#ClassicsaDay #BlackMusicMonth Week 3

Since 1979, June has been African-American Music Appreciation Month. The Classics a Day team decided to adopt it for the June 2019 theme as well. Popular music genres will no doubt be well-represented by others. We'll be focusing on the composers, conductors, and performing artists of color who have contributed to classical music. 

For my part, my feed features African-American classical composers. Here are my posts for Week 3 of #ClassicsaDay #BlackMusicMonth

6/17/19 Zenobia Powell Perry (1908-2004) - Homage (to William Levi Dawson)

Perry studied with Darius Milhaud and wrote "clear, classic melodies." She was well-respected as a composer, teacher, and civil rights activist.

6/18/19 Joshua Coyne (1993 - ) - Daydream

Coyne is an accomplished violinist and studied with Richard Daneilpour. He's composed both concert music and movie soundtracks. "Daydream" won gold at the NAACP Afro-Academic, Cultural, Technological and Scientific Olympics.

6/19/19 Philippa Schuyler (1931-1967) - Four Little Pieces

Schuyler was a child prodigy. Her first compositions were written at age five. Although she had a successful career as a pianist, she turned to journalism. She was a Vietnam war correspondent when she was killed in action.

6/20/19 Florence Price (1887-1953) - Violin Concerto No. 1 in D major

Price was the first African-American woman to have her music played by a major orchestra. Her orchestral catalog includes 4 symphonies, 4 concertos, and several shorter works.

6/21/19 Regina Harris Baiocchi (1956 - ) - Azuretta

Although she showed musical talent at an early age, Baiocchi has worked both in and outside the field. Most of her instrumental compositions are for solo instruments or chamber ensembles.

#ClassicalFactsWithoutWiki

Several major sites on the Internet went dark yesterday to protest SOPA. In addition to raising awareness about the issue, the darkening of Wikipedia also sparked an amusing -- if tightly focused -- hashtag subject on Twitter. Without Wikipedia to check facts, what misinformation might be spread about classical music? And so tweets with the hashtag #ClassicalFactsWithoutWiki flew fast and furious yesterday.

The tweets seem to have started from KUSC, with at least three announcers participating early on. But it soon spread, as you can see from the entries below. The first grouping are all the tweets (except mine) and the second grouping is just my own contributions.


I admit that for the average person, these won't seem like much. But if you're into classical music -- enjoy!

#ClassicalFactsWithoutWiki
(all of these tweets are in reverse chronological order)

dtwayfarer
After meeting Freud, Mahler replaced the Mater Gloriosa of his 8th Symphony with the better known Alma Mater.

Tim Senior
Tchaikovsky wrote his 1812 overture in the form of a cannon.

hayasa tanaka
Boccherini is the cheese, Bocconcini is the composer.

hayasa tanaka
Johann and Richard Strauss are related.

David Das
Ravel's Bolero actually an orchestration of Mussorgsky's 99 Bottles of Beer on the Wall.

David Das Barber's
Essays for orchestra all written during after-school detention.

David Das
Copland found it devastatingly hard to get Lincoln to sit still for his portrait.

George Wallace
Arvo Pärt's brother Arlo wrote a 'Cantus in Memoriam Ristorante Alyesha'. Also more often than not got the girl.

Tim Senior
Post-minimalism was invented when Steve Reich's fax machine broke down.

Tim Senior
Johann Strauss couldn't count up to 4.

Brian Lauritzen
After lighting the fuse, most cellists choose to stand in front of Pachelbel's Canon.

George Wallace
Will Rogers loved opera, and the first draft of his catchphrase was: "I never mezzo soprano I didn't like."

Rich Ching
Filet du Regiment was a failed opera about a steak in the military.

George Wallace
The 12 tone system developed because Schoenberg had an extra, vestigial digit on each hand.

Rich Ching
The Ring Cycle has a happy ending.

Jennifer Grim
Pop singer Engelbert Humperdinck also wrote the opera, Hansel and Gretel!

Rich Ching
Don Giovanni was a character from The Godfather.

Rich Ching
Boheme was modeled after RENT.

Rich Ching
Puccini, Verdi, and Donizetti are kinds of pasta.

Rich Ching
Werther was named after the candy.

matthewlrigdon
Beethoven planned a 10th symphony, a prequel that would have been based on Schiller's "Ode to Smug Satisfaction"

Tim Senior
80% of Phillip Glass works have a missing repeat mark.Trombones can only be played by pathologists.

George Wallace A loophole in Viennese law allowed Pachelbel to purchase his famous Canon at a gun show w/out a background check.

Kevin Zhang
Boston's Greenhouse Apartments houses 80% of all resident botanists at the neighboring New England Conservatory

Gail Eichenthal
Mahler WOULD have finished his 10th Symph. but his cellphone rang.

Brian Lauritzen
John Cage wrote a completion for Schubert's Unfinished Symphony, but I bet you haven't heard it.

caroline davies
While touring Italy on a Vespa, Vaughn Williams wrote ' The Wasps'.

George Chambers
All of Finnissy's trademark piano pieces are written by drunkenly throwing himself onto the keyboard.

radiogirlok
Debussy's "Music is the silence between notes," intellectual property stolen by John Cage. Ah, 1942 clarified.

Brian Lauritzen
The score for John Cage's 4'33" is marked fortissimo.

weetles
Beethoven thought he'd get a small role in "Saturday Night Fever" so he let them rock a Fifth

Brian Lauritzen
Janitors at Disney Hall are only allowed to clean with magic brooms.

Brian Lauritzen
Orig sketches for Disney Hall included teacups for seats and "It's a Small World" playing on loop in the lobby.

Classical KUSC He was caught plagiarizing Bach works & decided to take the sting away by legally changing his name to Offenbach.

radiogirlok
Johann Helmich Roman laid the foundation of modern musical life in Sweden, creating ABBA. Drottningholmsmusiken

Chris Cresswell
John Cage wrote 4'33" late one night, after completely forgetting he had a commission due the next morning.

Betsy Kardos
"Amadeus" is a musical in which Mozart sues the British rock band Queen for plagiarism.

Betsy Kardos Mussorgsky wrote "Night on Bald Mountain" after a "Hangover"-type experience at a Hair Club for Men convention.

EddieLouise
As well as being a gifted violinist, the young Mozart was a tumbler in a circus act.

Rebecca Cweibel
The trombone was originally made from a bone found only in invisible cartoon elementary school teachers.

Classical KUSC
Leonard Bernstein ranks 3rd in appearances on The Match Game after Charles Nelson Reilly & Richard Dawson.

Rebecca Cweibel
It's called an "organ" because it requires donation of a bodily one to stay in tune and play in time

Isaac Schankler
Chuck Berry wrote "Johnny B. Goode" as a tribute to John Cage, which is why the song is 4 min. and 33 sec. long

tenor of illusions
Beethoven did not write any music for the guitar.

Chip Michael
Andrew Lloyd Webern, after establishing the second Viennese School, established the school for classical cats

Miss Music Nerd
The riot at the premiere of Le Sacre was actually sparked by a patron in the front row accepting a telegram

Alex Sramek
Clara Schumann was known to take out mafia contracts on unruly audience members.

LosAngelesElectric8
Cage's working title for 4'33" was "0.075833333333333333 hours."

Jay Harvey
When Sergei Prokofiev was a starving student, he wrote an opera called "The Love for Two Oranges"

ClassicalMPR
Vivaldi's lesser-known fifth season: Road Construction--Largo, non con moto.

Ronni Reich
Madame Butterfly is the sequel to Puccini's little-known early opera "The Very Hungry Caterpillar"

Noel Garwood
Queenies and Phil the Greeks jubilee barge used to belong to Rosie and Jim.

Classical KUSC
The 'Period Instrument' movement had its roots in Middle School, when there was limited availability to play.

Brian Lauritzen
Interestingly, Rudolph Kempe also had a very shiny nose.

ClassicalMPR
Composer Johann Heinichen changed the spelling of his name after inventing - and drinking too much - lager.

Classical KUSC
As of this date, no one has asked composer John Adams if he is related to the US President of the same name.

Gail Eichenthal
Schubert's Gretchen am Spinnrade was inspired by a fetching Whirling Dervish, the toast of Vienna in the 1820's

David Weininger
In honor of Bruckner's slow, winding symphonies, New York named a perpetually clogged expressway after him.

opus111
Mahleria is a fatal disease that sets in within two hours of listening to the Symphony of a Thousand.

Kelsey Walsh
A Cappella: just a couple-a people singing.

Brian Lauritzen
Olivier Messiaen wrote the music for Nintendo's Duck Hunt.

Alyssa Brode
puccini wrote the role of lauretta, originally a 10 year old girl, for jackie evancho.

Kelsey Walsh
Carlo Gesualdo was an Italian criminal hiding in a conservatory, masquerading as a composer of the avant guarde.

Matthew Guerrieri
Maurice Ravel once killed a man just to watch him die. The man was was Vincent D'Indy.

Alyssa Brode
schumann went insane from hearing lmfao's "party rock anthem" over and over in his head.

Classical KUSC
Mendelssohn named the Ge-Wand-Haus Orchestra because of his love for Olivander in the Harry Potter series.


Matthew Guerrieri
Lauritz Melchior was the inspiration for the popular cartoon character "Garfield."

Chip Michael
Gustav "Mahler" was originally a WWF wrestler before he began conducting

Carly Rose Gillis
Actually, Richard Wagner invented the internet.

opus111
Haydn Sikh was a popular game among Viennese children in the Classical era.

opus111
Howlin' Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart grew up in the Mississippi Delta before moving to Detroit in 1948.

Eric Gewirtz
Like the Giants and Jets, the New York Philharmonic plays in New Jersey

Michael Hamad Wow: Claude Debussy was French Canadian??

Blue Derkin
Beethoven spent an afternoon in jail in San Dimas but got out in time to help Bill & Ted pass the history report

Geoffrey Burleson
Strauss' "Metamorphosen", based on Kafka's short story, was originally titled "Song of Samsa the Cockroach."

Classical KUSC
R.Schumann went crazy when Clara & Brahms would not let him join their reindeer games.

Brian Lauritzen Actually, Gershwin prefers to fly Delta.

klangfarben
The Guidonian Hand is to earthly music notation as the Greedonian Foot is to intergalactic thug semiotics

Geoffrey Burleson
If Schoenberg hadn't been a 12-toed mutant, he would have instead devised the 10-tone system.

Brian Lauritzen
Delius hated orange juice. Abe Christian Josquin Des Prez wrote the first polyphonic setting of the Mass Ordinary.

klangfarben
Arnold Schoenberg developed the 12 tone system 'cause it just makes sense when you have 12 toes.

Abe Christian
Astor Piazzolla: composer/performer wrote a tango based opera! Maria de Buenos Aires! Also a bandoneón virtuoso

Classical KUSC
Die Fledermaus is Strauss Jr's opera about an extreme sports loving Rodent.

Jackie P Verdi's
La Traviata: A three hour vocal lesson on how to sing through your end stage tuberculosis.

Brett Baldwin
Young Beethoven traveled forward in time to play the role of Jake on Two and a Half Men.

Abe Christian
Carmina Burana: Carl Orff. A collection of Medieval poems and songs set to a glorious homophonic orchestra.

Classical WQED-FM Bach sold used cars on the side.

USC Ice Hockey
#Beethoven was a #StBernard famed for his musical acuity and ability.

USC Ice Hockey
Rachmaninoff turned to music after retiring from the #KHL due to a career-ending lower-body injury.

Elise VDB
Schubert didn't finish his 8th Symphony because he had to save some material for the sequel

Smelsey McDonalds Bach's working title was "Gloria in-a Smelsey's Deo"

Gail Eichenthal
Fur Elise was Beethoven's touching homage to his favorite female teddy bear

Mirto Picchi
Messa di voce is when a singer really makes a messa things.

Elise VDB
Beethoven wrote Für Elise just for me

Classical KUSC
Beethoven's Hammerklavier Sonata was intended only to be played on the Piano of a Carpenter.

David Das
First draft of Rachmaninoff's Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini actually based on Heart and Soul.

Classical KUSC
A Contralto argues with all the other Altos over who's flat. // Zing!

David Das
Mr. Holland's Opus ghostwritten by Andrew Lloyd Webber.

Elise VDB
La différence entre un violon et un alto: un demi-ton

David Das
John Cage's 4:33 written during a 4:33 smoke break from real composing

David Das
Original working title for West Side Story? Romeo and Juliet: Reloaded.

Classical KUSC
Copland's love for the suspension from a defunct W.V. Ford Motor Co. factory resulted in Appalachian Spring.

Elise VDB
Tuba players only need to know how to make two notes to play Carmen's overture

Elise VDB
Beethoven was so deaf he lived his whole life believing he was a paintor

Classical KUSC
Mendelssohn's oratorio Elijah was about the casting of his favorite Hobbit in #LotR.

Brian Lauritzen
Ben Jonson wrote most of Verdi's operas.

Elise VDB
Catalani's "Ebben ne andro lontano" is his only good aria because he had Puccini's helping hand for it.

Geoffrey Burleson
Messiaen knew 158 different Elk calls, which he used as motivic material in his music.

Brian Lauritzen
Most professional violinists are just failed violists.

Brian Lauritzen
Ferde Grofé never visited the Grand Canyon.

Rodrigo Ruiz
The triangle (percussion) is shaped like 1 because the manufacturers figured it used less materials than a square

Robert Vijay Gupta
Brahms sent his C minor pno 4tet to publisher w picture of a man holding a pistol to his head.

Classical KUSC
Chausson died while training for the Tour De France.

Ben Horrigan
Beethoven completed nine symphonies; more than the rest of his litter put together.

Kris Rudin
The Ring Cycle was Wagner's attempt at retelling The Lord of the Rings

Grant
Beethoven's 'Erotica' symphony was originally commissioned as a filmscore for an early adult film

Geoffrey Burleson
Haydn, the "father of the symphony", wrote 104 of them, one for each of his children.

Nick Norton
Mozart had great financial success, with a never ending stream of patrons.

Brian Lauritzen
The Ring Cycle is mostly about Wagner working out his commitment issues.

Nick Norton
Adorno, as it turns out, was a master of Iyengar yoga

Out West Arts
Delibes at first rejected BA's commission for an ad jingle. He later relented when offered free upgrades for life

Nick Norton
Mozart also abstained from alcohol and sex for his whole life

Kelsey Walsh
Mozart loved the trumpet, said it was the most softly beautiful thing he'd ever heard

Doug P
Beethoven moonlighted as a stand-up comedian under the stage name Ludwig Van Beetroot......

Doug P
The Last Night of the Proms is free on a first come first served basis.

Classical KUSC
A Little Night Music was a tone poem fantasy based on Sondheim's musical of the same name.

Wimblebear
There's a bit in The Lark Ascending that Vaughan Williams based on the old folk tune "The Referee's a ******"

Doug P
The triangle player is the highest paid in an orchestra.......

Geoffrey Burleson
Bach wrote a heavily chromatic 20-voice fugue to symbolize his bewilderment in having had 20 children.

Classical KUSC
Dame Joan Sutherland played the bassoon......

Classical KUSC
Beethoven was born deaf, but slowly regained his hearing

Classical KUSC
A Countertenor is the Tenor who keeps a tally of the singers present.

Classical KUSC
The Flute is just a Lute with keys on it.

Classical KUSC
To this day, no one can correctly spell Aram Kacha--- Chata--- Khaki--- Khachaturian on the first attempt.

Daniel Bodeman
Handel was a huge Tebow fan. The original words for Hallelujah were TimTebowGo.

Classical KUSC
Stravinsky punched Queen Elizabeth I at the premiere of Le Sacre Du Printemps.

Brian Lauritzen
Till Eulenspiegel's Merry Pranks is a work that ends with a holiday-themed practical joke.

ClassicalKUSC
Johann Sebastian #Bach had 6.02×10^23 children.

And my own contributions to the meme:

The open strings of a ukelele are the M, D, H, and F strings.

It's only by coincidence that Eric Carmen & Barry Manilow came up with melodies resembling Rachmaninoff's.

Gilbert O. Sullivan is a direct descendent of Arthur Sullivan, of Gilbert & Sullivan fame.

Arthur Bliss was not known for his intelligence. A common phrase in his day was " ignorance."
Marc Antoine Charpentier spent most of his life trying to write the bon motet.

A minor scale is one that has under thirteen notes.

Villa-Lobos kept his lycanthropy a secret -- even though his name translates as "House Wolves"

Roy Harris market-tested his compositions with focus groups. These were known as Harris Polls.

Englebert Humperdink always wanted to be a star in America. His great grandson would fulfill his dream.

Bugs Bunny had to play Stokowski in "Long-Haired Hare," as Leopold was still under contract to Disney.

Violists are the most respected and highly prized members of the orchestra.

Mozart faked his death to avoid creditors & assumed the identity of his "student" Franz Süssmayer in 1791

When "Das Rheingold" became a hit, Wagner was persuaded to write a sequel, then two more for the franchise.

The name of the crum horn is a derivation of its 16th century description - ye crummey horne.

Most medieval church music composers are anonymous, causing scholars to ask "Who was that Mass man?"

When two or more harps play in harmony, they create a harpsichord.

Beethoven wasn't really deaf. He faked it to avoid having to interact with stupid people (everyone but himself)

Classical music + Twitter = #classicsaday

If you like classical music (even a little), and have a Twitter account, then I invite you to join the #ClassicsADay group. Basically, it's a group of folks who share what classical music they're listening to. As the hash tag implies, the idea is to play one classical work a day (at least on the weekdays).

And as you can see from the #Classicsaday site, there's a monthly theme. This month, it's Bach. Not just JS, but JC, CPE, WF, and any other member of the Bach family.

What's the point?

Well, as you share what you're listening to (and you include the hashtag), you're suggesting music to the other members of the group, and visa versa. It can be a great way to discover more music by your favorite composer, and also engage in some interesting -- and offbeat -- conversations about classical music.

So if you want to have some fun and hear some great music, start tweeting your playlists with the #BachaDay hashtag!

Less Ambitious Operas -- Anatomy of a Twitter Meme

I'm not sure this is a benefit or a detriment to being on Twitter, but here goes:

Yesterday I spent an inordinate amount of time being entertained by, and hopefully entertaining in return, people from around the world in a vein of humor so tightly-focused that it required a world-wide audience just to take it to critical mass.

As near as I can determine, it started with a tweet from Jason Weinberger, conductor of the Waterloo-Cedar Falls Symphony Orchestra in Ceder Falls, Iowa on January 5, 2011 at 11:49 AM. It read:

madame caterpillar #lessambitiousoperas

Now if you're not already laughing, or fully grasp everything that's going on in that tweet, then please read on. Maestro Weinberger was making a joke -- one that depended on three elements: the reader's knowledge of opera titles; the reader's understanding of hashtags; and the reader's ability to fit the tweet into the context of the hashtag to get the joke.

"Madame Caterpiller" is a reference to Puccini's opera "Madama Butterfly." The hashtag (the letters following the # symbol) provide the context. Deciphered, it reads "less ambitious operas." The clue of opera gets one thinking about opera titles, and the joke is revealed. (If you're not familiar with how they work, hashtags can't have any spaces to function as an effective search term. If he had written #less ambitious operas, then the link generated would have pulled in only those tweets using the hashtag "#less."

The joke was retweeted throughout the system, first by followers of Weinberger, then their followers and so on. It's like forwarding a joke via email, but with a difference: unlike email forwards, which go out to lists of poeple that may or may not have any interest in the content, most of the people that follow a particular Twitter account do so because they're interested in some fashion in content of that particular person's tweets.

It's very likely that the majority of Weinburg's followers are also interested in, or professionally involved in the world of classical music -- the core audience for this type of joke And every follower who retweeted it in turn sent it to their followers, many of whom also were also probably conversant with classical music. And the ones that were (and thought it was funny), retweeted it to their followers and so on.

Within a very short time "Madame Caterpillar" was read by many of the classical music folks on Twitter.But that's just part of the story. The other difference between this tweet and an email joke is the ability for the reader to add to it and make it part of a conversation. The hashtag made that possible.

In Twitter, you can create a hashtag by simply putting "#" in front of a word or phrase without spaces, The hashtag can serve as a subject line for the tweet, and it does something else. Twitter automatically makes it a link. When you receive a tweet with a hashtag, you can click on the hashtag/link and immediately see all of the tweets that also have that hashtag in reverse chronological order.

The original tweet generated many responses, and some inspired takes on opera titles given the theme. Within a few hours opera lovers all over the world were chuckling. #lessambitiousopera tweets came in from Australia, Europe, Canada, and other parts of the world. They were generated by professional musicians, music critics, broadcasters, record label employees, writers, and just plain old music lovers.

To read the full list (or at least as far back as the search will take you), you can either search the hashtag through a search engine, or do a search through Twitter.

Here's a few of my favorite "less ambitious operas" (with the original titles) -- the ones that made me laugh are far too numerous to list here.

BBB_Mrs: Tales of The Hoff
(Offenbach: Tales of Hoffman)

tomflem Death in Vancouver

(Britten: Death in Venice)

mroy3: Dido and Enya

(Purcell: Dido and Aeneas)

JamesNewmanNYC: A Streetcar Named Whatever
(Previn: A Streetcar Named Desire)

And of course, I was inspired to contribute a few myself, such as:

Mishap in Venice
( Britten: Death in Venice)

The Telegraph
(Menotti: The Telephone)

Cardiac
(Hindemith: Cardillac)

Palehauser
(Wagner: Tannhauser)

Nabisco
(Verdi: Nabucco)

The Pot Shot
(Weber: Der Freischutz ["The Free Shot" in English])

The Broom's Progress
(Stravinsky: The Rake's Progress)

It was great fun. And a type of entertainment that was unique not just to social media, but to Twitter itself, I think. I must confess productivity lagged somewhat -- I eventually had to turn Twitter off in order to work. But some of those tweets definitely made my day.

The Value of Twitter, Part 5: An Annotated Conversation

The Value of Twitter Series:
Part 1: The Personal
Part 2: The Professional
Part 3: The Informational
Part 4: Join the Conversation
Part 5: An Annotated Conversation

Many of my friends are still confused about Twitter. My last set of posts on the subject outlined some of the general benefits. But understanding how Twitter might be useful for a specific person can be difficult to draw from generalities -- especially if there's no personal experience to draw on.

So I present a recent group of tweets I participated in that might help demonstrate not only some of the social and professional value of Twitter, but the usefulness of one of its tools.

A little bit of background. This conversation is about classical music, but even if you don't care a fig for it, please read on. What's important here are the underlying concepts, which could just as easily be applied to conversations about needlework, investment banking, or college lacrosse teams.

In this group of tweets, all of the participants agreed to listen to a concerto each day in the month of March -- just for fun. Note that the tweets use the the same hashtag (#concertoaday). Putting the # sign in front of a word (or phrase without spaces) creates a unique term that's easily searchable on Twitter. And some third-party programs let you click on a hashtag to pull up all related posts.

Twitter names are noted with the @ symbol in front of the account name. This turns them into links in Twitter-based programs. Below is an actual Twitter conversation, followed by an annotated version First, the original conversation (each day's tweets are spread over an 8-10 hour period):


March 1, 2010
UMKCCons:
My first #concertoaday for March! Vasks: English Horn Concerto @NaxosMusicLib WER6705-2

RalphGraves:
@UMKCCons I'm in for the #concertoaday. First up: Daniel Asia's Piano Concerto (Summit Records)

villa_lobos:
#concertoaday Hummel's 2nd Piano Concerto, with Stephen Hough on @ChandosRecords - from the 30th Anniversary set: http://bit.ly/dcicUv

NaxosMusicLib:
RT @DrGeoduck: #concertoaday in March sounds like a fine idea, @UMKCCons, @villa_lobos, #symphonyaday

UMKCCons:
Listening to Menotti Violin Concerto for #concertoaday sigh. Not the best choice. Was hoping Barber would have rubbed off on him. Alas.

NaxosMusicLib:
is bidding good-bye to #symphonyaday but ushering in #concertoaday for March with the incomparable... http://bit.ly/bps1S5 (expand

DrGeoduck:
First #concertoaday: Schumann Cello Concerto.

RalphGraves:
#concertoaday Max Bruch: Concerto for 2 pianos, Op. 88a. Classic Philips recording w/Katia & Marielle Labeque, Semyon Bychkov &  Philharmonia

UMKCCons:
@RalphGraves @Tom_godell I only know the Bruch violin cto. Will check the others out. #concertoaday

Tom_Godell:
@RalphGraves Isn't that the arrangement of the clarinet/viola concerto? If so, it's a lovely piece.

RalphGraves:
@Tom_Godell According to the liner notes, Bruch's Concerto for 2 Pianos started life as a suite for organ and orchestra.

Tom_Godell:
@RalphGraves It'd be very interesting to hear the original suite. I wonder if it was published?

RalphGraves:
@Tom_Godell There is a version of the original version available on CD from a very small label I'm not familiar with. http://ow.ly/1deXZ

UMKCCons: #concertoaday Nerding out. Jan Bach: Steel Drum Cto and Gould: Tap Dancer Cto @NaxosMusicLib TROY521. Wish me luck! Can my ears handle it?

RalphGraves
@UMKCCons Two cool pieces I wasn't aware of before. Who says Twitter's useless? (I'm actually finding it to be quite expensive).

villa_lobos: You had me at Moderato Nobile - #concertoaday Korngold's Violin Concerto - all the wonder & excitement of early Technicolor

UMKCCons
#concertoaday Kurt Weill: Violin Concerto in honor of his birthday on @NaxosMusicLib PSC1090 @Tom_godell Scottish Fantasy LURV!

DrGeoduck
A quite recent #concertoaday today: the Colin Matthews Violin Concerto

March 3, 2010
UMKCCons:
#concertoaday all 3 Bartok piano concertos. It's that kind of day. If I have to lecture on Schubert, I need one of my favs to get me thru.

RalphGraves:
#concertoaday Music by the finest swordsman in all of France, Joseph Boulogne de Saint-Georges. Violin Concerto in D, Op. 3 (Naxos 8.557322)

DrGeoduck:
Today's #concertoaday is the Richard Strauss Horn Concerto no. 2. There's something golden and autumnal about late Strauss.

NaxosMusicLib:
#concertoaday is David Chesky's Violin and Flute Concerto (SACD288) http://bit.ly/cZHmYK

villa_lobos:
#concertoaday Villa-Lobos Guitar Concerto - Norbert Kraft's on @NaxosRecords 8.550729 is my favourite

     ralphgraves
      @villa_lobos Why am I not surprised? Definitely a good choice, though. And a good recording.

     villa_lobos:
     @RalphGraves #concertoaday is a good choice for the Villa-Lobos lover. His symphonies aren't top drawer - lots to choose from concerto-wise

**********

Think Twitter's a total waste of time? Read the annotated conversation:

UMKCCons:
My first #concertoaday [hashtag to organize conversation] for March! [Peteris] Vasks: English Horn Concerto @NaxosMusicLib [this is an account of an employee at Naxos Records -- watch how this company benefits from their Twittering] WER6705-2 
[This is the catalog number for the CD -- free publicity for Naxos]

RalphGraves:
@UMKCCons I'm in for the #concertoaday. [My use of the hashtag brings me into the conversation] First up: Daniel Asia's Piano Concerto (Summit Records)
[a nice plug for Summit Records]

villa_lobos:
#concertoaday [hashtag]  Hummel's 2nd Piano Concerto, with Stephen Hough on @ChandosRecords [Chandos Records issued this recording, @ChandosRecords is their Twitter account] - from the 30th Anniversary set: http://bit.ly/dcicUv
[This is a shortened URL that links to the Chandos page giving you additional information. Because tweets are limited to 140 characters, several URL shortening sites have sprung up.In this case, http://bit.ly was used. One thing to note: bit.ly and other URL-shorteners allow you to track usage. The originator will be able to see how many people clicked on this link, when, and from what country.]

NaxosMusicLib:
RT [RT is the designation for "retweeting." This is the equivalent of forwarding an email. Usually after the letters RT you'll see account name of the original tweeter -- in this case, DrGeoDuck.] @DrGeoduck: #concertoaday in March sounds like a fine idea, @UMKCCons, @villa_lobos, [the inclusion of these names ensures that these accounts will see this message] #symphonyaday  
[This hashtag refers to the previous month's game of listening to a symphony a day. Including this hashtag ensures the tweet shows up in both hashtag sorts, which in this case helps the followers of the "symphony a day" conversation transition into the "concerto a day" thread.]

UMKCCons:
Listening to [Carlo] Menotti Violin Concerto for #concertoaday sigh. Not the best choice. Was hoping Barber would have rubbed off on him. Alas. 
[Idle chatter? Not for me. I wasn't aware that Menotti wrote a violin concerto. And because through other conversations I know how my musical taste lines up with UMKCCons, I know it's not likely I'd enjoy this work either.]

NaxosMusicLib:
is bidding good-bye to #symphonyaday [hashtag links to older thread] but ushering in #concertoaday [hashtag links to new topic] for March with the incomparable... http://bit.ly/bps1S5 (expand)
[This is an interesting work-around of the 140 character limit. Because the message is too long, NaxosMusicLib includes a shortened URL -- basically the equivalent of adding a second page. Note that the link goes to the Naxos Music Library Facebook page, driving traffic (and building awareness of) said Facebook page. On that page is the disc -- which has a Naxos catalog number, of course. So although NaxosMusicLib has entered the spirit of the conversation, they're also subtly -- and very appropriately -- strengthening their brand.]

DrGeoduck:
First #concertoaday: Schumann Cello Concerto.
[Just contributing to the conversation.]

RalphGraves:
#concertoaday [Note that I launch right into the meat of the message. I'm relying on the hashtag to provide context, having it understood that this is what I will be listening to for my concerto a day.] Max Bruch: Concerto for 2 pianos, Op. 88a. Classic Philips recording w/Katia & Marielle Labeque, Semyon Bychkov & Philharmonia  
[The use of ampersands, and other abbreviations very helpful with only 140 characters to use.]

     UMKCCons:  
[I'm using indentations to indicate replies. If you just send out a tweet, everyone sees it. If you use the reply button, everyone still sees the answer, but the other person's name appears first to indicate the relationship. Some Twitter apps will link together these responses so you can follow the thread -- as I've done here. If you respond privately, "direct message" you'll see DM at the start of the tweet.]
     @RalphGraves @Tom_godell [Two names are included, as this is actually a response to both of us.]  I only know the Bruch violin cto. Will check the others out. #concertoaday
[UMKCCons uses the hashtag to ensure other people involved with concerto a day will also see this tweet.]

     Tom_Godell:
     @RalphGraves Isn't that the arrangement of the clarinet/viola concerto? If so, it's a lovely piece.
[A second response to my tweet. I actually got this after UMCCon's response, but I believe it was sent first.]

     RalphGraves:
     @Tom_Godell According to the liner notes, Bruch's Concerto for 2 Pianos started life as a suite for organ and orchestra.  
[Yes, we're two music geeks. But consider how helpful/fun such an in-depth conversation could be in your own area of interest.]

Tom_Godell:
@RalphGraves It'd be very interesting to hear the original suite. I wonder if it was published?

RalphGraves:
     @Tom_Godell There is a version of the original version available on CD from a very small label I'm not familiar with. http://ow.ly/1deXZ 
[This is another shortened URL that leads to the product page for this release at ArkivMusic.com. Not only does it provide additional information for our conversation, but if Tom_Godell wanted to, he could immediately purchase the CD. A nice benefit for ArkivMusic -- and they're not even part of the conversation!]

UMKCCons: #concertoaday Nerding out. Jan Bach: Steel Drum Cto [Cto is a standard abbreviation for "concerto." 140 character limit, remember?] and [Morton] Gould: Tap Dancer Cto @NaxosMusicLib TROY521. [Another reference back to Naxos. And UMKCCons includes the catalog number. So if I'm interested in these works, I have the info I need to track them down and purchase them.] Wish me luck! Can my ears handle it?

     RalphGraves
     @UMKCCons Two cool pieces I wasn't aware of before. Who says Twitter's useless? (I'm actually finding it to be quite expensive).
[I've ended up purchasing several recordings based on these in-depth conversations with colleagues who share my interests.]

     villa_lobos: You had me at Moderato Nobile - #concertoaday Korngold's Violin Concerto - all the wonder & excitement of early Technicolor

UMKCCons 
[This is unusual. There are actually two different things going on in this tweet.]
#concertoaday Kurt Weill: Violin Concerto in honor of his birthday on @NaxosMusicLib PSC1090 [Another unsolicited plug for the Naxos Music Library service] @Tom_godell Scottish Fantasy LURV!
[A reference to our earlier conversation about Max Bruch (who wrote the Scottish Fantasy)]

DrGeoduck
A quite recent #concertoaday today: the Colin Matthews Violin Concerto

March 3, 2010
UMKCCons:
#concertoaday all 3 Bartok piano concertos. It's that kind of day. If I have to lecture on Schubert, I need one of my favs to get me thru.  
[UMKCCons shares some personal information about his day. Some disparage Twitterers for talking about what they're having for breakfast, etc. But a college professor talking about music to other colleagues in the field, this is simply relevant (and interesting) small talk, which could potentially lead to a conversation about Schubert.]

RalphGraves:
#concertoaday Music by the finest swordsman in all of France, Joseph Boulogne de Saint-Georges. Violin Concerto in D, Op. 3 (Naxos 8.557322)
[I don't think a lot of people are familiar with Saint-Georges, so I'm providing a little background cast as a teaser. And notice that I'm also sending some traffic to Naxos.]

DrGeoduck:
Today's #concertoaday is the Richard Strauss Horn Concerto no. 2. There's something golden and autumnal about late Strauss. 
[If you don't know this work, this is a wonderfully succinct and evocative characterization.]

NaxosMusicLib:
#concertoaday is David Chesky's Violin and Flute Concerto (SACD288) http://bit.ly/cZHmYK
[This link goes the Naxos Music Library Facebook page.]

villa_lobos:
#concertoaday Villa-Lobos Guitar Concerto - Norbert Kraft's on @NaxosRecords 8.550729 is my favourite
[Another unsolicited endorsement. Why all the Naxos love? Probably because Naxos employees are regularly part of the conversation, and they aren't just there to sell stuff. They converse as real people, chatting about the topic at hand, sharing details of their days, joking, posting pictures, and building a lot of good will for their brand.]

     ralphgraves [I respond publicly to villa_lobos' tweet]
      @villa_lobos Why am I not surprised? [villa-lobos' favorite composer is, of course, Hector Villa-Lobos. Just teasing a little here.] Definitely a good choice, though. And a good recording.
[Another unsolicited endorsement. I have the recording, and I really do like it.]

     villa_lobos: [the conversation continues]
     @RalphGraves #concertoaday is a good choice for the Villa-Lobos lover. His symphonies aren't top drawer - lots to choose from concerto-wise.

If you want to see how the conversation's progressed throughout the month, just use a Twitter search program and look for the hashtag #concertoaday -- or pick a topic you're interested in, put # in front of it, and search for that hashtag. You might be surprised at the results.

My True Life Twitter Tale

Many people who aren't on Twitter don't understand what the fuss is about. What does it do? What is it good for? It's one of those things that's difficult to understand unless you use it.

But the other day I found myself in a unique situation that illustrated to me the value of this service.

As the president and chief bottle-washer of Digital Chips, Inc., I like to attend the Association of Music Personnel in Public Radio Conference whenever possible. Most of our business comes from public radio stations, and these are also the broadcasters that are most likely to be interested in the classical music we carry at DCD Records.

Scheduling conflicts (both personal and professional) forced me to remain at home this time.

One of the attendees, a colleague at a public radio station who I follow on Twitter started posting (or "tweeting" as it's known) updates about the conference on their Twitter feed. As is the current trend, the tweets were hashtagged for easy identification -- that is, the tweet had a word marked with a pound sign (#amppr09) that makes it easy to search for all tweets on that subject.

One of the sessions I really wanted to go to was the one about audio streaming. A representative from the SoundExchange was there to give a talk and answer questions. The attendee tweeted the talking points as the presenter went through them, and suddenly I was part of the conversation.

Now in between tweets I was still working away on the project in front of me. But whenever I received an update I would read it quickly (140 characters is very scannable), and fire off a comment or question.

Here's the payoff. One of the questions I asked my correspondent they, in turn, asked the presenter -- and tweeted the answer. Although I didn't attend the conference, I was getting the basic info at the same time as the attendees, and participating (albeit by proxy) as well.

The exchange helped me understand the SoundExchange guidelines a little better, and hopefully, my question gave others in the room additional insight into the issue. The New York Times recently published an article that summed it up. Twitter? It's what you make it.

Unlike some folks, I'm not much for tweeting about what I had for dinner, or when I use the restroom. But as a source of professional information and networking, it's decidedly one of the most important tools in this small business owner's arsenal.

Because that's what I've made Twitter be.

- Ralph

Day 296 of the WJMA Web Watch. (Many broadcasters twitter, too. Of course, they're usually the ones with functioning websites to send traffic to.)