RobsHouse.net

I’m a musician living the life of a computer programmer. Or maybe I’m a techie with exceptionally good musical training. Either way, it is a point of view, and one that I share with more and more people. So I’ve decided to write about music, from the technologist’s vantage point, and to do so with some friends of mine who are in a similar boat. High-C.com is my new music blog where Jam, Andrew and I share our thoughts on all things musical. Some of my favorite posts so far are The White Seal, Grooveshark, Shutter Island, and Don’t be a silly brass player. Enjoy!

Hänsel and Gretel are hungry and lost. Their mother sent them into the woods in anger after they accidentally spilled the milk - the only food their family had. They picked berries, but Hänsel couldn't help himself and ate them all (he's only a boy!) Darkness has fallen and they've just been visited by the sandman who has made them very tired. Before they fall asleep they say an evening prayer, asking for protection during the night.

When at night I go to sleep
Fourteen angels watch do keep,
Two my head are guarding,
Two my feet are guiding,
Two are on my right hand,
Two are on my left hand,
Two who warmly cover,
Two who o'er me hover,
Two to whom is given
To guide my steps to Heaven.

In the opera, by Engelbert Humperdinck, there then follows an extended orchestral pantomime which is one of the outstanding moments in all classical music. Each opera production does something different with it. The first production I saw revealed a ladder ascending to heaven lined with 14 angels. The Royal Opera House production (clips below) shows the children dreaming. The guardians - half angel half forest creatures - give way to a scene in a home, where a loving father and mother have beautiful presents for Hänsel and Gretel. The treasure inside? Watch for yourselves to see. But listen, too. Listen to what that presents mean. Listen, even as your eyes see, because it is the music which embodies the hearts and souls of the children.

This opera never fails to rip my heart to shreds. The innocence of the children, the terror of being lost in the woods, feeling forsaken by their parents, and the overwhelming pain of hunger all come through in the music. They are so exposed, so alone, and the biggest danger (the Witch!) still lies in front of them. But the music, over all of the darkness and worry, speaks a language of pure beauty and hope. It proclaims with every note the love and divine goodness of our existence.

Screenshots: 

Fun and value can be found in aggregation. Using the Feed API, Emfield, and Feed element mapper, it becomes easy to create awesome video aggregators that pull in topic specific videos from multiple video sharing services. The Wall-o-Cello Videos shows hundreds of videos from YouTube.com, Blip.tv, MetaCafe.com and Google Videos.

Yahoo! Pipes (screenshot) is an ideal tool for creating custom aggregation filters. CelloRoller.com uses Y! Pipes to track specific cellists, pulling information from across the entire internet.

If you don't know this piece, take the time to watch the video. If you know the piece, well, I don't have to encourage you, do I? This is the last movement, including the "shrill rejoicing" part that Shostakovich wrote in part as a response to potentially life threatening criticism leveled at him by the government.

There is a feeling of rejoicing, but it is one of forced rejoicing. It is as if someone is beating you with a stick and telling you 'You're celebrating!' over and over again. Eventually, you walk away muttering 'Yes, I'm celebrating.'

Source: wikipedia

Look at Bernstein's face at the end of the movement. He, the whole orchestra, and the entire audience, have invested their complete emotional energy into these minutes. The result is spectacular.

Jackson Michigan isn’t such a bad place. It claims to be the birthplace of the Republican party, and it has one whopper of a prison, but the 27 golf courses more than make up for that. Musically, there is a lot going on. Distilling Jacksonian life into rhythm and rhyme, the Jacktown Hustlers are going to tell you, in full MP3 stereo, exactly what you’ve been missing all these years by living somewhere else.