Stravinsky and Money

No, these are actually two separate topics, combined into one post. First, Michael Monroe has spent his summer well, creating Mr. Stravinsky's Random Accent Generator. Click through to see what and why (though the later question might well be WHY?!!!!)

Second, another article appeared in today's IndyStar about the Venzago/ISO stir. According to Venzago's manager, the issue was money. The ISO administration wanted Venzago to take a 50% cut in salary for this year, and to go with a podium fee payment system for 2010-11 instead of a standard salary. According to Drew McManus' compensation reports, Mario Venzago made $395,764 last year, with the base musician salary at $72,800. CEO Simon Crookall earned $256,823. I don't know if Simon will take a salary cut this year, I would certainly expect it as a good moral booster. Another part of the newspaper article mentions that the ISO had a budget shortfall of $293,000, and they laid off eight front office staff this year.
Update: I missed the little arrows in Drew's charts which show that Mario had a raise this last year, and Simon did indeed get a salary cut. I don't have a subscription to Drew's site to see how much the cut was. Mario's 2006-7 salary was reported in the newspaper as $388,695, so it looks like he got about $5000 raises each year.

But what is his Page Rank?

Thanks to my students reading music blogs that I don't read, and posting them on Facebook, I found out that Google is celebrating Igor Stravinsky's Birthday today, with some funky Google art:

FriPod: Earth

Early this morning my bed started shaking, and not in a good way. Apparently I can blame the Earth for my disturbed sleep. Perhaps it is reminding us about Earth Day.

1. "Dances of the Ancient Earth" from Ancient Voices of Children by George Crumb, performed by Jan DeGaetani, Machael Dash, Contemporary Chamber Ensemble.

2. "For Behold Darkness Shall Cover The Earth" from the Messiah by George Handel, performed by Samuel Ramey and the Toronto Symphony, Andrew Davis conductor.

3. Das Lied von der Erde by Gustav Mahler, performed by Christa Ludwig, Fritz Wunderlich, Otto Klemperer, Philharmonia and New Philharmonia Orchestras.

4. "On Earth as it is in Heaven" by Ennio Morricone from The Mission soundtrack.

5. "Heaven's Here on Earth" by Tracy Chapman on New Beginnings.

6. "The Good Earth" by N. Hefti, performed by Woody Herman on The Thundering Herds 1945-1947.

7. "L'adoration de La Terre" from Le Sacre Du Printemps by Igor Stravinsky, performed by (a) Igor Stravinsky conducting some French ensemble, (b) Charles Dutoit and the Montreal Symphony Orchestra.

8. "A la terre" from Chateau de l'ame by Kaija Saariaho, performed by the Finnish Radio Symphony Orchestra; Members of the Finnish Radio Chamber Choir; Esa-Pekka Salonen, Conductor; Dawn Upshaw, soprano.

9. "Day 1 - Recit & Chorus: Im Anfange schuf Gott Himmel und Erde / Und der Geist Gottes schwebte auf der Fläche der Wasser" from The Creation by Franz Joseph Haydn, performed by John Eliot Gardiner with The Monteverdi Chorus and The English Baroque Soloists.

10. "Day 3 - Recit: Und Gott sprach: Es bringe die Erde Gras hervor" from The Creation.

11. "Day 6 - Und Gott sprach: Es bringe die Erde hervor lebende Geschöpfe" from The Creation.

12. "Day 6 - Gleich öffnet sich der Erde Schoss" from The Creation.

13. "Choral/Recitativo (Soprano, Basso): Er ist auf Erden kommen arm" from the Christmas Oratorio by J.S. Bach, performed by Concentus Musicus Wien, Nikolaus Harnoncourt, Wiener Sängerknaben & Hans Gillesberger.

Grading update

I now have all final exams graded. However, I'm still wading through final composition projects. I did manage to get my driver's license renewed today, only one month late. I found out it had expired when I flew out to Baltimore for the SMT conference. This gave me the charming opportunity to be marked for extra security checks on each flight to and from the conference.

Right now I'm watching a DVD of the Glyndenbourne Opera performing Stravinsky's Rake's Progress, thanks to Netflix. Anne is somewhat unclear in her diction, and Tom mugs directly to the camera, but the sets are interesting with their evocation of Victorian sketches, and the music has some beautiful moments, like "Never, Never."

SatPod: Snow and Wind

We got hit by a snow storm yesterday and today, including blizzard winds.

1. "Snow Dreams" by Joan Tower, performed by Carol Wincenc and Sharon Isbin. A very cold duet for flute and guitar.
2. "Dance of the Tumblers" from The Snow Maiden by Nicolai Rimsky-Korsakov, performed by Leonard Bernstein and the New York Philharmonic.
3. Dance Movements by David Snow, performed by the American Brass Quintet.
4. "Blowin' in the wind" by Bob Dylan, performed by Peter, Paul and Mary.
5. Gone With the Wind soundtrack, by Max Steiner.
6. "Gone With 'What' Wind" by Benny Goodman and Count Basie, performed by the Benny Goodman Sextet on Charlie Christian: Genius of Electric Guitar.
7. Concerto for 7 Wind Instruments by Frank Martin, performed by Richard Kapp and the Philharmonia Virtuosi.
8. Music for Eighteen Winds by John Harbison, performed by the Lawrence University Wind Ensemble.
9. Partita for Wind Quintet by Irving Fine, performed by the Dorian Quintet.
10. Quintet for Woodwinds by Jean Francaix, performed by the Dorian Quintet.
11. Scherzo for Woodwind Quintet by Eugene Bozza, performed by the Dorian Quintet.
12. SextourSextuor for Piano and Woodwind Quintet by Francis Poulenc, performed by the Dorian Quintet.
13. Symphonies of Wind Instruments by Igor Stravinsky, performed by Charles Dutoit and the Montreal Symphony Orchestra.
14. Summer Music for Woodwind Quartet by Samuel Barber, performed by the New York Philomusica Chamber Ensemble.
15. Symphony for Winds by Donald Erb, performed by the Lawrence University Wind Ensemble.
16. Variations for Wind Band by Ralph Vaughan Williams, performed by the Eastman Wind Ensemble.
17. Im Sommerwind by Anton Webern, performed by Christoph von Dohnányi and the Cleveland Symphony Orchestra.
18. "The Wind" by Russ Freeman, performed by Chet Baker on Chet Baker With Strings.
19. "Wind-Up" by Ian Anderson, performed by Jethro Tull on Aqualung.

WedPod: Halloween

Special Halloween edition of FriPod (the kids were a witch and a pirate, had a great time trick-or-treating). Go back and read the witch's Halloween story again. For this playlist I skipped the Dies Irae's and Funeral music that others have included, sticking with monsters.

1) "In the Devil's Snare and the Flying Keys" by John Williams on the Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone soundtrack.

2) "The Devil's Dance" and "The Devil's Triumphant March" from L'Histoire du Soldat by Stravinsky, performed by Gerard Schwarz and the Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra. Amazon MP3, Amazon MP3.

3) "The Magic of Halloween" by John Williams on the E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial soundtrack.

4) The Noon Witch by Antonin Dvorak, performed by Seiji Ozawa and the Wiener Philharmoniker.

5) "The Witch, Baba Yaga" from Fairy Tale Characters by Oleg Oblov, performed by the Aries Brass Quintet.

6) "Zombie" by the Cranberries on No Need to Argue. Amazon MP3.

7) "Ghost Dance" from Ancient Voices of Children by George Crumb, performed by Jan DeGaetani, Machael Dash, the Contemporary Chamber Ensemble. Amazon MP3.

8) "(I don't stand a) Ghost of a Chance" by Victor Young, performed by Clifford Brown on Jazz 'Round Midnight.

9) Triskelion (Andante (with a ghostly quality)) by Bruce Adolphe, performed by the American Brass Quintet. Amazon MP3.

10) "The Superstitious Ghost" by Fred Himebaugh.

11) The Six Realms (1999-2000) For Amplified Cello And Orchestra: 3. The Hungry Ghost Realm, by Peter Lieberson, performed by Michaela Fukacova, Odense Symphony Orchestra, Justin Brown.