Discover Music

Composer. Conductor. Pianist. Just another conservatoire student who loves discovering new sounds.

[ericamacleod-blog]

This is completely amazing! 

I went to see this new opera tonight and it was so stunning. The story line is one we can all relate too, the movement from birth to death and how we perceive and find it hard to let go of life. Here is a clip of the composer talking about the opera. It has a huge range of percussion and exciting harmonies and colours that he’s created using microtones and extended techniques. (And one of the singers seems to have a never ending range).

Highly recommend seeing this! It’s on at the Royal Opera House for the next month.

[the13thchair]

Don't tell musicians there is math in how music is made. It's like telling them there's vegetables in the food they like.

- The 13th Chair

[composersdoingnormalshit]

Edgard Varèse being sad on a boat.

[ericamacleod-blog]

The clock is to time as equal temperament is to tuning

Jim Finer

[ericamacleod-blog]

Stunning.

Homegrown Sam Smith absolutely bossing the new James Bond theme song. I was super excited to hear this at the cinema because I wasn’t too sure how it could possibly be better than Adele’s Skyfall, but alas, THIS COULD BE. 

I’ve never really been a massive fan of Sam Smith, but I think this song has actually proven to me the sheer amount of talent the man has. His voice is beautiful in all of its registers. His ease of switching to falsetto is insane, and he surely has to be nominated for an Academy Award with this massive song?

[gatostrail-deactivated20190506]

Just another day at the office. #pianorepair #piano #gatostrailrecordingstudio #joshuatree #gatostrail (at Gatos Trail)

[this-musician-says]

#art #music

[ericamacleod-blog]

preach

[ericamacleod-blog]

A Child's Prayer

Provided to YouTube by The Orchard Enterprises A Child's Prayer · James MacMillan · Choir of Jesus College Cambridge · Mark Williams · Samuel Fitzgerald · Al...

Get ready for some serious shivers....

This amazing piece by James MacMillan was written in 1996 to commemorate the children of the Dunblane primary school massacre. It is a truly stunning piece of work and is hugely emotional. It became even more moving for me when I discovered his reason for writing it. I hope you all find it as beautiful as I do! So glad to have discovered this composer!

[ericamacleod-blog]

I apologise, but I cannot help you with words. I am a composer and express myself with sounds.

arvo pärt

[composersdoingnormalshit]

Pierre Boulez being frustrated.

[ericamacleod-blog]

So I went to see Penderecki conducting his own works at the Southbank Centre (London) a couple of weeks ago, and I’ve not been able to stop discovering his works since. Having only previously really hear Threnody for the Victims of Hiroshima, discovering his music like this was a shock to say the least. However it was a welcome sound to my ears, as it shows just how gifted as a composer he is , that he can create standardised notation for extended techniques, but still write this kind of heart wrenching music that opens so many people up to the beautiful world of contemporary music. 

[composersdoingnormalshit]

Igor Stravinsky getting his shoes shined.

[ericamacleod-blog]

It’s OFFICIAL, Adele is back. Thank God. This is sooo different to her old music, but maybe even more heart felt and beautiful. Hello is for sure more musically and personally mature than her previous big songs, it’s like she’s found a new tone to her voice which is hugely exciting to hear for a well established artist. 100% this is something very special. I’m getting that nervous/excited feeling waiting for her new album ‘25′ to come out. This is definitely something to get excited for. 

[ericamacleod-blog]

It’s safe to say, this man knows how to control an orchestra. A friend of mine recently met Cerha at the Wigmore Hall, and introduced me to his music. I found this piece - along with many of his other works, completely awe-inspiring!

Friedrich Cerha is a living Austrian composer, aged 89! He’s most noted for his work on Berg’s opera Lulu. After some research on Cerha, I found a quote that seemed to describe how many people would aim to live their lives, He said; Despite my age, I am always searching for new things. The path on which I search leads me unavoidably back to me. Thus, it is also always about finding new sides of myself. The intense experience of music is a way into one’s own being.

I feel this is particularly evident in the fact this piece was written on 8 years ago. 

p.s. I hope you enjoy the mix of genres on this blog, that’s that I’m all about.

[ericamacleod-blog]

Scientists Link Common Personality Trait To Musical Ability

Having a more "open" personality is linked to being pretty sophisticated when it comes to music, new research shows.

interesting reading!

[ericamacleod-blog]

Sinfini knows all about the classical singers...!

[ericamacleod-blog]

I know this is an oldie... but I only just discovered it! Thank you America Horror Story: Asylum.

Feel like this should definitely have been the girl power anthem of the last 50 years! What makes me even more interested in this song, is the lady behind it. Known to be an activist for LGBT rights, she later came out as a lesbian, and she still manages to capture the relationship between so many women and men of not only her era, but ours too. A really feel good feminist song!