Up There With the Greats - Cello Suites and Hot Jazz

The Whittaker Library thinks it's rather nice that this week the collection has acquired CDs by our own celebrities:-

• David Watkin, Head of Strings, plays the Bach Cello Suites - a recording receiving rave reviews;
• and our Jazz department releases RCS Jazz Road West

Find them on the new accessions shelf next week.  Or look up details online, here.

We are the very helpful Whittaker Library at the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland, here to help our community of performing artists with their information needs.

ESTA, and now JESTA - No Kidding!

ESTA stands for the European String Teachers Association - you knew that.

However, today the Whittaker Library received a pile of magazines entitled JESTA, which came as part of our subscription to ESTA.

A Survival Guide for Young String Players

http://www.jesta.org.uk/

JESTA - the magazine and the website - is 'a survival guide for young string players'.  If you encounter a young string player looking as though they might need survival skills, please do direct them to the website - or tell Junior Conservatoire members that there are currently 7 copies of the Summer 2014 issue of the magazine, at the Whittaker Library Issue Desk.

* The European String Teachers Association website is:- 

http://www.estastrings.org.uk/

 (Don't be fooled into thinking the website is the junior website without the "J" - that would take you somewhere very different!) 

Cello Woe - a Warning to Cellists

A cello is mellow and low
But not the best thing if you know
You'll be busking outdoors
Whilst a howling gale roars
And the rain's changing slowly to snow.

Whittaker begs to reassure his readers that this is entirely fictional and relates to no cellist known to 'himself'.

Trumpets, Tubas, Cellos and a Glasgow Night Out

Whittaker offers you a few more musical limericks at this light-hearted time of year:-

A lass in the proud Philharmonic
Slipped out for a quick gin and tonic;
Her tuba was flat -
It had angered her cat -
Though the high notes were quite supersonic.

***

**

*

A student who worshipped his cello
Came home feeling genially mellow;
I say, he proclaimed,
Glasgow parties are famed,
Serenade me till dawn, my good fellow.

***

**

*

No woman with flair on the trumpet
Would want you to call her a crumpet;
You might think she's cute
'Til she picks up a mute,
Picks her target and offers to thump it.

 

Clarinet Coquette

image courtesy of DeviantArt,com

A girl with a new clarinet

Was told it was poor etiquette

To rehearse Claire de Lune

By the light of the moon

Just to see how much feedback she’d get.







.
A cellist who played ukulele
Would practise both instruments daily.
Though he tried to play Bach
On the uke for a laugh,
It was hardly the stuff for a ceilidh.

Scottish Saxophones and Spanish Cellos: Arranging National Tunes for Small Ensembles

Sax Ecosse at Buchanan Bus Station

A veritable blogfest about song-arranging can be found here on the True Imaginary Friends blog.  Take a handful of old national songbooks, and pick an ensemble to write for.  Are you ready?  

Here are some of the results!

International Violin, Cello and Jazz Competitions

 3 Competitions: Poland, Germany, Romania

'Whittaker' opened the Library post today to discover details of not one, not two, but THREE international competitions for performers.  Let's see some of our fabulous performers on the world stage!

www.Pendereckicello.com - the name says it all.  The 2nd International Krztsztof Penderecki Cello Competition. 15-22 December 2013.  Deadline 15 August 2013.

www.hfm-weimar.de/spohr - 7th International Louis Spohr Competition for Young Violinists, 28 October - 8 November 2013.  Deadline 15 July 2013, and your date of birth must be no earlier than 1993.

www.jmevents.ro - 8th Bucharest International Jazz Competition, 17-24 May 2014.  "100% Jazz and more".

When a Music Librarian goes all Musical

Some months ago, I rashly decided to arrange a suite of Hebridean folksongs from Alexander Campbell's song-collection, Albyn's Anthology.  I arranged them for flute, viola and cello.  Rather virtuoso flute, viola and cello, to be honest.  Campbell's early 19th century collection was praised for the tunes and slammed for the settings, so I doubt if I can have done much harm by my extravagant flights of fancy.

Just one problem.  I need a trio! I don't really think Allegro Finale through computer speakers really did them justice.  Now what?!  Could there remotely possibly be a flute, viola and cello trio out there in the Scottish central belt?

'Whittaker' has his fingers crossed.