Homepage Update - February 2012
JANUARY 23rd 2012 - HAPPY NEW YEAR
個非常快樂的新年和良好的傾聽
It’s the Year of the Dragon So why not listen to Dragon Rhyme by Chen Yi
DRAGON RHYME, MOVEMENT 1 - MYSTERIOUSLY, HARMONIOUSLY
DRAGON RHYME, MOVEMENT 2 - ENERGETICALLY
Played by Butler University Wind Ensemble conducted by Robert Grechesky
A very happy New Year to everyone, especially to those born under the sign of the Year of the Dragon, a symbol of strength, of power, and of good luck. They are apparently: Innovative – Enterprising – Flexible - Self-assured – Brave – Passionate – Conceited – Tactless – Scrutinizing – Unanticipated - Quick-tempered – perhaps the ideal character profile for a conductor.
The Year of the Dragon reminds me to send Very Happy Birthday Greetings to Philip Sparke, 60 years young this year
Specially recommended for this year are his Norfolk Dances, dedicated to Sir Malcolm Arnold, and very much in the vein of the Arnold English Dances, one of my favourite pieces by Philip.
News just in - First performance
“SONAR” by Oliver Waespi
Concerto for Tuba and Winds
The new tuba concerto „SONAR“ by Oliver Waespi receives its first performance in Switzerland this Saturday, 28 January 2012 at 7.30 pm in the famous Salle Blanche of the KKL Lucerne. The project „SONAR“ was kindly supported by the Eduard van Beinum Foundation and the Swiss Arts Council Pro Helvetia.
The work will be performed by Perry Hoogendijk, solo tuba player at the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra Amsterdam, and the Blasorchester Stadtmusik Luzern under the baton of Franz Schaffner. The new concerto will later be included in the solo CD project “Quicksilver” by Perry Hoogendijk.
Further works featured in the concert are the „Fantasy Variations on a Theme by Niccolò Paganini“ by James Barnes as well as the „Queen Symphony“ by Tolga Kashif.
Information about the programme is available here: http://www.stadtmusik-luzern.ch/. Tickets can be booked with the KKL: http://www.kkl-luzern.ch/.
2493 UNIQUE VISITORS IN JANUARY TO DATE
Thank you for browsing; as on the 23rd. January, our statistics are impressive, thanks to my new web developer, Jason Ayres and his predecessor, Jeanettte Murphy. With an average of nearly 200 unique visitors per day, the following are the stats.
| Month | Unique visitors | Number of visits | Pages | Hits | Bandwidth |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jan 25th 2012 | 2493 | 4821 | 11136 | 39962 | 1.82 GB |
My site carries news as usual this month from composers, conductors and publishers as well as my forthcoming concerts this Spring. Please do not hesitate to get in touch with any queries or suggestions.
FROM DISGUSTED OF LEYLAND
Finally, a huge grumble – after thirty years of organisation and commissioning, WASBE and BASBWE have made very little progress in getting wind music accepted by the oligarchs who dicate musical taste and run out radio and festival programmes. I was moved to write an open letter to the Director of BBC Three, which is printed below, together with a “Horse’s Mouth” reaction. If you feel strongly about wind music and its place in the world, write to your local radio station and request pieces, or to your local newspaper and ask for reviews. Frank Battisti eventually persuaded the music critic of the Boston main newspaper to attend his concerts at NEC – it can be done.
Tim Reynish