Hofnote Newsletter

February 2010

Hello and welcome back into the New Year. The first newsletter of this year begins by looking at endings!

In this newsletter we want to thank Jenny who asked the question, "What is a coda" 

As ever we wish everyone well who is sitting an exam. Why do they call it sitting when you stand to play many instruments?

Hofnote tips from a student

Do no more than 3 of each exercise each session - Do the exercises you find harder at the beginning of the session, And end with the easy ones. This keeps it fun, and makes you feel good about ending the session on a high note!

Haydn's Trumpet Concerto for his Friend

Haydn's Trumpet Concerto Haydn wrote his trumpet concerto fairly late in his career for a long-standing friend of his, Anton Weidinger. The concerto would have seemed quite revolutionary for its time, because it asked the trumpet to play things that had, up to that time, been impossible. Was it a matter of technique that no other trumpeter had discovered, or was it something else? To find out how Weidinger and Haydn between them made the impossible happen, we need to look at the trumpet as it was in those days. The modern trumpet has valves which effectively lengthen or shorten the tube, and so can play all the notes of the chromatic scale. In Haydn's day, trumpets had no valves, and were fixed-length tubes. In the lower register, the trumpet could only play widely-spaced notes of the arppeggio, and notes closer together were only possible in the upper part of the register. To be able to play in different keys, the trumpeter had to carry a set of crooks (U-shaped tubes) which could be inserted to alter the length of the tube, and consequently alter the pitch of the notes he could play. As you can imagine, the music that the trumpeter could play was very limited, and you can see this in orchestral scores of the time. Anton Weidinger developed a trumpet which had keys, and so could play the notes of the chromatic scale in the lower register - and for the first time, trumpets could play tunes in the lower register. Haydn wrote the solo trumpet part of his concerto to do just that. If you look at the score, you can see the difference between the parts written for the orchestral trumpeters, who had "natural" trumpets, and for the solo trumpeter. To hear the trumpet concerto at its first performance would have been an experience not to be forgotten. Here is the score for the trumpet solo //http://abel.hive.no/trumpet/haydn/handke.html, You can listen to the trumpet concerto on the Naxos website (www.naxos.com). //www.bbc.co.uk/radio3/discoveringmusic/pip/4tbrw/, Pictures of the natural trumpet can be seen at the Edinburgh University website: //www.music.ed.ac.uk/euchmi/ucj/ucjth3.html#3280,

Singing in a choir

Hello, my name is Jenny. I have been singing for as long as I can remember, in school choirs, church choirs and as a soloist. Currently, I am a member of the Masquerade Youth Choir. Recently we went to London, to perform in our concert at Cadogan Hall. This was a thrilling experience for us, because of the opportunity to sing in such a prestigious location. Walking on stage, everyone was very nervous and excited, as we had been rehearsing for this event for several months, and finally our hard work was about to be rewarded. The concert went brilliantly, and we all had an amazing time. I would recommend being in a choir to anyone who likes music, because it is a way of meeting people who share your interests, as well as learning some fantastic music and getting the chance to perform on a regular basis.

Beethoven

Beethoven stands at the height and end of the Classical period. Haydn composed at the beginning of the Classical period and taught the young Beethoven. Personally they didn’t get on very well, but Beethoven always had a great respect for Haydn as a composer. Beethoven is a crucial figure in the transition from Classical to Romantic music. Classical music concentrated on the form and structure of the music, whereas the Romantic period which followed allowed other ideas to help shape the music. These included using the music to reflect nature and to express ideas which were not musical . Literature also began to play a big role, particularly plays by Shakespeare (as in Mendelssohn’s Overture to a Midsummer Night’s Dream) and literature by the German poet Goethe. Many consider Beethoven’s genius to be in the way he constructed his music. He extended and developed the established Classical forms. His fifth symphony opens with what is probably one of the most famous musical themes of all time. The BBC used to tap out the theme of this work in radio broadcasts to the Free French during the Second World War. Dot-dot-dot-dash. Morse code for V. V for Victory. His sixth symphony, known as the Pastoral Symphony, reflects nature. There is an unmistakable thunderstorm in it and the birds singing afterwards, (nightingale, cuckoo and quail) but Beethoven himself denied that his music deliberately mimicked anything else and saw it more as a musical reflection and response to life. Each of the movements has a title which tells something about the feelings that Beethoven wanted to evoke. He wrote his first symphony when he was about 30 years old and continued composing others during the next 13 years, during which time he wrote eight symphonies. He then did not write another symphony for 12 years before writing his 9th symphony which was the first symphony to include a choral movement. It features a choral setting of Schiller’s ‘Ode An die Freude’ ("Ode to Joy"), an optimistic hymn championing the brotherhood of humanity. An orchestral version of the fourth movement has been the official anthem of the European Union and this would probably have pleased Beethoven who was attracted to the ideals of the Enlightenment. //http://www.madaboutbeethoven.com/pages/beethoven_music/beethoven_music_title.html, //en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ludwig_van_Beethoven, From Sunday 5th June until Friday 10th June , the BBC will be broadcasting every work of Beethoven’s http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio3/beethoven/beethovenworks.shtml //http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio3/beethoven/beethovenworks.shtml,

Beethoven dedicated his third symphony to Napoleon as he hoped that he would bring about republican values, but when it Napoleon sought to be an Emperor, Beethoven angrily crossed his name out and it called it ‘Eroica’ meaning heroic. In his late twenties Beethoven started to go deaf. One of the things he used to do was to ‘listen‘ to music by placing his chin on a pencil on the piano and feeling the vibrations. Beethoven had a turbulent life and even contemplated suicide as his deafness progressed. Some of his works reflect his struggle and others are gloriously victorious. Many people who have done great things have overcome what other people would see as insurmountable obstructions. This week news has broken of a blind person, Miles Hilton-Barbe who flew a Plane half way around the World. He had wanted to be a pilot since being a child but went blind. He is quoted as saying, "That's what made me realize the problem in my life wasn't my blindness," he said, "The only thing holding me back was five inches, the distance between my ears. Attitude is what determines altitude." Beethoven composed despite going deaf and Miles Hilton-Barbe flew a plane despite going blind. It does seem as though nothing is impossible if you really want to do it! //www.smh.com.au/news/national/blind-ambition-sees-miles-set-record/2007/04/30/1177788013918.html, Here are some Beethoven quotes Music is the mediator between the spiritual and the sensual life. ~Ludwig van Beethoven When I open my eyes, I can only sigh, for what I see is contrary to my creed: and I must despise the world for not perceiving that music is a higher revelation than any wisdom or philosophy. It is the wine that inspires new creations, and I am the Bacchus, who presses out this wine for men, and makes them spiritually drunk; when they are sober they bring to shore all kinds of things which they have caught. God is nearer to me than to others. I approach him without fear, I have always known him. Neither am I anxious about my music, which no adverse fate can overtake, and which will free him who understands it from the misery which afflicts others. ~Ludwig van Beethoven If anyone has conducted a Beethoven performance, and then doesn't have to go to an osteopath, then there's something wrong. ~Simon Rattle "You can't possibly hear the last movement of Beethoven's Seventh and go slow." Oscar Levant, explaining his way out of a speeding ticket. "Life can't be all bad when for ten dollars you can buy all the Beethoven sonatas and listen to them for ten years." William F. Buckley, Jr. What did Beethoven’s call his father? Da Da Da Dah !!!

A new twist on a memory game

Here is a link to a new twist on the memory game. This is like the card game where two cards are turned over to find pairs and if the two cards match they are left with the picture showing otherwise they are turned upsidedown again and another pair picked. The aim is to match all the pairs. In this game each time a card is turned over a tune plays and you have to match the tunes instead of the pictures. We found it very challenging even at the easy levels. I would love hear how you get on. //www.melodymemorygame.com/?nl=1,

A new use for a clarinet ?!?!

There was a young performer called Alex, Who really hated the Daleks. He got a clarinet, And whacked it over the head, It was never ever seen again. Thanks Alex, for this unusual use for a clarinet

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