Portrait of my father's Breschian viola

Violists Masumi Per Rostand and Milena Pajaro-van de Stadt have devoted a half-hour-long video (with lovely close-up images) to the Breschian viola my father played during his career as the principal violist of the Boston Symphony Orchestra that is now owned by Pajaro-van de Stadt. Make sure to watch to the end to hear the instrument's amazing C string!

Kol Nidre for Yom Kippur

Whether you celebrate Yom Kippur or not, the Kol Nidre prayer is a prayer of release and renewal. It releases us from the vows and unfulfilled promises we have made, and allows us to move forward with a clean conscience. Louis Lewandowski's melodic setting of the prayer (even without the words), provides a kind of catharsis for me when I play it, and, I have been told, provides a kind of catharsis for people who are listening.

I have put transcriptions of it on this page of the IMSLP for solo violin, solo viola, solo viola d'amore, and solo cello, as well as a duo transcription for instruments that are unable to play double stops.

A lot of my published music is now being sold through J.W. Pepper

Music published by Subito is now being sold through the J.W. Pepper website, and that means that the eighty pieces of mine published by Seesaw, that are distributed by Subito, are available to buy there.

Also Trevco, the publisher that specializes in double-reed music, stopped its operations earlier this year, and their inventory was taken over by Subito. That means my contrabasson music is now available through the J.W. Pepper website.

J.W. Pepper also sells music published by the International Music Company, so all of the arrangements, transcriptions, and editions I worked on for IMC are there as well.

You can see what they have of mine through this link (I already put the search in for you).

Conventional Wisdom on this Rosh Hashanah Eve

I have been thinking about this bit of conventional wisdom from Rabbi Hillel the Elder, who lived in a world where mass communication meant talking to a roomful of people, or writing something down on a single piece of parchment that might be read out loud to a roomful of people, some who may have been scribes.

If I am not for myself, who will be for me?
If I am only for myself, what am I?
And if not now, when?

I work very hard at what I do. I practice, write music, make arrangements, teach, and rehearse. I try to advocate for myself as a musician, and I do what I can to make the fruits of my work available for people to play. I believe that the purpose of my work in music is to share my love for it, and I hope the material I write and arrange can inspire other musicians to communicate with one another, and to be comfortable expressing themselves while playing together.

I believe that doing what you do as well as possible to make work that speaks for itself leads to a fulfilling life. Coleridge wrote, “Nothing can permanently please, which does not contain in itself the reason why it is so, and not otherwise.” I wrote a post about my experience with that statement in 2012, and I stubbornly still believe it is true.

I have met a great many people in and out of the world of music who have made it their business to tell me just how accomplished, successful, and important they are. I guess they would fall into the "If I am only for myself, what am I?" category. I decided early on that this was not the kind of person I wanted to be.

That "only for myself" way of thinking casts a large a shadow over the "If I am not for myself, who will be for me?" concept, and, as a result of the conflict, I often hesitate to advocate for myself in the larger musical world. When I do, I am often disappointed by not getting a response (even from publishers I work with). I suppose business people are selective about who is worth their time, particularly when there are so many people and computer-generated entities vying for their attention.

Hillel's last question, "And if not now, when?" has never made sense to me in the context of the first two questions. 

But it stands alone as a great piece of wisdom.

Speaking of standing alone, Hillel's explanation of the Torah while standing on one foot: not to do anything to your fellow man that is hateful to you, is, perhaps, the best conventional wisdom of all.

L'shanah tovah

The Wannabe Classical Music Aficionado

This 254-page book, published by Soncata Press, is a well-organized guide to classical music aimed at enticing the novice listener to abandon their preconceptions and fears, and give concert-going a try. It is divided into forty-six well-organized "insights" that help the reader learn the vocabulary used to discuss classical music, understand the roles of instruments found in orchestras, chamber music groups, and choirs, and learn a little about some of the best-known composers that a concert-going novice might encounter.

There are insights (chapters) that discuss the concert experience: what to wear, where to sit, when to clap, etc., and insights that explore ways of deepening the concert experience. I particularly like the insight about going to concerts alone, and how rewarding it can be.

The book includes a hefty section about chamber music, and suggests ways of paying attention to how people in a chamber ensemble communicate. In addition to a section that discusses how musicians live and work (i.e. practice, rehearse, and perform), there is a section about the economics of musical organizations. We also get a glossary of terms as well as an index.

The ideas in the book come from Allan Schiller, who played in the violin section of the New York Philharmonic from 1964 (he got his position when Leonard Bernstein was the music director) until 1999, but the writing and the organization is by Ann Marie Sabath, a person who has a great deal of experience writing books that introduce people to matters of investing, managing money, business etiquette, and even writing books.

I think that this pairing of a seasoned professional musician with a professional writer (who is not a musician) is very successful. The book is very well written, extremely easy to read, and the pages are beautifully designed. Each chapter (insight) begins with an excellent and appropriate quotation, and ends with a meaningful statement of "wannabe wisdom" that is applicable to the experience of a person new to classical music as well as to a person who has been listening to classical music for decades.

You can find out more here.