Topic
Category: Music
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Riley and Mozart
Two performances last week and both were challenges in endurance. The first was Terry Riley’s In C with DICE (Dickinson Improvisation and Collaboration Ensemble), a new flexible-instrumentation group at the college, and Third Coast Percussion; the second was Mozart’s Vesperae Solennes…
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Impediments to Progress: Holes and Loops
David Waters, my professor in grad school, referred to deficiencies in technique as “holes.” Just like a depression in your yard, the hole could be filled with the right tools and some hard work. Others call them hurdles or obstacles.…
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Everything You Never Cared To Know About the Trombone Glissando
The Trombone Glissando The single most common “mistake” I see from composers in trombone parts is the unplayable glissando. Perhaps the most famous is from the fourth movement of Bartók’s Concerto for Orchestra: Can’t do it (for reasons I’ll explain…