Overhauled the website completely in anticipation of my upcoming publications. Like the new logo? Also, did a photo shoot with two dear friends (Jenny Serpa and Derrick Gibson; www.gibsphotography.com) and just had to get some of their cool shots on the site. More photos will be available soon (spoiler alert: I play cello in decrepit, rockstar-ish places). Also, look for part two of my discussion of cello in rock during the first week of August!

There's a new (old) video up in the Media section of a particularly fun spur-of-the-moment recording session in Cleveland. Among the recordings Brandon, Jennifer, Mike and I made was the great jazz standard Paper Moon (not to be confused with anything from the Twilight saga). Be sure to watch the violinist on the left (Brandon); his leg has a mind of its own, making it tragically impossible for him to play the cello. A link to Brandon Vance's website is up under Cellist > Recommended Links. Also, "up under" is bit of an oxymoron, no?

After the piano, I suspect that the most widely heard "classical" instrument is the cello. So many rock groups use cello (real or synthesized) that it's taken on a life of its own in that medium.

The use of cello in rock can fill a few roles:
1) Mellowing a heavier band
2) Complementing a sweeter singer's voice
3) Emphasizing an element of the band's genre.

Today I'll discuss examples of bands that use it to mellow their sound:

#1 Fuel: Shimmer from the album Sunburn.
I usually consider Fuel to be industrial music lite, with a bit of grunge thrown in.  Although this album is less heavy than the more popular album that followed (Something Like Human), the track preceding Shimmer (Bittersweet) has a strong Soundgarden-inspired feel. The use of cello in Shimmer in the first chorus helps show the the other (softer) side of Fuel. The song builds through the second verse and the cello's presence disappears except for brief moments where it (haha) shimmers through in the second chorus and again for a bit in the bridge.

#2 Ashes Divide: Sword from the album Keep Telling Myself it's Alright.
Ashes Divide is the the solo project of A Perfect Circle guitarist Billy Howerdel. Sword is the last track on the album and features Devo Keenan, age 11, on cello (incidentally, Devo is the son of Maynard James Keenan, the lead singer of A Perfect Circle and Tool). Sword comes after The Prey, a high-energy track which ascends and increases instrumentation from an opening octave riff. The effect of The Prey is that of its music; an ascent. The Trent Reznor-esque piano opening of Sword grounds the listener for one more song, and prepares them to deal with being grounded one more time. The cello's entrance is a lament, interrupted by an explosion of guitar before it can finish. So much of the song features an extended tonic pedal that the ascent concept from the previous track is forgotten, and it's the cello the mellowed down the high of The Prey to prepare the listener for the anguish (and eventual closure) in Sword.

#3 Linkin Park: Leave Out All The Rest from the album Minutes to Midnight.
The crackles from the first track, Wake (which features Dimitri Shostakovich's tradmark D-Eb-C-B motif at pitch... coincidence in this highly political album?) fuse with the bells and clapping in Given Up, giving the impression of one long track. Once Chester screams himself out, the cello dramatically alters the timbre and mood, making Leave Out All The Rest feel like the album's first landing point. The (synthesized) cello shows a softer, more rational side as it did in Shimmer.
The cello also provides the first indication that this is NOT the Linkin Park from Hybrid Theory and Meteora. Both of those albums fell into an Alternative-Industrial-Nu Metal brand of music, but the lowered second scale degree that is indicative of Nu Metal (because Korn used it so prominently) is markedly absent from Minutes to Midnight after Given Up. The cello establishes a tonal world in which the fourth scale degree is utilized, instead of the lowered second. Good job synthesized cello!

#4 Linkin Park: In Between from the album Minutes to Midnight.
Although I'm not particularly fond of this track, I think that it is among the more interesting tracks I've heard a well-established band attempt recently. The entire first verse is a duet between Chester and a synthesized cello. The lack of any percussion is particularly disconcerting after the prominence of the drums through the rest of the album; the preceding track (Valentine's Day) even ends with drums alone. As with Leave Out All the Rest, I see the cello solo in In Between as the start of a new set of songs (the last chunk of the album), It's like the last two tracks can't get out of melancholy feeling that the synthesized cello established-- both begin slowly and don't have the same energy as Given Up and No More Sorrow.

#5 Muse: Undisclosed Desires from the album The Resistance.
I've heard a lot of complaints about the latest Muse album because they "sold out" which means "they're too pop-y". Those comments are almost exclusively in reference to this track (although it also references how pronouncedly Queen-influenced some of the tracks are). In this case, synthesized string pizzicato is the culprit for making it sound like something out of Justin Timberlake or Kanye West. However, in establishing this more pop-y sound, I would argue that, as Muse's most political album, there is a specific reason for the popyness: irony. To have a track as pop-y as Undisclosed Desires must be ironic when, on the same album, the last three tracks are three of movements of their Symphony and one of the middle songs breaks down into a Chopin Nocturne right after a Queen-esque anthem. The music video seems to be all about product placement? Image? Subliminal messages? And somehow it manages to feel simultaneously one of like one of Trent Reznor's creepier videos and the N'Sync puppetshow video (Bye Bye Bye).
The synthesized strings, used ironically "de-pop-ify" Muse; it makes them seem pop-y when they're actually distancing themselves even further.

I love going to Radiohead's site because there are often playlists of music that one of the members had been listening to. It's usually music I don't know and I have quite a bit of fun looking up the band and listening a bit. In the same spirit, I thought I'd post some blogs of what I've been listening to lately.

This playlist is abnormal in that it's only "classical" music... and "classical" is a strange label to apply to most of these works (the first especially) because of the 10 composers listed below, only two of them (Mozart and Poulenc) aren't living.

"Classical" iTunes playlist of the day:

1) I am writing to you from a far off country, mvt 3 by Eve Beglarian
Cellist, Maya Beiser.

2) Air for Cello and Orchestra by Jay Aaron Kernis
Cellist, Truls Mork

3) Neruda Songs, mvt 1: If your eyes were not the color of the moon 
by Peter Lieberson, James Levine conducting Boston Symphony

4) Mark Twain Sez: Growth by Paul Moravec
Cellist, Matt Haimovitz

5) Quartet #18 in A-Major, "Haydn" K. 464, mvt 3 (Andante) by W.A. Mozart
Original Takacs Quartet recording

6) Died on the Air by Daniel Pesca
Flautist, Sarah Frisof. Pianist, Daniel Pesca

7) Les Soirees de Nazelles: La charme injoleur by Francis Poulence
Pianist, Paul Roger

8) Cello Counterpoint by Steve Reich
Cellist, Maya Beiser

9) Three Postludes: #3: Postludium by Valentin Silvestrov
Cellist, Anja Lechner. Pianist, Silke Avenhaus

10) Falling by Joby Talbot
Cellist, Maya Beiser

Tracks 1, 4, and 10 are solo cello pieces I've enjoyed but haven't listened to much, all by composers who are very much alive. Each has either narration or electronics, both of which are difficult to use effectively. These tracks each use those elements to their full potential.

Track 2 is on the list because I recently performed Kernis' "Too Hot Toccata" with Lansing Symphony and hadn't listened to the Air (which I love) since. I had assumed that Kernis was a composer whose works were always long (the cello concerto "Colored Field" is among the longest concerti in the repertoire at 40 minutes), but the Too Hot Toccata is completely jam-packed and not a single note could be cut. Hence, a re-examination of his Air.

Track 3 I thought would be a nice follow-up to track 2, which it was. The composer's late wife is the soprano in this recording. The story of the Liebersons is heartbreakingly touching, if you care to look into it.

Track 5 has been in my brain for a few days, when I listened to most of the quartets that Mozart dedicated to Haydn. I must have sight-read the movement at a Classical Revolution jam session in Ann Arbor because it's in my fingers too...

Track 6 is a wonderful piece by a dear friend and colleague, with another good friend joining him on flute. As Mr. Pesca just visited en route to a music festival, I thought I'd listen again.

Track 7 is by a composer whose music I love but have yet to really explore. Gorgeous little piece.

Track 8 is a piece I've enjoyed for a while (for 8 cellos, all over-dubbed by the 
same cellist) and I was thrilled to hear that a colleague was programming it on a dissertation recital. Good luck Martin!

Track 9 is a gorgeous, reflective little piece that I've only listened to once. Fun to hear it again. Few pieces demand one's attention as much as this one. I can't imagine an audience member not on the edge of their seat, straining to hear each note. Anticipation in patience.

Thanks for reading! I hope you check out a few of the composers.
--Eric

After two years of work, the new edition of the 40 Popper Cello Etudes, Op. 73 are ready to pre-order!

Hooray! Despite not having trademarks, logos, etc, I've launched the skeleton of the website which will eventually become my home-away-from home on the internet. If you are already interested in my services, feel free to contact me using the contact form under "About Me".