I Am Not A Critic But I Know What I Like

I was listening to performance of some work with the great Concertgebouw orchestra the other day - it was on YouTube. I am sure you will agree that the preponderance of listeners on that video channel are poorly-educated and small-minded persons - I am guessing about 98 percent or thereabouts. Then again, you might not agree with me about that but it matters not - not to me, anyway. I know whereof I speak and I cannot change my opinion about that. Now and again, one comes across a really intelligent comment, but those are few and far between, as the cliche goes. I am digressing. Sorry. My post is about my experience with the Concertgebouw post on YouTube. That particular performance was superb, as I expected. However, toward the end, a scramble in the strings (which probably lasted no more than three seconds but which my ear caught instantly) marred the ending just a trifle. I made a comment to that effect. Almost immediately, some person who obviously has little musical education, no ear training whatsoever, and poor manners attacked me for pointing that little fault out. Another moron jumped in and defended the first ninny. What to do? One cannot engage ignorant people in a dialogue - it would be like talking to or arguing with a chair. I enjoy pointing out errors when I hear them. Nothing is perfect - not even Heifetz. Hilary Hahn comes close - damn her.  

FLEXIMUSIC

OK. Listen carefully ladies and gentlemen. I found this new site which produces music editing and writing software. Its name is FLEXIMUSIC. You'll know how to find it on the WEB I'm sure. (Fleximusic.com) I am about to try its software because I like writing music. I will then compare it to the other programs I have. You know what those are - Sibelius, Cakewalk, Finale, etc..

Cinco minutos

I know you’ve been wondering which Symphony Orchestras are the best in the world. I can help you with that. This is my own order of preference: Vienna Philharmonic, London Philharmonic, Berlin Philharmonic, Royal Concertgebouw, New York Philharmonic, Pittsburgh Symphony, Chicago Symphony, Paris Conservatoire, San Francisco Symphony, Boston Symphony, Philadelphia Orchestra, Los Angeles Philharmonic, Czech Philharmonic, Detroit Symphony, and the Cleveland Orchestra. I cannot go into why I chose these but I can tell you I gave the list some thought – about two minutes’ worth. When you’re an expert at something, you don’t need to re-think your biases too much, no? That, by the way, is the best concert hall in the world, too. Take my word.

Chess is useless

George Bernard Shaw once said "Chess is a foolish expedient for making idle people believe they are doing something very clever when they are only wasting their time." I guess the same thing can be said of any game. Shaw is now dead and chess is still alive. Maybe that tells us something. Maybe he wasn't a very good player and was bitter about it. Opinions about the game differ wildly - they swing from one extreme to another. Charles Dickens said that "love that has a game of chess in it can checkmate any man and solve the problem of life." On the other hand, someone named Cassirer said "What chess has in common with science and fine art is its utter uselessness." Nobody knows Cassirer but everyone knows chess. For me, it's a lot better than watching a sit-com. One final quote: "Chess is the gymnasium of the mind." - Anderssen