Where is the Music

#29 In today’s episode we discover a little piano masterpiece by the Hungarian composer Franz Liszt, called “Au Bord d’une Source” (Beside a Spring). It is a great opportunity for talking about water as a source of inspiration for artists and musicians, a multifaceted symbol of life and energy, an archetype of our human existence.

Au Bord d'une Source, F. Liszt, video by Alberto L. Ferro

• Au Bord d'une Source, F. Liszt, video by Alberto L. Ferro
• D. Scarlatti: Keyboard Sonata in G Major, Kk. 146 - C. Zacharias | Spotify
• D. Scarlatti, ‎Keyboard Sonata in G Major, Kk. 146 – C. Zacharias – Apple Music
• Estampes: 3. Jardins sous la pluie - Debussy | Spotify
• ‎Estampes: 3. Jardins Sous la Pluie – Debussy. Apple Music
• Má Vlast, 2. Vltava - Bedřich Smetana | Spotify
• ‎Má Vlast, 2. Vltava – Bedrich Smetana – Apple Music

My Piano Courses:

Counterpoint Fundamentals

For a 30% discount on my Counterpoint Course add the code THEMUSICCODE

https://www.udemy.com/course/improvising-counterpoint/?couponCode=THEMUSICCODE

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#28 Opening the doors to my Piano Studio today, and welcoming the listeners to join me in discovering a piece by the Jazz Guitar legend Pat Metheny, ‘Midwestern Nights Dream’, from the album ‘Bright Size Life’ (1976). We will investigate the main characteristics of Metheny’s composition, highlighting the cultural influences and the symbolic ideas represented in the music, which ultimately offer a pathway for inspired improvisation.

• ‎Midwestern Nights Dream - Pat Metheny - Apple Music
• Midwestern Nights Dream - Pat Metheny | Spotify

Cover Photo by Sean Stratton on Unsplash

Alberto plays Midwestern Nights Dream (video)

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#27 In today’s episode I discuss the special place in history occupied by the Musical Offering (Bach 1747) which offers a perfect case study for the idea that music is not entirely dependent on sound, but rather on the cooperation that music establishes with its listeners. The orchestration that Anton Webern created of this composition demonstrates the role that interpretation has in music, which is sometimes more relevant than the composition itself.

With this episode I want to inaugurate a series of Seminars on important music topics, such as the greatest repertoire ever written, the most significant musical moments in history, particular points in aesthetics and music appreciation, and more.

• Bach: The Musical Offering, BWV 1079 (full work) | Spotify
• ‎Bach: The Musical Offering, BWV 1079 (full work) - Apple Music
• Ricercar a 6 (Harpsichord) | Spotify
• Ricercar a 6 (Harpsichord) - Apple Music
• Bach/Webern, Orchestration | Spotify
• ‎Bach/Webern, Orchestration - Apple Music
• "Bach’s Musical Offering" , by Alberto Ferro, 2013, PDF
• Musikalisches Opfer (The Musical Offering) - J.S. Bach, Ricercar Consort | Spotify

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#26 In today’s episode I’ll reflect on the role of music as a vehicle to learn about, appreciate, and indeed travel the world. What can a foreign melody communicate to us? Why do certain songs cross their original cultural boundaries and become popular elsewhere? How come a tune stays in the ears and hearts for generations, travelling through time?

• Ep. 26 - PLAYLIST - Spotify
• As Time Goes By, from Casablanca, performed by F. Sinatra - YouTube
• Bach, Air from Orchestral Suite in D Major BWV 1068 - YouTube
• And I Love Her, Lennon-McCartney, performed by Brad Mehldau Trio - YouTube
• Amapola, from Once Upon a Time in the West Soundtrack, E. Morricone - YouTube
• Tea for Two, Art Tatum, performed by Yuja Wang - YouTube
• Agua de Beber, T. Jobim, performed by Astrud Gilberto - YouTube
• Adios Nonino, Astor Piazzolla - YouTube

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#25 Introduction, historical relevance and cosmology in Bach’s music and the Well-Tempered Clavier.

(Fugue in C# Major BWV 848, WTC Book I)

With today’s Episode I am inaugurating the first of possibly many Series of episodes united by a musical thread. The Well-Tempered Clavier by Bach is a work of art unique in its kind and a remarkable musical achievement. By looking at one of the Fugues from the first Book (the Well-Tempered Clavier is in two books) I will investigate Bach’s creative style and how his music can be heard as a geometric model of the universe.

• Divine Harmonies: Bach’s Metaphysics of Music:
• Bach’s Tonal Cosmology and composing procedures, Robert Levine:
• Fugue in C# major, BWV 848 from Book I

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#24 What was music for you when you were a child? What kind of imagination music triggered then, and why is it important? Thinking about this topic might bring some light into the potentials and limits of music education and shape the way we impart it to the new generations. If music is the place for freedom, joy, creativity, emotional empathy and intellectual development, appreciating its effects on children will inform the way we help them participating with it. Today I will explore the topic.

• Prince Guitar solo on "While My Guitar Gently Wheeps"
• Grigory Sokolov plays Couperin

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#23 American, pianist and composer Bill Evans was a huge influence on modern jazz, especially due to his polyphonic style of playing and his innovative approach to harmony: today I will look at one of his solo interpretations, ‘A Time for Love’ from the album “Alone” (1970) and point at some of his musical choices. What I find most fascinating about Bill Evans’ creative approach is the way he turns a piano into an orchestra, developing ideas through the entire spectrum of the instrument's expressive possibilities.

Bill Evans, 'A Time for Love' on Spotify

Bill Evans, 'A Time for Love' on AppleMusic

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#22 Music in the Number 3 – Mathematics and Creativity

What is the relationship between Mathematics and Music?

For thousands of years numbers and mathematics have influenced the way we look at nature. Music, as a phenomenon in perfect alignment with the harmony of cosmos, has been often described, explained, and created through mathematical principles. Numbers are used to identify musical intervals (ratios), scales, chords, but also -and interestingly for today’s conversation- are the way we express musical time, counting bars, measures, aggregating and subdividing beats. The number 3 seems to have a special importance…

In the episode I play:

Mozart, Clarinet Concerto K.622. II mov. Adagio

Listen on Spotify / Apple Music / YouTube

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#21 How does the evocative power of music work? Why was Impressionism so revolutionary in music? The relationship between visual art and music is never straightforward, and impressionist music was able to bring evocation and symbolism back to the centre stage of musical expression. Today I will explore the topic through the notes of Debussy (and other composers) and a bit of history of music.

Apple

Debussy, Reflet dans l’eau

Debussy, Pagodes

Spotify

Debussy, Reflet dans l’eau

Debussy, Pagodes

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#20 The distinction between composing and improvising might seem obvious, but at closer look it blurs in the creative process of making music. What does a composer like Stravinsky have in common with a jazz performer? When does an improvised idea become a composition, and from a creative perspective, is there anything behind the notes one plays, or write?

Listen to my improvisation: “Rough Edges: Improvisations”, 2023

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