I apologize for my tardiness in posting this piece. I hope everyone is enjoying Merry Making as you hopefully are spending time with those you hold dear.
I associate this piece with the pairs Ice Dancing Gold of the 1984 Olympics.
I love the slowness of the tempo, the repetitive/calming of the snare, tympani and brass. The tune is haunting, majestic, and as the tonic modulates I too am transformed.
Saturday, December 24, 2016
Friday, December 9, 2016
Meet the Authors
Nels Anderson:
I am a first year grad student in Chemistry at the University of Illinois. I met Tyler during my undergrad at Northwest Missouri State University and am now his roommate. I played in the percussion section for four years in high school and spent two years as a bass drummer in Northwest's marching band. Additionally, I have experience playing the drum set in several praise bands. The depth of my classical music knowledge springs solely from conversations I have had with Tyler and have done little outside research myself. I don't have a favorite composer because of my limited experience, but I do enjoy listening to pieces in the context in which they were written. I am also a big fan of pieces that have clear stories associated with them (Ex: The Carnival of the Animals or The Planets)
Mike Counihan:
I'm a first-year grad student at UIUC in Materials Chemistry. In undergrad, I played trombone and got a BA in Music (along with BS in Chemistry); I had an incredible aural skills/theory professor so now I love analyzing music aurally. My favorite composer is Brahms, with Shostakovitch being a close second. I also enjoy modern/experimental jazz music.
Berlin Elgin:
I am a second-year grad student in African Studies at the University of Kansas. I did my undergrad at Northwest Missouri State University, where I met Tyler and many of you, but also where I played tuba in various ensembles. I got my tuba cleaned for the first time since buying it (which is truly shameful) this summer, and have enjoyed messing around on it every once in a while. Although I have been away from classical music recently, Josh Garrels has begun occupying a place in my heart.
Amy Haddock:
I am Tyler's mom. Thankfully my parents inspired my love for performing music from day one as they financed my flute lessons, went to my many concerts over the years, sang in the car and other family gatherings, and never wavered in their encouragement. In 1990 I earned a BA in flute performance in 2005 I earned an MSEd in teaching music. Since late October of 2005 I have been teaching music and band to students from K-12th grades. I'm not a big listener of serious music, I really enjoy it when I take the time to listen to classical music but it doesn't come as a natural pull for me. I have been teaching dual credit music appreciation for the last 5 years and thankfully this forces me to know a number of pieces well enough to present them to my HS students. I can't really say that I have a favorite composer but I love Beethoven's 5th Symphony mostly because I am familiar with it and because last year we got to see it performed by the Chicago Symphony and it was everything!
Tyler Haddock:
I am a first-year graduate student in chemistry at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. Through my parents, I grew up in a musical environment and played trombone in various ensembles in college. These days, I play a lot of guitar and piano, which is sufficient to please myself. I became interested in classical music in high school. Trivially, my favorite composer is Beethoven, which has been reinforced many times.
Greg Haddock:
Zachary McCoy:
Ryan Vandivert:
I am a first year grad student in Chemistry at the University of Illinois. I met Tyler during my undergrad at Northwest Missouri State University and am now his roommate. I played in the percussion section for four years in high school and spent two years as a bass drummer in Northwest's marching band. Additionally, I have experience playing the drum set in several praise bands. The depth of my classical music knowledge springs solely from conversations I have had with Tyler and have done little outside research myself. I don't have a favorite composer because of my limited experience, but I do enjoy listening to pieces in the context in which they were written. I am also a big fan of pieces that have clear stories associated with them (Ex: The Carnival of the Animals or The Planets)
Mike Counihan:
I'm a first-year grad student at UIUC in Materials Chemistry. In undergrad, I played trombone and got a BA in Music (along with BS in Chemistry); I had an incredible aural skills/theory professor so now I love analyzing music aurally. My favorite composer is Brahms, with Shostakovitch being a close second. I also enjoy modern/experimental jazz music.
Berlin Elgin:
I am a second-year grad student in African Studies at the University of Kansas. I did my undergrad at Northwest Missouri State University, where I met Tyler and many of you, but also where I played tuba in various ensembles. I got my tuba cleaned for the first time since buying it (which is truly shameful) this summer, and have enjoyed messing around on it every once in a while. Although I have been away from classical music recently, Josh Garrels has begun occupying a place in my heart.
Amy Haddock:
I am Tyler's mom. Thankfully my parents inspired my love for performing music from day one as they financed my flute lessons, went to my many concerts over the years, sang in the car and other family gatherings, and never wavered in their encouragement. In 1990 I earned a BA in flute performance in 2005 I earned an MSEd in teaching music. Since late October of 2005 I have been teaching music and band to students from K-12th grades. I'm not a big listener of serious music, I really enjoy it when I take the time to listen to classical music but it doesn't come as a natural pull for me. I have been teaching dual credit music appreciation for the last 5 years and thankfully this forces me to know a number of pieces well enough to present them to my HS students. I can't really say that I have a favorite composer but I love Beethoven's 5th Symphony mostly because I am familiar with it and because last year we got to see it performed by the Chicago Symphony and it was everything!
Tyler Haddock:
I am a first-year graduate student in chemistry at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. Through my parents, I grew up in a musical environment and played trombone in various ensembles in college. These days, I play a lot of guitar and piano, which is sufficient to please myself. I became interested in classical music in high school. Trivially, my favorite composer is Beethoven, which has been reinforced many times.
Greg Haddock:
Zachary McCoy:
Ryan Vandivert:
Saturday, December 3, 2016
Aram Khachaturian: Gayane Ballet Suite - Adagio (1939)
I first heard this piece as a part of the amazing soundtrack of 2001: A Space Odyssey. It might interest you to watch the scene it was used in the movie. I've never listened to the entirety of Khachaturian's ballet suite, but I'm keeping with only the Adagio as to start our experiment with a short piece.
It sounds to me as if it was composed for the emptiness of outer-space. This might be why James Horner seemingly "copy and pasted" the theme into his score for James Cameron's Aliens. And then again in Patriot Games. And yet again in Clear and Present Danger (theme starts at 16:00).
-Tyler
Welcome and SOP
There is no replacement for face-to-face communication. We will fail here if we try to mimic that.
The goal for me is gain perspectives on music from people I enjoy talking with. You can access just about all the information you want on these pieces, but I've found it's even more instructive to hear what a friend has to say.
The outline of this project is open for discussion. I propose a few things:
- Nobody is forced to participate. For example, we will not rotate through a list of us, prompting for each to decide the next piece of music.
- Given point (1), members can email/contact me with a piece in mind. If this is suitable, I will just edit the schedule in the sidebar.
- I don't know how long each piece should take. I thought a week too short and a month too long, so I propose a tentative two weeks.
- To keep interest levels high, the pieces themselves should be at most 25ish minutes. This means, for example, most symphonies would be done one movement at a time.
-Tyler
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