A few years ago a very interesting universal phenomenon was discovered and reported. A note was detected coming from the Perseus cluster of galaxies. A supermassive black hole is emanating a sound wave with an unbelievable amount of energy. This pitch has been sounding for at least 2.5 billion years and it turns out that it is a B Flat. I remember the day when I read about this. Being a double bassist and usually playing the lowest sounding instrument in the orchestra , I sprang up in my chair and was fascinated. I love reading about astronomy and have always looked for links between the construction of the universe and the architecture and execution of music. There are several paths one can go down with this comparison. For the sake of time and writing space, this example is a great one on which to elaborate.
Throughout history, music and astronomy have always gone hand in hand. Man has stood gazing at the heavens and has pondered the natural world as long as we were able to do so. In the days of Ancient Greece, Pythagoras and Plato philosophized often about the Music of the Spheres. This concept was that planets orbiting around the earth produced a wonderful sound. Every celestial body had a specific ratio of distance just like the musical scale. Thus what we are left with is the divine harmony of the heavens. Galileo was raised in a musical family. Countless paintings adorn the world’s most breathtaking cathedrals with the pictures of angles playing music. With the glorious sounds of trumpets and harps, the music was in the clouds. In 1619, Johannes Kepler published Harmonices Mundi. His findings in the work correlating planetary movements with harmonic motion.
Perhaps we are returning to looking at the stars and experiencing the musical structure of the universe. The B Flat is 52 octaves lower than the piano and is not audible to the human ear. With a frequency over a million, billion times deeper than what humans can hear, it is the deepest note ever detected from an object in the Universe. Pitch and rhythm are the basic building blocks of music. Along with this sonorous Black hole, I thought it was appropriate to add a video of a Pulsar. This one comes from the Crab Nebula. This represents the pulse of the cosmos.
One can only imagine what the scientists of the past would say if they could observe these phenomena today. The instincts of man have always been connected to the harmony of the heavens and how amazing is it that we can now observed it with our own eyes. In this incredible golden age of astronomy, it is now mankind’s turn to be the audience to this cosmic, celestial symphony. Albert Einstein was also a prolific, amateur violinist. I have added one of my favorite quotes of his below.
“If I were not a physicist, I would probably be a musician. I often think in music. I live my daydreams in music. I see my life in terms of music. … I get most joy in life out of music.” Albert Einstein
For more information about this Black Hole, you can visit NASA’s website by clicking here.
In any field of endeavor, there are a few divine gems that only come around once in many generations. Einstein in science, Mark Twain in literature, or Michealangelo in art. In the realm of classical music , the renowned conductor Carlos Kleiber was one of these amazing beings. Mysterious and aloof, this genius rocked the music world every time he was on the podium.
Son of the famed German conductor Erich Kleiber, Carlos was born Karl Ludwig Kleiber in 1930. He was born in Germany, however lived most of his childhood abroad. His father resigned from the Berlin Opera in opposition to the policies of the rising Nazi party in Germany. They fled the country in 1935 and moved to Buenos Aires. Against his father’s wishes, Carlos began studying music and later as if it was fate, became a conductor.
Carlos Kleiber lived his life away from society. Herbert von Karajan often joked that Carlos would only conduct “when his freezer was empty.” He never had an agent or signed written contracts. He preferred to negotiate himself and seal the deal with a handshake. He once told Leonard Bernstein that he wanted to grow old in a sun drenched garden, only drinking, eating, sleeping and making love. Later on in his life, he would only appear sporadically. He was often begged to come back to the podium. A famous story includes his compensation being a $100,000 Audi made to his exact specifications.
Kleiber decided that he never wanted to have a permanent position. He was the first choice to succeed Karajan with the Berlin Philharmonic, and after they offered him the position he declined. He conducted all the venerated opera houses and orchestras of Europe with his specific repertoire. He was known to dislike recordings and was quoted as saying “every unproduced record is a good record.”
He only appeared in the United States a handful of times. He first concert was conducting Otello with the San Francisco Opera in 1977. In 1980 he conducted the Chicago Symphony and a few years later he conducted the Metropolitan Opera in the works of La Boheme, Otello, and Der Rosenkavalier. There is a interesting story when he made his debut at the Met. There was a tremendous amount of anticipation and excitement about the famed Kleiber coming to conduct. They scheduled extra rehearsals for this storied debut. Pavorotti was the tenor accompanied by the sublime Mirella Freni. He cancelled most of the rehearsals with the orchestra and just left the room and said see you at the concert. Kleiber was notorious for cancelling rehearsals with the anticipation of a fresh and extemporaneous concert. With Leonard Bernstein in the audience, the opera performance was amazing. The audience applause would go on and on. The legendary Maestro made his mark.
I recall several conversations I had with members of the Vienna Philharmonic about Carlos Kleiber. They spoke of him as a pure genius. One of the last concerts he did with them was Alban Berg’s Wozzeck. I remember one of their concertmasters Rainer Honeck saying to me that is was one of the best concerts of his life. He said that Kleiber thought in pictures, not words. His recording of Beethoven 5 and 7 with the Vienna Philharmonic is one of the best recordings I have ever heard. My friend and Vienna Phil violist Hans P. Ochsenhofer raved about the day they made this recording.
For more information about Carlos Kleiber click here.
For a complete discography of his recordings click here.
Here is a picture of the cover of this famous recording.
A long, bizarre journey is now in the distant past for the New Jersey Symphony. According to a news release that came out on Nov. 23, the NJSO finally sold its instrument collection which was named the “Golden Age”. To read the official press release from the NJSO click here.
There has been so many ups and downs to this situation that it is difficult to know where to start. A plethora of scenarios have been flooding the classical music world since the orchestra purchased the collection back in 2003. A whole series of unanticipated events ensued and it just went on from there. Instead of dwelling in the past, I would like to comment on the future benefits of the situation. The NJSO has recouped all of the money that has been spent during the tenure of owning the collection. This includes all the finance charges, interest fees and transaction costs. The orchestra also is going to play on 28 out of 30 of the instruments for the next 5 years. They are also a partner in the future appreciation of the collection. This leaves the organization with a balanced budget for the first time in a decade. Being the deficit-driven machines that modern day orchestras are, the loan was another liability that was a drain on the finances. Just like when a mistake is made in a concert, one needs to move on quickly and look ahead. What’s done is done. The famous makers of this collection include violins, violas and cellos from Stradivarius, Guarneri and Amati.
For more information about the New Jersey Symphony click here.
The New Jersey Symphony performs in the New Jersey Performing Arts Center. This is an amazing facility that includes two concert halls. For more information on NJPAC click here.
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About John Grillo
John started playing Double Bass at the age of 11. He attended The Julliard School during high school and was a scholarship student at Indiana University School of Music in Bloomington, Indiana where he studied with Lawrence Hurst. After graduating from IU, he attended the Manhattan School of Music completing his Masters Degree. (more)
