Missouri Classical Music News and Notes

By using EEG recordings as well as special techniques based on behavioral response, researchers have now shown just how early the infant brain becomes musically active. By two months of age, babies can already exhibit preferences for consonant or dissonant music, and a study not yet published found that by eight months they can grasp the structure of unfamiliar Balinese scales while adults do not. Just when I thought Jonah was little more than a cute blob listening quietly in his baby seat, he was in fact doing some serious musical heavy-lifting. . . .

They compared infants' and adults' abilities to pick up on changes in both simple and complex rhythms in Bulgarian and Serbian folk music. North American adults, with little prior exposure to this music, grasped only the changes in the simple material and faired poorly with the complex folk rhythms. As for the diapered set, the babies aced both the simple rhythms and the complex rhythms.

Speaking by phone from the University of Nevada, Las Vegas, Hannon said this meant that infants start life with the ability to perceive complex rhythms but that they lose this skill unless it is called upon in their environment. Hannon was hesitant to make sweeping generalizations based on her research, so I'll do it instead. Clearly, if we want babies to retain the ability to perceive rhythmic complexity, they should be exposed to rhythmically complex music from a very early age.

Honing explained that we tend to think of advanced musical training as the only way to build real musical competence, but his work has demonstrated how much the brain can learn simply through active exposure to many different kinds of music. "More and more labs are showing that people have the sensitivity for skills that we thought were only expert skills," he said. "It turns out that mere exposure makes an enormous contribution to how musical competence develops. But it's the variety that counts."

Remarkably, in the 12-tone system of notes, these are precisely the chords that Pythagoras identified almost 2,500 years ago: the chords that sound intrinsically harmonious. Far from arbitrary or haphazard, scales and chords come close to being the unique solutions to the problem of creating two-dimensional musical coherence. Contrary to the hopes of generations of avant-garde composers, it follows that the goal of developing robust alternatives to tonality may be extremely difficult, if not impossible, to achieve.

The shapes of the space of chords we have described also reveal deep connections between a wide range of musical genres. It turns out that superficially different styles--Renaissance music, classical and Romantic music, jazz, rock, and other popular forms--all make remarkably similar use of the geometry of chord space. Traditional techniques for manipulating musical scales turn out to be closely analogous to those used to connect individual chords. And some composers have displayed a profound understanding of the higher-dimensional geometry of musical chords. In fact, one can argue that Romantic composers such as Chopin had an intuitive feel for non-Euclidean higher-dimensional spaces that exceeded the explicit understanding of their mathematical contemporaries. . . .

There are in fact large families of geometrical spaces corresponding to a wide range of musical terms, some of which are considerably more exotic than those described here. (For instance, three-note chord types--such as "major chord" or "minor chord"--live on a cone containing two different flavors of singularity.) Seen in the light of this new geometrical perspective, a wide number of traditional music-theoretical questions become tractable.

According to the study performed by the University of Sussex, music can calm much better if it is played by real musicians rather than computers. Neuroscientists analyzed the reaction of the brain to the piano sonatas, which were played by a musician and a computer. They discovered that, though computerized music did get some response from the brain – mainly to unpredicted changes of the chords – the effect was not as strong as the response to the same melody played by a professional pianist. . . .

Despite the fact that the participants did not have any experience in playing musical instruments and considered themselves to be unmusical, their brains had a clear reaction to musical changes (including unexpected chords and modifications in tonal key). Such reactions show that the brain was able to understand musical grammar. The reaction of the brain was much sharper when the classical piano sonatas were played by professional musicians. . . .

During the study the researchers were also able to discover that when a classic composition was played by a real musician, human brain was more likely to search for musical meaning.

"This is similar to the response we see when the brain is responding to language and working out what the words mean. Our results suggest that musicians actually tell us something when they play. The brain responses show that when a pianist plays a piece with emotional expression, the piece is actually perceived as meaningful by listeners, even if they have not received any formal musical training," said Dr. Koelsch.

The church organ in Halberstadt will play the next - sixth - chord of John Cage's As Slow As Possible work.

The performance began in 2000 and is scheduled to last a total of 639 years. . . .

When Cage wrote his famous work in 1985, there was one tiny detail the late avant-garde composer chose to omit - exactly how slow the piece should be played.

Its maiden performance lasted a rather normal 29 minutes. A subsequent version took 71 minutes.

But at the medieval church in Halberstadt, they are really testing the patience of the audience.

Every so often - although not too often, you understand - a chord change is made on the church organ and the piece of music edges a tiny bit closer to the end.

Based on his knowledge of measuring lung densities non-invasively, Dr. Stoel designed a new computer program to study wood densities from CT scans. Subsequently, he and Terry Borman scanned in New York five Cremonese and seven contemporary violins at Mount SinaiHospital, and analyzed the wood densities.

The average wood density of the classical and modern violins did not differ significantly. However, the differences in wood density between early and late growth were significantly lower in the ancient violins.

Since differentials in wood density impact vibrational efficacy and thereby the production of sound, it is possible that this discovery may explain the superiority of these violins. This insight offers new possibilities into replicating the tonal qualities of these ancient instruments, as the researchers conclude in PLoS ONE.

I am disturbed by the news that not only has the Kansas City Star laid off Classical Music and Dance critic, Paul Horsley, but that the position has been
eliminated.

While I did not always agree with Mr. Horsley's reviews, he provided a measured and fair analysis of performing arts offerings, both local and imported, in the Kansas City area. In addition to intelligent and thoughtful reviews, Mr. Horsley consistently wrote performing arts features that highlighted the local scene and provided information so that potential audiences could be connected to performing arts happenings in the area.

As the founder and artistic director of a local professional vocal ensemble, I know first-hand the challenges our local performing artists face in Kansas City's busy performing arts scene. Mr. Horsley's coverage and reviews have helped us build our audience and support base. While I cannot speak for the larger, more established performing arts organizations in town, I feel confident that they, too, benefit immeasurably from coverage in the Star, as do the performing arts supporters and concert attendees in the area searching for organizations to support and performances to attend.

If Kansas City is going to be able to compete with other metropolitan areas of this size, it needs classical music and dance coverage in the local paper. It is completely befuddling that, In a time when Governor Matt Blunt has provided record support for the arts in Missouri, the Kansas City Star has eliminated a position that helps performing arts organizations find their audiences; that just as the burgeoning downtown scene is about to enjoy a new building designed specifically for classical music and dance performances, the Kansas City Star has removed a vital position that could help that new venue succeed by bringing quality arts together with loyal and appreciative audiences.

The Kansas City performing arts scene is flourishing, with increased funding and support providing opportunities that have not, up to now, been possible. It shows lack of foresight for the Kansas City Star to eliminate the position of Classical Music and Dance reporter at this juncture in Kansas City's development as a desirable and culture-filled metropolitan area.

Dr. Krista Lang Blackwood
Artistic Director - Octarium

On April 30, 2008, the Conference Committee resolved the difference between the House and Senate positions with a recommended $3 million increase to be transferred to the Missouri Arts Council Trust Fund.

The FY2008 Missouri Art Council Trust Fund core transfer of $7.8 million would be increased to a total recommended transfer appropriation of $10.8 million for FY2009. The Missouri Arts Council also receives a core appropriation of $500,000 in general revenue, so the total Missouri Arts Council appropriation for FY2009 will be $11.3 million - the largest total appropriation in history for the arts in Missouri!

Each of the Cultural Partners - Public Broadcasting, Humanities Council, Missouri State Library, and Historic Preservation received an appropriation increase of $500,000 bringing their total transfer appropriation to $1.8 million each.

Please remember to write your legislators thanking them for their support of the arts this session.

Avan Yu, a 20-year-old from Canada, on Friday night was named the first-place winner of the senior division in the Missouri Southern International Piano Competition.

Tian Lu, 22, of China, took second place in the senior division, and Peggy Pei-zhang Sung, 22, of Hong Kong, won third place.

Honorable mentions went to Lishan Xue, 22, China, and Fang Zhang, 29, also of China.

The winner of the junior division was Behzod Abduraimov, 17, of Uzbekistan.

Second prize went to Anna Han, 12, of the United States, and Yale Work, 17, of the United States, took third.

Honorable mention awards were given to Daniel Hsu, 10, of the United States, and Jung-Eun Kim, 14, of Korea.