OvergrownPath.com: 'In search of the lost audience'

[Pierre-Laurent Aimard]

Bob Shingleton sends this post today on Dean Dixon as a conductor:

Monday, October 10, 2011

“In search of the lost audience

'Dean Dixon used to do little music quizzes from time to time when he was at the Sydney Symphony Orchestra. Sheets would be handed out to us and we would try to answer the questions about the music Dixon was about to play..eg when was the first key change in the work, where did the development start etc. We used to compare notes in the interval and then Dixon would replay the piece and indicate where the answer were and explain how the relevant section started and why it had been composed that way. I thought it was a great idea and learned a considerable amount about the "nuts and bolts" of the music. Now, I have just been to the Boulez weekend at Festival Hall here in London, and Pierre-Laurent Aimard (seen above) gave a talk with some examples before each of the 3 recitals of the piano music, which helped a lot with my understanding of this pretty formidable music. Talk with music examples can work in the right circumstances in my view.' That email from a reader in response to a recent post points down an interesting path."

OvergrownPath.com: 'Reaching new audiences made simple' by Maestro Dean Dixon

[Maestro Dean Dixon]

Bob Shingleton of On An Overgrown Path sends this post on a reader's fond childhood memories of Dean Dixon as a conductor:

OvergrownPath.com

Thursday, October 06, 2011

“Reaching new audiences made simple

Dean Dixon was the real introducer in my life to great music when he conducted the Gothenburg Symphony Orchestra in the 50s. I was a young boy then and got a free ticket for 'the School concerts' in our famous Concert Hall. He made a great pedagogic show and introduced us to Benjamin Britten's The Young Persons Guide to the Orchestra. But also - I remember - did a funny show to de-dramatize the role of the conductor. 'Now I will show you the importance of the conductor', he said, starting up the Ruslan and Ludmilla overture. After a few bars he left his place, walked down and passed all the way to the back of the hall. Then he slowly re-entered, in time to close the score. 'Now you have seen the importance of the conductor', he said. As you see - still a vivd memory. Thanks Dean.”

“Photo of Dean Dixon is by Wolfgang Sievers from the National Library of Australia.”

Instrumental Versions of Michael Mosoeu Moerane's Songs 'Della' and 'Sylvia' Heard at UNISA

[Fatse la heso; South African Music, National Symphony Orchestra of the S.A.B.C.; Peter Marchbank, conductor; Marco Polo 8.223709 (1994)]

University of South Africa Online

Unisa Composes at the ZK Matthews hall

“On Sunday 2 November 2008, the Department of Art History, Visual Arts and Musicology presented a historic concert, Unisa Composes, in the ZK Matthews hall, with the help of generous sponsorship from SAMRO. Featuring six composers with Unisa associations in a programme of stimulating and attractive contemporary art music, the performances were enthusiastically received by an appreciative audience. The department hopes that this will be the first in a series of such concerts sponsored by SAMRO each year. Michael Mosoeu Moerane (1909-1981), awarded a Bachelor of Music degree from the University of South Africa in 1941, was the first black South African to gain such a degree. In this concert, we heard instrumental arrangements of two songs, Della and Sylvia. “ [Full Post] 

Michael Mosoeu Moerane is profiled at AfriClassical.com The Southern African Music Rights Organization (SAMRO) explains in its biography how Moerane came to compose Fatse la heso, which he wrote during the period of White minority rule: “Moerane was required to present a composition exercise in order to complete his degree, and so composed the symphonic poem, Fatse la heso (My Country), which he completed in 1941, graduating that same year. Three years later, in November 1944, the work was premiered by the BBC Symphony Orchestra in two separate studio performances under the baton of Clifford Curzon, one broadcast by the BBC's Home Service, and the other by its African Service. Fatse la heso was subsequently championed in New York and Paris by the pioneering black American conductor, Dean Dixon.”