The Fine Art of Listening

Oh man, there are soooooo many good Viola jokes. How many, you ask? So many, that Wikipedia has a an entry for “Viola Jokes“.

The viola is definitely the black sheep of the string family. Essentially, it’s an oversized violin – but it’s out of proportion to the violin and the cello – the body is larger than the violin, but the neck isn’t proportionally longer, and so the strings aren’t as tense as the violin or cello, giving it a sound distinct from its family members (a subtle difference, but it’s there.) Historically, violinists who couldn’t cut it on the violin were “demoted” to viola, which tended to have boring, easier parts to play.

But that was soooooo 1700. Nowadays, violists might still be the black sheep, but they can play just as well as their violin/cello counterparts, and have even managed to score a handful of pieces specifically for their instrument. Carl Maria von Weber was attracted to the dark, muted timbre of the instrument, and churned out this little two-movement Hungarian dance for the instrument.

Quite frankly, nobody can even come near Shakespeare in his mastery of language. He is to English what Bach was to counterpoint, Tchaikovsky to melody, or Mozart to form and balance.

Anyone who sings in a choir knows the name John Rutter. He might be considered one of those “crossover composers” – writing music that is hard to place as purely “classical” or “popular”. Naturally, this has made him disliked by many elitist musicians who seek reasons to turn their noses up at composers who are actually successful during their lifetimes. But once you get over that bit of nonsense, you’ll find that he is a master composer with impeccable technique (solid & interesting vocal writing) who knows how to please his performers and audiences with honest, unpretentious music.

“Blow, blow, thou winter wind” is a song found in Shakespeare’s “As you Like It“. I am particularly fond of this text, and find comfort in it when I’m having a bad day. Rutter’s setting is perfect. It flows like a popular song, has a sweeping melody (with a couple fantastic 9-8 suspensions!) and some harmonic twists that give it a bite – like a winter wind: not so unkind as man’s ingratitude.

It’s only natural that humans compare their lives to the world around them – the birth (or rebirth) of life at spring, the fruits of summer, the autumnal decline, the unforgiving winter.

Composer Thomas Morley lived during England’s Elizabethan golden age and is best known for the secular Madrigals – choral pieces related to the polyphonic sacred music of the time, but with texts about love, death, and everything in between. Morley was probably friends with Shakespeare, and is one of only two composers whose music was used in Shakespeare‘s productions while the great poet was alive.

His short madrigal, “April is in my Mistress’ Face” compares his lover to … er … certain months of the year.

Ouch.