The Chamber Musician - CMNC · cert, dinner, and freelancing. You can invite your friends,...

THE NEXT CMNC WORKSHOP

College of MarinJune 1–2, 2019by Carolyn Lowenthal and the Workshop Committee

Your CMNC Directors are busy planning our nextchamber music weekend, to be held at College of Marinin Kentfield on the weekend of June 1–2, 2019. Theapplication deadline is April20, so be sure to apply soon atcmnc.org. College of Marin isa small campus, easy to getaround, with plenty of nearbyparking, great staff support,and one of our favorite cater-ers. All participants will becoached on both Saturday and Sunday. On Saturday,coaching will be followed by performance samplers atwhich each group will play a brief selection of the piecethey have been working on during the day. Plan to stayuntil at least 5:30. The performance samplers will be fol-lowed by a coaches’ concert by Avenue Winds, 5:45-6:30, then dinner and optional freelancing. Sunday’scoaching session will be followed by an optional per-formance sampler. All are welcome to perform, listen, orto go home at 4:00. You may come in a preformed groupeither or both days if you wish.For those of you who love to read but cannot attend

the workshop, we are selling tickets for the coaches’ con-cert, dinner, and freelancing. You can invite your friends,freelance with other workshop participants, enjoy thelibrary, and in general read to your hearts’ content. Watch

The Chamber MusicianPublished by Chamber Musicians of Northern California | Volume 29, No 1 | April 2019 | www.cmnc.org

FROM THE EDITOR

by Harriet Spiegel, spring editor

I am delighted to share this celebratory issue of our news -letter. A highlight is a tribute to Elizabeth Morrison, as well

as some of her own memories. Sheis moving to Eureka after 20 yearsof service on the Board, duringwhich, she admits, she has missedonly one workshop, and that wasdue to an ice skating accident. Herenergy, vision, tact, and patiencehave been a model of leadership

and passion; we wish her well in the next chapter of hermost interesting and influential life. And speaking of inter-esting and inspirational, but in quite a different way, thisissue’s It’s Instrumental will celebrate the 500th anniversaryof Leonardo da Vinci’s death, and reveal what you’ve alwayswanted to know: How to make a viola from a horse’s skull.So here’s to Spring 2019! b Please join us at the

College of Marin in

Kentfield, June 1—2

for a full weekend of

coaching.

See page 2 for a

tribute to Elizabeth

Morrison as she and

Ralph head off to

the North Coast.

Continued from right column.

Continues on left column of this page.

“CMNC List” listserv for information about buying tickets.With coaching both days, the workshop committee espe-

cially wants you to enjoy your music assignment. Are therepieces you have always wanted to be assigned? Click here toget acquainted with our library and check for recent addi-tions. Are you a string player eager to play with winds or viceversa, or a pianist with a particular combination in mind? Wecan’t absolutely guarantee to assign you your wish, because itdepends on having the other players needed to make thegroup, but we will definitely do our best. So use the“Request” box on your application and let us know what youwould most like to play. Advance assignment notifications, including contact infor-

mation for your group members, will be sent to all players.You are strongly encouraged to contact others in your groupand start working on your pieces. Want to build up calluses,toughen your embouchure, and tone up those playing mus-cles for summer workshops? This is the place to do it. Wehope you will join us for a pleasurable weekend. b

https://www.cmnc.org/library/index.htm

https://www.cmnc.org

APRIL 2019

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THE CHAMBER MUSICIAN

A Huge Thank You to Elizabeth

by Miriam Blatt

It’s a pleasure to write about the many contributions Eliza -beth has made to the smooth running of CMNC work-shops over the last 20 years! But sad that the occasion forwriting this is Elizabeth’s imminent departure to move toher new home in Eureka. We are extremely sorry to loseher as a regular attendee of board meetings, and glad thatshe plans to continue to participate as a board member,doing what she can from far away. Elizabeth has contributed to every task our board mem-

bers do. Here’s an incomplete list of her work for CMNC:

• Wrote manyexcellentnewsletters,including arti-cles of herown.

• Worked withattorney LisaLai to updateour ByLaws.

• Encouragedboard mem-bers to writeup a descrip-tion of ourtasks, and putthis togetheras a book tohelp newboard mem-bers.

• In her six yearsas president,ran our 10 CMNC meetings per year.

• Wrote grant proposals to ACMP who supported us formany years.

• Negotiated with SFSU as they changed their require-ments and personnel over the years. Thanks to herefforts, persistence, and vision, we now have an excel-lent and creative solution with support from OLLI.

A CMNC Tribute to Elizabeth Morrison• Established a strong connec-tion with the AlexanderString Quartet.

• Recruited several excellentnew board members.

• Supported the introductionof workshop assignment noti-fication.

• Supported the introductionof the optional Sunday per-formance sampler

• Helped bring the Julliard Quartet as performing coach-es for one workshop.

• Encouraged theintroduction ofworkshops withspecial themes(Women Com -posers, andMusic of theAmericas).

• Provided feed-back to partici-pants and boardmembers,including thatextremely chal-lenging task ofproviding nega-tive feedbackwhen necessary.

For more than20 years, Eliza -beth has broughtto the board, to

CMNC, and to all lovers of chamber music, creative ener-gy, inexhaustible hours, and inspired vision, and with remark-able compassion and tact. Thanks to her efforts, wealready have committed dates for next year’s workshops, afirst so early! And she will be heartily welcomed back toplay with us. We wish her the best in her new home, andwe look forward to sharing many more memorable musi-cal times. b

Sharing a good laugh at the Julliard master class with coach Joel Krosnick are Lisa Lai,Eugene Lee, Beverly Rollins, Milton Wong, and Elizabeth Morrison.

Elizabeth has

brought to the

board, to CMNC,

and to all lovers of

chamber music,

creative energy,

inexhaustible

hours, and inspired

vision…

program. For many years she has written our grant propos-als to ACMP, which I heard were admired as a paragon ofclarity by the ACMP committee. She spearheaded specialthemed workshops, e.g., women composers. Our librarylist of female composers is now a resource for other cham-ber music organizations.

All of these achievements were developed while she ledthe board, supporting all of us with her unfailingly cheer-ful and warm personality. She is most conscientious andconsiderate of the feelings of others, yet can be firm whenneeded. I have almost never seen her angry, and it wasquite appropriate when her anger was provoked. She triesto persuade, rather than order others around.

I have onevignette of Eliz -abeth’s attitudesand personality:Some years agowhile attending aworkshop in win-ter in Budapest,she slipped on theice and broke bothwrists. Monthslater one had nothealed properlyand required a sec-ond surgery tocorrect. Duringher recovery I wasat some meetingwith her, and shebrought along aphysical therapytorture rack con-traption to stretch

her right wrist tendons. She was cranking away on it, whilewe all cried out in fear for her wrist, but she exclaimedwith excitement, “The doctor said if I can get to a 25degree angle of flexion, I can play cello again. I am almostthere!” That is Elizabeth. We will miss her direct leader-ship, but I have no doubt she will be in frequent contact,helping the rest of us with any tasks for CMNC. b

The Foresight and Energy of Elizabeth

by Bill Horne

I cannot remember exactly what year Elizabeth Morrisonjoined the CMNC board, but I would like to comment onmy impressions of working with her over the last 10 yearsplus. She is stepping down as president at the end of ourfiscal year in July. She succeeded Bob Goldstein, anothercompetent president. I remember that she was once involvedin management of the international Transcendental Medi -tation movement and was an executive in the overseasoperation. That experience must have contributed to hergreat skills at management. I was asked to fill in asPresident so shecould take timeoff to write abook, and I stum-bled along for awhile, but Eliza -beth has alwaysamazed me withher capacity tokeep abreast of allthe myriadthreads of detailsthat are involvedin running theorganization andparticularly work-shops. One of hermany skills isorganization. She was instru-

mental in gettinga lawyer on theboard, cleaning upand organizing all our by-laws, job descriptions, proce-dures, etc. to make us a well-functioning non-profit. Shewas involved in developing our website and collecting allour data and organizational files in one place. She waspresident when Susan Wilson spearheaded our capitalcampaign to raise some extra funds, giving us an opportu-nity to expand our library and subsidize our workshopfees. She is facile at using the workshop planner software

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The Tribute continues…

The current board enjoys another great lunch and meeting.

president, I often thought of what Alex taught me that day.Once we got here and I could start attending meet-

ings, I discovered that the best part of being on the boardwas, well, the board. I found a close,loyal, compatible group. Meetings arefun, we always share a meal, we don’thave to fundraise, and we only talkabout our mission for a couple of hourseach year. Mostly, we do our tasks, allthe hundreds of things necessary tomake our workshops run smoothly.Bonding happens naturally.We also tend to stick around. Bob

Nesbet, Bill Horne, Sue Fowle, SusanKates, and emeritus director BobGoldstein were all on the board when Ijoined, and still are. Miriam Blattjoined right after I did, and CarolynLowenthal shortly after that. Many for-mer board members still participate inworkshops and volunteer. SusanWilson has been doing our graphicdesign since 2008. Diane Hie, a

founding member, isplanning to re-join. Istill miss Rheta,Merlyn Dole manand Al Kauf mannfrom that first board,I treasure the peopleI’ve worked with forso long, and I’mawestruck by thenew members whohave joined andstepped up. They,and really everyoneI’ve met throughCMNC, will alwaysbe my best memory.

As for actualevents, I recappedCMNC’s first 20

Looking Back: 20 Years of CMNC

by Elizabeth Morrison

Ralph and I moved to the BayArea from Eureka at the turn ofthe millennium; this summer weare planning to move back upthere. Harriet, the editor of thisissue, invited me to share memo-ries of my 20 years on the CMNCboard. How could I resist?

Before the first big move, Idecided to attend a couple ofCMNC workshops, so I could getto know Bay Area musicians. Thisturned out to be a great idea; Iremember meeting Alison Corsonand Michi Garrison at one of myfirst workshops. I wrote a thank-you note to the workshop director,Rheta Goldberg, and she wroteright back, asking me to join theboard. Amazing!

My firstCMNC job wasnewsletter editor,which I figured Icould do even whilestill in Eureka. Formy first issue Iinterviewed one ofthe founders ofCMNC, Alex Zuck -erman, who was justabout to step downafter 12 years aspresident. I feellucky to have had achance to connectwith him and learnabout the begin -nings of CMNC.When I became

APRIL 2019

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Continues on page 5.

And Some Reflections from Elizabeth

Young Elizabeth is ready for prime time withher first full size cello.

We were younger then! The board in 2009: Back Row, L to R, Ted Rust, SusanWilson, Carolyn Lowenthal, Frank LaHorgue, Sue Fowle, Miriam Blatt, Bill Horne,Elizabeth Morrison. Front Row, L to R: Sheri Schulz, Bob Nesbet, Bob Goldstein,Susan Kates

years in the 20th anniversary issue of The Chamber Musi c -ian, Septem ber 2009, so I’ll concentrate on two highlightsfrom the last ten years, our Juilliard Quartet master classesin February 2013, and the Women Compos ers’ Day inOctober 2015. The Juilliard visit came about when the quartet was

booked by the Morrison Artists Series at San FranciscoState. Their concert was on Sunday afternoon, February10, and we got the idea of asking if they would give mas-ter classes to our participants the day before. They agreed,and we began making plans. We would be coached duringthe day by our esteemed local coaches, followed by masterclasses from the quartet. We would also end our Sundaysession a bit early so everyone could attend their Morrisonconcert.

We were beyond excited, but a problem soon surfaced,based on our differing interpretations of the words “masterclass.” The Juilliard, understandably, was picturing a

leisurely hour-and-a-half sessioncoaching one or two advancedstring groups. We were picturingeach Juilliard member coachingseven or eight groups of variousinstrumental combinations fortwenty minutes each. Theirmanagement was adamant: they

would not do it. A week before the workshop we were atan impasse. Then, miraculously, we were saved by the Alexander

String Quartet and their friend and visiting violist TobyAppel. When the ASQ heard about the problem, theymentioned it to Toby, whose aunt, Carrie Schoenbach,happened to be signed up for the workshop. Toby imme-diately picked up the phone and called Samuel Rhodes, theviolist of the Juilliard, and everything was resolved in aninstant. It was an incredible experience; I for one will never for-

get being coached by Joel Krosnick, one of my absolutecello heroes. The master classes with Joseph Lin, RonaldCopes, and Samuel Rhodes were equally memorable. Youcan read more about that great day here in the April 2013issue.

The Women Composers’Day took place two and a halfyears later at Mills College inOakland, one of our favoritevenues. Inspired by an all-women concert by the Bay AreaRainbow Symphony, the boarddecided to devote the entireSaturday of our workshop tomusic by women. Preformedgroups could opt out if theywished, but only one of them did. We ended up with 28groups, of which 27 played music by 21 different women.Our composers ranged from the earliest, Louise Farrenc,born in 1804, to Caroline Shaw, born in 1982. Take a lookat the August 2015 issue to recall the day and enjoy pho-tos of these amazing artists. I have to say that CMNC was clearly out in front even

of the Bay Area music scene. Today I can hardly keep upwith the many concerts with music by women, not tomention the recent 96 solid hours of programming, fromAustralia Broad casting Corpor ation’s ABC Classic FM, ofwomen composers around Inter national Women’s Day. That day almost four years ago still reverberates at

CMNC too. We now routinely assign composers like EthelSmyth and Lucie Vellere, as well as old favorites like ClaraSchumann and Madeleine Dring. That day honestly didchange my life. I’ll take this and so many other wonderfulmemories with me to the North Coast, and hope to seeyou all at Humboldt. I’ll be around here too; I’ll get to asmany CMNC workshops as I can. Thank you everyone for20 amazing years. b

APRIL 2019

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Elizabeth, continued from page 4.

And More Reflections…

I will never forget

being coached by

Joel Krosnick, one of

my absolute cello

heroes.

CMNC was clearly

out in front even of

the Bay Area music

scene. Today I can

hardly keep up with

the many concerts

with music by

women.

The Chamber Music ian is a publication of Chamber Musi cians of Northern California (CMNC). Member ship in CMNC includes a subscription to The Chamber Musicianand the annual CMNC Membership Directory.

Harriet Spiegel, editor; Roy LeDuc and Elizabeth Morrison,photographers; Susan Wilson, graphic designer.

© April 2019, Chamber Musicians of Northern California

https://www.cmnc.org/tcm/The_Chamber_Musician_Sep2009.pdf

https://www.cmnc.org/tcm/The_Chamber_Musician_Aug-2015.pdf

https://www.cmnc.org/tcm/The_Chamber_Musician_Apr-2013.pdf

APRIL 2019

New Additions to Our Library

Thanks to our wonderful librarian, Catherine Jennings, andthanks also to suggestions from you, our CMNC members,we are constantly updating our chamber music library. Hereare the latest additions, as of February 2019. Be sure to checkour library holdings on our website for more information onthese pieces as well as the hundreds of others in our library.And do make plans to play something new either as a coachedor a free-lanced piece at our next workshop.

Elfrida Andree, Piano Trio in G MinorSally Beamish, Epilogue: For String QuintetEric Ewazen, Trio for horn, violin and pianoDick Kattenburg, Quartet for flute, violin, cello, and pianoAlexander von Kreisler, Possum trot for woodwind quintetAlexander von Kreisler, Quintet for woodwind quintetAlexander von Kreisler, Pastoral for woodwind quintetAlexander von Kreisler, Two portraits for woodwind quintetEmilie Mayer, String quartet in e minorJohanna Muller-Hermann, String quartet, op. 6 in E-flatMozart, Wolfgang Amadeus, Clarinet Quintet in A Major,K.581; Fragment in Bb Major, K. Anh. 91 (516c)

Peter Schickele, Year in the Catskills: For WoodwindQuintet

Paul Schoenfield, Three Bagatelles: For Flute, Cello, and Piano b

6


In Memoriam: Sara Van Dyke

The CMNC com-munity was saddenedto hear of the passingof our friend, pianistSara Van Dyke onJanuary 12, 2019.Sara grew up in Balti -more, Maryland, grad -uated from Amer i canUniver sity, and earneda Masters of Musicfrom the University

of Colorado. An accomplished pianist, she performedand taught piano, and was a welcome presence atmany CMNC workshops. She also had a successfulcareer as a technical writer.

Sara’s passion for music, the arts, bridge, books,travel, and family allowed her to impact many lives.She was a dedicated volunteer at the San FranciscoOpera, where she often put in 40-hour weeks and washonored several times as Volunteer of the Year. Weremember her for her warmth, independent spirit anddrive to live her life to the fullest. She is survived byher brother, two sons, and two granddaughters. b

CMNC Board of Directors

PresidentElizabeth Morrison 650-207-2653 [email protected]

Vice PresidentCarolyn [email protected]

TreasurerAlan [email protected]

Corporate SecretaryHarriet [email protected]

Database ManagerHarry [email protected]

Evaluations CoordinatorMiriam [email protected]

Webmaster/MailmergeSue [email protected]

Music LibrarianCatherine [email protected]

Coach CoordinatorAmy [email protected]

Volunteer CoordinatorKaren [email protected]

Wind CoordinatorSusan [email protected]

Membership CoordinatorJoan [email protected]

Members at LargeWilliam [email protected]

Diane [email protected]

Robert [email protected]

Yin [email protected]

APRIL 2019

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Intersection 2019

by Elizabeth Morrison

I was intrigued to try Intersection, thechamber music workshop of the Left CoastEnsemble directed by Phyllis Kamrin.Intersection follows a totally differentmodel from the Humboldt/CMNC-styleworkshops we all enjoy. Having experiencedit, I recommend it highly. I learned a lot,and it was great fun besides.The first difference is that it takes place

not within a single weekend or a week, butover the course of six weeks. It begins withthree two- hour coaching sessions over thefirst five weeks, followed by a weekend“Intensive.” You sign up in the fall, areplaced in a group, and are assigned twopieces of music: a traditional classical piece, and—the sec-ond unique feature—a brand-new piece composed espe-cially for you.The new pieces are by the three winners of a composi-

tion contest held earlier in the year. For Intersection 2019the winning composers wereMonica Chew, Stephen Con rad,and Art Khu. With my interestin women composers, no onewill be surprised to learn that Iasked Phyllis if we could choosethe composer, nor that I choseMs. Chew.

We received our Chew piece around Christmas. CalledBachiana, it starts with a quotation from Bach’s c minorfugue, which is transformed with jazzy rhythms, then fol-lowed by a dreamy middle section built on a quote fromJanacek. My colleagues, Carolyn Lowenthal and MiltonWong, and I had already selected our “traditional” piece,the not-so-traditional String Trio by Ellen Taafe Zwilich. In early January the workshop began with the three 2-

hour coaching sessions. The coaches are Left CoastEnsemble musicians, and you meet at their homes in theEast Bay. Monica came to two of our rehearsals, andshowed us how to use foot shakers (see photo) to add anall-important percussion element to our piece.After the three rehearsals came the Intensive in early

February. We met on Saturday from 10:00 to 3:30, and onSunday from 4:00 to 8:00, at the American BaptistSeminary of the West, a beautiful Julia Morgan building

on Dwight Way in Berkeley. There were six groups in all:two preformed trios and four assigned groups. As atCMNC, half the groups included at least one clarinet.There was Mozart’s Kegelstatt trio, a Bach sonata for twoclarinets and guitar, and a wonderful piece called Serenade,by Hans Gal, for violin, clarinet, and cello. The two pre-formed groups were our Zwilich and a Clara Schumannpiano trio. The sixth group was Beethoven’s op. 81b fortwo horns and string quartet, arranged by Phyllis for twoviolas, bassoon, and piano. On Saturday we had two more coaching sessions, a

quick lunch, and a rehearsal for the third unique featureof Intersection, a piece composed by Phyllis Kamrin forall workshop participants. In this piece, called The clocktower at the night circus, we were supposed to recreate thesounds of the Glockenspiel Clock Tower in Mun ich byusing extended techniques on our instruments. Amaz -ingly, we kind of did. Sunday we had yet another coaching session, followed

by our concert at 6:00, beginning with The clock towerand followed by each group’s traditional and new pieces.The coaches spoke briefly introducing their compositions.After six hours of coaching before the workshop, andanother five or so at the Intensive, everyone soundedgreat. Spreading out the coaching, and ideally practicingbetween each session, is an excellent way to learn, andmeeting and working directly with a composer is an fabu-lous opportunity. All in all, Intersection is a wonderful,innovative workshop. b

Composer Monica Chew with Milton Wong, Carolyn Lowenthal, and ElizabethMorrison. Look closely and you will see foot shakers strapped to the players' feet.

… meeting and

working direcctly

with a composer is

a fabulous oppor -

tunity.

unhappy music.”Leonardo saw parallels between the musical scale and

spatial perspective. He plotted the progressive diminutionin the sizes of figures as space recedes. He noted “thediminution of objects on a scale… just as the musiciandoes with notes ….and in this manner from interval tointerval has given names to the varieties of raised and low-ered notes.” Leonardo studied acoustics; how a hammer blow given

on a bell preserves the noise of the percussion. His obser-vations of the movement of water, produced not onlyexquisite drawings and paintings, but led to innovations inthe science of hydraulics. He rerouted the Arno and TiberRivers to prevent flooding and to drain the Tuscanswamps. He designed canals, sewers, fountains, anddomestic plumbing. “By means of the water mill you willmake many water conduits through the house, and springsin various places, and a certain passage where, when any-one passes, the water will leap up, and so it will be thereready in case anyone should wish to give a shower bathfrom below to the women or others who shall pass there.”He also thought of using the power of a water mill formusical effects. He wrote that a water mill could make“continuous sounds from all sorts of instruments for solong as the mill shall continue to move.”

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IT’S INSTRUMENTAL

Leonardo da Vinci My Quest for a Horse Skull Viola

by Jane Moorman

May 2, 2019 is the 500th anniversary of the death ofLeonardo da Vinci. Civilization has had 500 years in thevain attempt to catch up with Leonardo’s innovations,prescience, and above all, the realization of the supremebeauty that a human being is capable of. Known for paint-ing, military machinery design, water engineering, andattempts at human flight, Leonardo was also an accom-plished musician. He was particularly known for hisimprovisatory skills on a bowed instrument called the liradi braccio, the arm lyre.7,000 pages of Leonardo’s writings and drawings sur-

vive, perhaps 1/5 of his lifetime oeuvre. Throughout dif-ferent periods of his life, Leonardo wrote extensivelyabout music; its scientific properties and its transcendentpoetry. He writes, “Beautiful proportions in painting,sculpture, and architecture are like a musical chord withdifferent notes sounded all at the same time. These simul-taneous harmonies give intense pleasure.” Leonardo asked, “Do you not know that our soul is

composed of harmony? Music may be called the sister ofpainting, for she is dependent on hearing, and her harmo-ny is composed of the union of its proportional partssounded simultaneously, rising and falling in one or moreharmonic rhythms …from which human beauty is born.”Leonardo’s studies and drawings of human bodies inmotion are sublime to look at, but, Leonardo sought tofind universal proportions. “The proportional design ofthe human body was analogous to the harmonics ofmusic, which were founded on the cosmic ratios describedby Pythagoras.”Throughout his life, Leonardo wrote on the relation-

ship between the arts. “The musician claims that his art isequal to that of the painter, for it too is a body composedof many parts, the graces of which may be contemplatedby the observer in as many harmonic rhythms as there are,and with these rhythms which are born and die, it delightsthe soul of man within him.” “Music has two ills, one of which is mortal and the

other wasting; the mortal is ever linked to the instantwhich follows that of its utterance; the wasting lies in itsrepetition making it hateful and vile.”“Painting excels and ranks higher than music because it

does not fade away as soon as it is born as is the fate of

The Mechanical Drum Leonardo had many commissions from the military forwartime machines. He used some of his innovations incams and gears to design many musical instruments. Oneof many of his designs is a cart equipped with a mechani-cal drum. When pulled by a handle, the gears turn two lat-eral drums which are fitted by pegs (cams). These pegs,which can be placed in various positions, move 10 sticks

Leonardo shows how a mechanical water mill can make music.

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The Viola OrganistaLeonardo’s drawings of the Viola Organista are preservedin his notebooks of 1488–1489 and in the drawings in theCodex Atlanticus and Manuscript H.[2] The instrumentuses a friction belt to vibrate individual strings (similar tohow a violin produces sounds), with the strings selected bypressing keys on a keyboard. In the first model the frictionof the strings was achieved by a mechanical bow travelingsideways. The second model featured a single rotatingwheel, similar to that of the earlier hurdy-gurdy, to playstrings. A third and final model used one or more wheels,continuously rotating, each of which pulled a loopingbow, rather like a fan belt in an automobile engine. Thestrings would be pushed downward into the bow by theaction of the keys, causing the moving bow to sound thepitch of the string. It is only recently that a functionalinstrument has been constructed from Leonardo’s sketches.Leonardo was known for his inventiveness and joy in

theatrical spectacles. He designed gravity defying mecha-nisms that bore actors and singers in the air. For a produc-tion of Danaë in 1496, he designed scenery which includ-ed a huge mountain that opened during the play to revealPluto in his underworld.Throughout the notebooks are detailed drawings of

costumes including an enchanting theatrical prop—amusical instrument using composite elements of a goat’sanatomy, and a bird’s beak and feathers.

A Viol Fit for a DukeGiorgio Vasari, perhaps the first art historian, wrote TheLives of the Artists. He was born eight years beforeLeonardo’s death, and relied on hearsay and the accountsof others when he tells the story that Lorenzo di Medici of

Florence sent young Leonardo to the court of LudovicoSforza of Milan on a diplomatic mission. Vasari writes thatLeonardo arrived in Milan with the musician, AtalanteMigliorotti, bearing a remarkable silver lyre in the shape ofa horse’s skull. This greatly impressed the Milanese Dukeand helped ease tensions between Milan and Florence.The instrument was played like a viol under the chin,which produced a sound of great volume and clarity.Leonardo’s notebooks have many detailed drawings of

magnificent horses, but there is not one drawing ordescription in Leonardo’s hand of this legendary horseskull musical instrument.My imagination and curiosity as an amateur violist were

aroused. I know that prehistoric humans made rattles anddrums using skulls as resonators. The convolutions of thecavities in a skull serve to amplify sound waves. The tim-bre of human voice is dampened by slightest of colds thatblock a sinus cavity in the skull. I was determined to makemy own horse skull viola.

How to Make Your Own Horse Skull ViolaWhen I started this project, I didn’t know how much helpI would need. It was a touching adventure to find thatmany people took the time to help me recreate Leonardo’shorse skull violin.My sister searched and found a horse skull on an on-

line auction house. She used her system of bidding topsych-out other bidders and got me an excellent price fora fine horse skull—aged and blanched in the Arizonadesert. The postage cost more than the skull, but it wasn’tpacked very well. My mailman, Bonifacio, brought thebattered cardboard box right to my apartment door. Heflinched when I opened it in front of him and pulled outan ominous horse skull. I took the skull to Larry Haussler, the luthier at Palo

Alto Violins, who has done great work on my normalItalian viola. “I work in wood,” he said, “but I’ll show it tomy friend who remodels kitchens and bathrooms doingtile and granite work. Maybe he’ll have some ideas how towork in bone.”The consensus was that sun-baked skull was too heavy

and fragile. The cost to construct an instrument would beprohibitive. I decided to make a horse skull out of papier-maché. I made a couple of prototypes and then rode mybike over to the world-renowned guitar shop, GryphonStringed Instruments. I put my horse skulls on the count-er and explained my project.

Leonaro demonstrates how a mechanical drum can producemusic.

(five on each side) that beat the large drum. Changingposition of the pegs alters the music.

Leonardo, continued from page 8.


http://www.violaorganista.com/en/about/history/



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Jane Moorman demonstrates how to play Bach partitas on herhorse skull viola.

Above: Jane's Horsehead ukulele is ready for strumming.

Below: if you prefer a bowed instrument, here is a horse skullviola.

Leonardo, continued from page 9.

“Whoa. You’d better talk to Frank. Come back tomor-row,” I was told. The next day I brought my papier-machéhorse skull to Frank. “I work in wood,” he said. He turnedthe skull over a couple of times and shook his head. Thenhe seemed to have an idea. He measured the skull. “Waithere,” he said. I heard his footsteps in the attic. When hecame down, he presented me with a beat up Ukulele. “Youcan cannibalize this.” He sawed off the neck for me andpried off the bridge. I thanked him and asked, “Whatkind of glue should I use?” “Definitely not the glue I use on Martin Guitars. You

need something stronger.” I rode over to Palo Alto Hardware, a store that has been

around forever. Last fall, I bought a $3.00 part for my toi-let, but received an extensive private installation lessonfrom their patient and knowledgeable staff. The experts atPalo Alto Hardware had a confab like a staff of surgeonsand formed an operative plan. I was taken to the backwhere Joe traced the form of the neck on the skull, boredit out with a drill and glued it in with constructionstrength cement. He screwed in the ukulele bridge addingan extra nut for strength and I had a horse head ukulele.

SOURCESMartin Kemp, Leonardo, 2004, Oxford University Press Oxford World’s Classics, selected by Irma A. Richter, Leonardo daVinciNotebooks, Oxford University Press 1952Emanuel Winternitz, Leonardo da Vinci as a Musician, YaleUniversity Press, 1984www.violaorganista.com Slawomir Zubrzycki

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS Thanks to Larry Haussler of Palo Alto Violins, Gryphon StringedInstruments, Palo Alto Hard ware (Ace), and to Chamber Musicians ofNorthern California. These simultaneous harmonies give intensepleasure.

Good enough to play a muffled version of “Yes Sir, that’smy Baby.” As a violist, I still wanted an instrument that I could

play with a bow. My sister went back on the computer forme and ordered a quarter-size pink violin with free ship-ping. By then I had become very familiar with the sculp-tural form of the horse skull and the properties of papier-maché and was able to form a skull shape around theexisting violin. I studied Georgia O’Keefe’s painting of ahorse skull to get the shading right when I painted it.Now I have a horse skull viola that would certainly

impress the Duke of Milan. It actually sounds like a viola.I can’t play Bach partitas on it, but as the old joke goes, Icouldn’t play the Bach partitas before, either. b

THE CHAMBER MUSICIAN APRIL 2019

11

WORKSHOP DIRECTOR’S REPORT

February 2019 Workshop at SFSU

by Bill Horne

In earlier societies, people believed theweather was an omen of things to come.I guess I am a tad superstitious still.Perhaps that is why I viewed the forecaston February 16th, 2019, as an ominoussign: heavy chance of rain up untilnoon. But instead we had a crisp, sunnyday at San Francisco State. As director, Ihad been worrying about a variety offactors, all of which cleared up at thelast minute. First there was registration.Applicants seemed to trickle in inDecember when we sent out the work-shop announcement. Approximately 12of the first 18 applicants were clar-inetists! I was really worried for a while.Slowly other instruments applied, butwe had some unusual recruiting prob-lems to reach balance in the workshopthis time, compounded by fact that ourstring recruiter, Miriam Blatt, was in Australia. However,like the weather, she came through in prime fashion. Curi-ously there were almost no non-preformed pianists, adearth of violins, scant flutes, and limited cellos. Such is


the life of directors. But by hook or crook, we finally managed to reach a

balance and adequate attendance. The workshop had 117attendees, 86 on Satur day with 10 pre-formed groups and

10 assigned groups; Sundayhad 67 attendees, with fivepre-formed groups. 37attend ed both days.

For this workshop, wecame up with a theme“Composers of the Amer i -cas,” with the hopes that wecould introduce all us ama-teurs to less familiar com-posers, unusual repertoire. Asapplications dribbled in, Ibegan research on how manypieces by new world com-posers we had in the library.Catherine Jennings, our verycompetent librarian, provid-ed me with a list, which I

It's all about breakfast for Bill Horne, Michi Garrison, Maria Reeves, and Russ Bartoli.

Carol Mukhopadhyay, Kunal Mehta, Judith Ostapik, and Tony Miksak relax with theircoaches Ilana Blumberg Thomas and Randy Fisher. after a hard day's work.

APRIL 2019

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SFSU Workshop, continued from page 11.


augmented with latinoamerican composers. Then Iresearched these unfamiliar works, listening to as many asI could find on YouTube. (What a resource) We foundthat we had over a hundred works in many combinations.And I was delighted to see that many preformed groupsopted to try American composers' works. We even hadapplicants offering to bring new pieces. That's the spirit! We discovered a number of delightful pieces which we

assigned and worked on. Here is a list of the composersplayed: Javier Alvarez, Teresa Carreno, Mabel Daniels,Nancy Deussen, Arthur Foote, Philip Glass, OsvaldoGolijov, Benjamin Lees, Lowell Liebermann, DavidMaslanka, Alberto Nepomuceno, Astor Piazzola, QuincyPorter, Florence Price, Paul Schoenfield, William GrantStill, Heitor Villa-Lobos, Gweneth Walker, John Williams,and our own CMNC composer, Gary Friedman. Theyranged from the 19th to 21st centuries.There were some interesting unusual combination of

instruments in some of these “exotic” works, for example.“Lullaby & Doina” by Golijov for Fl, Cl, and string quar-tet; “Sonatina” by Schoenfield for Fl, Cl, & Piano, John

A wonderful clarinet quartet, Laurie Ho, Susan Hartzman, Ann Miyada, and Chang-Yi Liuplays in their masterclass for coach Troy Davis and an intent audience.

Bob Satterford hassomething impor-tant to sing for DanScharlin.

Williams' “Air & Simple Gifts” for Cl, Vn, Vc, Pn fromthe Obama Inauguration. Some of the works chosen bypreformed groups included “Porteno Verano,” by AstorPiazzola for Cl, Bn, & piano and “Histoire du Tango” for4 clarinets by Astor Piazzola; “Clarinet Quintet” and“String Quartet #3” by Quincy Porter, “String Quartet#5” by Philip Glass; “Piano Trio #1” by LowellLiebermann.Our creative catering and site manager, Harriet Spiegel,

not only came up with good signage, but developed ourtheme in our meals, featuring delicious Hawaiian andMexican entrees.The workshop consisted of coaching on both days, with

APRIL 2019

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SFSU Workshop, continued from page 12. master classes on Saturday, and optional performance sampleron Sunday. We had an outstanding group of coaches, organized

by Amy Apel, our coach coordinator. Therewere a number of new coaches, all of whomseemed very competent and helpful. TroyDavis even had his master class attendeesdancing to Piazzola tangos during the class! Saturday's coaches' concert was special. Per -formed by the Persephone Ensemble, had twolate twentieth century American piano quar-tets: “Book of Hours” by Richard Dan ielpour,and “November 19, 1828” by John Harbi son.Both were atmospheric and interesting. Theensemble consisted of Ilana BlumbergThomas, violin; Wendy Clymer, viola; AmyBrodo, cello; and Dale Tsang, piano. I feltprivileged they chose to perform works thatrepresented our theme. Our other coachesincluded some favorites. Among those notmentioned before (in alphabetical order):Karla Ekholm, Nina Flyer, Randy Fisher, YaelRonen, Monica Scott, Burke Schuchmann,Margaret Thornhill, and last, but by no meansleast, Sandy Wilson.Many thanks go to the hard work of the

CMNC board and the many volunteers whohelped with tasks at the workshop. We are very grateful for theassistance and support of OLLI, as well as San Francisco StateUniversity. And finally many thanks to the willingness of youchamber music players to try out some less familiar, butrewarding music. We hope to see many of you at our next workshop to be held

at College of Marin, on June 1–2, 2019. b

All we need is a hot drink to make Yin Yao and Marianne Cooper happy.

Hooray for Coach Nina Flyer who has cleaned her plate withher bamboo utensil set.

While we’reoff playingmusic, someof our instru-ment casesplay dress up.

The Chamber Musician - CMNC · cert, dinner, and freelancing. You can invite your friends,...

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