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Written by David Lang
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Sunday, 10 January 2010 |
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Anton Webern - looked up to by many as modernism’s flag-bearer, leading the charge to break all links with musical tradition – actually had a strong interest in Renaissance music. Before he began studying composition with Schoenberg, Webern graduated from Vienna University with a doctorate in musicology. Under Guido Adler, Webern’s major project was to prepare a new edition of Choralis constantinus by Heinrich Isaac, a Dutch composer from the turn of the 16th Century. |
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Written by Ronald Gaynor
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Thursday, 07 January 2010 |
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When Richard Wagner died in his wife Cosima’s arms, she stayed in the room with him for a whole day and night until persuaded by a doctor to leave. Some reports go so far as to claim that she clung to his body the whole time. |
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Written by Hugh Davidson
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Thursday, 07 January 2010 |
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We tend to think of composers as rather tortured souls, struggling to make ends meet, eking out an existence with few financial rewards. Mozart certainly died penniless and was buried in a common grave, but his straitened circumstances may have been due more to poor budgeting than poor returns. But what about composers who combined their genius for music with business acumen? |
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Written by Hugh Davidson & David Lang
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Thursday, 07 January 2010 |
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When was the last time you heard Happy Birthday in a film? Can’t remember? Maybe that’s because, since first published in 1893, the song has been under exclusive copyright. In order to avoid paying royalty fees, Hollywood movies typically avoid using the tune. |
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Written by Claire Tomlin
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Thursday, 07 January 2010 |
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Gustav Mahler will have celebrations over two successive years in 2010 and 2011: this year is 150 years since his birth (1860), and next year will be the centenary of his death (1911). |
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Written by Ronald Gaynor
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Tuesday, 05 January 2010 |
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At 2010 National Music Camp, 75 years after Czech composer Josef Suk’s death, we are celebrating his life with the performance of one of his most loved pieces - the Serenade for Strings in E-flat Major, Op. 6. |
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Written by Hugh Davidson
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Tuesday, 05 January 2010 |
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Two composers featured at this year’s National Music Camp suffered particularly grisly deaths. |
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Written by Hugh Davidson
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Tuesday, 05 January 2010 |
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Czech Airlines plays the main theme from Bedrich Smetana’s Vltava (The Moldau) in its planes after they land. Smetana’s work will be performed in the first week of National Music Camp. |
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Written by Hugh Davidson
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Monday, 04 January 2010 |
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J. S. Bach and G. F. Handel - considered the two greatest composers of the High Baroque period – were both born in the same year (1685), and both blinded by the same quack eye-doctor, “Chevalier” John Taylor. |
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Written by Vincent Plush
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Thursday, 11 January 2007 |
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The first public appearance of the Australian Youth Orchestra was at 3.15pm precisely, on Wednesday 6th March 1957 in the "Great Restaurant" of the cafeteria of David Jones department store on Elizabeth Street in Sydney. |
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Written by Genevieve Lang
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Wednesday, 10 January 2007 |
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Second Violin tutorials at the very first music camp in 1948 were held in a galvanised-iron building with creepers growing up the walls! |
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Written by Angela Turner
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Wednesday, 03 January 2007 |
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Sir Donald Bradman, a keen pianist, visited music camp in 1958. He even lent his 1938 test match gear to his niece and clarinet tutor Anne Menzies (Hazelwood), who put on the kit for the annual cricket match between staff and students. For the record, she took a few catches, but was less successful with the bat: out for a duck.
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Written by Angela Turner
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Wednesday, 03 January 2007 |
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The Bishop and Alexander Symphony Orchestras are named after the founders of National Music Camp: John Bishop and Ruth Alexander. |
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Written by Angela Turner
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Wednesday, 03 January 2007 |
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Musica Fever, music camp's magazine, originates from the very first music camp in 1948. |
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