NMR Artist Spotlight: EXCLUSIVE Interview with Classical Composer David Warin Solomons David Warin Solomons is a lyrical neo-classical composer who uses various styles, including European (in various modes), Jewish, Chinese and Japanese. He has written chamber, solo, choral, vocal and orchestral music. WHAT INSPIRES YOUR MUSIC?  My music is inspired partly by the rhythms and feelings of poetry and religious texts and partly by my own improvisations. DOWNLOAD PSALM 23 TODAY AT CD BABY WHAT IS YOUR STORY?  I was born in 1953 to two poetic and artistic parents and soon found myself writing music, initially for classical guitar and then for various chamber music and choral ensembles, while singing with choirs in churches and cathedrals in England, Ireland and France. WHAT MAKES YOUR MUSIC EXTRAORDINARY/DIFFERENT?  I am self-taught as a composer, guitarist and singer, so, although I follow many of the dictates of tonal classical mu...

Buffalo New York Queen City Sweethearts Singing Ensemble Brings Cheer this Holiday Season "The nearly one-hundred-year old vaulted ceilings of the community room of St. Mary’s Senior Apartments reverberated with an amazing sound last evening. Queen City Sweethearts blended their songs into each and every carefully phrased number. The walls of the former convent filled with acoustical finesse and the trio sustained an evening of wondrous variety. Their tenor, alto and bass voices filled the walls with Holiday songs old and new with only the assistance of musical cues from a tiny electric piano. The talented voices seemed to melt as they rose painting the glowing walls of soft golden light reflected from a towering Christmas tree covered with tiny white lights adding to a wondrous display of holiday splendor. The charming clarity captured the essence of each song and brought appreciative applause from every corner of the three-storey former convent chapel of the Sister’s of St. ...

Gregorian Chant http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d5p_U8J0iRQ How is this music different than classical music works from other periods? - Instrumentation? - Monophony - Musical Lines - Rhythm Sacred music was notated at this time. The primary musicians at this time were the religious clergy. (For example, Hildegard von Bingen ). They recorded sacred music. Example of written music: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2HEKhr002Ts http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lkpFB6urAEE&feature=related Music was acapella Characteristics of Gregorian Chant Otherworldy the "Voice of the Church" No rhythm Moved by step (Piano example) Simple to sing Church Modes (Piano examples) SECULAR MUSIC http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZvaRMZPROSo Secular music included instruments like the fiddle, pipes, reed instruments Troubadours Knights and love songs Minstrels (Musicians/Acrobats on par with slaves. No rights. Human Newspaper) Played horns fiddles and lutes. Related articles A Short History of Long-Ha...