blog.sinden.org

Lent, 2024

26 November 2007
Panzera, Charles - grainy voice of

Don't miss a great article from the Texas Tech University Music Theory blog: "The grain of Josh Groban's voice."

Grain is a great word to apply to vocal quality. There is a focus in a fine voice, a germ, a yeast kernel, a mustard seed. Something that grows -- on you, and then in you.

I've heard this in the singing of Dietrich Fisher-Dieskau, but I haven't even heard the other name in the article: Charles Panzera.

What does he sound like, I wonder?

Labels: ,

 
18 November 2007
Herbert, George - "The Windows"

The BBC's weekly broadcast of Evensong (from Lincoln Cathedral this week) includes, among other things, the first broadcast of "The Windows" by Tarik O'Regan.

It's neat poem that uses stained glass as a metaphor for preaching.

"The Windows" by George Herbert.

Labels: , ,

 
16 November 2007
Anglo-Catholics - a hymn tribute to

Sinden.org has received the following in an email forward:

A Tribute to Anglo-Catholics
(tune: Aurelia: The Church's One Foundation)

Our church is mighty spikey with smells and bells and chants,
And Palestrina masses that vex the Protestants.
O happy ones and holy who fall upon their knees
For solemn Benediction and mid-week Rosaries.

Though with a scornful wonder men see our clergy, dressed
In rich brocaded vestments as slowly they process;
Yet saints their watch are keeping lest souls be set alight
Not by the Holy Spirit, but incense taking flight.

Now we on earth have uni on with Lambeth, not with Rome,
Although the wags and cynics may question our true home;
But folk masses and bingo can't possibly depose
The works of Byrd and Tallis, or Cranmer's stately prose.

(Here shall the organist modulate)

So let the organ thunder, sound fanfares "en chamade";
Rejoice, for we are treading where many saints have trod;
Let peals ring from the spire, sing descants to high C,
Just don't let your elation disrupt the liturgy.

Labels: , , ,

 
Portland, Oregon - smallness of

Yesterday, I received an email (from a secret society that wants me to be a member) that contained the following:

In major metropolitan areas in the US (Boston, New York, Washington DC, Chicago, Seattle, Portland, San Francisco, and Los Angeles) . . .

That's an interesting list. And it's not a "such as" list. That's the society's list of "major" metropolitan areas in the United States.

Immediately I noticed the lack of Houston (motto: "We're the fourth largest city in the country"), my home town, which happens to be the fourth largest city in the country.

Now, I can understand leaving out Pheonix, whose size (fifth largest) is really just a fluke of nature. It's a lot of old people who live in the desert. The lack of humidity keeps them pretty well preserved, but as soon as the big drought hits, that won't matter. They'll all die, and then it will be the largest ghost town in the world.

Meanwhile, Philadelphia (sixth largest) is pretty "major", both in size and historical importance. I mean, probably half the people who live here can trace their lineage back to Ben Franklin, so probably my secret society should at least show an interest in them.

San Antonio (seventh largest) has to make the list just for their hardcore river walk and Mexican food alone.

Discussion Question: Of the top ten largest U.S. cities, three start with the word "San". Can you name them? Why or why not?

Dallas (ninth largest) on the other hand has lost its usefulness ever since Walker: Texas Ranger stopped production.

There are some other notable omissions as well, especially when one stops to consider Portland (motto: "We might be small, but we are better than you, and we know it"). Portland is a small city. In fact, Portland is only the 31st largest city in the U.S.

Here is just a handful of the cities that my secret society should have mentioned before getting to Portland:

Living in a big country really is fun. All these different states and cities to learn about and visit. Life just wouldn't be the same in Greece.

Labels: ,

 
14 November 2007
Gothique - Suite

Why does Boellman's Suite Gothique have its own Wikipedia entry?

Labels:

 
13 November 2007
orchestras - laptop

Getting some attention lately: laptop orchestras. Geeky.

I got to this via Jason Kottke who has been a little bit more classical music oriented since his interview with Alex Ross last month.

Today, Jason also points us to news about Tim Page, music critic of the Washington Post. If you read the email in question, it sounds like he's just being critical of something that's not classical music.

What, that's not allowed?

Labels: ,

 
12 November 2007
Lee, Jeffrey - hymn-loving new bishop

Jeffrey D. Lee was elected the 12th Bishop of Chicago on Saturday. Lee wrote a letter to his parish in Medina, Washington which included the following:

The first verse of one of my favorite hymns goes like this:

All my hope on God is founded;
He doth still my trust renew,
Me through change and chance he guideth,
Only good and only true.
God unknown, he alone
Calls my heart to be his own. (The Hymnal 1982, 665)

A hymn-loving bishop! And a Howellsian-hymn-loving bishop at that!

This can only bode well for Chicago.

Labels:

 
09 November 2007
iPod - put hymns on your

Finally, a pretty good illustration/prop for a talk I gave a while ago entitled "Put hymns on your iPod"

Hymn Book leather cover for iPod (via Patrick Moberg of the recent nygirlofmydreams.com fame.)

Labels:

 
06 November 2007
Scott, John - fussiness of
When Dallas built the Morton H. Meyerson Symphony Center, nothing would do but equipping it with the best pipe organ money could buy. Now we're lucky to hear the big C.B. Fisk organ in a solo recital once a year.

Cantrell, Scott. "Fussiness dampens organist John Scott's power". Dallas Morning News, 1 Nov 2007.

An interesting remark, but one that doesn't really surprise me. Texas tends to be all about the show and all about the money. One might say it's a "show me the money" kind of state. The Meyerson Fisk certainly displays a great deal of money donated by the Lay's potato chip family. And don't get me wrong -- it's a great organ, but one that is better seen than heard. Texans aren't really interested in "hearing the money" after all.

I'm picking on Texas here because it's fun. Really, this is the kind of thing I imagine happens everywhere. Having an organ in a concert hall is a great idea, one grounded in the past and the future, but not the present. Concert halls have historically had nice organs in them, so concert hall designers naturally want an organ in their hall. If they don't put an organ in, they reason, they'll wish they had later when the conductor wants to sell out a concert with the Saint-Saens "Organ" Symphony, but lacks an instrument.

And certainly those concert halls built with organs do use them from time to time; mostly in big, showy "organ & orchestra" pieces like the Saint-Saens and a handful of others.

But as far as the concert hall organ as a recital instrument? This is a harder sell. Dallas is living through the Meyerson organ's first decade, and Scott Cantrell, the reviewer, is among those who are unhappy with how often the instrument is heard in a solo capacity (or maybe even with orchestra?). I'm sure there are all kinds of reasons why the organ isn't heard all that often, chief among them being hall availability/expense and the organ's unpopularity as a solo instrument. These two factors in combination set the stage for the reality of "a solo recital once a year" if we're lucky.

As if on cue, hot-shot Julliard organ professor Paul Jacobs sounds off to the Morning Call: "I've always believed that if watching people hit a golf ball around can be embraced by the public and have such a large following, surely the organ, played in an exulting manner, should be able to attract an equal audience in terms of size".

As orchestras more carefully market their programming to their audiences, they also manipulate organ programming. The organ, rather than an instrument of artistic merit, is used as another avenue to bring people into the concert hall (where they can then be sold on the halls beauty, and the affordability of other concerts held there). One such ploy, as I see it, is the accompanying of silent movies around Halloween time. There's nothing wrong with this, per se, but (hypothetically) given that the organ in the concert hall is not a theater organ, and given that this is the only time the organ is heard by itself, then yes, this is gimmicky. An improvised film accompaniment, even when done well, lacks the variety and artistry of a varied program of organ repertoire.

But then there's John Scott, who Dallas brought in to play the back 9 on the Meyerson. So, how does John Scott fair in his Dallas recital? Is he as exciting as Tiger Woods?

Mr. Scott's virtuoso technique was everywhere in evidence, and there certainly wasn't a dull moment. . . He got a standing ovation.

Good -- but is that good enough?

Stylistically, though, this was baroque playing of a kind that came and went in the United States two decades ago.

. . . [I]n the 1970s and early '80s some organists tried to outdo one another in breaking up lines with fussy articulations and clipped pedal notes.

Scholarly players have long since moved beyond this kind of point-making, but not, it seems, Mr. Scott.

More freely written passages . . . were turned into extravagant taffy pulls.

This was a burlesque of historically informed performance practices, artifice choking art.

Wow. And this choked art gets a standing ovation?

. . . yes, a Sinden.org treatment of Standing Ovation Syndrome (SOS) is long overdue . . .

Even if organists can't all play up to Paul Jacobs's standards (and who can?) somehow I think that concert hall committees will continue to build organs.

But they'll be fussy about it. It's always fussiness when it comes to the organ.

Labels: , , ,

 
Sibelius - influence on Coltrane, Bernstein?

While we were gone:

Sibelius and Coltrane on the town (Alex Ross: The Rest is Noise)

Labels:

 
04 November 2007
Williams, Rowan - Tokens of Trust

In my ongoing ability to ignore books by prominent theologians whom I admire and respect, I have so far overlooked the publication of Rowan Williams's Tokens of Trust: An Introduction to Christian Belief, published in March.

Williams, as you may know, is the Archbishop of Canterbury -- the symbolic head of the Anglican Communion.

In reading the Publishers Weekly review, it becomes immediately clear that Williams is an "Anglican" rather than an "Episcopalian":

"At the heart of the desperate suffering there is in the world," writes Williams, "suffering we can do nothing to resolve or remove for good, there is an indestructible energy making for love."

Had this been written by an "Episcopalian" the last bit would have read ". . . an indestructible energy for making love."

Labels: ,

 

©MMXVII Sinden.org: a site for fun and prophet

Organ and church music, esoteric liturgics, and a site that changes color with the liturgical year.

Archetypes

Looking for Carol Spreadsheets?

Hungry? Try the Liturgical Guide to Altoids Consumption

Thirsty? Try the Tibia Liquida

The Eric Harding Thiman Fan Page: The greatest composer you've never even heard of.

Infrequently Asked Questions

picture of a chicken

Questions? Problems? email the sexton.

Archon

The author of this website is an organist whom the New York Times calls “repeatedly, insisting that he pay for his subscription”. He likes to read parking meters, music, Indianapolis Monthly, and weather forecasts in Celsius, particularly whilst wearing cassock and surplice. He serves lasagna, overhand, as an example to many, and on ecclesiastical juries. He mixes salads, drinks, and metaphors. He takes photos, lots of dinner mints, and a little bit of time to get to know.

about

contact

Archbishops

Anglicans Online
Alex Ross: The Rest is Noise
Book of Common Prayer
Brain Pickings
The Daily Office
The Lectionary Page
Sed Angli
Ship of Fools
The Sub-Dean's Stall
Vested Interest - Trinity Church in the City of Boston

Archenemies

Andrew Kotylo - Concert Organist
Aphaeresis
Anne Timberlake
Bonnie Whiting, percussion
conjectural navel gazing: jesus in lint form
Friday Night Organ Pump
Halbert Gober Organs, Inc.
in time of daffodils
Joby Bell, organist
Musical Perceptions
Musings of a Synesthete
My Life as Style, Condition, Commodity.
Nathan Medley, Countertenor
Notes on Music & Liturgy
The Parker Quartet
Roof Crashers & Hem Grabbers
Steven Rickards
That Which We Have Heard & Known
This Side of Lost
Wayward Sisters
Zachary Wadsworth | composer

Archenemies Aviary

@DanAhlgren
@dcrean
@ericthebell
@jwombat
@larrydeveney
@nmedley
@samanthaklein
@sopranist
@voxinferior

Arches

Advent (Medfield MA)
All Saints, Ashmont (Boston MA)
All Saints (Indianapolis IN)
Atonement (Bronx NY)
Broadway UMC (Indianapolis IN)
Cathedral of All Saints (Albany NY)
Christ Church (Bronxville NY)
Christ Church (Madison IN)
Christ Church (New Haven CT)
Christ Church Cathedral (Indianapolis IN)
Christ's Church (Rye NY)
Church of St. Stephen (Hamden CT)
Congregational (Belmont CA)
Coventry Cathedral (UK)
First UMC (Lancaster SC)
Gloria Dei ELCA (Iowa City IA)
Immanuel Lutheran (St Paul MN)
Immanuel Lutheran (Webster NY)
John Knox PCUSA (Houston TX)
St Andrew (Marblehead MA)
St Andrew's, Oregon Hill (Richmond VA)
St Bartholomew the Great, (London, England)
St James's (Lake Delaware NY)
St James's (Richmond VA)
St James Cathedral (Chicago IL)
St Mary's Cathedral (Memphis TN)
St Matthew and St Timothy (NYC)
St Paul's (Cleveland Heights OH)
St Paul's (Indianapolis IN)
St Paul's Cathedral (Buffalo NY)
St Paul's, K Street (Washington DC)
St Peter's (Lakewood OH)
St Peter's ELCA (NYC)
St Stephen's (Richmond VA
St Thomas (New Haven CT)
St Thomas ELCA (Bloomington IN)
Second PCUSA (Indianapolis IN)
Towson Presbyterian Church (MD)
Tremont Temple Baptist (Boston MA)
Trinity (Indianapolis IN)
Trinity on the Green (New Haven CT)

Auraling

BBC Radio 3 Choral Evensong
New College (Oxford, England)
St John's College (Cambridge, England)
St Thomas (New York NY)

Argyle

Like the site? Buy the shirt.

Areyou . . .

selling diphthongs?
Yes, but they're not the kind you buy on Wheel of Fortune.

the owner of a bower at Bucklesfordberry?
Full daintily it is dight.

interested in touch lamps?
And fountain pens.

Archives
this site used to be better:

March 2004
April 2004
May 2004
June 2004
July 2004
August 2004
September 2004
October 2004
November 2004
December 2004
January 2005
February 2005
March 2005
April 2005
May 2005
June 2005
July 2005
August 2005
September 2005
October 2005
November 2005
December 2005
January 2006
February 2006
March 2006
April 2006
May 2006
June 2006
July 2006
August 2006
September 2006
October 2006
November 2006
December 2006
January 2007
February 2007
March 2007
April 2007
May 2007
June 2007
July 2007
August 2007
September 2007
October 2007
November 2007
December 2007
January 2008
February 2008
March 2008
April 2008
May 2008
June 2008
July 2008
August 2008
September 2008
October 2008
November 2008
December 2008
January 2009
February 2009
March 2009
April 2009
May 2009
June 2009
July 2009
August 2009
September 2009
October 2009
November 2009
December 2009
January 2010
March 2010
April 2010
May 2010
June 2010
July 2010
August 2010
September 2010
October 2010
November 2010
December 2010
January 2011
February 2011
March 2011
April 2011
May 2011
June 2011
July 2011
August 2011
September 2011
October 2011
November 2011
December 2011
January 2012
February 2012
April 2012
May 2012
June 2012
July 2012
August 2012
September 2012
October 2012
December 2012
January 2013
March 2013
April 2013
May 2013
June 2013
July 2013
August 2013
September 2013
October 2013
November 2013
December 2013
January 2014
February 2014
March 2014
April 2014
May 2014
June 2014
August 2014
September 2014
October 2014
November 2014
December 2014
January 2015
February 2015
April 2015
May 2015
June 2015
July 2015
August 2015
September 2015
October 2015
November 2015
December 2015
January 2016
February 2016
March 2016
April 2016
June 2016
July 2016
August 2016
September 2016
October 2016
November 2016
December 2016
January 2017
February 2017
March 2017
April 2017
May 2017
June 2017
July 2017
August 2017
September 2017
October 2017
November 2017
December 2017
January 2018
February 2018
March 2018
April 2018
May 2018
June 2018
August 2018
September 2018
October 2018
December 2018
February 2019
March 2019
October 2019
December 2019
September 2020
December 2020
January 2021
September 2021
October 2021
December 2021
November 2022
December 2022
March 2023
July 2023
March 2024