Birdsong and Music

Posted on July 10, 2011 by RichardPrins

David Matthews (Gresham College) Via Gresham College, a lecture by David Matthews:

Many composers have been influenced by birdsong. Mozart treasured the songs of his pet starling, even giving the bird a ceremonial funeral.

David Matthews, one of Britain’s leading composers, has always been interested in the incorporation of the natural world into his music, recently even including birdsong in some recent compositions.

This lecture offers an opportunity for reflection on the relations between music and the natural world and how a composer can be brought closer to one through the other and vice versa.

Length: 53 minutes 56 seconds

TED: Maya Beiser(s) and her cello(s)

Posted on June 17, 2011 by RichardPrins

As a fan of Reich‘s music, I enjoyed today’s TED talk:

Cellist Maya Beiser plays a gorgeous eight-part modern etude with seven copies of herself, and segues into a meditative music/video hybrid — using tech to create endless possibilities for transformative sound. Music is Steve Reich‘s “Cello Counterpoint,” then David Lang‘s “World to Come” with video by Irit Batsry.

Bonus: Steven Sharp Nelson – The Cello Song – Bach is back (with 7 more cellos) (YouTube)

Bach – Brandenburg Concertos

Posted on August 25, 2010 by RichardPrins

Johann Sebastian Bach’s famous Brandenburg Concertos No. 1 – 6 by the Freiburg Baroque Orchestra in a playlist of nineteen YouTube videos:

Playlists for the separate concertos: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6

A Czech Radio performance of the concertos is downloadable in mp3, ogg, and flac format.

Carl Orff – Carmina Burana

Posted on June 2, 2010 by RichardPrins

Via UCTV (71m 11s):

UC Davis University Chorus, Alumni Chorus, Symphony Orchestra, and the Pacific Boychoir perform Carl Orff’s “Carmina Burana,” at the Mondavi Center on the campus of UC Davis. Jeffrey Thomas, conducting, Shawnette Sulker, soprano, Gerald Thomas Gray, tenor, and Malcolm MacKenzie, baritone.

By following the first link above, you can also download it as mp3 audio (64kbps VBR mono) or mp4 video (the video can also be downloaded from YouTube).