Answer to “Music Quiz 04/04/12 – Frederic Chopin’s “Raindrop Prelude”

11th April 2012 By Leave a Comment

The Music Quiz question posed last week was about Chopin’s “Raindrop Prelude”.

Image Copyright to Photobucket (see original post for link)

“Which notes do you think are the “raindrops” that Chopin refers to in the title of this prelude?”

Possible answers were:

a) the treble clef? (i.e. the melody, the higher notes)

b) the bass clef? (i.e. the lower notes)

 THE CORRECT ANSWER IS: 

b) the bass clef (i.e. the lower notes) 

Was that fun?

Did you learn something new?

Want another music quiz question?

Tell me in the comments section! Thanks for playing! 

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Music Quiz 04/04/12 – Frederic Chopin’s “Raindrop Prelude”

4th April 2012 By Leave a Comment

Fredrich Chopin’s Raindrops is a lovely prelude that I’ve been working on, on and off, for many years. My piano teacher asked me a quiz question, so I’m going to put it to you, my readers.

Without looking it up ANYWHERE, not even in the comments of this video (because this is just for fun!)…

Which notes do you think are the “raindrops” that Chopin refers to in the title? 

Choose your answer:

a) the treble clef? (i.e. the melody, the higher notes)

b) the bass clef? (i.e. the lower notes)

Post your answers in the comments section! Good luck!

I’ll post the correct answer next Wednesday, 11 April 2012!

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Thoughts on “The Phantom of the Opera”

15th March 2012 By 5 Comments

Because this music is such an all-consuming joy for me to listen to, this blog post may well continue to be refined and updated for some time to come. Perhaps indefinitely. I hope you enjoy reading along with me as I explore this musical.

Three of my favourite pieces from The Phantom of the Opera (2004) film. Emmy Rossum sings the role of Christine Daae, and Gerard Butler sings the role of the Phantom/Erik.* Jennifer Ellison plays Meg Giry, the first voice we hear in “Angel of Music”.

Angel of Music

Angel of Music/The Mirror

I prefer the original London Cast’s Michael Crawford as the Phantom, but I do prefer Emmy Rossum as Christine in “Angel of Music” and“Wishing You Were Somehow Here Again”. At fifteen, her voice gives a sense of vulnerabilty that Sarah Brightman lacks. Brightman seems focused more on technique, less so on emotion, and the end result is a technically near-flawless performance that doesn’t explore much of the character’s feelings.

I do believe Crawford is better in some songs vocally than Gerard Butler (“The Mirror/Angel of Music”, “The Point of No Return”); the resonance and power of his voice is spellbinding, particularly when we hear him for the second time in the show, as he is calling to his protege:

“Insolent boy, this slave of fashion
Basking in your glory!
Ignorant fool, this brave young suitor
Sharing in my triumph!“

Then, in his next lines, the sheer intensity of his passion for Christine resonates, blows my mind and gives me goosebumps.

“Flattering child, you shall know me
See why in shadow I hide…
Look at your face in the mirror
I am there, inside…” 

Butler, however, I enjoy better visually in “The Point of No Return”, but at the same time I adore the stage PONR for Erik’s physical reactions to Christine during the song: his hands shaking when she entwines her fingers with his, as though he can barely keep a lid on the raw physical lust burning within him. Rossum I prefer for WYWSHA. It really is a mix of emotions for me between those 2 interpretations.**

I really enjoyed the 2004 movie “Final Lair” scene more than the OLC. Emmy Rossum conveys more emotion than perfect technique (she flubbed/wavered on a note during “Think of Me”), whilst Sarah Brightman is more technically exacting, but less emotive. Compared to Rossum, Brightman sounds like a robot. Michael Crawford is far superior to Gerry Butler in terms of vocal talent and presence.

The 2004 did make me cry right at the end when Christine returns the ring (so did the live show), but I really had gotten pulled into the story by then.

Comparison of Two Versions

Here are Crawford and Rossum spliced together, singing “The Point of No Return”. The only problem with this is that they were unable to completely get rid of Sarah Brightman’s voice and replace it with Emmy Rossum’s during the final duet, which is understandable given technological limitations. Other than that, a fine recording!

Butler’s Phantom is, at times, more visceral and sexier, but remember that Leroux’s Phantom is meant to be older, much older than Butler’s portrayal, and in that, the film erred mightily. The stage portrayal of “The Point of No Return” offers a much more understated impression of the emotions the Phantom and Christine are feeling: fear, revulsion, longing, lust, trepidation, fascination. You can see it in the way Christine touches the Phantom’s hands as she stands behind him, and he trembles. In the 2004 film, it seems to be about just a few simple, primitive things…

 

Unfulfilled lust and public groping of a minor!

And let’s not forget Butler’s very obvious erection, when Erik and Christine step up on to the catwalk onstage and Erik whips aside his cloak at 5:06.

Has Lloyd Webber forgotten that the Phantom’s voice is what he was all about, that physical attractiveness was never, ever necessary to draw Christine to him? His ugliness was the point of the story, for God’s sake!!!!! His voice is what drew her to him.

I haven’t studied vocal performance formally, but I’ve been playing the piano since I was five. Therefore, I have a modest knowledge of music. The one thing Andrew Lloyd Webber did correctly for this film was to insist that the actors except for Minnie Driver do their own singing. The rest, I have to complain about:

-the budget was way too small (not enough for two chandeliers, and we all know he has enough money to afford it!)

-he wrote a sequel, god help us, that I will not name. (Though, as of April 2012…I am becoming curious about the upcoming Australian DVD release).

* In the 2004 film, the title character is referred to only as “The Phantom”, never “Erik” (as he is in Leroux, Kay, and various other film versions: Lon Chaney, Sr., Charles Dance, Robert Englund, to name a few). The other film versions I’ve seen would be better served in their own blog post, which I may do at some point.

** I have seen the Las Vegas production twice now, and was greatly impressed by Anthony Crivello’s performance. However, there are aspects of the show that I didn’t like as much. That will likely be another installment in this series of posts, if I can remember what my thoughts were.

Phantom of the Opera Glossary

TOM: “Think of Me”

AOM: “Angel of Music”

WYWSHA: “Wishing You Were Somehow Here Again”

PONR: “The Point of No Return”

And now, for something completely…the same!

 

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“La Boheme”, with a Modern Twist

11th February 2012 By 1 Comment

La Boheme – “Che gelida manina”, “”Si Mi chiamano Mimi” and “O Soave fanciculla”…otherwise known as the scene in “Atonement” where Robbie (James McAvoy) writes the “c-u-n-t” letter, and as he’s writing, he’s playing a record with this music on it.

 

This is a DVD movie adaptation that I tracked down after seeing it on TV, called simply, Boheme, in which the actors sing in English, and the time period is updated to modern day.

Shot entirely on location in South London. Magnificent film, except that Mimi (Mary Lincoln) often sings the notes so high (however correct that may be) that I can’t understand a word she’s saying. Rodolfo is suitably immature, and very good.

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Etta James, “Rain Man” and Internet Meanderings

21st January 2012 By Leave a Comment

It’s funny how things on the Internet meld into each other.

I was talking on Facebook with Fabeku Fatunmise about the late Etta James, which led to a search of the soundtrack for Rain Man (in which she performs “At Last”). This led me to read about the late Kim Peek. That connected me to savants. Then I read about the Suzuki Method.

I was taught violin, using the Suzuki Method, from ages 5-10. Now, I am in no way a savant, but I do think that the Suzuki Method was a really cool way for me to learn violin as a kid. I don’t know whether it contributed to my ability to memorize music, but memorization is a key component of the method. I still memorize music these days when I play the piano, but unlike savants, in most instances, I read it first and then memorize it so that eventually I don’t need the music in order to play a piece. Repeated exposure to songs helps cement it in my brain.

I still have bits and pieces of music in my head that I learned on the violin.

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Video Review: Charlotte Church’s Performance of “Phantom of the Opera” Flops

2nd January 2012 By 2 Comments

I have many problems with Charlotte Church’s performance of “The Phantom of the Opera”.

She is far too young: she was 12 years old when she sang this. (Would you want a 30-year old woman singing the role of young Cosette in “Les Miserables” in the song “Castle on a Cloud!? Of course not!) Christine is supposed to be twenty years old. (Emmy Rossum was fifteen when she starred in the 2004 film with Gerard Butler.)

Then, technique: she starts off singing it much too high. Christine’s first notes are meant to be below middle C, and she’s at least an octave above that.

Emotion: Church’s face reflects none of the emotions appropriate to the character in the song: no mesmerism, seduction, apprehension or fear – just a wide, silly-looking grin.

She has no business performing this song whatsoever! 

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Composition Software and “Doctor Zhivago”

11th November 2011 By Leave a Comment

I’ve been thinking about saving up to buy Sibelius First composition software for some time now, and was looking at the different types of musical notation software out there. I’m only doing this for my own enjoyment, but at the same time I require a fairly high level of technical oomph in the software because I play at a fairly high level of mostly untrained skill (I ditched formal lessons when they tried to nudge/prod/propel me into formally doing Royal Conservatory of Music exercises – borrrrring!!!!), so something middle-range, like Sibelius First would be ideal.

I have a rather annoying tendency to hear music in my head (and it keeps coming back!) that I’d love to be able to play, either from movie scores or musicals, but often, that music isn’t always available in published scores. If I could work stuff out on the piano and the software could transcribe it for me, then that could be printed out, that’d be awesome.

I’ve never been taught composition myself, so it seems to me to be the most expedient way to indulge my hobby (albeit, having played the piano since I was five, you could say it’s more of an obsessional hobby – I have no desire to play professionally, but nor am I am a “Chopsticks” kind of gal, either. My piano is an Essex, which, in case you didn’t know, is about the most economical form of Steinway on the planet – quality of sound and feel without breaking your wallet.).

 

For instance: The Phantom of the Opera overture is not in the same key as the titular song. After searching youtube and wrangling some links around, I found sheet music that a guy had arranged of it. Now, given enough time and the right software, I could have done that myself! I spent a lot of my teenage years searching fruitlessly for the piano score (composed by Paul Williams) for Phantom of the Paradise. I even tried to write to Paul Williams himself, through the publisher of the film CD soundtrack (which, of course, I owned) to ask if there was any chance of getting my hands on a copy of the piano score.  I finally located a used copy on ebay in 2005, after many years of trying to hone my natural ability of playing by ear and slowly driving myself more nuts by having the perfection just beyond my reach. RAAAAAARGH!

Having perfect pitch and hyperacussis is a bitch. For me, hearing people sing off-key is torture.

How about the Main Title (not to be confused with “Lara’s Theme”) of the 1965 David Lean film Doctor Zhivago, starring Omar Sharif and Julie Christie?

The music I’m talking about starts at 0:42 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3X-Q4nmYqc4, and ”Lara’s Theme” begins at 1:56.

There’s the Main Title theme again at 7:25.

Then there’s a really neat bit I can’t figure out…see what I mean? That’s what I live with – this torture. 

(Granted, I can already play most of it, but I’m stuck on all these annoying bits!

In the Special Features that accompany the 30th Anniversary edition DVD, the camera pans tantalizingly over the *actual* score, which is laid out on a table, and shows the “Main Title”. *drools* GIMME!!!!!)

Sooooo…it’s RESEARCH TIME!!! <geekgasm>

This collection of notes is bits from various Wikipedia articles.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/NoteWorthy_Composer

(Noteworthy Composer is the least expensive and simplest version of Sibelius First.)


NoteWorthy Composer (NWC) is a scorewriter application made by NoteWorthy Software
A scorewriter, or music notation program, is software used for creating sheet music.
A scorewriter is to music notation what a word processor is to text.
The Noteworthy Composer program lacks the more advanced engraving, graphic sophistication, playback and publishing capabilities of more expensive scriptwriting software such as Sibelius or Finale. It does, however, allow the rendering of custom key signatures which do not follow the usual circle of fifths order of sharps and flats. It is also much less expensive (US $49) than Sibelius (US $599) and Finale (US $600). A free viewer is available. The otherwise fully functional demo version imposes a limit of 10 saves per file name, adds a small footer to each printed page, and prints a registration form with each printed score. Besides the demo program, a downloadable plug-in for Winamp allows Winamp to play files from NWC.
Sibelius is a scorewriter program, created by Sibelius Software (now part of Avid Technology) for Microsoft Windows, Mac OS, and RISC OS. It is used by composers, arrangers, performers, music publishers, teachers and students, particularly for writing classical, jazz, band, vocal, film and television music. In addition to editing and printing scores, Sibelius can also play music back using high-quality sounds, scan and import printed scores for editing, and publish scores for others to access via the Internet and iPads.

Finale is the flagship program of a series of proprietary scorewriters created by MakeMusic for Microsoft Windows and Mac OS X. Finale is regarded as one of the industry standards for notation software.

MakeMusic also offers several less expensive versions of Finale, with subsets of the main program’s features. These include Finale NotePad, SongWriter, Printmusic, and Allegro, as well as a freeware reader program, Finale Reader, which will play and print Finale files, but does not allow editing or saving.

 

Since I’m not doing this professionally, I don’t want Finale at all, but I’m putting it in this document only for the purposes of comparison since it’s mentioned in the other documents.

 

 

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