Email post

With my new iPhone, I want an easy way to blog with it. This is an
attempt. I'm also attempting a new way of teaching ear training this
year. The students are composing all of the prepared music for sight
singing and dictations. They are also improvising and sight reading
every day. No text book, though I do have solfege books on reserve for
practice sight reading and dictation. The hope is that they become
proficient at musicking. More on that later.

Rip Van Winkle

It's been exactly a month since my last posting. During this time I had a lovely nap, started the school year, enrolled my son in karate, started my daughter in piano lessons, purchased an iPhone, took another nap, remodeled my kitchen, got my puppy partially housebroken, attended countless meetings, knocked on some doors for a presidential candidate, played Mario Kart Wii, played in the DePauw Tigers pep band for the opening football game, started revising my article on phenomenology, ran a 5k, and took one more nap. I feel rested, and ready to blog again.

I'll cheat by pointing out some good musical things others have written about recently(ish):

John Scalzi and his readers discuss good film scores for Science Fiction movies. I don't know if the person who suggested Flash Gordon should be stoned or awarded a MacArthur Genius Grant.

Speaking of MacArthur, congratulations to Alex Ross, Leila Josefowicz, and Miguel Zenon. I expect Alex to next be awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for ending the New Complexity riots.

Dave Munger has written about five music cognition topics during my nap. 1) What aspects of conducting are most important for synchronizing beats? 2) The ability of music to evoke memory. 3) Tone deafness is very rare. Bad singing is not (alas). 4) The higher prevalence of absolute pitch among Asian populations is not related to genetics. 5) Music helps learn new words.

Mind Hacks also has three music-n-psychology posts: 1) songs about anesthesia. 2) a review of a review of Daniel Levitin's latest book. 3) binaural beats and digital drugs.

Peter Sagel runs for some of the same reasons I do. I don't think I'll be able to run my upcoming half marathon in 1:30 though. I'll be ecstatic if I'm around 2 hours.

When would you be?

Chad has spotted a discussion topic that seems ripe for possibility in many fields. It started as a time traveler picking the coolest engineering projects of the 20th century to be involved with, no altering of history allowed. Chad altered the topic to scientific discoveries of the 20th century, though one commenter has broken this rule by invoking Archimedes. So I pose the question this way: what musical performance of the 20th century would you most want to either witness or take part in? Imagine performing in the orchestra for the Rite of Spring premiere in 1913, or being in the crowd at Stalag VIII in 1945 for Messiaen's performance of his Quartet for the End of Time? (Of course, that would mean you were either a Nazi or a POW, so quickly jump in and jump out for that one.) I think one of my wishes would be the Geneva International Music Competition in 1955 when Maurice Andre won and started his international solo career. Or to hear him premiere the Tomasi or Chaynes concerti composed for him.

Start dreaming of your own time travels!

FriPod: Funny

Today was the DePauw Faculty Institute, a meeting of all faculty to greet new teachers, hear about the state of the university, and get in small groups to discuss various issues. In past years this was called Funny Friday, though the administration has been trying to move away from that label. This year's Funny Friday was particularly interesting, as we have a new president for the first time in 23 years.

Last week a colleague turned me on to Mitchell and Webb, a comedy duo from Merry Olde England. Today another colleague (who happens to be British) told me he is good friends with David Mitchell, they went to school together. How cool is that? Here is the skit I quoted today that sparked this revelation.

1. "My Funny Valentine" by Rogers and Hart, performed by Matt Damon on The Talented Mr. Ripley soundtrack.

2. V. Lustig im Tempo und keck im Asdruck from Symphony # 3 in D minor by Gustav Mahler, performed by James Levine and the Chicago Symphony Orchestra. [Merrily in the speed and saucily in the Asdruck]

3. Till Eulenspiegels lustige Streiche Op. 28 by Richard Strauss, performed by Daniel Barenboim; Chicago Symphony Orchestra. [Till Eulenspiegel's Merry Pranks]

4. Divertimento in Bb, K 137 by WA Mozart, performed by the Eder Quartet. [Fun]

5. Divertimento in F, K 138 by Mozart, performed by the Eder Quartet.

6. Divertimento for Horn and Piano by Jean Francaix, performed by Andre Cazalet, Yves Henry.

7. Divertimento for String Orchestra by Béla Bartók, performed by a) St Paul Chamber Orchestra, Hugh Wolff, b) Montreal Symphony Orchestra, Charles Dutoit

The Best of the Rest: 8-19-08

1. The Black Torrent Guard: Impoverished musicology/guitar student Andy talks about the new social network for new music, NetNewMusic, kind of a Facebook for new music geeks.

2. Joshua Nemith's Cincinnati Pianist Blog: Joshua tells us of another online service for musicians, PianoAccompanists.com.

3. Amusicology: "Drew does a post-op on his first solo class."

4. JohninGeorgia: This is a fascinating blog by a musicologist who happens to be in the middle of the Russia-Georgia conflict right now. This particular post ties together the war with an analysis of Orthodox chant.

5. ThoughtLights: Dan muses on how music appreciation textbooks convey value to his students.

Can't even win a dull contest

I've been going back through my bloglines feeds, trying to catch up. In doing so, I read my colleague's post on how dull Greencastle is, officially! Looking at the list of dullest college towns in the Terre Haute article, I see that I have something to lord over Chad Orzel, who is living in #2 Schenectady. Here are the top 20 most dull campus towns, according to the Princeton Review:

Students at the Princeton Review’s “368 Best Colleges” were surveyed on the availability of things to do in the towns where their campuses are located. The lowest 20 towns made the publication’s “More To Do On Campus” list, with No. 1 being the least active. They are:

1. Tuskegee, Ala., (Tuskegee University)

2. Schenectady, N.Y. (Union College)

3. West Point, N.Y. (U.S. Military Academy)

4. Albion, Mich. (Albion College)

5. Newark, N.J. (New Jersey Institute of Technology)

6. Norton, Mass. (Wheaton College)

7. Springfield, Ohio (Wittenberg College)

8. Hempstead, N.Y. (Hofstra University)

9. New London, Conn. (U.S. Coast Guard Academy)

10. Troy, N.Y. (Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute)

11. Beloit, Wis. (Beloit College)

12. Terre Haute (Rose-Hulman)

13. Poughkeepsie, N.Y. (Vassar College)

14. Greencastle (DePauw University)

15. Worcester, Mass. (College of the Holy Cross)

16. Durham, N.C. (Duke University)

17. Socorro, N.M. (New Mexico Institute of Mining and Technology)

18. Worcester, Mass. (Clark University)

19. Hartford, Conn. (Trinity College)

20. South Bend (University of Notre Dame)

So New York is the winner with five dull cities, whereas Indiana has only three. To be honest, I really like living here in Greencastle. I get to walk or bike most places. There are some good restaurants, enough for the few times I go out to eat. Some really nice parks. Arts at the campus, even during the dead summer months. And we are only 45 minutes from Indy, 30 minutes from the movie theaters in Plainfield, one hour from Bloomington, one hour from Lafayette, 45 minutes from Terre Haute, etc. So it is pretty easy to go shopping or get other entertainment. We'll see how I feel when I'm ready to start dating.

SatPod: Higher, Faster, Stronger

Yes, I've been watching the Olympics. Michael Phelps is incredible!

1. "Move On Up a Little Higher" by Brewster/Davis, performed by Mahalia Jackson.
2. "Chorus: Ehre sei Gott in der Höhe" from Christmas Oratorio by J.S. Bach, performed by Nikolaus Harnoncourt and the Concentus Musicus Wien.
3. Concerto for horn (1950), "II. Very Fast", by Paul Hindemith, performed by Dennis Brain.
4. Festal Brass with Blues, "I. Fast" and "III. Fast" by Michael Tippett, performed by The Wallace Collection.
5. "Life in the Fast Lane" by the Eagles on Eagles Greatest Hits Vol. II.
6. "IV. Very Fast, Tempo Di Funk" from Piano Trio by Daniel Schnyder, performed by Zurcher Klaviertrio.
7. "Short Ride in a Fast Machine" by John Adams, performed by a) Edo De Waart and the San Francisco Symphony, b) Simon Rattle and the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra.
8. "2. Very Fast" from Variation Movements by Robert Henderson, performed by Terry Everson and Susan Nowicki.
9. "2. Die Welt wird wieder neu; Phoebus eilt mit schnellen Pferden" from the Wedding Cantata (no. 202) by J.S. Bach, performed by Kathleen Battle with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra and James Levine.
10. "II. Scherzo. Schnelle Vierteln" from Symphony No. 10 by Gustav Mahler, performed by Eliahu Inbal/Radio-Sinfonie-Orchester Frankfurt.
11. "Love is Stronger than Justice (The Munificent Seven)" by Sting on Ten Summoner's Tales.
12. "Chorale - Was Menschenkraft" from St. Mark's Passion by J.S. Bach, performed by The Choir Of Gonville And Caius College, Cambridge.
13. "IV. Mäflig schnell, kraftvoll" from Concert Music for Piano, Brass and Harps, Op. 49 by Paul Hindemith, performed by John Wallace, trumpet, Radoslav Kvapil, piano, The Wallace Collection.
14. "I. Mit kraft" from Trumpet Sonata by Paul Hindemith, performed by Wynton Marsalis.
15. "I. Kraftig; Entschieden" from Symphony No. 3 by Gustav Mahler, performed by James Levine with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra.
16. "III. Scherzo: Kräftig, Nicht Zu Schnell" from Symphony No. 5 by Gustav Mahler, performed by Georg Solti and the Chicago Symphony Orchestra.