Milstein was a Ukrainian-born American virtuoso violinist. Being a contemporary of the great Heifetz might have seemed an undue burden to some violinists, but Milstein rose to the challenge. In his early days, he toured Russia with Horowitz, and toward the end of his life he recorded some of the best solo violin I have heard. The recordings of Bach […]
Nathan Milstein (1904-1992) Read More »
Music history is replete with stories of artists meeting an early demise: Chopin, Django, Dinu Lipatti, William Kapell, and even Scriabin all passed on young. Perhaps Lipatti and Kapell are less well known, but they are very important musicians in my estimation. Lipatti (1917-1950) was a fantastic composer and pianist who thankfully left us some recordings, though precious few, and
Conditions of the Tournament Read More »
I will soon record a piece I worked on during my two month stay in Naples. It is called Persnickety. I proceeded from the title which means: “Placing emphasis on minor details, fussy. Requiring a particularly precise or careful approach.” This meant writing somewhat detailed music that also makes a lot of use of space as well as intricate patterns.
In the past month I have written two pieces. Rather, I thought I wrote two pieces of music. At best, new music comes with difficulty in recent years. This wasn’t always so, but as S. J. Perelman said, “with each piece you use up a part of yourself.” And having written about 225 pieces of music in my life so
As I get older, a certain aspect of wisdom has come my way. Being someone who will never completely surrender their “Peter Pan Principle” this does not mean I will all together submit to advancing age. I only intend to assimilate its (aging) better aspects, and like a fledgling alchemist, I will try to mix some childlike wonder with a
I first heard about Alain-Fournier while doing research on one of my favorite composers, Maurice Ravel. I was researching Ravel’s 1928 American tour at the Minnesota History Museum. I later turned over my findings to the Ravel museum in Montfort L’Amaury, near Paris. This museum was Ravel’s home until his passing in 1937, and I have visited it several times
Alain-Fournier (1886-1914) Read More »