I’m pretty sure this is the geekiest music video I will see all year. It’s from a person named Levi McClain, whose YouTube channel has the tag line
Microtonal music theory. Bargain brand musicology essays. Sometimes bass.
He’s worth checking out minimally because he includes audio examples of the various esoteric topics he gets on about. Definitely a mind warp for a “12 tet” audience. (Hint: watch his videos for an explanation.)
Anyway… In this case he’s got a video that combines two of my geeky interests, Star Trek and Music Theory:
Divertimento has another great concert coming up April 25 and 26. The feeling is a little different from the last show. To give you some idea, here’s the poster:
We had another fun concert — the music was hard, but the result was rewarding. We had a great turnout on Saturday.
Now we’ve got to start practicing for the next show. Here’s what we’ll be playing:
Dvorak, The Wild Dove tone poem Op. 110 — I hadn’t heard this one before. It looks mostly ok for the cellos, but definitely has some fast bits.
Chaminade, Concertino for flute and orchestra — This looks particularly challenging for the first flute.
Brahms, Symphony no. 4 — I have played this one with Divertimento before. I remember having to take many shortcuts last time; we’ll see if I can do any better this time around. 🙂
It’s less than two weeks until the next Divertimento Orchestra concert. The program this time is incredible; it’s literally some of the hardest music we’ve ever played. Definitely worth seeing.
I was, in fact, pointed at them by someone from L&M because I had been bemoaning the fact that they no longer had any eurorack modules on display. The person I was chatting with suggested I check out this new store, and wow am I ever glad they did! I also greatly appreciate a vendor that will send you somewhere else when they can’t satisfy your needs. Thanks, L&M!
Cicada Sound has a range of synths and some guitars, etc. but their main focus seems to be eurorack gear, which is something I have been desperately looking for in Ottawa. As you can see from the picture, they have lots of modules set up and wired into workstations with headphones on each, so you can actually figure out what the modules sound like before buying them. Woot!
In the spirit of “putting your money where your mouth is”, I purchased a Cre8Audio NiftyKEYZ modular case+keyboard from them. After some fiddling here’s a picture with it filled with some of my eurorack modules:
I really like this device. I can honestly say that this is the nicest euroack controller I have ever used. It has some things I’d tweak if I had access to the firmware, but really it’s great.
The Divertimento Orchestra in cooperation with the Embassy of the Czech Republic, is proud to present a program of Czech music, this Thursday and Friday (April 20 & 21, 2018) starting at 8PM. The concert venue is:
Woodroffe United Church,
207 Woodroffe Ave.
The program is going to be great:
Smetana — The Moldau
This piece, originally titled “Vltava”, is a beautiful tone painting that charts the course of the Vltava river. It has a very busy and difficult cello part.
Dvořák — Slavonic Dances, Op. 46
These dances are wonderful, exuberant splashes of music. They contain numerous parts that are extremely difficult to play.
Dvořák — Symphony No. 9 “from the New World”
I love this symphony. The oboe part at the start of the second movement is definitely on my “goosebumps” list.
Tickets prices are…
Adults: $20
Students/Seniors: $10
Children 13 and under: FREE
Please come listen to some wonderful music, including my minor contributions from the back of the cello section.
It’s that time again! I’m very pleased to say that I will be playing in the Spring Concert of the Divertimento Orchestra, April 28th and 29th, 2017. We’re playing three pieces:
Halifax Harbour by Elizabeth Raum
As part of the Canada 150 celebration, we will be playing this fun piece (with a great cello part 😉 ) by Canadian composer Elizabeth Raum. Shhhh! Rumour has it that depending on the night, you might see her in the audience.
Tres Danzas Españolas by Enrique Granados
Enrique Granados was born the 27th of July 1867, 150 years ago. The three pieces that we’ll be playing are orchestral arrangements (by J. Lamote de Grignon) of three of the “12 Danzas Españolas” a piano work published in 1890. There’s a strong Spanish feel and some great solo playing (not by me <g>).
Symphony No. 3 in Eb, Op. 97 “Rhenish” by Robert Schumann
This Schumann Symphony is big, deep music, with complexities that you probably don’t hear on the first listen through. It really wasn’t until I’d played the cello part in context that I felt like I understood it. Very cool!
All and all, it should be an excellent show. And given my recent health issues, I’m particularly glad that I’ll be able to participate. By all means, come and give us a listen.
Here’s the poster for the show. Feel free to print this out and post it wherever people might see it. We love playing for a full house!
Not sure how many people downloaded the [HBDI]:four album, but for those that did if you were sharp eyed (eared?) you would have noticed it was missing track 8. I have since rectified this omission and the complete album can be downloaded by clicking on the album title on that page.
The missing track is called “New Dream”:
(If your browser doesn’t support in line audio. Click here to play or download it.)
