Blue Lake Fine Arts Camp

[Richard Norway]

Not one person on the stage is over 18 years old, except for the conductor.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CBbJAxEC2XI

[Grant Bentley]

WOW!

I haven't heard professionals that sounded better.

Thanks for that Richard.

[Rubilacxe]

Not one person on the stage is over 18 years old, except for the conductor.

Thank goodness for such camps. Thanks so much for posting this!

[Lugnutz]

Thought that name sounded familiar. That place is a hour from me.

Sounds great, and I'm not into that type of music.

[Cole Parker]

There are many young person's orchestras around the country. I'm peripherally associated with one near me, and the level of playing is extraordinary. They play classical pieces that test the skill of professional orchestras, and hearing them, you'd never guess at their ages. It's an incredible experiences to attend one of their concerts.

Some are as young as 13.

Do you have any idea how difficult it is to get young wind players to play in tune? These do.

C

[JamesSavik]

I'll bet there are a few untold stories from that camp that would make a sailor blush.

[The Pecman]

I'll bet there are a few untold stories from that camp that would make a sailor blush.

One can always hope...

[TalonRider]

They are good. The piece they played reminded me of one of the King Arthur movies out there.

[DesDownunder]

They are good. The piece they played reminded me of one of the King Arthur movies out there.

The piece of music they played is part of Carl Orff's Carmina Burana and has long been used in Hollywood films or inspired their composers.

Hear the whole work

This performance has forces to be envied in every way despite the recording. If you think the guy on the timpani is cute wait till you see the trumpeter.

Ahem..back to the music..I would like to emphasize that there is nothing wrong with liking this kind of music in addition to other forms.

In the version on the link above, I just love seeing the members of the orchestra and choir being from so many cultures and age groups. The sheer energy of their playing, singing and obvious shared enjoyment is wondrous. The audience applause at the end is tumultuous and deservedly almost as inspiring as the music itself.

[Richard Norway]

Thanks for the link to the entire piece Des.

I used to live in Michigan, just outside of Ann Arbor, and sent my daughter there one summer. She went kicking and screaming because she didn't want to go, but begged me to send here back every year for the next four years. She plays the french horn. I once thought she found a b/f there, but no...she really loved the music experience with peers. She's the one that sent me the link that I posted of the free performance last week. She took her young (6 y/o) son (my grandkid) to see the performance. He was mesmerized.

[rick]

An awesome piece of music, performed very well, indeed.

Rick

[Cole Parker]

I am forever forlorn when I hear people say, "I just don't care for classical music."

It is akin to me listening to, say, Metallica, and then saying, "I just don't like rock music."

There is a huge, almost unlimited amount of music that fits into the categorization of 'classical music'. It is impossible to compare Bach to Copland; Mozart to Hindemith; Purcell to Elgar; Telemann to Strauss, any of the several of them. All write vastly different music.

This piece by Orff is a perfect example. I don't understand how anyone could dislike it, unless he was a religious fanatic and based his dislike not on the sounds he was hearing but on the fact that the piece is built on pagan ceremonies. But it's fabulous writing. So is much of the music still being played that was written after the end of the 18th century.

There is much sprightly music out there. Khachaturian, Stravinsky, Prokofiev, Dvor?k, Mahler, Kodaly, Copland, Strauss (Rickard), Ives -- the list goes on and on of composers who have published works that even someone who says he hates classical music would love it he could simply hear. It isn't dreary, sleep-inducing stuff. It's exciting and alive and stimulating and addictive. Something like the Orff you heard here.

Prejudices are hard to overcome, in human relations and in musical appreciation. Knowledge and familiarity can change biased, preprogrammed opinion. I just wish people would give classical music a chance.

C

[DesDownunder]

]I am forever forlorn when I hear people say, "I just don't care for classical music."

It is akin to me listening to, say, Metallica, and then saying, "I just don't like rock music."

There is a huge, almost unlimited amount of music that fits into the categorization of 'classical music'. It is impossible to compare Bach to Copland; Mozart to Hindemith; Purcell to Elgar; Telemann to Strauss, any of the several of them. All write vastly different music.

This piece by Orff is a perfect example. I don't understand how anyone could dislike it, unless he was a religious fanatic and based his dislike not on the sounds he was hearing but on the fact that the piece is built on pagan ceremonies. But it's fabulous writing. So is much of the music still being played that was written after the end of the 18th century.

There is much sprightly music out there. Khachaturian, Stravinsky, Prokofiev, Dvor?k, Mahler, Kodaly, Copland, Strauss (Rickard), Ives -- the list goes on and on of composers who have published works that even someone who says he hates classical music would love it he could simply hear. It isn't dreary, sleep-inducing stuff. It's exciting and alive and stimulating and addictive. Something like the Orff you heard here.

Prejudices are hard to overcome, in human relations and in musical appreciation. Knowledge and familiarity can change biased, preprogrammed opinion. I just wish people would give classical music a chance.

C

Yes Cole, prejudices are difficult to overcome, but people do seem more willing to listen to a variety of music, than say when I as growing up. It is unfortunate that their is a stigma of elitism, snobbery, if you like, attached to "classical" music. All the more absurd when you realise that much of it was the popular music of the era in which it was composed.

I find it rewarding when someone says to me that they don't like "classical" music and then almost in the same breath they admit to loving the theme from Star Wars, or any of the other thousand upon thousands of movies which use classical forms of music in the soundtrack.

Then there are the pop songs which rearrange famous classical works into popular songs or incorporate a moment or two of some classical work or even use the symphonic instrumentation to accompany their songs. ( The Beatles and The Who often did this and of course, Queen is almost operatic in the mood and construction of many of its songs. Even the late Michael Jackson used classical music in his songs for dramatic effect. See the

, and the moment where he turns with his arm extended and his finger pointing to the sky in a most balletic fashion while the music is from the finale of

.)

I think it is very sad when we deny ourselves the joy of any of the forms of music, because of what is thought of as fashionable on a particular day, even if we do have our favourites. On the whole musical artists are much more appreciative of diverse musical forms than many of their fans.

[Richard Norway]

I am forever forlorn when I hear people say, "I just don't care for classical music."

I guess people don't like what they are unaccustomed to. When I was 8 or 9 years old, my mother bought a set of 45 rpm records of Beethoven's symphonies. Can anyone remember those? I was absolutely enthralled by the sounds, but more so by the emotions that they brought out in me. I don't look down on people who say they don't like classical music, but rather I feel sorry for them, for not having the opportunity to experience it's richness. David was not raised in a household that listened to classic music. And when I bought season tickets to the LA Philharmonic, he was aghast. But one performance of Gustav Holst's "Mars" from the planets had him crying at what he had missed.

Most of what I have written was accomplished with the sounds that set the mood that I wanted to feel for a particular scene. Copeland does it for me.

[Cole Parker]

One of the fascinating things about classical music is, like food, everyone has their own tastes. I like Holst, but he's not one of my favorites. His The Planets, which Mars is taken from, is his major and most played work. And it is well-written, but it simply doesn't move me like some works do. Writing at about the same time, two other English composers, Sir Edgar Elgar and Frederick Delius, both wrote what I consider far greater music. Elgar is one of my favorites. His Enigma Variations is a wonderful piece that can be listened to over and over again. Some of Delius' works, especially his Florida Suite, are sublime.

Which is another reason I love classical music. It has such variety, so many styles and types, that you never find it boring or mundane.

And yes, I do know the Beethoven Symphonies. His Ninth is widely considered the greatest symphony every written. And I find it the least enjoyable of his nine symphonies. Even when it comes to classical music, I tend to march to a different drummer than most people.

C

[rick]

I cast my vote for Mozart...mainly because of the beauty and range of his musical creations, but also because the man was a bit of a rock star in his day, with some of his works being denounced by the clergy as scandalous. My kind of guy!

Rick