June 2023

The June cover will feature David Popper, a cellist who was born on June 16th, 1843. He is praised for both his genius as a musician and his innovative contributions to cello education. He had no problem playing the piano, violin or cello, according to various authors. A number of his works and the techniques outlined in Hohe Schule des Violoncello-Spiels, op. 73 are examples of his contributions. There are several documented opinions about the sweet and wonderful style with which he interpreted various works. He was praised for the way he played the Schumann concerto. We could only imagine how magnificently each work was performed. He was unquestionably a superb cellist.

David Popper

Photo from davidpopper.org site. Animation by PhotoFunia.

 June 2023

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In the doctoral thesis «Aportaciones de David Popper en la enseñanza del violonchelo» (Landriscini 2015, p. 116), I found some images of cello trees that were taken from a poster, exhibited at the Manchester Cello International Congress in 2004. It seemed very interesting to me, and for that reason I have added them to this post.

 

From Árbol genealógico de violonchelistas by Landriscini 2015.

Last but not least, I'd like to let you know that a few of our favourite orchestras have already finished their 2022–2023 season. We will miss them greatly throughout the summer. Some festivals, though, including The Proms 2023 -my favorite- have already begun to be advertised. Yay! What a exciting!

Note to my economist friends

To all of you who left comments on the last post, Data analysis of classical music broadcasts in 2022 (2/2) -Analytical section-, I'd like to say thank you. I want to reiterate how grateful I am for the advice from my economist colleagues, especially those who took the time to write to me. Considering a comment that has been really surprising to me, now could be a good moment for me to provide some clarification.

As many of you know, the epidemic has been a turning point for me. First of all, because I put a lot of effort into developing and implementing "anti-virus" procedures; I also studied a lot about it. As a result of my fear of getting infected, I began a new quest to understand the world from a variety of viewpoints. It was a challenge for me to accept that our belief system is firmly based on selfishness -even after learning about it in our first year of economics classes-. However, it is easier to "believe" in choices and utility, because they are socially beneficial, and on which we can build our castles. Second, the philosophy that supports the economy is the one we know, in its most syntactic form, as utilitarian. As a result, I started to learn about other philosophies. Then, I asked myself: Claudia, among Aritoteles, Plato, Socrates, Kant, Hegel, Kierkegaard, ... , or Jesus of Nazareth, who do you trust more? Third, I am not required to defend an ideological stance between capitalism and socialism since I do not think that the subject is an object or that the concentration of power is acceptable. And of course, I learned that from historians, but I want to make it clear that I neither became a marxist nor do I find it shameful to study theologies; on the contrary, I have learned a lot from Christian theology.

And, what about method? As you can clearly see, I have used and will continue to use universal techniques. I think that adopting a single viewpoint would be equivalent to donning equestrian blinkers. Please don't tell me that you didn't realise how much I love music now. Didn't you see me wearing headphones all the time? Anyway, if we adopt an individual perspective, then, we could say that my choice is motivated by my utility function, right?

In short, I believe that everyone at some point in their lives will realize how much they need God in their lives. I reached that tipping point in 2020.

References

• Allan-Eames, F (2013). Techniques in David Popper's Hohe Schule des Violoncello-Spiels, op. 73. University Of Tasmania. Thesis. https://doi.org/10.25959/23237465.v1
• Landriscini Marín, C (2015) Aportaciones de David Popper en la enseñanza del violonchelo. Universidade da Coruña. Thesis. https://core.ac.uk/download/pdf/33328504.pdf