Saint-Germain-Des-Pres

saN-zhermaN´-dA-prA, for those wondering (like me) on how to pronounce this area of Paris.

Some good info on the area can be found here.

A nice synopisis of the area would point out that it's considered the Latin Quarter in Paris and is famous for it's artistic associations and bohemian life-style. Tourists seem to love it for its cafe's and it's also known for being one of the centers of existentialism.

There's a cool video of the area which you can find here and here. Check it out to get an idea of the look of this interesting area of Paris.

Plenty more pics of you want to Google search them as well. Take some time and find out more about this great little area in Paris that inspired such great music!

Oh, and I've also put a link to some information on Martin Ellerby in the Links section over there on the right.

More to come on such great topics as Impressionism! Keep checking in.

The Wisdom of Tip-A-Cow

Okay, so our own Jenny Locke has posted something awesome. So much so that I'm going to post it here and then elaborate on it a bit.

Here's what she said regarding our poetry exercise over the weekend:

"It did feel kind of weird doing this at first, but then it got a little more natural."

First, I love it because it's honest and real.

Yet, the reason I bring this up is that it describes how many of us feel in the process of becoming expressive artists. I'm less concerned with you guys getting used to reading poetry aloud (you can join forensics for that) but more in the idea of becoming comfortable with musical expression. This idea of expressing emotion through your instrument is new and risky for most of us. But if you stick with it and keep at it you will find, like Jenny, that it gets better and more comfortable. I like that she used the word "natural". Like it gets to be a comfortable part of you. When you let your creative self have some room to play, it's always a good thing.

Trust me. The personal rewards of this kind of dedication to artistic expression pay out in a huge way.

Keep going, no matter how uncomfortable or odd you may feel in the process. Those feelings mean your exploring new territory and you're doing good work!

Performance Quotes....

Here are the quotes from yesterdays rehearsal. I figured it would be a nice idea to post them here in case we feel the need to revisit them.


“Risk is a crucial element of communication through music. Just as truly creative musicians must be willing to be open, to examine their inner life, to throw aside familiar comforts and plunge into the unknown, so they must take risks during performance.”

“If there is to be communication with the listener, the musician's doors leading inward must stay open. Through this opening, the listener is invited into the reality of the musician. This involves risk for the performer. The inner world of the musician, the creative fount, is personal and sacred.“

“In a performance setting, there can be no monologues. Every note, every breath, each moment sends messages between musician and listener. To ignore this two-way flow of feeling and meaning is to relinquish artistry for ego-gratification.”

-Bela Bartok

“A musician just has to learn for himself, just by playing and listening. There is no one who can write down the feeling you have to have. That's from inside yourself. The music has to let you be, you've got to stay free inside it.”

“An abundance of technique should not be a means to an end but a way to allow the heart to expand freely.”

“Notation, the writing out of compositions, is primarily an ingenious expedient for catching an inspiration, with the purpose of exploiting it later. But notation is to improvisation as the portrait to the living model. It is up to the interpreter to resolve the rigidity of the signs into the emotion.”

-Pablo Casals

“The written note is like a straightjacket, whereas music, like life itself, is constant movement, continuous spontaneity, free from any restrictions.”

“Your playing must have conviction. It should show the measure of your belief in what you know to be true, to the point where you would stake your life on it. The inner fire must always show through. Play from the inside out; your sound should stem from the conviction of your soul. This is what makes vital music.”

-Philip Toshio Sudo

Weekend Project

Okay, here's the project:

Get a piece of paper and find a spot where it's quiet and you're alone. Unless you want to do this in front of some people in which case, just do it wherever.

Here's your source matieral:

I die of thirst beside the fountain
I'm hot as fire, I'm shaking tooth on tooth
In my own country I'm in a distant land


I want you to say the poem out loud. Yes, out LOUD. The point is to see what kind of inflections, etc. you naturally add to it. Pretty much what we did in class today. So go ahead and find a quiet place and recite it aloud. Make sure you say it with intent. Give it some meaning, no matter how silly you may feel.

Now, copy the poem onto your piece of paper. Say it again, and concentrate on what words you are stressing and where your breaks are. What dynamics are you adding?

Now, write them in. Give the poem some musical notation that describes how you are saying the poem. Keep going until you have described your poetry performance to the best of your abilities.

You'll need to turn this in on Monday, so have it ready!

PS: Be sure to read the comments below in the "On Performance" entry. There are some great thoughts being shared!

....On The Role of the Performer:

One of my favorite composers as of late is Michael Colgrass. He really defines the role of a "modern composer" in the way that he uses jazz and other more modern influences in his writing. We'll be talking a lot more about this gentleman soon but let me start out with a series of quotes regarding the role of the performer:

"When a performer is playing I am listening to everything that the performer is doing. I might find a performer in one performance who is inclined one way and then a month later, another performer is inclined another way and I will go with each according to that performer's nature. They are contributing something. So in other words, to me, a piece of music is not finished when you finish composing it-the composer is not the only creator."

"I think 'what do these performers give me?' I encourage performers to be creative."

"What I ultimately want is emotion....a powerful feeling of emotion in the musicians and I want that to come across to the audience. That is what the audience comes out to hear."

-from an interview with Stephen Clickard for the book "A Composers Insight-Volume 1"


What I find exciting is that we're talking about a piece of music that is living and breathing. Never finished but always being expanded based on the musicians who give it life. That makes the music a more interactive process and not just an exercise in receiving instruction from a conductor. That's music making at the highest level and the kind of music we're after in Wind Ensemble.

More to come. Keep checking in.

Michael Daugherty

Here's a name everyone should become familiar with. He's a relatively recent composer and by recent I mean still alive and has only been composing for about 20 years. My ears are really gravitating to his work these days (and other modern composers in the same generation). You can find all kinds of information about him here and here.

One of the things I find interesting about Daugherty's work is his fascination with popular culture. He writes music based around such pop themes as Jackie O, Desi Arnez, Elvis, UFO's and Superman. In fact, he wrote a whole suite for orchestra called the Metropolis Suite.

I find it interesting that something most "artists" consider with disdain, Daugherty finds inspirational and full of music. I've been thinking about exploring that idea in some fashion and I've already played around with it some in other works I've conducted with Wind Ensembles of the past. "Godzilla Eats Los Vegas" anyone? I'd be interested in what you guys have to say on that idea.

Lucky for us, Daugherty converted two of the movements of the "Metropolis Suite" for bands and I thought I'd share.

Check out Bizarro.

You can find the other movement of the suite on Daugherty's own website. Look here and search under the Symphonic Band heading for "Red Cape Tango". Notice how much he uses the percussion section as it's own color. Not something you find everyday in band compositions.

I also love his work "Niagara Falls" which you can listen to here.

While we may or may not do any of Michael Daugherty's music, it's still a good idea to explore the idea of music being relevant to you guys who live in a world full of pop culture. How do you folks feel about what makes up your culture? Is "band music" able to reach into that world and find some meaning?

Something to think about.

Welcome!

Welcome to the Hudson High School Wind Ensemble page.

I'll be posting various things throughout the year on this page so make sure to check back often. In fact, I'd bookmark it and make it a regular part of your surfing routine.

Many things will be on this page including audio clips and important information about music as it relates to our class and to our musical lives in general.

Looking forward to a great musical year!

Mr. H