It is an exciting day as The Hill/Wiltschinsky Guitar Duo have released a new CD!
11 Tracks, and all of them are Soler Sonatas.
As a taster I have put the entire track of, 'Sonata No 43 - Allegro' as the first piece on the player in the side bar.
For previews of all the tracks you can visit: 'Hill/Wiltschinsky Duo Soler Sonatas'
Here is a little about the recording:
Antonio Soler (1729-1783)
Antonio Francisco Javier Jose Soler was born in Olat, Gerona in 1729 and was a celebrated composer and organist. He is frequently compared to Domenico Scarlatti, (particularly as at one point he studied with Scarlatti), but Soler’s keyboard sonatas can often be more varied in form than those of Scarlatti.
His musical career started at an early age, when he entered the choir school at Montserrat in 1736.
By 1750 Soler had become maestro de capilla at Lerida and in 1752 was ordained and joined the Escorial community of Jeronymite monks.
It was at this time that he wrote the, ‘Llave de la modulacion’, (Key to Modulation) in which he showed how to move from any major to minor key within moments, the principles of which are still valid today. However, at the time he was criticised for his modern and daring views.
Soler was a highly inventive and adventurous composer whose music exhibited great optimism and energy.
Like Scarlatti, his music is well-suited to the guitar but, unlike Scarlatti, it is rarely performed or recorded on the instrument.
Hill and Wiltschinsky have arranged all the sonatas on this album to give a small insight into his wonderful music.
Follow the link to hear previews of ‘Hill/Wiltschinsky Duo - Soler Sonatas’ and, as I have said, I have added the whole of ‘Sonata No.43 – Allegro’ to the player in the side bar.
The sheet music for these vibrant works will soon be available for download from the Robin Hill site. I'll keep you posted....
Enjoy.
Showing posts with label MySpace. Show all posts
Showing posts with label MySpace. Show all posts
Wednesday, March 24, 2010
Saturday, July 25, 2009
'Life of a Musician' 3rd Birthday!
Today is the third birthday of 'Life of a Musician'.
I'm amazed how quickly the time has passed and how much as been going on.
Regular readers will know that I haven't posted as much recently, but there is a reason.
Unfortunately I can't yet share it with you!
Suffice to say that a project later this year has been taking up a lot of my time and hence the lack of posts.
But many thanks to you all for being patient, and returning regularly to keep updated.
Here's a reminder of our 1st birthday, 'Happy Birthday to Robin Hill's Classical Guitar Blog', and 2nd birthday, '2 Years of Blogging'.
In the past year a lot has happened and you can scroll down through the archives to catch up with events.
MySpace continues to flourish, Twitter has leaped from 93 followers and 838 updates a year ago, to 421 followers and 3795 updates!
Last year we were at 597 post, and now this will be the 687th post!
We have joined Reverbnation, to reach out to even more people, and new Cd's will be available before too long.
But for now, thank you to all those around the world who regularly drop by, and also to any casual visitors.
I hope to see you all over the next year, as we continue the journey.
Feel free to comment or send me a message if there are any areas you would like me to discuss.
For now though, time to eat cake.
I'm amazed how quickly the time has passed and how much as been going on.
Regular readers will know that I haven't posted as much recently, but there is a reason.
Unfortunately I can't yet share it with you!
Suffice to say that a project later this year has been taking up a lot of my time and hence the lack of posts.
But many thanks to you all for being patient, and returning regularly to keep updated.
Here's a reminder of our 1st birthday, 'Happy Birthday to Robin Hill's Classical Guitar Blog', and 2nd birthday, '2 Years of Blogging'.
In the past year a lot has happened and you can scroll down through the archives to catch up with events.
MySpace continues to flourish, Twitter has leaped from 93 followers and 838 updates a year ago, to 421 followers and 3795 updates!
Last year we were at 597 post, and now this will be the 687th post!
We have joined Reverbnation, to reach out to even more people, and new Cd's will be available before too long.
But for now, thank you to all those around the world who regularly drop by, and also to any casual visitors.
I hope to see you all over the next year, as we continue the journey.
Feel free to comment or send me a message if there are any areas you would like me to discuss.
For now though, time to eat cake.
Friday, January 23, 2009
Vicky Cristina Barcelona - Woody Allen
The film, 'Vicky Cristina Barcelona', which was written and directed by Woody Allen, won a Golden Globe Award in 2008.
Now, Penelope Cruz has been nominated for an Oscar, as best supporting actress.
The film is about two young American women, Vicky (Rebecca Hall) and Cristina (Scarlett Johansson) who spend a summer in Spain, and meet the flamboyant artist, Juan Antonio, (Javier Bardem).
Penelope Cruz plays the beautiful, yet insane, ex-wife of Javier Bardem.
But the reason I am discussing 'Vicky Cristina Barcelona' here, is the music.
The title song, 'Barcelona', which was written and recorded by 'Giulia y los Tellarini', (at the time a little known Spanish band), were shocked when approached by Woody Allen's team.
Rumour has it that the girlfriend of one of the band members sent a copy of their CD to Allen's hotel.
On hearing it, Allen realised it was just the sound he wanted, and attempted to make contact.
After initial attempts to reach the band though MySpace, (they thought it was a joke), eventually a deal was done.
But it is the soundtrack to the rest of the film which particularly interests me.
Paco de Lucia performs, 'Entre Dos Aguas', Juan Serrano plays, 'Gorrion' and 'Entre Olas'.
Those two performers alone are enough to make me want to see the film, but with interpretations of 'El Noi de la Mare' (Trad. Arr. Llobet), 'Granada' (Isaac Albeniz) and 'Asturias' (Isaac Albeniz) it seems hard to resist.
You can of course hear Robin's version of some of these tracks on 'Virtuoso'.
A film set in Spain should incorporate this fabulous music.
I know of at least one guitarist that will be watching simply to hear the guitar being played in a major film!
Now, Penelope Cruz has been nominated for an Oscar, as best supporting actress.
The film is about two young American women, Vicky (Rebecca Hall) and Cristina (Scarlett Johansson) who spend a summer in Spain, and meet the flamboyant artist, Juan Antonio, (Javier Bardem).
Penelope Cruz plays the beautiful, yet insane, ex-wife of Javier Bardem.
But the reason I am discussing 'Vicky Cristina Barcelona' here, is the music.
The title song, 'Barcelona', which was written and recorded by 'Giulia y los Tellarini', (at the time a little known Spanish band), were shocked when approached by Woody Allen's team.
Rumour has it that the girlfriend of one of the band members sent a copy of their CD to Allen's hotel.
On hearing it, Allen realised it was just the sound he wanted, and attempted to make contact.
After initial attempts to reach the band though MySpace, (they thought it was a joke), eventually a deal was done.
But it is the soundtrack to the rest of the film which particularly interests me.
Paco de Lucia performs, 'Entre Dos Aguas', Juan Serrano plays, 'Gorrion' and 'Entre Olas'.
Those two performers alone are enough to make me want to see the film, but with interpretations of 'El Noi de la Mare' (Trad. Arr. Llobet), 'Granada' (Isaac Albeniz) and 'Asturias' (Isaac Albeniz) it seems hard to resist.
You can of course hear Robin's version of some of these tracks on 'Virtuoso'.
A film set in Spain should incorporate this fabulous music.
I know of at least one guitarist that will be watching simply to hear the guitar being played in a major film!
Friday, October 17, 2008
'The Ageless Audience' and Classical Music
Robin is now in Istanbul and settling into the Queen Victoria, which will be home for the next week, and I'm waiting to hear which day will be concert day.
When he does perform his concert, the age of the audience is likely to be, but not exclusively, 40 +.
There are many reasons for this, and it is often an area debated in a very negative way.
So I was very pleased to read a recent report by Diane Haithman in the Los Angeles Times, 'The ageless audience.'
The report challenges the view that the audience for live performing arts is aging, and suggests that this is in fact nothing new.
It's so refreshing to read a more optimistic take on the whole area.
Rather than the doom and gloom of the decline in interest in classical music by the younger generation, it focuses on the more logical issues that prevent younger people attending concerts.
Finance plays a part along with having young children.
When in your 20's you may well choose to spend any available money in a different way, and by your 30's, are often caught up in life with small children.
By your 40's onwards, the situation starts to change, and coincidentally, that is when people tend to start attending classical concerts...
There's also the argument that listening to classical music requires a higher level of concentration, something that is achieved over time, and with more life experience.
It's all there in the report, and is well worth a read.
But we shouldn't sit back and assume that people will naturally move towards classical music as they get older.
They do need to have some early exposure to encourage the transition.
This is one of the reasons why I blog, Twitter and run a MySpace page.
MySpace in particular highlights the need to interact with the younger generation in a way that is familiar to them.
Many of our 'friends' on MySpace are young, electric guitar players, who can see and appreciate the skill required to be a classical player, even though they don't do it themselves.
I have even had messages from some saying they would go and see Robin perform live, as they hadn't before realised how exciting it can be.
All that achieved from just 5 tracks on a MySpace page.
It is also why I have often mentioned the need for more access to classical music on mainstream television.
Then there will be more opportunities for the younger generation to hear and see performances, even if by chance.
A good example of this was the recent 'Maestro' series on BBC 2, which I wrote about here.
A worrying development I recently heard about in the UK, although I've not confirmed this information, is that for GCSE Music you no longer need to be able to read music.
If this is the case then it is absurd, and maybe they should re title it GCSE Music appreciation.
How on earth can you be given a qualification suggesting a certain level of ability has been obtained, if you can't actually read a note of music?
As I mentioned the other day on Twitter, our youngest son, age 6, took his violin into school and played a few pieces.
One of his peers went home and told his mum that our son could read that funny language!
Even at the age of 5/6 children appreciate that 'notes' are indeed another form of communication.
Would you give someone GCSE French if they couldn't speak a word of it?
I hope not.
This is not completely off topic.
The point being that 'early exposure' is vital.
We need to reinforce the importance, and influence, that music can have on our lives at an early age, to give children the chance to discover it in more detail later on.
In the words of G.K.Chesterton:
"Education is simply the soul of society as it passes from one generation to another."
When he does perform his concert, the age of the audience is likely to be, but not exclusively, 40 +.
There are many reasons for this, and it is often an area debated in a very negative way.
So I was very pleased to read a recent report by Diane Haithman in the Los Angeles Times, 'The ageless audience.'
The report challenges the view that the audience for live performing arts is aging, and suggests that this is in fact nothing new.
It's so refreshing to read a more optimistic take on the whole area.
Rather than the doom and gloom of the decline in interest in classical music by the younger generation, it focuses on the more logical issues that prevent younger people attending concerts.
Finance plays a part along with having young children.
When in your 20's you may well choose to spend any available money in a different way, and by your 30's, are often caught up in life with small children.
By your 40's onwards, the situation starts to change, and coincidentally, that is when people tend to start attending classical concerts...
There's also the argument that listening to classical music requires a higher level of concentration, something that is achieved over time, and with more life experience.
It's all there in the report, and is well worth a read.
But we shouldn't sit back and assume that people will naturally move towards classical music as they get older.
They do need to have some early exposure to encourage the transition.
This is one of the reasons why I blog, Twitter and run a MySpace page.
MySpace in particular highlights the need to interact with the younger generation in a way that is familiar to them.
Many of our 'friends' on MySpace are young, electric guitar players, who can see and appreciate the skill required to be a classical player, even though they don't do it themselves.
I have even had messages from some saying they would go and see Robin perform live, as they hadn't before realised how exciting it can be.
All that achieved from just 5 tracks on a MySpace page.
It is also why I have often mentioned the need for more access to classical music on mainstream television.
Then there will be more opportunities for the younger generation to hear and see performances, even if by chance.
A good example of this was the recent 'Maestro' series on BBC 2, which I wrote about here.
A worrying development I recently heard about in the UK, although I've not confirmed this information, is that for GCSE Music you no longer need to be able to read music.
If this is the case then it is absurd, and maybe they should re title it GCSE Music appreciation.
How on earth can you be given a qualification suggesting a certain level of ability has been obtained, if you can't actually read a note of music?
As I mentioned the other day on Twitter, our youngest son, age 6, took his violin into school and played a few pieces.
One of his peers went home and told his mum that our son could read that funny language!
Even at the age of 5/6 children appreciate that 'notes' are indeed another form of communication.
Would you give someone GCSE French if they couldn't speak a word of it?
I hope not.
This is not completely off topic.
The point being that 'early exposure' is vital.
We need to reinforce the importance, and influence, that music can have on our lives at an early age, to give children the chance to discover it in more detail later on.
In the words of G.K.Chesterton:
"Education is simply the soul of society as it passes from one generation to another."
Friday, August 15, 2008
Take Five, Spain and MySpace
It's rather a strange experience for me, and for Robin, on this trip.
He is so used to travelling alone, and even has his usual room on Crystal Serenity, but this time is sharing it with son number one.
For me, it's odd to be receiving e mails from both of them, and pictures of my eldest, globetrotting around Europe!
To prove they are both there, here is the official Crystal photograph, of them beside Serenity:
The first two days were spent in Venice, and here he is again, sporting a Crystal t-shirt given as a present from a previous trip:
After a day at sea, they arrived in Katakolon, Greece, and spent a very pleasant time having a good look around.
But it isn't all fun.
Robin has also been working hard. Not only on the programme for his recital in a few days time, but also the new pieces and arrangements for the concerts in Spain, with Izzy Cooper, which are on the 27th and 28th of August.
You can see details of the Spanish concerts, including the official poster, here.
Meanwhile, here at Hillhouse it has also been busy.
I have been very pleased with a number of comments recently over on our MySpace page.
Go and have a look, and if you haven't been there for a while, you'll see there is now another track added, 'Footsteps of the Moai', taken from the new CD, 'Eyes That Talk To The Sky'.
Enjoy.
He is so used to travelling alone, and even has his usual room on Crystal Serenity, but this time is sharing it with son number one.
For me, it's odd to be receiving e mails from both of them, and pictures of my eldest, globetrotting around Europe!
To prove they are both there, here is the official Crystal photograph, of them beside Serenity:
The first two days were spent in Venice, and here he is again, sporting a Crystal t-shirt given as a present from a previous trip:
After a day at sea, they arrived in Katakolon, Greece, and spent a very pleasant time having a good look around.
But it isn't all fun.
Robin has also been working hard. Not only on the programme for his recital in a few days time, but also the new pieces and arrangements for the concerts in Spain, with Izzy Cooper, which are on the 27th and 28th of August.
You can see details of the Spanish concerts, including the official poster, here.
Meanwhile, here at Hillhouse it has also been busy.
I have been very pleased with a number of comments recently over on our MySpace page.
Go and have a look, and if you haven't been there for a while, you'll see there is now another track added, 'Footsteps of the Moai', taken from the new CD, 'Eyes That Talk To The Sky'.
Enjoy.
Friday, July 25, 2008
2 Years of Blogging
Happy second birthday to 'Life of a Musician'.
We seem to have come a long way since the first blog two years ago and I have certainly been on a very sharp learning curve in this time.
A few statistics for you:
Today will be the 597th post, which I'm sure you will agree, is a lot of writing!
In the past year alone we have had nearly 19 000 page views, with approximately 1000 pages read each month.
Then we entered the MySpace terrain and in only a few months have built up a considerable list of 'friends' and have already had over 2700 profile views.
Twitter has been equally as active, with 93 regular followers and 838 updates at the time of writing.
We may be low on the 'links', by which a lot of blogs judge themselves, but the amount of regular readers we have more than compensates for that in my mind.
We will be releasing the 4th CD on CD Baby in just a few weeks time, so I think you will agree that it has been a busy 12 months.
I've enjoyed the past year and there have been many exciting things happening along the way. Lets hope the next 12 months prove equally productive.
Many thanks to you all, from all parts of the world, for following the life of this particular musician so far...
We seem to have come a long way since the first blog two years ago and I have certainly been on a very sharp learning curve in this time.
A few statistics for you:
Today will be the 597th post, which I'm sure you will agree, is a lot of writing!
In the past year alone we have had nearly 19 000 page views, with approximately 1000 pages read each month.
Then we entered the MySpace terrain and in only a few months have built up a considerable list of 'friends' and have already had over 2700 profile views.
Twitter has been equally as active, with 93 regular followers and 838 updates at the time of writing.
We may be low on the 'links', by which a lot of blogs judge themselves, but the amount of regular readers we have more than compensates for that in my mind.
We will be releasing the 4th CD on CD Baby in just a few weeks time, so I think you will agree that it has been a busy 12 months.
I've enjoyed the past year and there have been many exciting things happening along the way. Lets hope the next 12 months prove equally productive.
Many thanks to you all, from all parts of the world, for following the life of this particular musician so far...
Monday, June 30, 2008
Snow Patrol and Joaquin Rodrigo
The life of a musician is anything but ordinary.
Robin has been home for a few days now, after three weeks away.
As you can imagine, there are always a great many things for him to deal with on his return.
The success of our MySpace page has already put us in contact with many interesting, and accomplished musicians, some of whom have been forwarding music for Robin to listen to.
I'm currently trying to find a slot of time to sit him down and play him the various mp3's which have arrived from hopeful composers.
But he has to make time for his family.
Three weeks away from home is a particularly long time for young children.
In Robin's absence I have been aided in distracting them by many end of term activities.
There seem to have been an endless stream of parties over every weekend.
So, on Sunday, I casually pointed out to Robin that he may like to take our youngest son to a 'snow party' later that day.
He willingly agreed, it would be an ideal opportunity to spend some time with the little chap.
As I left the music room I then added, "Oh, yes, you'll be taking the twins too, OK," and beat a hasty retreat.
I must say I was a little anxious about this expedition.
Robin doesn't really 'do' snow. It's cold and his hands don't like cold.
However, he'd agreed, and I needed a break.
All credit to him, he had a great time, his three charges all had a great time, and I enjoyed a couple of hours of child free calm.
But the exciting thing about living with a musician is that everything can change with just one 'phone call.
I returned from yet another party to hear Robin practising Rodrigo's 'Concierto de Aranjuez'. This is a fabulous piece, and one I am very familiar with.
However I wasn't expecting Robin to be playing it.
I shall have to get used to it though, as he has been asked to play the concierto next year.
The last time he performed it was with the Liverpool Philharmonic and rehearsal at home was so intense that our son used to sing the theme to himself to get to sleep at night!
So, if there are any orcheatras out there that want to put on the 'Concierto de Aranjuez' sometime after March next year, now is the time to get in touch.
Robin has been home for a few days now, after three weeks away.
As you can imagine, there are always a great many things for him to deal with on his return.
The success of our MySpace page has already put us in contact with many interesting, and accomplished musicians, some of whom have been forwarding music for Robin to listen to.
I'm currently trying to find a slot of time to sit him down and play him the various mp3's which have arrived from hopeful composers.
But he has to make time for his family.
Three weeks away from home is a particularly long time for young children.
In Robin's absence I have been aided in distracting them by many end of term activities.
There seem to have been an endless stream of parties over every weekend.
So, on Sunday, I casually pointed out to Robin that he may like to take our youngest son to a 'snow party' later that day.
He willingly agreed, it would be an ideal opportunity to spend some time with the little chap.
As I left the music room I then added, "Oh, yes, you'll be taking the twins too, OK," and beat a hasty retreat.
I must say I was a little anxious about this expedition.
Robin doesn't really 'do' snow. It's cold and his hands don't like cold.
However, he'd agreed, and I needed a break.
All credit to him, he had a great time, his three charges all had a great time, and I enjoyed a couple of hours of child free calm.
But the exciting thing about living with a musician is that everything can change with just one 'phone call.
I returned from yet another party to hear Robin practising Rodrigo's 'Concierto de Aranjuez'. This is a fabulous piece, and one I am very familiar with.
However I wasn't expecting Robin to be playing it.
I shall have to get used to it though, as he has been asked to play the concierto next year.
The last time he performed it was with the Liverpool Philharmonic and rehearsal at home was so intense that our son used to sing the theme to himself to get to sleep at night!
So, if there are any orcheatras out there that want to put on the 'Concierto de Aranjuez' sometime after March next year, now is the time to get in touch.
Tuesday, May 27, 2008
Sir Robin Hill? Dubrovnik and MySpace
Since my last post Robin has spent a very pleasant day in Dubrovnik.
He called me at one point, to say he couldn't put into words just how beautiful it was.
I've never known him at a loss for words before so can only imagine that Dubrovnik is a very special place.
As he hasn't managed to resolve his 'technical' problems with his camera, I shall have to wait until his return to see the photographs.
Today he is at sea, enjoying lovely weather and preparing for his second guitar concert, which is tomorrow.
He has had a week between performances, so has been able to relax a little more than usual, which is rather rare for Robin.
But in the last few days he has been running through the second programme at least three times each day, along with his usual scales and arpeggios, so I think he should be ready.
Meanwhile I have been holding the fort back at home. I am delighted with the MySpace response, with over 500 visits in such a short space of time.
I have met up with old friends, and made new ones, which after all, is the purpose of the exercise.
As you know, Robin is away from home a lot. I therefore have to deal with his mail.
So I was rather amused by a letter I received, addressed to, 'Sir Robin Hill'.
Has he been honoured and forgotten to mention it?
Surely I would have noticed him nipping off to London to see the Queen?
I would have gone too, and purchased a hat, especially for the occasion.
But, as it turned out, it was a letter from a very grateful student!
He called me at one point, to say he couldn't put into words just how beautiful it was.
I've never known him at a loss for words before so can only imagine that Dubrovnik is a very special place.
As he hasn't managed to resolve his 'technical' problems with his camera, I shall have to wait until his return to see the photographs.
Today he is at sea, enjoying lovely weather and preparing for his second guitar concert, which is tomorrow.
He has had a week between performances, so has been able to relax a little more than usual, which is rather rare for Robin.
But in the last few days he has been running through the second programme at least three times each day, along with his usual scales and arpeggios, so I think he should be ready.
Meanwhile I have been holding the fort back at home. I am delighted with the MySpace response, with over 500 visits in such a short space of time.
I have met up with old friends, and made new ones, which after all, is the purpose of the exercise.
As you know, Robin is away from home a lot. I therefore have to deal with his mail.
So I was rather amused by a letter I received, addressed to, 'Sir Robin Hill'.
Has he been honoured and forgotten to mention it?
Surely I would have noticed him nipping off to London to see the Queen?
I would have gone too, and purchased a hat, especially for the occasion.
But, as it turned out, it was a letter from a very grateful student!
Wednesday, May 21, 2008
Sound Check in Sorrento and the Lost Violin
Crystal Serenity has arrived in Sorrento and apparently it looks beautiful from the Bay of Naples.
But today it will remain at a distance, as Robin is busy preparing, for his first guitar concert.
It takes great will power not to go ashore and explore, I think I would be sorely tempted, but then I don't have to sit in front of a theatre full of people tonight...
However, tomorrow there may be the opportunity to have a look around before setting sail again.
Robin has already completed his sound check, so now will be limbering up with right and left hand exercises, before running through the programme a few times.
He is very pleased with a mute he recently purchased, as now he can practise without fear of annoying his neighbours, or having to stuff a sock behind the strings!
You may recall the recent story of Philippe Quint, the Grammy award winning violinist who left his 285 year old violin in the back of a taxi.
We have some idea of the torment Philippe will have been going through.
Back in March 2007 one of Robin's concert guitars went missing. You can read about the saga here.
Whilst we had no idea where Robin's guitar was, Philippe saw his violin driving off into the distance, but was unsure if he would ever see it again.
Restoring faith in humanity, the taxi driver tracked down Philippe, and returned the precious instrument.
Now, Quint has given a special 30 minute concert, outside the airport, to show his gratitude.
You can see an extract here.
This story caught my eye as Philippe is a friend over on the new MySpace page!
But today it will remain at a distance, as Robin is busy preparing, for his first guitar concert.
It takes great will power not to go ashore and explore, I think I would be sorely tempted, but then I don't have to sit in front of a theatre full of people tonight...
However, tomorrow there may be the opportunity to have a look around before setting sail again.
Robin has already completed his sound check, so now will be limbering up with right and left hand exercises, before running through the programme a few times.
He is very pleased with a mute he recently purchased, as now he can practise without fear of annoying his neighbours, or having to stuff a sock behind the strings!
You may recall the recent story of Philippe Quint, the Grammy award winning violinist who left his 285 year old violin in the back of a taxi.
We have some idea of the torment Philippe will have been going through.
Back in March 2007 one of Robin's concert guitars went missing. You can read about the saga here.
Whilst we had no idea where Robin's guitar was, Philippe saw his violin driving off into the distance, but was unsure if he would ever see it again.
Restoring faith in humanity, the taxi driver tracked down Philippe, and returned the precious instrument.
Now, Quint has given a special 30 minute concert, outside the airport, to show his gratitude.
You can see an extract here.
This story caught my eye as Philippe is a friend over on the new MySpace page!
Monday, May 19, 2008
Arrival in Rome and Alternative MySpace Profile Picture...
We have had a particularly busy weekend preparing for Robin's trip and keeping up with new friends on MySpace.
Fans of Twitter will already know that we were up at 4.30 this morning, although I must confess I returned to bed, after waving the taxi off...
Robin has arrived in Rome, after a very brief stop in Munich, in which he had 1/2 hour to reach his connecting flight.
He made it, and is now making his way to Civitavecchia, where he will be joining 'Crystal Serenity'.
More of that as the week unfolds.
The new MySpace page is going well and I'm delighted with the response so far.
When setting up the page we talked at length about the profile picture we should use.
Should it be Robin alone, or, should I be shown, as I am obviously involved?
We decided to take a few pictures to see what we thought.
Those of you who have already visited the page, will have seen that we decided on a picture of the two of us.
However, there was another close contender.
We were really just having a bit of a joke.
Robin was doing a very good Eric Morecambe impression, and I was wrestling the guitar from him. (Something I have to do most evenings otherwise he just keeps on playing...)
So if anyone has any strong opinion about the picture we should use then do feel free to let me know!
Fans of Twitter will already know that we were up at 4.30 this morning, although I must confess I returned to bed, after waving the taxi off...
Robin has arrived in Rome, after a very brief stop in Munich, in which he had 1/2 hour to reach his connecting flight.
He made it, and is now making his way to Civitavecchia, where he will be joining 'Crystal Serenity'.
More of that as the week unfolds.
The new MySpace page is going well and I'm delighted with the response so far.
When setting up the page we talked at length about the profile picture we should use.
Should it be Robin alone, or, should I be shown, as I am obviously involved?
We decided to take a few pictures to see what we thought.
Those of you who have already visited the page, will have seen that we decided on a picture of the two of us.
However, there was another close contender.
We were really just having a bit of a joke.
Robin was doing a very good Eric Morecambe impression, and I was wrestling the guitar from him. (Something I have to do most evenings otherwise he just keeps on playing...)
So if anyone has any strong opinion about the picture we should use then do feel free to let me know!
Saturday, May 17, 2008
Robin Hill on MySpace
I have finally finished the new site that I have mentioned a couple of times.
We have now launched our MySpace page.
For those unfamiliar with MySpace, it is a social networking website, which offers interactive, personal profiles, music, videos and blogs.
For all musicians it is an essential marketing tool and you ignore it at your peril.
With millions of users, and more daily hits than Google, the potential to keep in touch with, and to expand your fan base, is huge.
Consequently I have been working on this for a little while, and now, at last it is ready.
In only a few days our list of friends has been growing, and will hopefully continue to do so.
So, go over and have a look.
Feel free to leave a comment or message, or,'click' on any of the friends we have already made, so you can have a look at their pages.
As it is interactive, the content will be constantly changing, so it's worth regularly visiting.
Also, for those of you who have been following this blog for nearly two years now, but as yet haven't seen what I look like, all is revealed...well not quite all..
Just click this link: MySpace:Robin Hill and have fun!
We have now launched our MySpace page.
For those unfamiliar with MySpace, it is a social networking website, which offers interactive, personal profiles, music, videos and blogs.
For all musicians it is an essential marketing tool and you ignore it at your peril.
With millions of users, and more daily hits than Google, the potential to keep in touch with, and to expand your fan base, is huge.
Consequently I have been working on this for a little while, and now, at last it is ready.
In only a few days our list of friends has been growing, and will hopefully continue to do so.
So, go over and have a look.
Feel free to leave a comment or message, or,'click' on any of the friends we have already made, so you can have a look at their pages.
As it is interactive, the content will be constantly changing, so it's worth regularly visiting.
Also, for those of you who have been following this blog for nearly two years now, but as yet haven't seen what I look like, all is revealed...well not quite all..
Just click this link: MySpace:Robin Hill and have fun!
Friday, April 18, 2008
Track 2 - 'Arrival' and John Johnson
The second track on 'Arrival' is 'La Vecchia Pavane and Galliard', by John Johnson (1540-1595).
A Pavane is a Court dance of the 16th and early 17th century, which is usually sedate, and often an introduction for a processional dance.
The pavane consists of two single steps and one double step forward, followed by two single steps and one double step backwards. It's played in duple time, 2 or 4 beats to the bar.
The Galliard is much livelier, a triple-metre dance, usually with regular phrase structures of 8, 12, or 16 bars, with a step-pattern of five movements taken to six minims, which is similar to that of the salterello, except that the steps are higher and more vigorously executed.
As you listen to these pieces, you can easily imagine the ladies and gentlemen of the Elizabethan Court enjoying the music and joining in, starting with the slow Pavane and moving on to the more energetic Galliard.
'La Vecchia' simply means old.
At this time it was common for lutenists to undertake the position of an apprentice within a noble house, often from a very early age.
This was an essential process for any musician of 'low birth' to make contacts with the wealthy aristocracy, which would then allow them access to the Royal Courts.
The modern day equivalent would presumably be blogs, MySpace, Twitter, and the like, the modern way of networking.
Whilst records are difficult to trace, it is thought that Johnson would have undertaken an apprentice position in a noble house, likely to be that of the Earl of Leicester.
His skill as a lutenist didn't go unnoticed though, and by 1577 he had entered the Royal services of Her Majesty's Musicians for the three lutes, along with Mathias Mason and Thomas Cardell. The number rising to six or seven lutenists as the popularity of the instrument increased.
John Johnson is regarded as the founder of the school of English lute music of the 'Golden Age', which culminated in the works of John Dowland.
Johnson's playing must have been exceptional, and it is believed that he was Queen Elizabeth I favourite lutenist, but his importance also lies within the huge body of works available today.
His manuscripts have been found all over Europe even though it's thought that Johnson never left England, a feat only matched, and exceeded, by John Dowland himself.
The musical tradition continued with his son, Robert Johnson (1582-1633), also a lutenist, but he was connected with Elizabethan Acting Troupes, working with playwrights such as William Shakespeare, Beaumont and Fletcher.
So, 'La Vecchia Pavane and Galliard' is steeped in the lute tradition, although Johnson developed the lute duet to an unprecedented level of technical and musical excellence. With complete equality of parts being one of the striking features of Johnson's work.
Johnson was certainly more prolific than any of his English contemporaries, and 'La Vecchia Pavane and Galliard' together make a fine example of the conversational style of the Elizabethan lute duet.
The guitar repertoire is greatly enriched by the assimilation of the lute's vast body of works, in this recording the guitars are played with capos at the third fret to create a more lute-like sonority.
A Pavane is a Court dance of the 16th and early 17th century, which is usually sedate, and often an introduction for a processional dance.
The pavane consists of two single steps and one double step forward, followed by two single steps and one double step backwards. It's played in duple time, 2 or 4 beats to the bar.
The Galliard is much livelier, a triple-metre dance, usually with regular phrase structures of 8, 12, or 16 bars, with a step-pattern of five movements taken to six minims, which is similar to that of the salterello, except that the steps are higher and more vigorously executed.
As you listen to these pieces, you can easily imagine the ladies and gentlemen of the Elizabethan Court enjoying the music and joining in, starting with the slow Pavane and moving on to the more energetic Galliard.
'La Vecchia' simply means old.
At this time it was common for lutenists to undertake the position of an apprentice within a noble house, often from a very early age.
This was an essential process for any musician of 'low birth' to make contacts with the wealthy aristocracy, which would then allow them access to the Royal Courts.
The modern day equivalent would presumably be blogs, MySpace, Twitter, and the like, the modern way of networking.
Whilst records are difficult to trace, it is thought that Johnson would have undertaken an apprentice position in a noble house, likely to be that of the Earl of Leicester.
His skill as a lutenist didn't go unnoticed though, and by 1577 he had entered the Royal services of Her Majesty's Musicians for the three lutes, along with Mathias Mason and Thomas Cardell. The number rising to six or seven lutenists as the popularity of the instrument increased.
John Johnson is regarded as the founder of the school of English lute music of the 'Golden Age', which culminated in the works of John Dowland.
Johnson's playing must have been exceptional, and it is believed that he was Queen Elizabeth I favourite lutenist, but his importance also lies within the huge body of works available today.
His manuscripts have been found all over Europe even though it's thought that Johnson never left England, a feat only matched, and exceeded, by John Dowland himself.
The musical tradition continued with his son, Robert Johnson (1582-1633), also a lutenist, but he was connected with Elizabethan Acting Troupes, working with playwrights such as William Shakespeare, Beaumont and Fletcher.
So, 'La Vecchia Pavane and Galliard' is steeped in the lute tradition, although Johnson developed the lute duet to an unprecedented level of technical and musical excellence. With complete equality of parts being one of the striking features of Johnson's work.
Johnson was certainly more prolific than any of his English contemporaries, and 'La Vecchia Pavane and Galliard' together make a fine example of the conversational style of the Elizabethan lute duet.
The guitar repertoire is greatly enriched by the assimilation of the lute's vast body of works, in this recording the guitars are played with capos at the third fret to create a more lute-like sonority.
Monday, December 17, 2007
The Digital World
I came across this article, 'Diving into the digital', by George Varga of 'The San Diego Union Tribune'.
It's an interesting read for us, particularly today, as I have been preparing a new CD, of Robin with his jazz quartet, to be released on CD Baby very soon. More details will follow shortly.
The article discusses the changing face of music distribution, for both the industry itself, and for musicians.
There has been such a change over the last few years that at times it's hard to keep up with it all.
Sites such as CD Baby, iTunes, YouTube, MySpace, and many others, have resulted in a lifestyle change for listeners, and for the artists.
Musicians can no longer rely on record companies to distribute their music, and have to nurture their fan base in a very different way.
The article has many interesting points and it's worth having a look, plus, there are a few thoughts from Sir Paul McCartney.
In some ways digital downloads make life easier for the musician, but, caution is required.
Radiohead's recent experience is rather frightening.
1 million fans ordered their new album in the 10 days prior to release, but paid nothing. Whilst 500 000 fans downloaded it for free from illegal sites, even though they could get it free from Radiohead's own site.
This is a disturbing situation.
Maybe this is a reflection of society.
Everyone wants something for nothing, but we should beware.
Musicians need to make a living.
If their music continues to be 'stolen' in this way, then how are they supposed to survive?
We have had this conversation with many people over the years. It's surprising how frequently people really don't think they are doing anything wrong.
When we have tried to explain, they often reply, "Well, I'm a student, I don't have much money", to which our response is, "Is that what you would say in a shop as you helped yourself to their wares?"
Whatever their reasoning, the general public need to realise that the music they listen to, is created by someone, who needs to pay the bills in just the same way that they do...
It's an interesting read for us, particularly today, as I have been preparing a new CD, of Robin with his jazz quartet, to be released on CD Baby very soon. More details will follow shortly.
The article discusses the changing face of music distribution, for both the industry itself, and for musicians.
There has been such a change over the last few years that at times it's hard to keep up with it all.
Sites such as CD Baby, iTunes, YouTube, MySpace, and many others, have resulted in a lifestyle change for listeners, and for the artists.
Musicians can no longer rely on record companies to distribute their music, and have to nurture their fan base in a very different way.
The article has many interesting points and it's worth having a look, plus, there are a few thoughts from Sir Paul McCartney.
In some ways digital downloads make life easier for the musician, but, caution is required.
Radiohead's recent experience is rather frightening.
1 million fans ordered their new album in the 10 days prior to release, but paid nothing. Whilst 500 000 fans downloaded it for free from illegal sites, even though they could get it free from Radiohead's own site.
This is a disturbing situation.
Maybe this is a reflection of society.
Everyone wants something for nothing, but we should beware.
Musicians need to make a living.
If their music continues to be 'stolen' in this way, then how are they supposed to survive?
We have had this conversation with many people over the years. It's surprising how frequently people really don't think they are doing anything wrong.
When we have tried to explain, they often reply, "Well, I'm a student, I don't have much money", to which our response is, "Is that what you would say in a shop as you helped yourself to their wares?"
Whatever their reasoning, the general public need to realise that the music they listen to, is created by someone, who needs to pay the bills in just the same way that they do...
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
Posts
