36 Years Ago

36 Years Ago, Vienna 1971—A Student Journal

Day 251: Mike and the Vienna Boys’ Choir; Idea book

36yearsago.com

Vienna 1971—A Student Journal
A year of music, study, travel, sightseeing & friends.



Day 251 —Mike and the Vienna Boys’ Choir; Idea book
09-April-1972 (Sonntag–Sun.)


TRANSCRIPT

Practiced a little this morning. Went all right. Not too bad. (My
all right and not too bad are on a higher level than my writing them in the beginning of this year.)

Saw the Wiener Choir Boys [Vienna Boys’ Choir]. Not too enjoyable. Too many people today.

Saw
Tristan und Isolde. I really enjoyed it. (I seem to be repeating myself, don’t I?) Every time I go to the opera it gives me time to think, and sometimes I get some good ideas. Today = What is music? What gives music meaning and expression? How will it apply to my music—textures, moods, etc. Use of electronics and multi-speakers. (See “Idea” book.)


REFLECTIONS

Vienna Boys’ Choir. It’s difficult to enjoy the Vienna Boys’ Choir with so many tourists milling about the church during Mass. It’s a shame. The choir is so good. An iTunes download will remedy that.

Friend Mike and the Vienna Boys’ Choir. I am getting up the nerve to send an email to Mike, my unspoken good friend and our musical student leader in Vienna. According to a concert program and his bio on the Internet, he remained in Vienna for a time and became one of the major musical directors of the Vienna Boys’ Choir, including directing them at Mass, at the Vienna Staatsoper, with the Vienna Philharmonic, and in concert tours around the world. How amazing is that! Maybe, I’ll get an interview out of him. Let’s hope.

Not too bad. Interestingly, I comment that, although I always say things like “not too bad,” my playing is probably much better than it was when I started. For example, not too bad today is better than not too bad in September. It’s difficult to gauge progress over time. You lose track of your baseline—where you started.

Idea book. Today, I’m at the opera and thinking about “music.” So philosophical, young man that I was. It’s good to think, to be creative, to wonder about new things to do. Today at the opera, I’m thinking multimedia. I like it. I mention an “ideas book.” I haven’t found this. It would be great to see what I was thinking.

New ideas—write them down. I have always had ideas—ideas come easy to me. Too many of them, in fact. In today’s post, I mention an ideas book. I do that today in 2009. Several years ago, I started writing down my “business and creative ideas” into notebooks to get them into written form. I like to write like this. It’s fun to see ideas and how they change over time. The next step—execute those ideas. This is the truly difficult thing to do. Still, do it. I should follow my own advice.

My advice to all—get some school (marble) notebooks and write down your ideas. Or blog, or do a journal. Maybe it will lead to your first book or novel?

John

- - - -