This
coming weekend we return to the full force of our Indianapolis
Symphony Orchestra musicians (and then some) to command another
performance of a Mahler symphony, which thankfully (for me, anyway)
has been an annual tradition for most major orchestras since the
mid-20th century. While I probably said in my last blog that
Mahler’s Resurrection Symphony (his 2nd) was my favorite,
I will probably eat just a few morsels of those words. Each
of his symphonies affects me in different ways, and...
I
have had a fascination with foreign languages since high school and
have attempted to learn several – whether in school, at home, in
full-immersion summer courses, or just by hanging out with foreign
people in general. To much avail, I speak no other language
well, apart from a few phrases which amuse my 5-year-old son.
This fascination occurred when I read Ciardi’s translation of
Dante’s Inferno and simultaneously (and coincidentally)
learned a phrase in my Latin class, omni...
James
Joyce once said that if the town of Dublin were ever erased from
the planet, it could be rebuilt brick by brick from the detailed
descriptions in his own novel Ulysses. Conceivably he was
not talking about structural designs or the type of brick and
mortar that formed its walls, but in a word, its essence. It is
that which is unsaid, unspeakable, and indescribable, and many
artists struggle to capture the spirit of their inspiration. Few
artists actually attain this goal, though perhaps...
Fauré’s Requiem: La berceuse de mort *
Orchestras around the world perform Requiem masses quite regularly as part of their season. Apart from orchestral works based on love, heroism or nature, the Requiem Mass seems to be one of the very few genres that concentrate on a particular event in a person’s life: death. What intrigues us is how each composer utilizes the same liturgical texts from the mass proper but applies it differently in the music.
Without going into a history of each composer’s...Read More »
Orchestras around the world perform Requiem masses quite regularly as part of their season. Apart from orchestral works based on love, heroism or nature, the Requiem Mass seems to be one of the very few genres that concentrate on a particular event in a person’s life: death. What intrigues us is how each composer utilizes the same liturgical texts from the mass proper but applies it differently in the music.
Without going into a history of each composer’s...Read More »
It is quite extraordinary how the human brain can tuck away memories into the subconscious, only to be triggered back to the surface later in life. When asked to write a blog about my experiences with Yo-Yo Ma in Louisville in May of 1999, I remembered only a few minor details about the evening. After all, my time with him and pianist Jeffrey Kahane ten years ago spanned a fraction of a day – a mere five hours, if that. My trigger for that evening was a picture of Yo-Yo and me at the...
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Erik Thogerson is a recent graduate of Indiana University in
trumpet performance and currently serves as an intern with the
Operations and Artist departments of the Indianapolis Symphony
Orchestra. On his days off, Erik enjoys pony trekking in the
Chilean countryside with his pet chincilla, Cedric.
Following Botti
By Erik Thogerson
Chris Botti and former teacher Fred Sautter
When comparing Chris Botti’s life to my own there are some striking similarities. We were both born in Portland,...
Read More »May 10, 1999 was a Monday, and I remember it fondly. Not only was it the birthday of a dear friend of mine who ended up not accepting my mild romantic affections a few months earlier, but it was also the day I would be meeting the first of dozens of celebrities I would come to know over the next decade, and without a doubt one I would never forget.
With a dark blue cello case strapped tightly against his shoulders, Yo-Yo Ma stepped off the plane in Louisville, Kentucky. He approached me, warmly...
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