Rapturous Classical Music

The big news this past weekend was the prediction that the Rapture would take place on Saturday, at 6:00pm local time. For those not fully up on Christian theology, the Rapture is when God gathers the elect up from earth to spare them the tribulations that are to come. For some, this is the sign that the Apocalypse is about to start.

One of the more interesting threads on Twitter bore the hashtag #apocalypsemusic. It was a series of suggestions for music appropriate to the event. For a while, the thread was hijacked by classical music folks, and several suggestions -- both obvious and subtle -- made their way into the conversation. (Some blogs also took up the task and made some good suggestions - see Miss Music Nerd's column for example).

So what would be appropriate classical music for the Rapture and the coming Apocalypse? Here are some of the best suggestions from the postings. What would you add?

Richard Wagner - Götterdämmerung(of course)

Hector Berlioz - "Dies Irae" from the "Symphonie Fantastique" ("Dies Irae" means "Day of Wrath, and is part of the Latin funeral mass that references the Judgement Day. Most any Dies Irae from any Requiem would probably work, too.)

Olivier Messiaen: Quartet for the End of Time

Franz Schmidt: Das Buch mit sieben Siegeln (The Book of the Seven Seals) (an oratorio based on a key part of Revelation)

Ludwig van Beethoven - "Les Adieux"

And I had a few suggestions myself:

Franz Schubert: Abschied from Schwanengesang (The Swan Song)

Leos Janacek: The Diary of One Who Disappeared

Edward Elgar: Dream of Gerontius (tracks the journey of the soul after death)

Franz Joseph Haydn's "Farewell" Symphony (Symphony No. 45) (If you prefer to leave quietly rather than with a bang)

Ralph Vaughan Williams' "Toward the Unknown Region" (Everyone was ready to leave Saturday, but to go where?)

Charles Hubert Parry: Symphony No. 1 "From Death to Life" (Which is how Christians view death)

I understand the event's been rescheduled for October 21. So there's plenty of time to send in your suggestions. Maybe we'll have a special show that day...

#Operaplot 2011 -- The plots thicken

Last week I posted info about the #OperaPlot competition on Twitter. Basically, the idea is to recount in a humorous fashion, the plot of any opera in 140 characters or less. And there are extra points for making a pop culture reference.

There are some pretty serious prizes at stake in this international competition, including two tickets to a performance at the Metropolitan Opera, as well as (a little closer to home for me) the Washington Opera.

If you're on Twitter, why not give it a shot? You still have Thursday and Friday (as of this posting) to enter. Just include the hashtage #operaplot in your tweet. To give you an idea of how easy this is, below are my entries. In brackets are the opera and composer in question -- just in case it's not clear.

Oh Susanna, don't you cry for me, I'm a man of God who loves your bod, in New Hope Tennessee.
[Susanna - Carlisle Floyd]

 Ah, yes, "Die Liebe der Danae." Set back in the day when a golden shower was a *good* thing, by Jupiter!
[Die Liebe der Danae - Richard Strauss]

His daughter's in love with a boy whose actually a girl married to the prisoner he's watching. Ah, that's Rocco's Modern Life.
[Fidelio - Ludwig van Beethoven]

A mason jars Tamino into action, and it's curtains for the Queen of the Night
[Der Zauberflote - Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart]

What happened at the end of Semele's Extreme Makeover? She got burned at the Reveal.
[Semele - Georg Fredrick Handel]

Lady Harriett is tired of being admired. Looks for a change and doesn't realize she has it made when she has it maid.
[Martha - Friedrich von Flowtow]

Senta, don't throw yourself at every sailor who comes into port. You'll get yourself in Dutch.
[Die Fliegende Hollander - Richard Wagner]

Susanna, say yes to the dress, but no to the Count.
[Le Nozze Di Figaro - Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart]

The question was: What is like ice, but burns like fire? You answered C) Turandot. Is that your final answer?
[Turandot - Giacomo Puccini]

Don Giovanni learns there is a statue of limitations.
[Don Giovanni - Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart]

Seneca to Poppea: You want to be queen? Ha! Over my dead body.
[L'incoronazione di Poppea - Claudio Monteverdi]

Some "dialogue." Sister Blanche always seems to get the last word.
[Dialogues des carmelites - Francis Poulenc]

Ramades and Aida get in on the ground floor of a pyramid scheme.
[Aida - Giuseppe Verdi]

OK, Judith, you've seen what's behind doors 1 through 6. Do you want to stop, or will you trade it all for what's behind door #7!
[Bluebeard's Castle - Bela Bartok]

Jeez, Dalila, I just asked for a little off the top.

Your mother and her lover murdered your father? Don't get mad, go mad
[Electra - Richard Strauss]

Opera diva hits a high C before hitting the ground.
[Tosca - Giacomo Puiccini]

Archer shoots at the apple of his eye. Hits apple, misses eye.
[William Tell- Giocomo Rossini]

The Governor/King of Boston/Sweden goes to a masked ball and is stabbed/stilettoed.
[Un ballo in maschere - Giusseppi Verdi]

And there are plenty more where those came from! 

#Operaplot 2011 -- the contest begins!

If you're an opera lover -- and have a Twitter account -- you can do something constructive with your time and enter the #Operaplot contest. If you're an opera lover, and don't have a Twitter account, then you open a Twitter account (it's free) and then enter the #Operaplot contest.

What is it?
#Operaplot is a yearly contest where the challenge is to sum up the plot of an opera in 140 characters (actually, 131 because you must include the hashtag #operaplot in the tweet). The goal is to create the wittiest summation possible. The contest is run by classical music blogger "the Omniscient Mussel," (in reality renowned music writer and photographer Marcia Adair), and kudos to you if you know from what opera Miss Mussel gets her online name.

Why bother?
Two reasons:

1. #Operaplot has a pretty impressive prize pool. Several major and regional opera companies have donated tickets, and EMI will be offering up some suitable CDs and DVDs as well. Your wit might get you into a performance of Iphigenie en Tauride at the Washington National Opera with Placido Domingo, for example.
2. #Operaplot is great fun. The reason the hashtag is required is that using the pound sign with a letter combination makes it a link. So if you receive a tweet with #operaplot in it, you can click on it and see what everyone else has contributed. 

When does it start?
The contest runs between April 11 and April 15, 2011, so you have (as of this writing) until Monday to think up your entries. I already have my first two ready to go.

 Last year I was one of the runners-up -- and won a complete set of Mozart operas for my trouble. You can bet I'll be entering this year as well. Come join the fun!

Help Write a Symphony, Part 2 - #twittercomposition continues!

I've posted before about British composer Sam Watts and his cooperative composition project. Basically, he's looking for 420 different people (who use Twitter) to send in one note for his crowd-sourced composition.

It's been a while since he's posted an update, but as of February 1, 2011, he's received 219 notes. The rules for contributing are pretty straight-forward. As Watts explains in his blog A Composer's Campfire,

I’m asking as many Twitter users as possible to tweet me with a musical note (A-G, naturals, sharps and flats) and these notes will, in the order I receive them, be the melody of the composition.  It will be a three or four movement symphony (depending on how many notes I get).

Tweet me (@i_is_sam) with your choice of note (you can even specify note duration if you like) and include the hashtag #twittercomposition! Only one note per tweeter please! Then please tweet about it to all your followers to get them involved.  That’s it. I’ll do the rest. 

You can also just do a search for #twittercomposition to find out more.

So what can you do to move this project forward?

1) If you have a Twitter account and use it regularly, send a tweet to @i_is_sam with your note, and the hashtag #twittercomposition

2) If you're one of those people who opened a Twitter account and only tweeted a couple of times before giving up, for goodness sake revisit it and tweet Watts a musical note!

3) If you're either 1) or 2), please send the word out to your followers and ask them to get the word out to their followers as well. Here's how to do it. Just send the following:

Please RT: Send @i_is_sam a musical note for #twittercomposition

4) If you're not on Twitter, but know someone who is, clue them into the project and ask them to send Watts a musical note.

5) If you're not on Twitter, but are on some other form of social media, like Facebook (or even MySpace), post a link to this blog post, with a little bit of info.

I've already sent in my note, and sent the word out to all my followers on Twitter to do the same. So the only thing I can do to further help the project along is to do a blog post. Like this one.

Help Write a Symphony - #twittercomposition

British composer Sam Watts is writing a symphony -- with a lot of help. A savvy user of social media, he's asked people to contribute to the new work by sending in a note through Twitter. As he explains in his blog A Composer's Campfire,

It’s madness, I know, but I’m asking as many Twitter users as possible to tweet me with a musical note (A-G, naturals, sharps and flats) and these notes will, in the order I receive them, be the melody of the composition.  It will be a three or four movement symphony (depending on how many notes I get).

Tweet me (@i_is_sam) with your choice of note (you can even specify note duration if you like) and include the hashtag #twittercomposition! Only one note per tweeter please! Then please tweet about it to all your followers to get them involved.  That’s it.  I’ll do the rest. 

 You can also just to a search for #twittercomposition to find out more.

In his most recent post, Watts talks about the development of the composition. It looks like it's going to be a symphony, probably in three movements. The core melody will be 140 notes (Twitter limits messages to 140 characters).

#twittercomposition is a rare opportunity to see the creative process at work. Because the composition's based on social media interaction, we can watch the work evolve from inception to completion.

Will the #TwitterComposition be the greatest symphony in the world? Perhaps not, but by the nature of its creation, it will very much be a symphony of the world

A Living Composer A Day

I promise to blog about other subject than Twitter, but a recent thread has some relevance with what we're trying to do here at WTJU.

A group of classically-minded Twitters started a thematic listening group, with the theme changing monthly. The idea is to listen to at least one work that follows the theme each day of the month (or at least, the weekdays). In May, this ever-growing group of participants agreed to listen to music by a living composer every day.

Now think on that for a moment. Could you participate in such a activity? How many living composers do you know? How much music by living composers is in your collection?

Of course, some names might spring readily to mind, such as John Adams and Philip Glass. And if you live near a music school (as we do here in Charlottesville), some local composers may get added to your list (Judith Shatin and Walter Ross are on mine). But how many more could you name? Enough to listen to a different living composer every day?

Not to worry. Twitter is indeed a social medium, and like any good conversation, so you can get as well as give information. Part of the fun with this daily challenge is sharing what you're listening to, and another part is discovering new music through the suggestions of others. 

Here's a partial list of what the #livingcomposeraday folks have enjoyed this month. How many are new to you?

Veljo Tormis: Raua needmine
George Benjamin: Sudden Time
Javier Alvarez: Metro Chabacano
Hans Werner Henze: Der Prinze von Homburg
David Lang: Cheating, Lying, Stealing
Peter Ablinger: Ohne Titel
Einojuhani Rautavaara: Before the Icons
Henri Dutilleux: Oboe Sonata
John Tavener: Protecting Veil

What composers would you suggest? What works by those composers?

We try to present a wide variety of contemporary classical music here at WTJU, but the discussion around #livingcomposeraday shows that there's much more out there to discover.

If you'd like to participate in the composer a day challenge and discussion, simply make sure to include the hashtag #livingcomposeraday (no spaces) in your tweet. You can also search the thread either in Twitter, or by using search.twitter.com or other search engines by using the hashtag as a search term.

#Operaplot 2010: The Denouement

When I blogged about the #Operaplot Twitter competition last week, I promised an update with a list of winners and how my entry fared. Music critic Marcia Adair hosts a yearly competition on Twitter, where the challange is to sum up an opera in 140 characters or less.

As always, many people responded with clever and creative entries. Five winners were chosen,and from that one -- Sam Neuman -- was selected at random to receive the top prize -- Two tickets to Dublin's Opera Theatre Company production of The Marriage of Figaro, along with  flights and lodging for three nights.

Here's his entry. See if you can guess the opera:

Father is less than enthusiastic about son’s love affair with aging, bankrupt, terminally ill prostitute. Can you believe it?

So how did I do? Better than I thought. I was one of the three runners up, for which I'll be receiving -- courtesy of Decca -- a 44 CD set of Mozart's complete operas.  Next to the honor of placing "in the money," though, the greatest thrill for me was a mention in Anne Midgette's the Classical Beat.

It's been a great week!

Be sure to check out all the winning entries at the Omniscient Mussel. 

The #Operaplot Thickens...

Are you part of the population who Twitters? According to statistics, you're probably not.* If you enjoy classical music, that's too bad, because there's a lot of musicians, composers, critics, professors, recording engineers, and enthusiasts who carry on a lively conversation about all aspects of classical music 140 characters at a time.

One of the things you missed was the #Operaplot contest. It's put on by Marcia Adair, a Canadian music writer known as the Omniscient Mussel (bonus points if you know which opera features that character).

The contest: sum up an opera in 140 characters or less -- actually less, because in order for your tweet to count, it must include the hashtag #operaplot (a hashtag is like a keyword -- it helps sort things quickly). The challenge was two-fold: tweeters had to come up with clever and innovative ways of summing up an opera, and readers had to figure out which opera was being summed up.

Like this one from Amndw2

Tosca
Signora Floria. In the dining room. With the steak knife.

For a few days tweets were flying fast and furious, all compiled by Miss Mussel on her website. Brian Rosen was inspired to create a 30-second rap based on his entry. Especially funny if you're familiar with both Stravinsky and Vanilla Ice.

Oedipus Rex
Ego Rex,yo! With my mad flow. Tiresias be hatin on my bling tho. Cuz I’m the king, aint no other. Is my ho fly? Word to my mother!

The 2009 competition had a remarkable twist ending. It was won by Stephen Llewellyn for his summation of the Ring Cycle:

The Ring Cycle
There was a young lady called Fricka Who…who…*snore* Wake up and it’s over. It’s good, I just wish it were quicka.

Llewellyn donated his prize to a music teacher, and so because of this 140-character competition, Priscilla Barrow, a music teacher from Washington, DC received two premier seats to the Washington National Opera production of Turandot and attended the gala Washington Opera Ball held at the German ambassador's Residence in D.C.

Did I enter this year? Of course! Here's my entry:

Orfeo
Greek musician goes to hell and back. Wife only makes it halfway.

Will I win? Probably not. But I'll let you know once the winners are announced.

(*) If you still don't get the whole Twitter thing, I've written a short 5-part series that covers the basics.