Happy Pi Day!

pi-day

Pi Symphony: The Ruse Performance Movement I.

Pi Symphony orchestral performance in Ruse, Bulgaria, Nov. 19th, 2010

The melodies and rhythms are based on the numbers of π (3.14159…etc), which describes the ratio of a circle’s circumference to its diameter.

To read more about how this came to be written, see http://www.pisymphony.com/gpage.html


There is also another work based on π called What pi sounds like

Today is pi day, and to celebrate, we bring you a musical representation of π, to 31 decimal places, at 157 beats per minute (which, incidentally, is 314 divided by two).

For more information about this work, please see A musical interpretation of pi


Finally, 18 Wheels on a Big Rig, includes a  verse in which they divide the wheels by π.

 

Enjoy your Pi Day! pi-day-pie

 

Conductor Transforms 15 Little Children Into Concert Pianists in Only 5 Weeks

In this new campaign by Folksam, one of the largest insurance companies in Sweden, 15 children, aged 2 to 5, were invited to participate in a challenging musical experiment lead by Sweden’s famous conductor, oboist and composer, Jan Risberg.

For a duration of five weeks, these lively and boisterous children would take piano classes in order to learn a 19th-century musical piece by French composer and pianist Erik Satie. The entire experience was intended to be playful and fun for the kids.

Risberg used creative techniques to teach the chords and the melody, like colored keys, sound boxes and simple word associations like “pancake”.

And the result is possibly the most endearing thing we’ve ever seen!

via Conductor Transforms 15 Little Children Into Concert Pianists in Only 5 Weeks.

Happy Birthday, Franz Schubert!

Franz Peter SchubertFranz Peter Schubert lived between 1797 and 1828. He is considered to be a romantic composer. He was an Austrian composer who was one of the greatest creators of melody and foremost writer of ‘lieder’ (German songs).

Although he only lived for 31 years, Schubert composed more than 600 songs, 22 piano sonatas and many short piano pieces. This melodic output has never been equaled either in quantity of quality. He was one of the first musicians to earn a living from the sale of his music.

Schubert’s Ave Maria was featured in the Walt Disney movie Fantasia.

 

Schubert’s birthday

Schubert’s works were played in an Grammy Winning performance, Forty-Second Annual Awards

Listen to Schubert’s music.

     Read quotes by and about Schubert

     Guess what my li’l Chopin played today

     Information about Schubert’s Symphony in D

     Schubert MIDI Section

     Read Amazon.com’s Get Started in Classical feature