Wednesday, February 17, 2010
Saturday, February 6, 2010
Dr. Hancock in concert
I met Dr. Hancock about eight hours before the concert. He was practicing the Fantasy on B-A-C-H by Maxx Reger. When I talked to him he had so much to say about how much he liked the two and a-half-year-old 90 rank Casavant he was playing, he said something along the lines of "What a fabulous organ this is. Such a magnificent addition to the organ community, this is truly one of the great organs of the country and among the best recent contributions to organ building on the entire planet."
At 7:30 I found myself in the Sanctuary again, free of the $10 charge thanks to the generosity of the Music Director of Saint Paul's, Frank Boles. The program began with the Fantasy and Fugue on B-A-C-H by Maxx Reger, a dynamic, impressive, and dazzling piece. Upon the first big chord in the first measure of the Fantasy, a lady in front of me shook so violently, I swear I have never seen anybody so startled by the power of a pipe organ. He played through the Fantasy and Fugue without a single flaw or mistake using incredibly effective registrations made possible by the immense variety of the 90 ranks of pipes
Next on the program was the Piece d'Orgue (BWV 572) by Johann Sebastian Bach, Gerre played the piece with consistency and joyous registrations, the Lentement section of the piece was enjoyed by everyone for sure!
The third piece Gerre performed was the famous Chorale in A minor by Cesar Franck. Gerre played through piece again with perfect registration choices and perfect consistency.
The Prelude and Fugue in E minor by Nikolaus Bruhns was to follow, Gerre played this piece very well and it was enjoyed by all. There was a point in the Prelude where it sounded to me that he used the Tuba Mirabilis, I don't know about that but it was interesting to note.
Last on the program before the 'fun part' was the Canon, Chacony and Fugue by Leo Sowerby, dedicated to E. Power Biggs. Hancock played this charming piece with magnificent joy and understanding of the piece.
After a ten minute intermission, the Improvisation themes were submitted to Dr. Hancock, the four movement improvised symphony began!
The first movement was a Sonata-form piece in which he used many of the organs resources from beautiful english reeds to the to-die-for flutes. This was followed by a Song-form movement in which he used various solo reeds contrasting against various strings and soft flute stops.
Next was an incredibly fun Scherzo on the theme of "Zippidy do da!" exploring many of the organ's bright, light, and joyful stop opportunities. Last was a Fugue and Finale, Gerre developed a fugue that move seamlessly into a flourishing finale, slowly beginning to utilize other themes from the symphony, the crescendo was smooth and gradual. He closed the the Finale with a flourishing finish, utilizing every stop on the organ including the 19 rank Nave organ and the 8' Hooded Festival trompette. Returning to the theme of "Zippidy do da", he weaved the familiar tune into genius clashing chords forming it perfectly into a magnificent conclusion. Just as soon as the decay had ceased, I was the first person in the audience to stand and clap. Everyone I came across could not say enough how much they enjoyed the concert. Dr. Hancock's performance was enjoyed by all in attendance and I speak for myself when I say it is all I could think about until I fell to sleep that night.
Photo by Bernadette Wagner of Dr. Hancock during the concert, standing in front of the gorgeous four manual terraced console of the Casavant organ at Saint Paul's.
At 7:30 I found myself in the Sanctuary again, free of the $10 charge thanks to the generosity of the Music Director of Saint Paul's, Frank Boles. The program began with the Fantasy and Fugue on B-A-C-H by Maxx Reger, a dynamic, impressive, and dazzling piece. Upon the first big chord in the first measure of the Fantasy, a lady in front of me shook so violently, I swear I have never seen anybody so startled by the power of a pipe organ. He played through the Fantasy and Fugue without a single flaw or mistake using incredibly effective registrations made possible by the immense variety of the 90 ranks of pipes
Next on the program was the Piece d'Orgue (BWV 572) by Johann Sebastian Bach, Gerre played the piece with consistency and joyous registrations, the Lentement section of the piece was enjoyed by everyone for sure!
The third piece Gerre performed was the famous Chorale in A minor by Cesar Franck. Gerre played through piece again with perfect registration choices and perfect consistency.
The Prelude and Fugue in E minor by Nikolaus Bruhns was to follow, Gerre played this piece very well and it was enjoyed by all. There was a point in the Prelude where it sounded to me that he used the Tuba Mirabilis, I don't know about that but it was interesting to note.
Last on the program before the 'fun part' was the Canon, Chacony and Fugue by Leo Sowerby, dedicated to E. Power Biggs. Hancock played this charming piece with magnificent joy and understanding of the piece.
After a ten minute intermission, the Improvisation themes were submitted to Dr. Hancock, the four movement improvised symphony began!
The first movement was a Sonata-form piece in which he used many of the organs resources from beautiful english reeds to the to-die-for flutes. This was followed by a Song-form movement in which he used various solo reeds contrasting against various strings and soft flute stops.
Next was an incredibly fun Scherzo on the theme of "Zippidy do da!" exploring many of the organ's bright, light, and joyful stop opportunities. Last was a Fugue and Finale, Gerre developed a fugue that move seamlessly into a flourishing finale, slowly beginning to utilize other themes from the symphony, the crescendo was smooth and gradual. He closed the the Finale with a flourishing finish, utilizing every stop on the organ including the 19 rank Nave organ and the 8' Hooded Festival trompette. Returning to the theme of "Zippidy do da", he weaved the familiar tune into genius clashing chords forming it perfectly into a magnificent conclusion. Just as soon as the decay had ceased, I was the first person in the audience to stand and clap. Everyone I came across could not say enough how much they enjoyed the concert. Dr. Hancock's performance was enjoyed by all in attendance and I speak for myself when I say it is all I could think about until I fell to sleep that night.
Photo by Bernadette Wagner of Dr. Hancock during the concert, standing in front of the gorgeous four manual terraced console of the Casavant organ at Saint Paul's.
Friday, February 5, 2010
Interesting Bus ride
I find myself in Indianapolis now, I'm here to meet Gerre Hancock, attend a concert of his, and visit family. That is all to come but my trip has already proved quite interesting... it was quite a bus ride.
First thing that happens on the bus, the driver's intercom stops working and he has to scream for us to hear his announcements.
Ten minutes later, an elderly man of maybe late 60's or early 70's is talking on the phone to several people, he uses every profanity in the book, crude, sexual, offensive... every combination of such words too... you could possibly imagine. I didn't get everything he was talking about but it involved very large sums of money, putting some 'f****rs out of business', and prostitution, from what I could gather.
We arrive in Pittsburgh and I have to wait for an hour at midnight to get back on the bus. There is a new bus driver, he screams at me when I ask him "Is this the right bus? They said door 10, but this is door 11?" He stares at me for a good ten seconds then screams at me. After this we get onto the road and I make my best attempts at sleeping.
It is 3:00 A.M. and we arrive at Columbus, this bus station is old, gritty, depressing, and full of... very strange people. There is a man who was on the same bus as me, waiting to get back on. He stands in the middle of the station eating Nachos, chips, soda, a cheeseburger... all at 3:00 A.M.! He wasn't even a big fella either! Atop of this he made some very loud grunting noises when he ate. There were many other assortments of people making strange noises, saying strange things, staring at me because I'd found myself staring at them, and acting, well, strange in every possible manner.
We get another new bus driver, he is very, very old and has a week voice. He spends seven minutes trying to announce our route on the broken intercom, out heads are drilled near explosion by the static and bleeps and feedback. Finally he gives up. I wake up not too much later, we have stopped at a rest stop. The driver goes to the back of the bus to use the bathroom, the door is jammed, again, he spends an excessive amount of time trying to open it before giving up and going to the rest stop. He ends up stopping at about three or four more rest stops in the next three hours and we end up arriving an hour late.
Quite a ride, let's see what else happens this weekend!
First thing that happens on the bus, the driver's intercom stops working and he has to scream for us to hear his announcements.
Ten minutes later, an elderly man of maybe late 60's or early 70's is talking on the phone to several people, he uses every profanity in the book, crude, sexual, offensive... every combination of such words too... you could possibly imagine. I didn't get everything he was talking about but it involved very large sums of money, putting some 'f****rs out of business', and prostitution, from what I could gather.
We arrive in Pittsburgh and I have to wait for an hour at midnight to get back on the bus. There is a new bus driver, he screams at me when I ask him "Is this the right bus? They said door 10, but this is door 11?" He stares at me for a good ten seconds then screams at me. After this we get onto the road and I make my best attempts at sleeping.
It is 3:00 A.M. and we arrive at Columbus, this bus station is old, gritty, depressing, and full of... very strange people. There is a man who was on the same bus as me, waiting to get back on. He stands in the middle of the station eating Nachos, chips, soda, a cheeseburger... all at 3:00 A.M.! He wasn't even a big fella either! Atop of this he made some very loud grunting noises when he ate. There were many other assortments of people making strange noises, saying strange things, staring at me because I'd found myself staring at them, and acting, well, strange in every possible manner.
We get another new bus driver, he is very, very old and has a week voice. He spends seven minutes trying to announce our route on the broken intercom, out heads are drilled near explosion by the static and bleeps and feedback. Finally he gives up. I wake up not too much later, we have stopped at a rest stop. The driver goes to the back of the bus to use the bathroom, the door is jammed, again, he spends an excessive amount of time trying to open it before giving up and going to the rest stop. He ends up stopping at about three or four more rest stops in the next three hours and we end up arriving an hour late.
Quite a ride, let's see what else happens this weekend!
Friday, January 22, 2010
Pollan is the man
Incredible. I thought some of these were my ideas! I guess I was just a few years too late in thinking them! Pollan is the man!
Thursday, January 21, 2010
More cool stuff
This is incredible. Compassion is a gene's way of helping itself. Because we naturally feel compassionate for family members, we help them before anything else. Because they are family, they share the gene and this helps the spread of the gene in the most direct way possible.
This happens all the time, just not in such raw form.
Think of about the plants animals eat. Have you ever wondered why the plants animals eat are 1. usually in great abundance in their natural habitat (undisturbed by humans) and (even more interesting) 2. are ideal for that animal's health.
This is absolutely crazy if you look at it blankly, but when you think into it, it begins to make sense in the same way compassion does.
Plants and the Animals which consume them have co-evolved for millions of years and have perfected every intricacy both in themselves and in their relationships with each other.
Anytime a co-evolutionary partnership like this occurs there are always two possibilities as to how it could have happened. Let me explain.
How is it that animals enjoy the most healthy food for them more than any other food in their environment? There are two ways it could have happened.
1. Some point in history, this animal gained a trait which made it use a common plant in it's habitat with optimum benefit. This does not just benefit the animal, but the plant as well. Because of this new trait, the animals which eat this plant which their body processes extraordinarily well will thrive and hence help the plant to spread and thrive and a relationship is formed which will last forever until outside circumstances change it.
2. Some point in history, a common plant in a specific area gained a trait which made it more healthy for a common animal species. The animal hence can live longer and it's population will thrive, helping this plant in the exact same way.
The extraordinary thing is that these two scenarios have opposite causes but their outcomes are exactly the same. Each evolutionary step provides a new relationship between two or more species which benefits both parties in numerous ways. Interspecies relationships like these are fool-proof evolutionary wonders. I focus much thought towards these interspecies anomalies. They fascinate me.
Compassion is an example of a totally different, yet equally magnificent, trait we find. The compassion we feel for family, the way cats will bathe each other, the way ant colonies work together... these are all very different anomalies. In these instances, organisms work together within their one species to thrive. These are self-serving traits. Yet, still, we find instances where these examples of seemingly self-serving instinct, do much to help other organisms. Why? In some cases it can be explained as simply as above, this trait which is on the surface self serving, helps the organism in a secondary way in that it helps another organism! Another relationship is found.
Our abundance of different species all working together is a wonder which we can hardly understand. Selfish as all organisms are, we still help each other without even knowing it, without even wanting it, because such is the nature of our evolutionary history.
This happens all the time, just not in such raw form.
Think of about the plants animals eat. Have you ever wondered why the plants animals eat are 1. usually in great abundance in their natural habitat (undisturbed by humans) and (even more interesting) 2. are ideal for that animal's health.
This is absolutely crazy if you look at it blankly, but when you think into it, it begins to make sense in the same way compassion does.
Plants and the Animals which consume them have co-evolved for millions of years and have perfected every intricacy both in themselves and in their relationships with each other.
Anytime a co-evolutionary partnership like this occurs there are always two possibilities as to how it could have happened. Let me explain.
How is it that animals enjoy the most healthy food for them more than any other food in their environment? There are two ways it could have happened.
1. Some point in history, this animal gained a trait which made it use a common plant in it's habitat with optimum benefit. This does not just benefit the animal, but the plant as well. Because of this new trait, the animals which eat this plant which their body processes extraordinarily well will thrive and hence help the plant to spread and thrive and a relationship is formed which will last forever until outside circumstances change it.
2. Some point in history, a common plant in a specific area gained a trait which made it more healthy for a common animal species. The animal hence can live longer and it's population will thrive, helping this plant in the exact same way.
The extraordinary thing is that these two scenarios have opposite causes but their outcomes are exactly the same. Each evolutionary step provides a new relationship between two or more species which benefits both parties in numerous ways. Interspecies relationships like these are fool-proof evolutionary wonders. I focus much thought towards these interspecies anomalies. They fascinate me.
Compassion is an example of a totally different, yet equally magnificent, trait we find. The compassion we feel for family, the way cats will bathe each other, the way ant colonies work together... these are all very different anomalies. In these instances, organisms work together within their one species to thrive. These are self-serving traits. Yet, still, we find instances where these examples of seemingly self-serving instinct, do much to help other organisms. Why? In some cases it can be explained as simply as above, this trait which is on the surface self serving, helps the organism in a secondary way in that it helps another organism! Another relationship is found.
Our abundance of different species all working together is a wonder which we can hardly understand. Selfish as all organisms are, we still help each other without even knowing it, without even wanting it, because such is the nature of our evolutionary history.
Wednesday, January 20, 2010
Nature perfects itself
Evolution is fascinating to me. I think about evolution constantly and how things in this world came to be the way they are. I've recently learned of the work of Michael Pollan and the reason I love his work so much is because his ideas are exactly what I've been thinking for quite some time. When I first saw this video below I was knocked off my feet because what he was talking about is exactly what I've been thinking about for a while. What he gets at in this video is that plants have evolved through completely random genetic mutations to be more and more attractive to consumers who will eat their fruits or vegetables. (Their seeds essentially)
Why does this happen? Why do these traits which cause their fruits to be consumed spread? Because when the fruit is eaten, the seed is spread.
When a new trait/mutation comes along which causes a fruit to have a less attractive color to consumers, this new trait will likely not survive many generation. HOWEVER, if a new trait comes along which causes a fruit to have a more attractive color to consumers, this new trait will slowly but surely thrive because it helps the plant to reproduce.
When a new trait comes along which causes the seed to be more resilient to animal digestive systems, more seeds will make it out the other end and still be viable to produce plants.
When a new trait comes along which makes a plant's taste more desirable to consumers, they will eat it and spread it's seeds.
When a new trait comes along which makes a plant more healthy to consumers, the consumers who eat it will live longer and produce more healthy offspring who will eat more of these fruits and spread it's seed further.
The fruits and consumers co-evolve to create a perfect system.
Think about it in reverse.
When a trait comes along which makes consumers enjoy healthy fruits, the consumers who have this trait will become more healthy which means they will live longer and produce more and thrive. Eventually this new trait will take over the entire population of the species, but this usually takes a very, very long time.
These examples regarding the consumption of fruits and vegetables are only a few of many examples. The spread of pollen is another great example which Pollan gets at in this video. These ideas present the perfect example of the magnificence of evolution. This is how nature perfects itself for us.
Why does this happen? Why do these traits which cause their fruits to be consumed spread? Because when the fruit is eaten, the seed is spread.
When a new trait/mutation comes along which causes a fruit to have a less attractive color to consumers, this new trait will likely not survive many generation. HOWEVER, if a new trait comes along which causes a fruit to have a more attractive color to consumers, this new trait will slowly but surely thrive because it helps the plant to reproduce.
When a new trait comes along which causes the seed to be more resilient to animal digestive systems, more seeds will make it out the other end and still be viable to produce plants.
When a new trait comes along which makes a plant's taste more desirable to consumers, they will eat it and spread it's seeds.
When a new trait comes along which makes a plant more healthy to consumers, the consumers who eat it will live longer and produce more healthy offspring who will eat more of these fruits and spread it's seed further.
The fruits and consumers co-evolve to create a perfect system.
Think about it in reverse.
When a trait comes along which makes consumers enjoy healthy fruits, the consumers who have this trait will become more healthy which means they will live longer and produce more and thrive. Eventually this new trait will take over the entire population of the species, but this usually takes a very, very long time.
These examples regarding the consumption of fruits and vegetables are only a few of many examples. The spread of pollen is another great example which Pollan gets at in this video. These ideas present the perfect example of the magnificence of evolution. This is how nature perfects itself for us.
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