These Lovers Play New Music

(kudos if you know what show the title lyrics are from.)

I did some reflecting this morning as I was walking to work, because I loaded some new music on my phone to listen to (new to my phone, old to me) that I had downloaded the previous night. Specifically, Vaughn Williams 'Fantasia on a Theme by Thomas Tallis.' I don't know exactly why, but this is one of my favorite pieces. It's one of those pieces that feels so right, it makes you want to crawl out of yourself and curl up inside it, and beg you to never let it go.

So this made me nostalgic for all the things I got to experience at FSU. My freshman and sophomore years, I lived in a dorm where half of the occupancy was dedicated to music majors (I think the other half was education and/or women's studies majors.) We had everything -- singers, composers, instrumentalists, theorists, teachers. There were classrooms and practice rooms in the dorm, and a piano in the lounge. People gave mini concerts, there. We did theory homework at 3AM, there (what procrastination? me? never!) We practiced quartets for sightreading, we practiced for piano class, (which I managed to never have to take -- yay for nine years of lessons and waiting until after I decided I didn't want to be a performance major...so I guess other people practiced for piano class ;) We honed our craft, and made connections, friendships and partnerships along the way. We were ideally located -- less than five minutes from the library (both regular and music,) concert halls, dance rooms, Pitaria (delicious greek food,) the strip (read: of bars -- holla!) and theatre. We never slept. We had pancakes at midnight on Fridays. We saw movies for free. We had an indoor pool and track at our disposal. Hell, we could be in the circus, if we wanted to.

As much as I was ready to leave by the time 2008 rolled around, I would sometimes give anything to be back there. Back to knowing where everything is. Back to having a whole dorm full of friends.

My friend Christopher and I were talking briefly this morning about a concert we went to, where the they played Rite of Spring by Stravinsky (you know the dinosaur part of the original Fantasia? Yup, that's the piece!) It was the last piece on the program (because it is a performance piece, and an incredibly difficult one, at that.) I believe they played Procession of the Nobles first (if you don't know this piece, you SHOULD! It's one of my favorites. Go listen to it, there, on YouTube. (I apparently just really like Russian composers.)) Then, there was a marimba concerto on the program right before the intermission, played by our fantastic(ly nerdy) percussion professor, Dr. Parks, after which was a short break and then Stravinsky.

We were sitting there with the concert hall full of people, halfway through the third movement of the marimba concerto and the whole hall suddenly goes pitck black. The music fizzles out, as the performers realize they can no longer see, and we all sit there patiently waiting for them to get the power back on. The generators kick in, so there's at least emergency power, but after a good 10 minutes, the stage manager comes out and announces that they'll have to reschedule the performance, because they don't know why the power is out and don't know when it will come back on.

Now, I have to say, that this is all occurring really near to the time when Cloverfield was released (cue scary music.) So we leave the theatre, joking about giant dinosaurs attacking the city. Outside, on the edge of campus, there are no lights on. Anywhere. No streetlights, no building lights. The whole campus is dark. We find out later that the whole southeasten portion of the city is dark, because a small plan crashed into some power lines in the middle of town. Thankfully, no one was hurt (I'm pretty sure even the pilot survived.) And the whole situation made it slightly more acceptable for our concert to be rescheduled. It was one of those nights that remains in my memory, and I think always will.

I had an education at FSU. In many things, being a real person, being a better person, being a friend. The normal, education type stuff. But I cherish my music education the most, I think. I have always been exposed to many different kinds of music, and to build on top of that throughout college -- it was a gift. A gift of Stravinsky, Rimsky-Korsakov, Shosktakovich and other fantastic Russian amd Eastern European composers.

Selected Listening (Instrumental)
1. Scheherazade IV. Festival at Baghdad (Rimsky-Koraskov) The themes in this can be heard throughout all four movements, but they're most prevalent in this one. I think that's why it's my favorite.
2. Procession of the Nobles (Rimsky-Korsakov) Just fun. Only about 2 minutes long.
3. Fantasia on a Theme by Thomas Tallis (Vaughn Williams) Long, but totally worth it. There are so many fantastic musical climaxes in this piece.
4. Pictures at an Exhibition - Promenade Theme (Mussorgsky) Very march-y. The theme itself isn't that long, but it's the "traveling" music between the pieces, so it comes back throughout the whole piece. If you have time, listen to Pictures in its entirety. You'll probably recognize some of the movements ;)
5. Piano Concerto No. 2 Movement II - First Part | Second Part (Rachmaninoff) I can play this! Well, parts of it, on the piano. It's so grandiose. Also, if you've seen Center Stage, you've heard it. And seen Zoe Saldana dance to it.
6. October (Whitacre) Beautiful. If you listen to nothing else on this list, listen to this piece!
7. An American Elegy (Ticheli) Reminds me of the end of Mr. Holland's Opus. Inspirational.
8. Watchmen, Tell Us of the Night (Camphouse) This piece...for some reason I always come back to it. I can never remember what it sounds like, but listening to it is epic.
9. Op. 72 No. 1 - Nocturne in E Minor (Chopin) I love Chopin. This piece is beautiful. In the movie 'The Pianist,' which is also beautiful, and you should see it if you haven't.
10. Peer Gynt Suite - Solveig's Song (Grieg) Probably one of the lesser known movements from this Suite. You probably know the first movement, so go listen to that, too ;)

Selected Listening (Choral)
1. Sleep (Whitacre) As beautiful as October, so listen to it!
2. Sing Me to Heaven (Gawthrop) Our mixed small ensemble got to sing this is high school, and I was forever jealous. It is simply beautiful.
3. Ave Maria (Biebl) Chanticleer is the bomb. And this piece, I got to sing in high school ;)
4. Song for Athene (Taverner) Similar to the Biebl, but much more modal. Very cool, unexpected.
5. I'm Gonna Sing Til the Spirit Moves in My Heart (Hogan) Fun!
6. Bogoroditse Devo (Rachmaninoff) Favorite of all time. Sang this in high school. It's on my Christmas playlist. It's Ave Maria, but in Russian. And by one of my favorite composers.
7. Windham (Read arr. Holmes) This piece is cool. Very American in tradition.
8. Homeland (Stroope) I think this is the (unofficial) British National Anthem. It is an extraoridnary piece.
9. O Magnum Mysterium (Lauridsen) I...can't say anything except beautiful. Lauridsen writes beautiful music. If you like this, listen to his Requiem.
10. Remember (Chatman) Another just beautiful piece that I never got to sing. Le sigh.

Like these? Don't like these? Think I'm crazy for telling you to listen to all this? Let me know!

-C