Saturday, December 20, 2014

Christmas Blogcert 2014, The Franklinoc Flute Ensemble




The Franklinoc Flute Ensemble

Deck the Halls 
Traditional Welsh. Arr. Kenneth Baird

Silent Night
Franz Gruber. Arr. Kenneth Baird

Ar Hyd y Nos
Traditional Welsh

Carol of the Bells 
Mykola Leontovych

Jolly Old Saint Nicholas
Attributed to Benjamin R. Hanby 

We Wish You a Merry Christmas
Traditional English. Arr. Kenneth Baird

Painting by artist Cheri Wollenberg:


Sources
Deck the Halls, Silent Night, We Wish You A Merry Christmas
Ar Hyd y Nos, Carol Of The Bells, Jolly Old St Nicholas


Saturday, November 29, 2014

Crown Fountain and Sunday Morning



This is Crown Fountain.  It is located at Millennium Park, Chicago, Illinois.  The fountain is a display of two tall towers, composed of clear brick, and a reflecting pool that has a black floor.   The towers display video of the faces of Chicago residents.  The models are very still, making sudden micro-expressions after lengths of visual silence.  It ends with an explosion of water coming out of the mouth.  

I wrote this flute trio (Sunday Morning) using the MuseScore application.  It is a free music writing application with an online community.  I used a new device, the THX Certified Microphone.  It makes a pretty big difference in quality of sound.  Up until now, I have just been using my MacBook microphone to record.  

Franklinoc






Friday, October 24, 2014

Hello, Sue!






During a trip to Chicago, we stopped at The Field Museum to see Sue.  Here is an excerpt about him (Sue is a male.  He is named after Sue Hendrickson, palaeontologist, the female human responsible for this amazing find.  ) from The Field Museum website:

The world-famous fossil known as “Sue” is the largest, best-preserved, and most complete Tyrannosaurus Rex ever found. Sue measures 42 feet long from snout to tail and 13 feet tall at the hip. She boasts 58 dagger-like teeth and cuts a fine figure as the Museum’s most popular backdrop for visitor photos. A replica skull crowns the skeleton in Stanley Field Hall, while Sue’s original skull, which weighs 600 pounds, rests within an exhibition on the Museum’s balcony, under a mural depicting this majestic creature in the flesh.
  • Marvel at the size and superb preservation of Sue’s skeleton, which is more than 90 percent complete.
  • Examine Sue’s original skull from all sides—even underneath—and discover what scientists suspect may have caused the holes in her mighty jaws.
  • Explore the difference between fact, theory, and speculation and see clips from pop culture that show how scientific understanding of T. rex has changed over the years.
  • Discover what a CT scan of Sue’s skull revealed about T. rex that scientists had not previously known.

Sunday, August 24, 2014

Plaisir d'amour






Plaisir d'amour
Jean-Paul-Egide Martini

Plaisir d'amour ne dure qu'un moment.

chagrin d'amour dure toute la vie.



J'ai tout quitté pour l'ingrate Sylvie.

Elle me quitte et prend un autre amant.


Plaisir d'amour ne dure qu'un moment.
chagrin d'amour dure toute la vie.

Tant que cette eau coulera doucement
vers ce ruisseau qui borde la prairie,

Je t'aimerai me répétait Sylvie.
L'eau coule encore. Elle a changé pourtant.

Plaisir d'amour ne dure qu'un moment.
chagrin d'amour dure toute la vie.

~
The pleasure of love lasts only a moment

The grief of love lasts a lifetime.



I gave up everything for ungrateful Sylvia,

She is leaving me for another lover.


The pleasure of love lasts only a moment,
The grief of love lasts a lifetime.

"As long as this water will run gently
Towards this brook which borders the meadow,

I will love you", Sylvia told me repeatedly.
The water still runs, but she has changed.

The pleasure of love lasts only a moment,
The grief of love lasts a lifetime.


Sunday, February 23, 2014

Cindy's Jane Austin tour in London, England, September 2013




"The Jane Austen tour footage is a combination of video from the Jane Austen annual parade held in Bath, England each year, some footage of a lovely gentle waterfall in a park and the swans gently swimming in Hyde Park in London, England.  All of this video was filmed in September 2013 when I was in England celebrating my 40th birthday with a much awaited 4 day Jane Austen tour and some additional time in London, England"
~ Cindy M.


The Flower Duet, from Léo Delibes opera Lakmé

Click here to listen to voice
Wikipedia entry on The Flower Duet

Sunday, January 12, 2014