Matanya Ophee's Journal

Username:	Password:
Forgot your password?	Remember Me

34 down, 10 to go!
I can see the end of all of this. Two more weeks, and I am back home. In the meantime, I finished the translation of the Sor method, managed to put in all the fingerings and corrections for Luis Briso de Montiano's edition of de Fossa Quatrième Fantaisie, Les Adieux A L'Espagne, Op. 11,* and even began transcribing a piece suggested to me by an old friend named Fernando Sor. Not sure I will finish it, but it's been a long time, years as a matter of fact, since I last did any serious transcribing for six-string guitar. A challenge of sorts.

Oh yes, tomorrow we are invited to celebrate le Quatorze Juillet with Patrick and Marina, the owners of le Petit Café in Bloomington. She hinted that besides cooking, she might also demonstrate a few can-can steps... And singing of La Marseilleuse is not required. (I don't know the lyrics beyond Allons Enfants de la patrie anyway...)

* It is fascinating what this Catalan composer could do with the C major scale, and its three (I, IV, V) chords...

WIP-The Sor translation.
All good things happen on July 7th, the day Margarita and I got married 26 years ago. We will be celebrating this tonight at Le petit Café in Bloomington, a really nice French restaurant run by a mom & pop (she cooks, he serves) team. Simple provençal cooking. What else to celebrate? OH yes, the translation of the Sor method is out the door. Not published yet, but first complete draft sent out to my two trusted readers, Carlos Barrientos and Jan de Kloe. It would have been nice to have a couple of more set of eyes (and the expertise and knowledge that goes with it), but frankly, I really do not know how to approach prospective readers and ask them to spend a great deal of time on examining my work, without compensation, and with what amounts to a non-disclosure (verbal) contract. You see, there have been several translations of this book in recent years, some good, some bad, and some so-so. I believe some of the ideas I express in this translation, and in the extended Annotations chapter, are actually quite revolutionary, and place the teaching of Fernando Sor in a completely different light to that that has been common in guitar circles. I am of course, fully prepared to defend my position, but I would rather do so only after the book had been published. At this time, my interest is to find out where exactly I distorted Sor's words beyond the limits I set for myself in this project, and how. I also would not want any part of this book to circulate without my control before the translation is actually published.

So if any one thinks s/he would like to tackle this examination, under the restrictions I delineated above, please let me know.

This is important.
I first met Stepan Rak at the 1987 Esztergom Festival. We got along famously well, spoke many times and at one point he asked me to publish an English language biography of his. He then told me a long story on how he was born in the Ukraine on the same day the US bombed Hiroshima, and how Soviet tank troops saved him from the ruins of a village that was bombed by the Germans and took him to Prague. I published that biography in the February, 1998 issue of Classical Guitar magazine. Sometimes later, Colin Cooper pointed out, I don't recall if this was in a private communication or in the magazine, that by the time the bomb was dropped on Hiroshima, the war in Europe was over for three months. Be that as it may, that biography has been quoted several times as a source on Rak. Now it appears it was all hogwash.

community.livejournal.com/guitarclassical/115293.html

This clip is a Russian television program called Жди Меня (Wait for Me) which specializes in re-uniting long lost siblings. It's in Russian and Ukrainian, but the gist of it is that Stepan was actually born in Prague to a Ukrainian army nurse. She left him in the care of someone, and then went back to the Ukraine where she had another child. At the end of the clip, the two brothers meet for the first time after a concert by Stepan in Kiev. Fascinating stuff. Thank you Dima for posting this.

I hate to say this, but mission is (almost) accomplished!
I have finished the translation of the Sor method. What remains now is to do a thorough spell checking, careful proof reading of both the main text and the 32 pages of additional Annotations, spell-check and carefully proof-read the original French, do whatever formatting adjustments need to be made, et Voilá!

But not quite, of course. I will need to have the book thoroughly gone over by experts in the field, before I take a deep breath and print it. In my estimation, to do a good job, my experts will need at least 3 months. So practically speaking, this should be ready in time for Christmas.

22 down, 22 to go!
I am now at the half way mark. It is down hill from now on, I am told by my fellow balloon brothers. And as obvious from the previous post, I am almost at the end of the Sor translation. Should be done with it before the end of June!

quia ita voluerunt priora
What an N.J.B. supposed to know about Latin? Nothing. Looking it up in the dictionary one word at a time is far from being useful. The phrase occurs in a footnote to the Conclusion section of the Sor method, in reference to teachers of singing who teach by rote without knowing anything about the anatomy of voice production. The fact that none of the translators who translated this method ever bothered to translate this Latin phrase, tell me that either the phrase is well known and everybody is supposed to know what it means, or that no one considered this as part of their job. Well, I have no clue what it means, where it came from and how it relates to the subject at hand. Any help would be greatly appreciated.

Guitar Quotations
We all know the usual ones about the guitar being a small orchestra, two guitars are better than one and other such urban legends. But here is one I have never heard before:

"there's no greater tragedy than a guitar in the hands of an Englishman"

Any one heard this before? where? who said that?

proton beam therapy.
12 down, 32 to go!

Lev Isaakovich Mazo
Born Borisovo, Belorussia, February 12, 1905. Died Columbus, Ohio, June 1st, 2009. 104 years old.

Got zapped today!
Finally, the treatment started. The whole thing took no more that 20 minutes, in and out. I get strapped into the prefabricated pod that fits the body, thus become completely immobilized, the gurney is driven by computer into the gantry, into exactly the correct spot, and the room is cleared from all personnel, and then, nothing happens. A few minutes later, they come in, unstrap me, congratulate me on a job well done (not moving while the proton beam zaps me), and that's it! 43 more times of this, and the cancer will be gone.... amazing technology.

Now, what to do with the rest of the day?

Something strange is going on...
Now that LJ is advising me by e-mail who is Friending me, and who removes me from the list of Friends, I noticed a constant movement of Russians, in and out of my Journal. Sometimes, these people have a mutual friend with me, and their interest is probably aroused by reading the Friends page of the mutual friend. More often than not, though, these people do not have a mutual Friend with me, they do not have any common Interest with me, and I have no idea why they want to read my blog. In any case, they stay for a few days, and then leave. The only result is that I get a lot of LJ e-mails about this traffic.

The Lightning House
We went to Bloomington the other day, for a CT scan and a fitting with the pod and the balloon.(If you are interested to know what these are, do some reading on proton beam therapy... too delicate a subject for this family-oriented blog...). Everything went as planned and we came back yesterday. Took us some 6.5 hours to do what usually takes 4.5. Got stuck on I-71 for 2 hours. Somebody crashed into somebody else and they shut down the highway for two hours in both directions. Anyway, we found this nice little house in B-ton, known by the organization that helps MPRI patients to find lodgings, (Hoosierscare.com) as the Lightning House. I am moving in on May 25th, so that's almost a week earlier than originally planned. I'll have full details (address, phone number, etc) sent privately to anyone who needs them.E-mail remain the same...

I love this Doctor
This was sent to me a couple of days ago by a commiserating soul. As one who is much involed in health issues, exercise, nutrition and the like, I liked this a lot.

Q: Doctor, I've heard that cardiovascular exercise can prolong life; is this true? !

A: Your heart is only good for so many beats, and that's it.... don't waste them on exercise. Everything wears out eventually. Speeding up your heart will not make you live longer; that's like saying you can extend the life of your car by driving it faster. Want to live longer? Take a nap.

( Read more... )

WIP
Today, I shipped review copies of all my current new issues. 9 different editions. Each package was about 5 lb in weight. Review copies were sent to: Gitar Och Luta in Sweden, il Fronimo and Seicorde in Italy, Gitarre & Laute in Germany (on line), Gendai Guitar and Homa Dream in Japan. Excluded from this shipment were Classical Guitar magazine in England (for reasons I already explained here before), the Italian Guitart and the French Guitare Classique. The last two were excluded simply because I do not know if these magazines are still in business. I have not received copies of these magazines for a long time now, and have not seen any reviews they may have made of my editions. If they are still in business, and still interested in reviewing my work, they will simply have to ask. Incidentally, review copies to American guitar magazines will be sent out by my distributor, the Theodore Presser Company.

I do not expect to publish any new editions for the remainder of the year.( Read more... )

WIP-The Sor method translation
Now that the dust settled on most of my other projects, I have resumed the work on this monumental translation. Sometimes, hard as I might try, and consulting the various existing translations into Spanish, Italian, German and Russian, not to mention the Merrick translation into English, I still end up scratching my head in wonder. What the Pluck was Sor talking about?

here is one example, (in regard to example 19, the one which gives precise fingering for playing scales along one string):

En jouant ces exercices avec facilité mais sans vitesse, on fait acquisition, non seulement de la connaissance du manche, mais on en fait une autre bien précieuse à laquelle la manière moderne de solfier ne vise nullement : elle en laisse le soin à l'harmonie, qui me paraît être aujourd'hui le seul maître à solfier qui existe, c'est-à-dire à solfier comme je l'entends; à considérer une intonation comme telle où telle autre de celles qui forment la gamme, et non pas comme un son isolé dont je n'ai aucune idée qui m'indique quelque rapport musical autrement que par l'oreille.

The best I could come up with is this:

By playing these exercises with facility but slowly, one acquires not only of the knowledge of the fingerboard, but also of another quite invaluable benefit that is mostly ignored by the modern manner of teaching sight-singing. As I understand it, the only methodology of solmisation that exists today, is one that is based on harmony, in which a tone is considered as one or another of those who form the scale, and not as an isolated sound of which I have no idea that it indicates to me any musical rapport other than by ear.

Makes sense?

A comment
I am repeating this comment in the previous thread, as a new entry. I am doing that for the purpose of exporting this to my FB page.

"what all of these Russian guitarists have in common is flat, inexpressive sound."

That's an interesting observation. I have made that same observation, for myself, privately, years ago after hearing Bardina and Markushevich, but I never got to formulate it in quite the same manner. What I find utterly astounding, is the current debate among some Russian seveners on this very question. On the one hand, they are completely overwhelmed that some of their most sought after sources, like the Sychra method for example, comes to them from the West. From me. Then, they speak about some ephemeral "Russian Style", a concept that seem to be promoted these days by Rudnev. If his book of arrangements that I published is any indication of his meaning, then I would have to say that his Russianness is more influenced by Paco de Lucia then by any of his Russian predecessors. I certainly would like to interrogate him on this question, if he comes to the next IARGUS.

"as Matanya correctly pointed out a while ago -- the Russian guitar in its beauty and completeness will eventually march to Russia as a Western novelty. "

One element that needs to be emphasized by us, if we are to truly inculcate the seven-string guitar as a viable discipline in the West, is that the current scene in Russia itself, is completely besides the point. They will follow their own path to eventual destruction, as they have been doing now for generations, and at the end of the day, they do not matter to us. What we are interested mainly, is not some esoteric "Russianness" that may or may not be in the music, but in the objective quality of the music itself, the particular attributes of the instrument, and our own ability to present its particular sound palette successfully. The question is not one of classical versus folk. Sychra's variations on Среди долины ровния, is, for me personally, one of the most classically oriented compositions in the repertoire, far outweighing any set of variations by Sor, Giuliani and their contemporaries. Same thing is the Vyssotsky variations on Чем тебя я огорчила. (not the simple one, but the one in b minor). As I mentioned in my lecture in IARGUS 2007, our main target audience, and possible converts, are Western guitarists, and particularly those who already have a good control of the guitar. Hence, we must not overwhelm them with elements that are too foreign to them. Use of the LH thumb, peculiar guitars with strange configurations, and playing techniques that are radically different from standard guitar technique.

It is possible to compare our efforts to those who indulge in Yea Earlie Musick, baroque guitar, vihuela, lute etc. But I think this will be a grave mistake, as it will surely propel us into yet another ghetto, outside the mainstream of guitar activity. Thus, we will find ourselves in about the same position Russian seveners find themselves today. Gilardino's efforts in this direction are a God's sent. We need more such music by more composers. Incidentally, one of my projects for my forthcoming "incarceration" in Bloomington, IN, is finalizing Agibalov's first Sonata.

I am losing patience with CG magazine.
A magazine is a business. It is also a repository of historical information which will be available to future generations for many years after we are all gone. I have been a staunch supporter of Maurice Summerfield when he launched Classical Guitar in 1982, as an alternative to that other British guitar magazine, Guitar International. Over the years I have contributed a considerable number of articles to the magazine, umpteen LTTE's and to this day, my name appears on the masthead as one of the contributors.( Read more... )

WIP-Index to the Diccionario de Guitarristas by Domingo Prat
This is not a new idea. It has been discussed many times. At one point, my friend Melanie Plesch prepared such an index, but for various reasons, could not bring the project to a successful conclusion. The Prat Diccionario de Guitarristas is an important reference work, originally published in 1934, and reprinted by us in 1986.

Now the work has been completed, and when available, quite soon I hope, it will enable researchers to access the huge amount of information contained in this book.

Cancer
The long and the short of it is that I have been diagnosed with prostate cancer. Not a life threatening situation, but one that needs to be taken care of, before this thing start metastasizing, and no one knows when this might be. The urologist, as to be expected, highly recommends an immediate cutting out of the damn thing. That's how he makes his living. The radiation oncologist, as to be expected, recommends wide beam radiation, chemotherapy etc. That's how he makes his living.

But talking to some friends of mine who have had the same problem, the way to go is what is known as proton beam therapy. It removes the cancer with very little side effects. Problem is that there are very few places in the US that do this sort of thing. Mass General in Boston, Indiana University in Bloomington IN, Loma Linda University in California and a couple of other places in Florida and Texas, and most of them are booked up months in advance. The way this works is that you get 44 treatments on this cyclotron machine, once a day, 5 days a week, weekends off, about ten minutes in and out. Everybody says that Loma Linda is the best, but I have no idea what to do with my time for six weeks in Southern california. No matter where I go, I will be out of circulation and away from here for 6 weeks. I would have preferred to do this in Bloomington IN, because I can drive home for the weekend. But in Bloomington IN, I risk running into Ernesto Bitteti... Mass General is a good option, and I just might be able to drive over, so I have a car to use for six weeks without having to rent one, and I have lots of things to do with my spare time in Boston. or I can really do 3-4 hours of guitar practice a day, finish my translations of the Sor and Aguado methods, and Editions Orphée is practically out to lunch for the duration.

I will make the decision where to go, depending on the doctor's assessment of how urgent this needs to be done. They say that most people with prostate cancer die from something else...

Current Mood: worried

Translations
Much against my better judgment, I started reading a Russian language guitar forum. Obviously, just like RMCG and other on-line forums, the usual fringe elements are alive and well there, and take no time to star attacking me for this or that. Until now, my modus operandi, when posting to guitar forums in other languages, was to use Babelfish to respond. I know enough Russian (or Spanish or Italian) to be able to tell when the translation is reasonable and conveys my meaning correctly, and when it does not. I can then edit it to the best of my ability, and ... hope for the best. Often, the best does not happen. Some people understand precisely what I want to say, but the nuts who look for any one word I said to hang whatever filth they can on me, would use my imperfect use of their language to their advantage. In the case of the Spanish forum Guitarra.artelinkado, I have an arrangement with one of the moderators where I give him a blank permission to correct my Spanish grammar and make my post perfectly understandable to the readers. Anyway, I just found out that the Google Translate utility is much better than Babelfish, and I would be using that. In the meantime, I found the Google Translate gadget which I was able to install on my web-site. The results are not always perfect, but the general sense is there. And of course, the best way to avoid the crazies, is not to post. I think I will avoid posting on the Russian forum from now on.