CDs vs. the Cloud?

"The Classical Cloud:  The Pleasures and Frustrations of Listening Online," by Alex Ross (cf., The New Yorker, 8 September 2014), discussed this intriguing problem in considerable detail.  Of course, the pros and cons can be debated "till tree become stone," and most of the comments from readers dismissed the "disc rot" issue.  I suspect we'll hear more of the debate until the market determines the best answer -- or, at least, best temporary resolution, pending the development of new technologies.

The Ross article can be found at:  http://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2014/09/08/classical-cloud .

Second Oboe Sonata Finished and Recorded; News Updates

Earlier this summer, I completed my Sonata #2 in E minor, for Oboe and Piano (or Harpsichord).  This is again a baroque composition in four movements, following the familiar slow-fast-slow-fast scheme, and it includes a fugue with some interesting modulations in the last movement.

On Wednesday, 21 August, I recorded this work at Futura Productions with Audrey Markowitz, who also recorded my first sonata.  While the final edits and mix remain to be done, I have reviewed the takes and am quite gratified with the preliminary results.

Upon completion, the sonata will be uploaded to my Youtube channel, https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCimiO7ycp83KIsOZYyxJzdQ, which hosts all the published music and a number of unpublished (piano) pieces.  I have a separate channel for my performances of works by Bach, Mozart, Mendelssohn, and Debussy:  https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCHVnl236k_PWxPkwhj-yebw.  The remaining handful of unpublished compositions are on Soundcloud:  https://soundcloud.com/search?q=Lenny%20Cavallaro.

Finally, my website, LennyCavallaroMusic.com, is at long last under reconstruction and should be in good shape shortly.

New Publications; Youtube Channel

Broadbent and Dunn have released my Sonata in D Minor for Violin and Piano (or Harpsichord), Op. 4, and my "Raindrops" Fantasia for Violin and Piano, Op. 5.  They also published Alfonso Cavallaro's Op. Posth. 2 as two separate volumes ("Serenade" and "Tango"), and I shall endeavor to record my father's pieces this summer. 

Meanwhile, Forton Music have released my Four Romances for Cor Anglais and Piano, Op. 6, and Suite for Oboe, Cor Anglais, and Bassoon, Op. 7. 

I have uploaded a number of my works onto my Youtube channel, and more will follow shortly.  The url is http://www.youtube.com/channel/UCimiO7ycp83KIsOZYyxJzdQ. 

Samuragoochi Fraud Unravels

Deaf symphonist Mamoru Samuragochi, whose Hiroshima work became anthem for tsunami survivors, has been exposed as a fraud.  He had claimed to be deaf, prompting some to hail him as the "Japanese Beethoven."  Earlier this month the deception unraveled; most of Samuragochi's compositions were apparently written by Takashi Niigaki, who also asserted that Samuragochi isn't even deaf.

Well and good, but is this actually anything new?  In all likelihood, Mozart wrote some compositions for wealthy patrons, who proceeded to pass off the scores as their own work (or at least tried to do so).  200-odd years later, far lesser talents apparently engage in the same practice.  As the French so correctly note, "Plus ça change, plus c'est la même chose."  My sentiments about a suitable "front" are noted on JanusLiteraryAgency.com .

More Publications for 2014!

2014 looks like a promising year!  Forton Music have accepted what will become my Op. 6 Partita in G for Oboe, Cor Anglais, and Bassoon, and my Op. 7 Four Romances for Cor Anglais and Piano.  Needless to say, I am extremely gratified by this news!  Meanwhile, my father's magnificent chorale prelude for organ, "Wer nur den lieben Gott lässt walten," will be published by Wayne Leupold editions. 

Summer Update (belated)

I am now in possession of another short CD, this one comprised entirely of compositions for winds.  My colleagues [Audrey Markowitz, oboe; Kyoko Hida-Battaglia, English horn (and oboe); Patricia Yee, bassoon] and I recorded these eleven pieces at Futura Productions in Roslindale, and I am once again quite pleased with the results.

I patched together what may ultimately form the Partita in G for Double-Reed Trio -- Invention in G minor, Rondo in G Major, Fugue #1 in G minor, Renaissance Dance in G Major, and Fugue #2 in G minor.  As a group, these are certainly somewhat unusual -- three baroque contrapuntal works (in minor mode) with a classical rondo and Renaissance dance (the latter two in major mode).  Moreover, the second fugue has already been published as my Op. 3, #3 "Fugue for Cor Anglais and Piano."  However, I think the assembly works quite nicely, and the concluding fugue probably sounds better with the three woodwinds than with English horn and piano.

I finally got to record my transcription of my father's song, "A Man-Child's Lullaby" (with oboe; published for oboe or flute & piano).  I also completed my Op. 3 recordings with the second (and best) piece, "Song Without Words."

The new works -- all of which came to me in dreams -- formed a set:  Four Romances for Cor Anglais and Piano.  Of these, the most interesting is #1 in F, which begins with a short excerpt from Beethoven's first cello sonata (but branches off in a totally different direction).  The third, in b minor, derived from my earlier setting of "Heartbreak Hill," by Celia Thaxter, and clearly works quite nicely for English horn.

I am very excited about these new compositions (as well as the two already published), and hope they will be performed in near future. 

Novel about Paganini beats books on Biber, Khalifa

Here is --> an amusing news blurb about my mother's novel (based on the life of Paganini), which I edited and revised:  http://janusliteraryagency.blogspot.com/2012/12/paganini-tops-bieber-khalifa.html .