Video of the Week: Belshazzar's Feast

I sang with the Charlotte Oratorio Singers around 2001-2003.  By far, my favorite performance was that of Walton's "Belshazzar's Feast."  This 40-minute symphonic work tells the stories of the Jews being taken away captive by Belshazzar, king of Babylon.  This king made them into slaves, desecrated their holy artifacts, and had a large feast at their expense.  Then after the king sees the writing on the wall and is SLAIN, the Jews celebrate.

The music is unlike anything I had sung before -- powerful chords, exciting rhythms, and wonderful text painting.  Note around time 16:00 below how you can almost hear the different gods being praised: gold, silver, iron, wood, etc.

Amazing music.

Unfortunately, I can't find a recording of the Charlotte Symphony performance.  Here's a BBC recording with much pomp and drama, and a baritone with a vibrato wider than my garage.  There are better recordings on YouTube, but I think this video is the best available that captures the drama of the music.  Enjoy.

Video of the Week: Where'er You Walk

Those of you reading my Word of Mel blog know that I'm about to take a hiatus till November while studying for an actuarial exam.  However, I will continue my videos of the week.  I'll concentrate on vocal performances over these next couple of months.

This is a more recent performance of me singing Handel's "Where'er You Walk."  I used to sing this all the time in high school, though I never did score a Superior (1) in any juries.  I've used this (successfully) in a couple of auditions for singing groups.  My friends and I used to change some of the lyrics with humorous results.

So, as you can imagine, this classical piece--that most any vocal student performs at least once in their life--brings me many memories.

The unseen pianist in this performance is M. A. Bills.  Enjoy.

Video of the Week: "God Be With You" Medley

Today, my daughter performed this piece for church, just prior to scooting off to college.  She wrote the violin line, and I added the piano part.

This is a medley of "Lead Kindly Light", "I Know That My Reedemer Lives", and "God Be With You."

Note to my Mormon peeps: this is a "practice" recording, and not the actual performance.

Enjoy!

Video of the Week: The Hours (Philip Glass)

This week, while I'm still on a minimalist kick, here's some depressing music from the depressing movie The Hours.

It's said that writers/composers are friends with depression.  And we're going to bring the whole world down with us.  Bwe-ha-ha-ha!

Video of the Week: Prelude (2009)

While I'm on this minimalist kick, here's a more recent piece I wrote.  Right now it's called "Prelude" but I may call it something else later.  It's meant to be part of a series called "Waves of Sand."  It starts with a simple melody, and I add a little more as it progresses.

Enjoy!

Video of the Week: Mazel Tov

Last night I watched a local performance of Fiddler on the Roof, so this week I'll present a clip from the movie--one of my favorite songs from the musical.

I think it's called "Mazel Tov" or "Tevye's Dream."  In the musical, Tevye is trying to convince his wife that their daughter should marry the poor tailor instead of the rich butcher.  But how to do this without incurring his wife's wrath?  He comes up with this ingenious plan to have a "vision" in his dreams ...


Oh, and I realized from the performance last night that the movie uses a condensed form of the song.  It's still pretty funny.

Enjoy!

Video of the Week: Broken Glass Part 2

Here are the final two pieces from my collection "Broken Glass."



#3) Scherzo (1984) - Featuring 2 notes against 3.  This one might be my favorite, though it's another one of those where my mom used to say, "That one makes me nervous."  Hee hee hee.

#4) Finale (1985) @2:26 - Featuring 3 notes against 4.  (Not my best performance, evidently, but the only one I have so far recorded.)