Tuesday 25 December 2012

Merry Christmas!!

Wishing all of you a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year! As a gift, I'd love to share two very different videos:

1. Luciano Berio's setting for soprano and orchestra, of I Wonder as I Wander, a Christmas carol written by John Jacob Niles.




2. Something a tad more light-hearted! Heifetz performing his own transcription of White Christmas



ENJOY!

Saturday 15 December 2012

Musical Design of the Week (22)

For those of you who cycle to work/college and you're a cellist- this solves the dilemma:



Monday 10 December 2012

The music world is hit with another death.

I feel like my blog has recently consisted of a lot of posts about musicians who have died, and unfortunately here is another one.

Charles Rosen, pianist and writer, died at the age of 85. I remember him coming to my school to give a masterclass. This man, who we had all admired for so long and talked about as if his existence was a legend, set foot in our modest hall, and graced us with his presence. Every sentence he spoke was wise, and well-thought out. Of all the music books out there, his books were the ones I was willing to read, and I shall read them again, to remember how much he affected all of us.



RIP Charles Rosen.

Saturday 8 December 2012

Musical Design of the Week (21)

Since it's Christmas, I figured I'd help out with the whole headache of gift-giving!

There's a company called Violettes that make whimsical bags shaped in different musical instruments and there are a range of different fabrics, designs and sizes for you to chose from. Great because it covers the two things gifts should be: fun and practical.


Check out their site if you're stumped for gift ideas!

Wednesday 5 December 2012

RIP Jonathan Harvey

Recently, we've lost Hans Werner Henze, and Elliott Carter, and last night, we lost another great....

Jonathan Harvey




A composer steeped in tradition, yet trained at IRCAM in the avant-garde world. Some composers fade, but I am sure Harvey's music will live on forever. 

Sunday 2 December 2012

Fun times at Manifold

Spent Saturday night socialising (for once) and attended Studio Manifold's party to celebrate it's 2nd birthday. Manifold is a group of 9 artists and designers who founded a studio that's based in a very cool east London railway arch. Their art includes sculpture, installation, digital art etc. and of course, collaborative projects (hence my collaboration with Zachary Eastwood-Bloom).


Happy Birthday Manifold!

There was great food and wine, and it was great to talk to other artists and get to know their inspirations and concepts, and perhaps, try and apply these thoughts to my own kind of art. The most interesting was comparing the differences between these artists who work with materials, textures and the physical sense of making objects, and my own art which is not tangible but deals with sound and timbral colour instead. I loved how we all had great respect for each other's art...That's the way it should be!




Saturday 1 December 2012

Musical Design of the Week (20)

This is a biggie....


This is why you should always make friends with double bass players.

Thursday 29 November 2012

In Memory of Objects VIDEO. (2 Willow Rd. Project)

Following my collaboration with artist Zachary Eastwood-Bloom (which you can read about here), Sapphire Goss made a video about the whole project, with Zac explaining! Very well made. Watch now!



Monday 26 November 2012

Winner of the 2013 Grawemeyer Award...

Michel Van Der Aa, one of my favourite ALIVE contemporary composers, has been awarded the University of Louisville's 2013 Grawemeyer Award, in recognition of his multimedia cello work Up-close for cello, string ensemble, electronic soundtrack and film. I got to attend the UK premiere of Up-close at the Barbican and am not surprised at all that this work was chosen. The work is defined by the way the live string ensemble interacts with the old woman in the film, whose actions appear to reflect the solo cellist. The combination of stage drama, music and visual is what Van Der Aa does best.

The award is one of the world's most lucrative prizes amounting to $100,000. 

Saturday 24 November 2012

Tuesday 20 November 2012

My first Thanksgiving...anything.

I'm British, which means Thanksgiving isn't really a 'thing' here, but I attended a Thanksgiving Concert given by some exchange students from Boston University and had a great time!

It was refreshing to be in a more casual setting, especially when every concert I go to seems to be really serious and reserved. The programme was a mixture of more serious pieces such as Bach or Ibert's Flute Concerto (which was mega-impressive), to crazy-good arrangements of Carol of the Bells and Sleigh Ride for the following instruments:

2 flutes
1 trumpet
1 french horn
2 tubas
1 saxophone
1 piano
1 violin
Oh, not forgetting the use of wooden spoons, and the good ol' hands for percussion during Sleigh Ride.

If you think that's an insane combination of instruments to arrange for, damn straight it is, but they made it work and I was blown away.

Of course, the promise of cupcakes, snacks and wine never fails to please.

Hopefully, I can persuade my Boston friends to let me put a recording up on here. Stay tuned!

Friday 9 November 2012

Sibelius is saved!!

After a huge scare when the London office for Sibelius was shut down and the future of the software was hanging by a thread, Hamburg-based company Steinberg has signed on Sibelius. A new London office will open next week.

This is good news to Sibelius users, and though I'm sure we all benefited greatly from the 25% discount on Sib 7 upgrades from Avid, we're also very pleased it won't be the last version of Sibelius we will see again.

Monday 5 November 2012

RIP Elliott Carter

Another great composer has passed away. Elliott Carter died today at the age of 103. I always got the impression this great man could live forever. It is very sad indeed.

Carter was one of the most productive composers, especially in his later years (publishing more than 40 works just between the ages of 90-100) and won the Pulitzer Prize twice.

I will leave you to listen to his 2nd String Quartet.


Saturday 27 October 2012

RIP Hans Werner Henze




German composer, Hans Werner Henze, died today at the age of 86. He was a prolific composer, known for his political convictions (moving to Italy as a reaction against homophobia in Germanyand an intolerance for his leftist views). His music varied in style greatly, inspired by serialism, Stravinsky, Italian music and jazz. 



Musical Design of the Week (15)


Piano Doorbell concept by Li Jian



Friday 26 October 2012

Soundtrack for 'The View' from 'The Shard'

As many of you already know, London's The Shard is a fantastic new skyscraper in London, standing 309.6 metres tall making it the tallest completed building in the EU. 

The View from The Shard, the new premium visitor attraction at the pinnacle of The Shard, has commissioned the LSO and David Mitcham (composer) to record a soundtrack for The View at Abbey Road Studios. 




David Mitcham says: "The Shard is London's newest landmark and is located in one of the oldest parts of the capital. Witnessing The View from The Shard gives a unique perspective on London, its history, its future and its people. The sheer scale and variety contained within the view is quite overwhelming. It is also so exciting to be this high up and feels a real privilege to see London this way. My score seeks to capture the sense of rising above it all and the excitement and euphoria of being suspended right on top of London with the colourful story and ceaseless energy of one of the world's greatest cities flowing on like a mighty river below."

(David Mitcham is one of Britain's leading composers for film and TV, Ivor and Emmy award nominated.)

Tuesday 23 October 2012

Rework: Philip Glass Remixed

Glass has always inspired electronic artists across the pop spectrum with his compositions, so it's fitting that, in honor of his 75th birthday, Beck Hansen decided to create this album. The idea for Rework came about during a conversation between Beck and Philip Glass (they're good friends). 

The artists that have contributed to this album are not huge names but cutting-edge artists (Beck knows a few Icelandic post-ambient laptop composers). Beck seems to have followed a similar path to his British contemporary, Damon Albarn (Blur), becoming a busy producer/enabler, rather than the usual album-tour route. Most recently working with Charlotte Gainsbourg and helping out Bat For Lashes.

Enjoy the following track from the album, which is out now on Amazon and iTunes. 





Mauricio Kagel: Rotation

Graphical representation of rotation and translation of note configurations. Wonderful.

From Kagel's essay 'Translation-Rotation',  Die Reihe - 7


Video: John Williams & Steven Spielberg working on E.T

What a great video. This is of John Williams and Steven Spielberg working together on the key musical motif of E.T!


Monday 22 October 2012

Short life of a purple violin

So there's this story that's going viral about a girl from New Mexico who got banned from playing her violin in school because it was not your traditional wooden colour.


Apparently this purple violin 'stuck out too much' and the teacher told Camille, the poor girl, to hire a normal looking violin.

Such a shame. She made such an effort- her bow and case matches it!

Sunday 21 October 2012

An 'epic' 2 seconds of nothing.

A friend of mine showed me this video a couple of days ago, and it has been a main topic of discussion among us.

There are too many questions, but so little time. The main question, is of course...

What is up with the downbeat?!

It's pretty amazing how the orchestra managed to stay together, but more importantly, come in in such perfect unison with this kind of silent flailing about. It seems as if the conductor is trying to do subdivisions, but that is way too much work. This famous beginning of Beethoven's 5th Symphony is hard due to the infinite possibilites of interpretation (the length of the fermata; the breath before the next phrase; slight rubato etc.). The fact of the matter is, it is possible for an orchestra of capable ability to play well together in concert without a conductor - a sad, but realistic truth. 

Masato Usuki (the conductor) was one of Japan's most renowned conductors, and died in 2011.

You may laugh, cry, or actually enjoy the performance! Who knows. Tell me what you think and comment below.

Friday 19 October 2012

Remembering Jacqueline Du Pré

25 years after the death of Jacqueline Du Pré, we are all celebrating her life as one of the most brilliant cellists of our time. Here is a more candid video of her with Barenboim, where she not only plays cello, but plays piano and makes it sound better than us mere mortals.

Tuesday 16 October 2012

Pierrot Lunaire 100th Anniversary w/ Teletubbies

100 years ago, Schoenberg's Pierrot Lunaire was premièred. A melodrama delivered in Sprechstimme style.

Let's celebrate it by watching this video. It works...in a weird way.


Saturday 6 October 2012

32 out-of-sync metronomes will eventually sync up

Did you know, that if you place any number of metronomes that are out-of-sync with each other on a hanging flexible table, they will always eventually sync up? As a metronome's pendulum rod changes direction, it imparts a small force on the table, which leads to small movements of the table. In turn, the table will then give small nudges back to the metronomes! Voila, in-sync metronomes!

Watch the video below, and see for yourself:

Musical Design of the Week (12)

I've got to be honest here, it's hard keeping up the musical design series and uploading a very unique design every week... and I was pretty much going to give up, but then I came across this, and wow, it just made my week. If I don't post one next week, don't be mad, I think this design is worth two weeks!!






If you haven't deciphered, this is a music typewriter, which is fascinating. It's pretty much like 'old-school notating software'. I would love to be able to try one out someday. Just wondering whether it is easy to use. Awesome.

Wednesday 3 October 2012

Is this the slowest violin concerto EVER?

I know, as a composer myself, that composing a piece can be a slow process, but I also know that when you get a deadline, you should meet it.



Osvaldo Golijov has had some deadline controversy since 2011 after a series of high-profile commissions were either delayed or cancelled. His violin concerto was originally supposed to be written for the Los Angeles Philharmonic, but he could not finish it in time. A second deadline for the Berlin Phil for March 2012 was missed again. And now? He has told the London Symphony Orchestra and Leonidas Kavakos (soloist for the concerto) that they won't be getting it next month. Uh oh...

It does beg the question whether all this unreliability would affect his career.

Sunday 30 September 2012

A Late Quartet (2012)

Yes! Finally another film that will put classical music in the spotlight once again. Starring Christopher Walken, Philip Seymour Hoffman and Catherine Keener, it's about how world-renowned string quartet based in NYC struggles in the face of death, and competing egos (we've all been there haven't we?). Definitely looking forward to this movie. Beethoven's op.131 makes an appearance (as we see in the trailer). Hopefully the repertoire included will be vast and interesting!


Thursday 27 September 2012

'This Is How To Live' @ 2 Willow Rd.

The performance of my string quartet at 2 Willow Rd. was a great success (considering I had written the string quartet in 2 1/2 days, and the players only got half an hour to learn and rehearse it)! The night was filled with art, culture, interesting people, garlic-y hummus, macarons, spicy haloumi and specially mixed gin. 

2 Willow Rd. is the house of architect Ernö Goldfinger and his artist wife, Ursula (which is now in the care of the National Trust). Interesting fact which I learnt: Ian Fleming lived just down the road from Goldfinger, and disliked him, hence why he named the James Bond villain after Goldfinger!

I was asked to compose the string quartet last minute by a friend of mine, and the purpose was for it to be performed alongside an exhibition of a sound installation by Zachary Eastwood-Bloom, created from 3D scans of objects collected by Goldfinger here:


The piece itself, is based on the textures, materials, shapes and sizes of the objects. Which coincidentally is a pretty similar idea to scanning the objects and then transferring it into sound using computer software. It meant that the visitors could hear both electronic and human interpretations. 

Everything in the house was very protected, and almost everything could not be touched (which meant there were hardly any chairs people could sit on even though there were chairs everywhere). We also did not realise there would be no music stands so... we had to improvise. (Thank you to my viola player who had blu tac on him):



A recording/video of the performance will be uploaded soon on my website www.catherinecheung.org




Sunday 23 September 2012

Naming a chamber group is hard.

Choosing a name for your chamber group can be hard. Very hard. I've recently experienced this over the weekend, when I finally established a piano trio with a good violinist friend of mine, and her good cellist friend.

Usually there are the usual options a chamber group can take:

1. Name the group after a favourite composer.
2. Name the group after a favourite chamber work (e.g. Archduke, Ghost, Trout)
3. Name the group after a member of the group.
4. Try and combine all the members' names into one name, and make it sound cool/abstract.


But what if you don't want these options? Naming your group after a composer or a work can define what your group is about, but can also strangle your chamber group into only performing works by said composer, or performing works in that style/period. Naming the group after a certain member could also have dire consequences if members get 'jealous'... or, in my case, no one in your group likes their own name enough.

So far we have...one option, which I have thought of, but I shall announce what the name shall be soon!

Saturday 22 September 2012

This is my website

I now have my own website, from which you can also access my blog, read tweets, and watch videos of me playing. It's still early stages so there will be more content added over the next few months. In the meantime, I hope you will carry on following this blog. Feel free to comment or request anything!

Musical Design of the Week (10)

To celebrate the arrival of iPhone 5.....








Tuesday 18 September 2012

New 'Glenn-Gould-inspired' app!

A new app for iPhone/iPad has come out, which is inspired by Glenn Gould's belief of using gestures to create musical compositions. 

It uses animated scenes with bells, stars, or floating quavers (to name a few) and the user presses or swipes these 'buttons' which triggers particular pitches, sequences or chords. It's almost like a nice improvising exercise on your phone, and you can record yourself and share it with your friends too. The app is loaded with the 'popular' classics like Beethoven's Moonlight Sonata, and Bach's Prelude in C

Here are some screenshots of the app:

Piano Invention app

Piano Invention app

Piano Invention app


App is FREE to download here!



Monday 17 September 2012

Leeds Piano Competition 2012: A lack of exposure

The Leeds Piano Competition finals were on Sunday, but in my opinion, compared to previous years, it has gone by very quietly indeed. No BBC live broadcast on TV (only BBC Radio 3), or any media hype about the finalists before/after the finals. I remember there used to be a lot of anticipation before the finals, but this year, there definitely was no such feeling. 

I feel there has almost been a slight shift in attitude towards piano competitions these days, or any competitions in fact. Sure, Leeds, along with Chopin, Tchaikovsky, Van Cliburn (and many others) are still the 'the big ones', but now, winning a competition is not a ticket to guaranteed success as it seemed to be a decade ago. You could win a competition, and chances are, audiences will easily forget about you after a couple of years... so I'm starting to ask the question: 

Are there still any genuinely good reasons to compete? 

There's first of all the prize money. This year's Leeds Winner, Federico Colli, from Italy would have been £18,000 richer over night, but after preparing for, I'm guessing, 2 or 3 years for a competition as big as this, is it worth it? Just having a normal teaching job could earn more in one year. (Music may feed the heart, but let's be practical here, we still have to earn a living).

A lot of pianists would agree, as do I, that we compete for the sake of getting exposure, although this year, the Leeds Piano Competition seems to have been a bit of a let down in that area. Radio is not really the exposure you are looking for in this day and age, and the internet has hardly exploded with Leeds Competition news. The Guardian wrote a measly 3 paragraph review on the finals, The Telegraph has nothing. Who should we be blaming for the lack of exposure? The Competition itself? Or the music critics? Alas, perhaps at the end of the day, everything is to do with funding, and Leeds just did not pay the BBC enough to get live coverage.



[If you missed the Leeds Competition on BBC Radio 3, you can catch up by listening to it on the BBC Radio 3 website. From 21/9/12, Dame Fanny Waterman and Lang Lang will feature in a six-part BBC 4 documentary about the Leeds Competition, aired on consecutive Friday evenings 7:30-8:30pm.]





Saturday 15 September 2012

Musical Design of the Week (9)

"Music will always be with us. It evolves over time but will bring forever joy, hope and inspiration to many. Some musicians and bands sadly fade away but there is always enormous new talent emerging from underneath."

Peeling violin

Thursday 13 September 2012

BBC Piano Season starts with...

Lang Lang smiling cheesily at the camera:



It's not surprising BBC has chosen Lang Lang to introduce the season. There will be a few programmes that focus on him with 'Lang Lang at the Roundhouse' and 'Lang Lang: The Art of Being a Virtuoso'. (Maybe it should be called Lang Lang Season?). Anyway, Piano Season is a six-week celebration of MY favourite instrument, and runs from tomorrow (September 14th) to November 6th. Highlights include Leeds Piano Competition and recitals by the likes of Alexei Grynyuk, Ashley Wass and Huw Watkins. 

For a full programme listing click here.

Sunday 9 September 2012

Piano Seesaw

This could work with the opening chords of either Tchaikovksy Piano Concerto, or Rachmaninov 2nd Piano Concerto!

Piano Seesaw

Saturday 8 September 2012

Musical Design of the Week (8)

I have loved this art work for many years, and I want to share it with you.

CONCERT FOR ANARCHY- Rebecca Horn






Tuesday 4 September 2012

Happy Birthday John Cage!

Tomorrow, John Cage would have turned 100, and all over the world, many events have taken place this year to celebrate him. Now, I could write a long article about his life, his works, his achievements and his philosophies in music, but I think sharing THIS with you is much more interesting.

The app celebrates one of the ingenious innovations of the American composer- the prepared piano. What's more, the sounds are authentic, and meticulously sampled from a piano prepared with the actual materials used by Cage while writing Sonatas and Interludes (1946-8).



Note: the above link is for the iPad app. For iOS/Android phone there is a FREE VERSION.

Sunday 2 September 2012

Coldplay and Charles Hazlewood's Paraorchestra

For a very long time, I was wondering why the Olympics and Paralympics featured so many British artists and yet Coldplay never appeared. They've been on the British music scene for 13 years since their debut album Parachutes. I've personally always had a soft spot for Coldplay (Chris Martin's falsetto has the right balance of polished and mature vs. fragile and raw, not to mention his talent in songwriting) but even if you're not a fan of their music, you have to admit that their music represents 'Britishness'. Every country in the world knows who Coldplay is.

My anxiousness about Coldplay not featuring in any of the Olympic/Paralympic celebrations has paid off though. Hundreds of musicians will be performing Viva la Vida around the UK at the same time to mark the end of the Paralympics, AND Coldplay will be joining Charles Hazlewood's 'Paraorchestra' in the closing ceremony.

Charles Hazlewood has campaigned vigorously for his Paraorchestra to perform in the closing ceremony of the Paralympics since the beginning of this year, putting pressure on Cameron and Culture Secretary Jeremy Hunt. His inspiration has been a personal one, as his daughter suffers from cerebral palsy. The paraorchestra is formed of 17 performers with disabilities including one-handed pianist, Nicholas McCarthy (who has featured heavily in the news recently), and Lyn Levett who has severe cerebral palsy and operates an iPad with her nose.

Channel 4 will be airing an hour-long documentary next Sunday about the orchestra. For now though, do visit the Paraorchestra website to check out the musicians and watch this incredible video:


Saturday 1 September 2012

Musical Design of the Week (7)

Now obviously this isn't brand new, but I thought I'd share it with those who haven't stumbled upon this before. Referred to as Neustadt Kunsthofpassage, this wall of a building in Dresden, Germany, has a very unique gutter system that 'plays music when it rains'. Probably not in the literal sense, but the point was to shed light on the pure orchestral sound of the rain. The Kunsthofpassage is actually a complex of buildings containing artworks and decorations - worth going there if you're ever in Germany!








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