonies No. 1 and 2 (CD 5499)

Richard Stoltzman – Reflections (CD 5496)

Ian Bostridge – Great Handel, with Orchestra of The Age of Enlightenment, Harry Bicket (CD 5492)

Arnold Schoenberg – Verklarte Nacht, Chamber Symphony No. 2, Accompaniment to a Cinematographic Scene (CD 5495)

Free this Weekend – Shanghai Quartet and Fugazi film

Two free events down on the Mall this weekend that may be of interest:

On Friday at 7:30pm, the Shanghai Quartet will perform with pipa player Wu Man in the Freer Gallery’s Meyer Auditorium. Free tickets are required.

The quartet performs Lei Liang’s Five Seasons for string quartet with Grammy Award nominee Wu Man on Chinese lute (pipa), as well as Beethoven’s Quartet in D, op. 18, no. 3, and Schumann’s Quartet No. 1, op. 41, no. 1. Also presented in conjunction with Echoes of the Past.

Then on Sunday, the National Gallery of Art will be showing Jem Cohen‘s Fugazi documentary Instrument with a discussion or Q&A with Cohen, Ian McKaye and Guy Picciotto to follow. From the NGA website:

Instrument

February 27 at 5:00PM

East Building Concourse, Auditorium

Director Jem Cohen and musicians Ian MacKaye and Guy Picciotto in person

One of Washington’s most successful bands, Fugazi is the epitome of DIY (Do It Yourself) ethics. Its members are both subjects and collaborators with Cohen on this documentary, part of the 2000 Whitney Biennial and winner of many awards. Incorporating more than 10 years of recordings, Instrument weaves personal and concert footage, observational film, collected sound, and Fugazi’s own original music into an epic portrait of the band, their environment, and the counterculture of the 1980s and ’90s. “I thought of bringing ‘dub’ to documentary—of a project where unadulterated real-time performances, abstract, rough-hewn Super-8 collages and archival artifacts would collide and conjoin in a way that honestly represented musical experience”—Jem Cohen. (1999, digiBeta, 115 minutes)

 

THREE incredible NEW DVDS

The Music Instinct

Science & Song (DVD 161)

This documentary explores the how and why of human’s love of music. Why does music make us feel intense emotions? Why do melodies stick in our heads for days? Why is music so powerful?

Harp Dreams

Inside the USA International Harp Competition (DVD 160)

Harp Dreams follows the story of 31 of the world’s best young harpists, who, in 2007 gathered for 15 days at the Indiana University Jacobs School of Music to compete in the (can you guess) USA International Harp Competition. The documentary is a blind of performance and a behind-the-scene look at the life of musicians during a high-pressure competition.

Playing for Real (DVD 162)

Playing for Real is a documentary that looks at the incredible difficulties of creating a career in playing classical music. The DVD follows Mayuko Kamio, a 14-year-old Japanese violinist, and Adam Neiman, a 22-year-old American pianist – both winners of the Young Concert Artists International Competition - and their managers over the course of a year. If you are an aspiring classical diva this documentary would give an inside view on creating your career.

NEW CDS!!!

As always, the music library has been endowed with a bundle of new CDs. Check them out:

Paul Kletzki – Piano Concerto – Joseph Banowest, piano with the Russian Philharmonic Orchestra conducted by Thomas Sanderling (CD 5460)

The Voice of the Composer – New Music from Bowling Green:

• Volume IV (CD 5454)
• Volume V (CD 5455)

Antonio Vivaldi – Bassoon Concertos – Daniel Smith, basoon (CD 5479)

Bedrich Smetana – Má Vlast (My Country) - Milawukee Symphony Orhcestra (CD 5475)

Mahler, Handel, Peter Lieberson - Lorraine Hunt Lieberson, mezzo-soprano and Roger Vignoles, piano (CD 5480)

Johannes Brahms - Symphony No. 1 and Tragic Overture – Swr Sinfonieorchester Baden-Baden Und Frieburg conducted by Michael Gielen (CD 5481)

Tschaikowsky and Dvorák - String Serenades – Berliner Philharmoniker conducted by Herbert von Karajan (CD 7429)

Greig and Sibelious - Peer Gynt and Holberg Suites – Berliner Philharmoniker conducted by Herbert von Karajan (CD 5477)

Haydn – Symphonies Nos. 88-92 – La Petite Band conducted by Sigiswalk Kuijken (CD 5459)

The Klemperer Legacy - Brahms – Philharmonia Orchestra conducted by Otto Klemperer

• Symphonies Nos. 2 & 3 (CD 5462)
• Symphony No. 1, Tragic Overture & Alto-Rhapsody (CD 5461)

Vittorio Grigolo – The Italian Tenor (CD 5464)

Vivaldi – Concertos Op. 10 – Michala Petri with Moscow Virtuosi conducted by Vladimir Spivakov (CD 5465)

Johann von Herbeck – Symphonie No. 4 & Symphonische Variationen F-Dur – Hamburger Symphoniker conducted by Martin Haselböck (CD 5453)

W.A. Mozart – Complete Church Sonatas – Daniel Chorzempa, organ (CD 5452)

A Prophecy of Peace – The Choral Music of Samuel Adler – Gloria dei Cantores conducted by Elizabeth C. Patterson (CD 5451)

Gilbert & Sullivan – The Gondoliers, Cello Concerto (CD 5457)

Roméo & Juilette – Berlioz & Gardiner (CD 5458)

Benjamin Hoichman, piano – Works by Bach, Berg and Webern (CD 5473)

Kronos Quartet – Henryk Górecki…songs are sung (CD 5474)

William Walton – Symphony No. 1 in B flat & Belshazzar’s Feast – London Philharmonic Orhcestra conducted by Sir Adrian Boult (CD 5466)

Telemann – Concertos - The New York Collegium (CD 5467)

Off the Map – The Silk Road Ensemble (CD 5468)

Modest Mussorgsky – Pictures at an Exhibition – Toronto Symphony Orhcestra conducted by Jukka-Pekka Saraste (CD 5470)

J.S. Bach – Magnificat & Cantata – La Petite Bande conducted by Sigiswalk Kuijken (CD 5471)

Paderewski  – Polish Fantasy for Piano & Symphony in B minor “Polonia” – Pomeranian Philharmonic Symphony Orhcestra of Bydgoszcz conducted by Bohdan Wodiczko (CD 5472)

Nikolai Myaskovsky – Symphony No. 6 – Symphony Orchestra of Russia conducted by Veronika Dudarova and the “Anima” Moscow Chamber Choir directed by Andrei Dragunsky (CD 5478)

Krzysztof Penderecki & Nancy Van de Vate – Janusz Mirynski, violin and Grigori Zhislin, viola with the Polish Radio and Television Symphony Orchestra conducted by Szymon Kawalla (CD 5469)

Borodin – State Symphony Orchestra of Russia conducted by Evgeny Svetlanov

• Symphonies Nos. 1 & 3 (CD 5463)
• Symphony No. 2 (CD 5476)

The Excursions of Mr. Broucek to the Moon and into the 15th Century – Czech Philharmonic Chorus directed by Josef Veselka and the Czech Philharmonic Orhcestra conducted by Frantisek Jilek (CD 5456)

Looking for something fun to do this weekend?

Look no further! Two AMAZING performances are happening right here in Katzen Arts Center

American University Symphony Orchestra: Concerto and Aria Competition

Come watch student musicians preform and compete!!!

Saturday at 7 PM and Sunday at 3 PM

in the Abramson Family Recital Hall

FREE

• 
  

Company: the musical

Come watch people sing, dance and act!!!!

Thursday – Saturday at 8 PM and Saturday at 2 PM

in the Studio Theater

$15 General admission, $10 AU community

MuseScore Music Notation Software Available

As of today the free, cross-platform (Win/Mac/Linux), open source music notation software MuseScore is available on all Music Library lab computers.

MuseScore is a robust, feature-filled alternative to programs like Finale and Sibelius. It aims to be easy to learn and easy to use. They have a series of video tutorials that will get you up and running in just a few minutes. If you have questions along the way, they have a well-organized handbook to guide you through and an active forums section where you can ask other users for help.

To get started, click the desktop icon on our PCs, or choose it from the dock on our Macs. A sample score will appear when you first open the program. You can start a new score by going to File > New. The default paper size is set to A4, which our printers can’t handle, so if you intend to print go to Layout > Page settings, and choose Letter.

And let us know what you think of it, either in person or in the comments. Is it powerful and featured enough to do what you need it to do? Is it too simple? Too complicated? Should we keep it around, or just stick with Finale?

COMPANY opens this weekend

Company: the musical

Come watch people sing, dance and act!!!!

Thursday – Saturday at 8 PM and Saturday at 2 PM

in the Studio Theater

$15 General Admission, $10 AU Community



There will also be performances the following weekend:

Thursday, Feb 17th – Saturday, Feb 19th at 8 PM and Saturday at 2 PM

in the Studio Theater

 

LOTS of new cds!!!!

CDs CDs CDs CDs

Alison Balsom (trumpet) – Italian Concertos – Scottish Ensemble (CD 5415)

Alison Balsom – Caprice - Gothenburg Symphony Orchestra conducted by Edward Gardner (CD 5414)

Once Upon as Mattress – Original London Cast (CD 5413)

String Quartets – Borodin, Smetana – Takács Quartet (CD 5427)

Timothy Andres – Shy and Mighty (CD 5425)

Brahms – Arrangements – Karl Heinz Steffens, clarinet and the Staatsorchester Rheinische Philharmonie conducted by Daniel Raiskin (CD 5440)

El Capitan – John Philip Sousa – The Ohio Light Opera conducted by Steven Byess (CD 5418)

Leoš Jancek – Lachian Dances, The Cunning Little Vixen, Tara Bulba – Brno Philharmonic Orchestra conducted by Jakub Hruša (CD 5431)

Salmon is a Jumpin’ – John Salmon, piano (CD 5420)

Armand Qualliotine – Music for Vibraphone, Marimba & Piano (CD 5419)

The Young Debussy – Darren Chase, tenor and Mark Cogley, piano (CD 5422)

La Mar Amarga – Cindy Cox (CD 5421)

Music by Three – Romantic Repertoire for violin (Jennifer Frautschi), horn (Eric Ruske) and piano (Stephen Prustsman) (CD 5417)

Johanna Sebastian Bach – Trio Sonatas – Camerata Köln (CD 5423)

As steals the morn… – Handel arias & scenes for tenor – Mark Padmore (CD 5424)

Georges Bizet – L’Arlesienne, Op. 23 - Orchestre du Capitole de Toulouse conducted by Michel Plasson (CD 5432)

Ray Chen – Virtuouso - Bach, Franck, Tartini, Wieniawski (CD 5434)

Pablo Casal and Mieczyslaw Horszowski – Beethoven Cello Sonatas (CD 5433)

Manfred-Symphonie – Tschaikowsky – Gürzenich-Orchester Köln conducted by Dmitrij Kitajenko (CD 5438)

Paavo Järvi - Beethoven Symphony No. 9 - The Deutsche Kammer Philharmonie (CD 5437)

Clarinet Concertos – Krommer, Spohr – Sabine Meyer and Julian Bliss, clarinet (CD 5436)

Rachmaninoff – Piano Concerto No. 3 - Arcadi Volodos, piano with Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra conducted by James Levine (CD 5435)

Escaping – Bach, Beethoven, Brahms – Davide Cabassi, piano (CD 5430)

German Folksongs/Deutsche Volkslieder – Johannes Brahms (CD 5429)

Mackenzie – Violin Concerto Pibroch Suite (CD 5428)

The Romantic Violin Concerto – Arensky, Taneyev, BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra (CD 5426)

13 - Mozart, Berg - Ensemble Intercontemporain (CD 5439)

Ewazen, Lebens, Eklund play Ewatzen (CD 5442)

Peter Ilyich Tchaikovsky – Russian National Orchestra conducted by Vladimir Juowski (CD 5443)

American Tone Poems – The Royal Philharmonic Orchestra conducted by Karl Krueger (CD 5444)

The Little Prince (CD 5447)

Anton Bruckner, Symphonie No. 8 – Staatskapelle Dresden conducted by Christian Thielemann (CD 5448)

Die Jahreszeiten/The Season – Joseph Haydn (CD 5449)

Placido Domingo – The Unknown Puccini – Julius Rudel,piano (CD 5445)

Cameron Live! – Cameron Carpenter, organ (CD 5446)

Yuliya Gorenman – Beethoven – The Gorenman Beethoven Project Piano Sonatas Nos. 1, 2, 3 (CD 5441)

Hoogmis – Benoit (CD 5450)

 

DVDs

Who is Harry Nilsson? - a documentary (DVD 159)

Garland Encylopedia of World Music

If you love music, and happen to attend school at American University, then this is definitely an encyclopedia to check out! I know most of us (students and staff) have come to AU because we are “world citizens” and want to be conscious, responsible members of that community.

The Garland Encyclopedia of World Music, first published in 1997, is an incredible resource to learn about…can you guess…music for around the world. The 10-volume set contains over 9,200 pages of information written by over 700 contributors (talk about all inclusive!)

Each volume contains an overview of the region, a survey of its musical heritage, traditions and themes; and a description of specific musical genres, practices, and performances. Articles include detailed photographs that show musicians, musical instrument, and the cultural context of dances, rituals, and ceremonies. Other images include drawings, maps, and musical examples for further study.

The American University Music Library has this set available for AU community members to check out, the set contains:

Volume 1: Africa

Volume 2: South America, Mexico, Central America, and the Caribbean

Volume 3: The United States and Canada

Volume 4: Southeast Asia

Volume 5: South Asia, the Indian subcontinent

Volume 6: The Middle East

Volume 7: East Asia: China, Japan,  and Korea

Volume 8: Europe

Volume 9: Australia and the Pacific Islands

Volume 10: World’s Music: General Perspectives and Reference Tools