Kansas Bound

I received notification yesterday that my abstract was accepted for a 19th-century music conference taking place 16 July-18 July at the University of Kansas in Lawrence, Kansas. This will mark the furthest West I have traveled. I was surprised and relieved to find out about my selection, but now the stress rolls in over preparing my subject matter. The submission was a bit odd in that the abstract was limited to 250 words, and the deadline for submission, for a July conference, was early January. This means a clear and concise abstract was highly desirable, yet you also had to leave some wiggle room in case things develop unexpectedly during the research phase. My topic is on the definition, or lack thereof, of the grande Symphony in the early nineteenth century. My friend and colleague, Der Frauenverkauefer, to use his alias from the previous blog, was also accepted to the conference. We presented at a conference in Texas a few years ago, and it is good to know I will be traveling and rooming with someone I already know. I will provide more details as they become available (I do not even know who the keynote speaker is yet).

Yuri Bashmet All Strung Out

At a recent concert, renowned violist Yuri Bashmet experienced an unfortunate event with his 1758 viola. I guess the tension was too much to bear. Enjoy!

JB

As some of my friends and colleagues have heard this before, I have a working theory, or at least pointing out a big coincidence, regarding the names of fictitious special operatives and spies. Consider the following:

• James Bond - the legendary double-0 operative from MI-6 created by Ian Fleming.
• Jason Bourne - the American special-ops agent who suffers a brain washing and must piece together his past in order to learn who he is and who from his own organization has wronged him.
• Jack Bauer - The American special-ops agent on "24."
  

Apparently, if you have an idea for a movie or television show about espionage or an elite member risking life and limb for their country, and want the project to be successful, the first rule is to name the character with the initials, J. B.

A Winterreise Kind of Day

She's Back!

I had to carry over at least one item from my previous blog!

The Dissertation Chronicle, Opus 7

A couple of weeks ago I turned in the first draft of my dissertation proposal to my advisor. I received some helpful comments and had a lengthy, hour-long discussion with my advisor. I am still in the revision stage of the proposal, but forging ahead to actual intensive analysis of the symphonies I have gathered thus far. Over the past week, I made a significant and helpful contact regarding one of my composers. There is a Swede who is interested in music from this time and created a website devoted to Paul Wranitzky, one of the composers I am look at. The site is great for the information provided about the composer, and the list of contributors include notable names in the field of music history. Though the site master is nt a musician by trade or profession (I believe he is a computer programmer), he does good work. I contacted him, descibed my dissertation topic to him, and he has been emailing me symphonies by Wranitzky I need to look at. This is great for me because this will be about ten fewer scores I will have to track down and request from libraries and/or travel to acquire them on my own. I am examining the three symphonies I have received so far, and look forward to receiving the remaining symphonies. Who knows, perhaps this could lead to a new wave in music research.

An OK Computer Kind of Day

A couple of weekends ago, the temprature was milder than it had been, and this brought in a layer of fog that never burned off during the day. It was one of those days where the weather impacted one's productivity. So I put on Radiohead's OK Computer and enjoyed the fog as it provided a silken, yet sullen, screen from the urban view from my balcony. The album is the perfect accompaniment for days like these. The eclectic "Paranoid Android" does not fit at times,
but the beginning of the second half fits well. Then comes the quintology of "Subterranean Homesick Alien," "Exit Music (For a Film)," "Let Down," "Karma Police," and "Fitter Happier" that really set the mood for the day. The combination of this album and the weather, particularly a rainy day makes for great reflection.