Monthly Archives: February 2019

Aphorisms for Composers – February 2019

February 3, 2019

I think we (composers) should bring back hand manuscript for its viable professional advantages. Not because it is old, or tried and true, but because it is flexible, personal, and represents a tactile relationship with the page (with pencil and paper) that translates to touching the music.

Have I created a new genre: the Dinky Singspiel? (continue here…) After writing two series of “scenes” for working life in the offices of the Tufts University Music Department,

Dinky Singspiel:

New form?
Sing, play
Future way.

Quick fix?
Small thrall,
Concert hall?

A composer lives symbiotically through performers.

Tufts Sunday Concert Series – Work and Life

Thank you for these great remarks, Thomas Stumpf:

“Yesterday afternoon there was a deeply affecting concert at Tufts, beautifully curated by John McDonald on the subject of work and life. John played the piano throughout with his usual brilliance, his playing of the amazing Poulenc cycle on painters was particularly strong… Julia Cavallaro used her gorgeous mezzo sound and total emotional commitment all afternoon – and turned out to be a very fine composer with the guts to set Anne Sexton’s take on Van Gogh!! The (as usual) amazing Philipp A. Stäudlin’s alto sax matched her timbre astonishingly… And then there was the ending. A glorious performance of Schubert’s „Nacht und Träume“. And just when the last chord had faded, John started to play his P.S. on the song. Which turned out to be no post scriptum at all, but an incredibly courageous extension and exploration into emotional areas Schubert only hinted at. Philipp played his heart out all the way to the irresolute ending that left us all hanging….
All the consummate skill and immense courage and emotional thrill that was missing in the Super Bowl game (despite the fact that of course the right team won) – here it was in abundance. I’m deeply grateful.”