themelvinator Blog

This week will feature not one, but TWO clips because chances are that I won’t be able to put one up next Friday (will be in Colorado). They both feature an exceptionally gifted up-and-coming trumpet player named Ruben Simeo, from Spain.

In this clip, Ruben is playing a cadenza (pretty much an improvised type solo within a concerto or other piece) with a Flugelhorn.

This clip is from a piece that was written for the 2006 Concours de trompette Maurice Andre competition, by Salvador Chulia Hernandez; the piece is the 3rd movement of the Fantasia Concertante. I think this is significant because he is like 16 years old. He was the youngest in the concerto competition.

Anyway, I will be in Bolder, Colorado next week and probably will not post for a week (in accordance to the unwritten rule of no blogging during spring break, just made that up just now). Also my mother and father will be in town tonight for a few days, that is always exciting!

Until next time…

This might be old news, but I finally heard the re-broadcast of the New York Philharmonic Orchestra’s concert in Pyongyang, North Korea, (2/26/0 on the local classical station last night. This is the largest group of people that have been allowed into North Korea since the end of the Korean War, in 1953. Besides the fact that North Korea is a totalitarian state and disagrees with Western views of democracy, the North Korean’s welcomed the orchestra with open arms.

This I believe is a positive sign of potential political and economic openness between the two countries. Some examples include the Philadelphia Orchestra’s performance in China in 1973 and the Boston Symphony’s performance in the Soviet Union 1956.

The orchestra opened up the concert with both national anthems. They then played “Prelude to Act III from Lohengrin”, composed by Richard Wagner. The next piece, the “Symphony No. 9 from the New World” and the final, “An American in Paris” by George Gershwin. The encores included, “Arirang” a Korean folk song, an overture from Leonard Bernstein’s “Candide” and the all famous (I personally think it is the “all ending” encores that all orchestra have used at one time or another), the 4th movement from the L’Arlesienne, 2nd suite “Farandole”.

I think it is wonderful that music can be used as a medium to relate opposite countries to relate with each other. I don’t know if this would work on resolving peace in North Korea, but it is a start.

In case you want to listen to the concert, here is a link to listen online until March 14th.

Until next time…

I don’t have any ideas about a subject, so I will share one of my iPod playlists. Many people ask me, “Melvin, how do you study so effectively?”. Well, I’ll tell you. One of the ways I have found is to listen to certain music that you can concentrate with (notice that I say with, not on), that keeps you focused at the task at hand. For some, it could be classical, it could be jazz, or for others it could also be garage grunge. I don’t really know if this is by anyway “scientific”, but it works for me.

Here is a specific playlist that I listen to when I study, or when I read textbooks. I also listen to this when I take a nap or just like to listen to quiet music. My playlist is entitled “Quiet Orchestral”…

1.) Gustav Holst “The Planets, Op. 32: II. Venus, the Bringer of Peace”

2.) Anton Dvorak “Symphony No. 9 in E Minor, Op. 95 “From the New World”: II. Largo”

3.) Aaron Copland “Quiet City”

4.) Aram Khachaturian “Selections from “Spartacus”: Adagio of Spartacus and Phrygia”

5.) Ottorino Respighi “Feste Romane: II. Giubileo” [Roman Festivals: II. Giubileo]

6.) Ottorino Respighi “Fontane Di Roma: IV. La fontana di Villa Medici al tramonto” [Fountains of Rome: IV. The Villa Medici Fountain at Sunset]

7.) Ottorino Respighi “Pini Di Roma: II. Pini presso uma catacomba” [Pines of Rome: II. The Pines Near a Catacomb]

8.) Aaron Copland “Appalachian Spring”

9.) Aaron Copland “Rodeo: II. Corral Nocturne”

10.) Gustav Mahler “Symphony No. 1 in D Major “Titan”: I. Langsam. Schleppend”

11.) Gustav Mahler “Symphony No. 4 in G Major: III. Ruheoll (Poco Adagio)”

12.) Gustav Mahler “Symphony No. 4 in G Major: IV. Sehr behaglich”

13.) Gustav Mahler “Symphony No. 5 in C-Sharp Minor: IV. Adagietto. Sehr Langsam”

14.) Gustav Mahler “Symphony No. 7 in E Minor: IV. Nachtmusik II: Andante amoroso”

This whole playlist takes about 3 hours to play through. I encourage anybody that is interested to listen to some of these pieces, all are like I mentioned quiet pieces. All of these pieces are accessible in iTunes as well. (A tip, if you want any of the Mahler symphonies, try and listen to the ones conducted by Michael Tilson Thomas and the San Francisco Orchestra. These are excellent, in my opinion). Also, I encourage anybody to test this theory out, to compile a playlist of your own and see if it works for you.

Until next time…