February 2011
63 posts
After knocking on our hotel door in Brazil on the...
“The bar is open and they make a MEAN vodka and oj.”
On dynamics:
It’s marked, “crescendo.” You can’t crescendo if you’re already playing mezzo-forte.
On marking dynamics:
Don’t flatter yourselves by thinking you can remember this. Write it down!
On proper decorum in a choir loft during mass:
(1) No talking from the beginning of the organ prelude to the end of the organ postlude (unless there are questions pertaining to the music we sing).
(2) Those who bring something to read during the sermon, please, oh pretty please, bring a book that can be disguised behind your folder; and do ever so kindly avoid large newspapers !
Thank you very, very much !!!
Con ...
In reply to my work overload during the 2008...
It is crucial in these “crisis” days to maintain a good sense of humor and to listen to good music whenever you can. And to look at the wonders of nature: October is a truly beautiful month …outdoors…. All this keeps the blues away more effectively than medication, psychiatrist, or lawyer. And it all costs a lot less !!!
During the 2000 election:
“Solomon didn’t ask for recounts! He didn’t ask for Supreme Court review! He asked…for wisdom!”
On Attire:
“Blue jeans are for carpentry.”
That’s NOT pianissimo, it’s mezzo-blah.
If you want to take a breath … don’t.
Nobody asked you if you like it. Don’t have opinions. Make art.
Last minute advice before our televised concert in...
Tenors, you’re a great bunch of people. Now please try to blend. Basses, stay cool.
The “glee club-y” sound of the beer hall… where you’ve all had one too many. Don’t give it!
From Haydn's Missa Sancti Nicolai:
Let’s go back to that frightful “suscipe.”
Don’t wait for brightness.
From Haydn Missa Sancti Nicolai, Sanctus section:
You are not here for the lowest common denominator. You’re here for the highest!
From Haydn Missa Sancti Nicolai, Sanctus section:
The secret to living life is learning how to deal. Save your energy for the most important things, of which there are not many. One of them is the beautiful performance of a great masterpiece.
On Focus:
Even if a bomb falls, do not be distracted!
From Haydn's Missa Sancti Nicolai, Benedictus...
Could we not do what we think is funny, but isn’t?
Reaction to a girl who was playing with her hair...
This is about Haydn— this is not about you! This is greatness. You are kissing greatness!
On fundraising for the HM Glee Club:
A bake sale has no place if you have to run down the hill to buy crack.
Last-Minute Advice:
Mr. S:… and guys: when you get out there, smile. Let’s make the few people who actually came glad they did.
Brendan: Are there at least more here than there were at the first concert in San Francisco?
Mr. S: Uhh… just about the same.
Brendan: Ooh— that hurts.
If you don’t feel God, don’t let anybody know.
On staying focused, despite distractions:
I’m a professional. I don’t care about anything.
On Horace Mann:
Mom and Dad don’t pay $18,000 a year for you to become uncivilized.
On discretion:
I’m sure somebody here has problems… but don’t let anyone know about them.
On Priorities:
If you sound ugly, no one will be impressed with the fact that you’re macho.
On Punctuality:
You have all night to eat breakfast. You need to be here at 8:15. You think you can do well without warming up but you’re wrong.
“No grades, no resume – none of it is of any consequence if you have a real career.”
“It’s all right to insult incompetents. That’s the only way to get rid of them. There is a French saying: ‘He has good taste, or he has no taste.’”
“Let the rest of the kids be slouches and models of mediocrity.”
“Don’t ever be sorry. Just be accurate.”
“If you have to call after somebody, don’t. The reasons are so painfully obvious, I won’t spell them out. You are intelligent.”
“Do you know what warm and fuzzy means?”
“Musical competitions are heinous events for judges and choruses. We don’t keep score. It’s not clear-cut – like a touchdown. You don’t lose a Glee Club concert. But the quality is not dependent on Mom’s knowledge. It’s about communicating something beautiful.”
(on paying the orchestra) “We got away with murder in terms of paying minimum-minimum, sub-minimum, not that union wages are particularly high.”
“If you’d been at every rehearsal, and energized, imagine how much better you would have sounded. This is not a criticism.”
“Sometimes you created it because of me. Sometimes you created it in spite of me.”
“Sing it like a foreign language. Because it is. English is a foreign language.”
“When I say you have to sing with your eyeballs, you don’t need to go totally nuts like me, but it’d help. Look like you’re committed.”
“Caress dogs and cats. I don’t because I’m allergic to ‘em. The best thing we can do with a piece like this is caress it. But remember, we’re not caressing hippopotamuses.”
“That was done beautifully and obediently…and there is a prize for that.”
“Don’t spend your life being stupid. What do the polls say you should do?”
“Be a musician and not a politician.”
“If you have a c-flat and she has a c-flat, it should be the same note.”
“Be humble enough to realize when your voice sounds ugly.”
“If you can’t get here on time – buy a flying peacock.”
“Cynics are born losers…they only amuse themselves…and sometimes, other cynics.”
“When Somary talks, don’t contradict.”
“Much of the decision has to do with me. You will have some input. I will take your input. Then I will decide.”