I just found out that YouTube has tons of clips of musicians playing entire pieces (instead of just excerpts that I've been linking to on the previous blog-entries). This was a gold-mine for me and I spent several hours looking up this and that pianist playing pieces I'd wanted to hear them play. My CD wish list just decreased because I have no need to buy a lot of them now!
Anyway, today in 1876 was the birthday of Manuel de Falla, one of Spain's most important composers of the 20th century. One of his most popular pieces is the "Ritual Fire Dance" from his ballet, "El amor brujo" (Love, The Magician). Watch Artur Rubinstein (a pianist to whom de Falla had dedicated other works) play a piano transcription of the piece here and decide for yourself if the name fits the piece's character.
Friday, November 23, 2007
Thursday, November 22, 2007
I'm thankful for classical guitar music
Today in 1901 was the birthday of Spanish composer Joaquin Rodrigo. Apparently he was a pianist, but the only music I've heard of his is written for the guitar. His most famous work is the Concierto de Aranjuez, for solo guitar and orchestra. I've never purchased a recording of it, yet I think I've heard it about 10 or 15 times on the radio alone. My brother also got a copy of the sheet music and we've played through a lot of it (me playing the orchestra part on the piano), but it is so incredibly difficult, we kind of fizzled out before getting too far. Listen to excerpts from movements 1, 2, and 3, taken from here. It's a superb piece of music in many ways. Hummable melodies, striking harmonies, catchy rhythms, impressively difficult guitar passages... and the list goes on. Probably the best classical guitar concerto ever written (although I don't know many).
Apparently Rodrigo was blind since the age of 3. Pretty amazing to be such an accomplished composer and musician in spite of not having vision. Though I suppose being deaf from the age of the 3 would probably be worse. He lived to a ripe old age of 97, leaving this world just 8 years ago.
Apparently Rodrigo was blind since the age of 3. Pretty amazing to be such an accomplished composer and musician in spite of not having vision. Though I suppose being deaf from the age of the 3 would probably be worse. He lived to a ripe old age of 97, leaving this world just 8 years ago.
Wednesday, November 14, 2007
Happy Birthday to the Father of American Music
Today is the birthday of two special composers. The first is Johann Nepomuk Hummel, born in 1778. When I was in my teens, I accompanied my brother on piano as he played Hummel’s Trumpet Concerto, a very fine piece which is a regular part of the trumpet repertoire (click here for the source of the excerpt). Now that I look at his wikipedia entry, I feel gypped because I realize he wrote so much piano music I never knew existed. Sigh… as Rachmaninoff said, “Music is enough for a lifetime, but a lifetime is not enough for music.”
The second is Aaron Copland, born in 1900. He grew up in a time when classical composers were alienating themselves from the mainstream concert-going public with their heavy modernist styles that only the “elite” music lovers would go for. In his early life, Copland conformed to the strict modernism of the time, but he eventually became disgusted with the breach between the mainstream public and the elitist crowds. He abandoned his approach and wrote simply so that all people would understand and be able to enjoy the classical music of the day. However, his previous hard work and training wasn't at all wasted - his more accessible music is teeming with very complex rhythms and well-placed dissonances, aspects which he learned and mastered during his early compositional experimentation.
Copland’s music really resonates with me. Some of his most memorable compositions are based on a “rural America” theme:
- Fanfare for the Common Man
- Hoedown from Rodeo
- Appalachian Spring, excerpt 1, 2, 3, 4, 5
(Click here and here for the sources of these excerpts)
The Appalachian Spring suite is one of my favorite pieces of all time and a MUST-listen. It consists of several american folk-themes strung together in a suite about 25 minutes long. Probably the most famous melody, based on the Shaker hymn "The Gift to be Simple", comes near the end, and Copland’s treatment of it and the other themes is breathtakingly beautiful and nostalgic. I'm moved to tears every time I hear certain parts of this suite, and I’m even getting a little misty-eyed as I write this just thinking about it.
To hear Copland’s influence on other composers, listen to the theme from the movie “Apollo 13” (composer James Horner), also very beautifully nostalgic and truly American in its sound (excerpt taken from here).
The second is Aaron Copland, born in 1900. He grew up in a time when classical composers were alienating themselves from the mainstream concert-going public with their heavy modernist styles that only the “elite” music lovers would go for. In his early life, Copland conformed to the strict modernism of the time, but he eventually became disgusted with the breach between the mainstream public and the elitist crowds. He abandoned his approach and wrote simply so that all people would understand and be able to enjoy the classical music of the day. However, his previous hard work and training wasn't at all wasted - his more accessible music is teeming with very complex rhythms and well-placed dissonances, aspects which he learned and mastered during his early compositional experimentation.
Copland’s music really resonates with me. Some of his most memorable compositions are based on a “rural America” theme:
- Fanfare for the Common Man
- Hoedown from Rodeo
- Appalachian Spring, excerpt 1, 2, 3, 4, 5
(Click here and here for the sources of these excerpts)
The Appalachian Spring suite is one of my favorite pieces of all time and a MUST-listen. It consists of several american folk-themes strung together in a suite about 25 minutes long. Probably the most famous melody, based on the Shaker hymn "The Gift to be Simple", comes near the end, and Copland’s treatment of it and the other themes is breathtakingly beautiful and nostalgic. I'm moved to tears every time I hear certain parts of this suite, and I’m even getting a little misty-eyed as I write this just thinking about it.
To hear Copland’s influence on other composers, listen to the theme from the movie “Apollo 13” (composer James Horner), also very beautifully nostalgic and truly American in its sound (excerpt taken from here).
Tuesday, November 13, 2007
Algorithm for Choosing a Specialty
I ran into this wonderful algorithm for choosing a medical specialty. Even though it's meant for entertainment value, it's actually surprisingly accurate.
Monday, November 12, 2007
Let's blog about music for a change
Being a perpetual student is fun. I used to be a student not just of science and medicine, but also of music, in particular the piano. I took lessons from age 8 until 23, and I still love to play all kinds of music, largely classical. I also love to listen to classical music, having done so since a very young age, thanks to the influence of my parents and older siblings, who taught me how to say “Brahms” and “Tchaikowsky” when I was about 2 years old.
Perhaps it was the comment from Cheryl on my last post, but I feel inspired to start a year-long set of posts on some noteworthy classical composers, each on their birthday.
Today is the birthday of Alexander Borodin in the year 1833. I unfortunately don’t own any music by him, nor have I ever played any piano piece by him. Why should I blog about him, then, you may ask.
Well, it turns out he was both a composer and a chemist. Being both a musician and a biochemist myself, I thought this was really cool. Apparently he would turn to composing only when he was ill and bed-bound, leading a friend to remark that he wished Borodin became ill more often, so that the world would get more of his beautiful music.
Perhaps it was the comment from Cheryl on my last post, but I feel inspired to start a year-long set of posts on some noteworthy classical composers, each on their birthday.
Today is the birthday of Alexander Borodin in the year 1833. I unfortunately don’t own any music by him, nor have I ever played any piano piece by him. Why should I blog about him, then, you may ask.
Well, it turns out he was both a composer and a chemist. Being both a musician and a biochemist myself, I thought this was really cool. Apparently he would turn to composing only when he was ill and bed-bound, leading a friend to remark that he wished Borodin became ill more often, so that the world would get more of his beautiful music.
Wednesday, November 7, 2007
Choosing a Medical Specialty
Now that I’m nearing the end of my MD-PhD (1.55 years to go!), I’m going to have to actually decide what specialty to call my own. It’s rather comical as I think back on the many different areas of medicine I was convinced I’d go into, only to change my mind the following month, etc. Since I’m in the dual-degree program, I’ve had even more time than the typical medical student to ponder what field I’d be happiest in; or if I even want to see patients at all, or just do 100% research after finishing.
I remember in college, I applied to medical schools with the goal of doing Internal Medicine followed by a fellowship in Infectious Disease (a subspecialty of Internal Medicine). I was doing research in a lab studying Virology and I had the opportunity to work on some ideas for vaccines against Hepatitis C. I loved what I did and imagined myself continuing this type of research and seeing patients in this field. However, then came the beginning of graduate school, and my work on DNA damage and repair moved my interests toward Medical Oncology (also a subspecialty of Internal Medicine). Following that, during the first two years of medical school, our classes in Histology, Cell Biology and Pathology grabbed my attention, so for a while I imagined myself doing Pathology as a specialty. But then came our Neuroscience course, which was so well-taught and interesting that I convinced myself I would do Neurology, a notion which was furthered by a physician-mentor of mine who was a Neurologist. Even though all these ideas came quite early in my education, I was very serious about looking into each one. I would research a bunch of different residency programs on the internet, talk to physicians in those fields, etc.
Then came my first exposure to patients. My first clinical rotation was Pediatrics, and I loved it. In order to combine my previous interests, I decided I’d do… Pediatric Neuro-Oncology! Talk about specialized. But I was so convinced I wanted to do this that I even paid out-of-pocket (several hundred bucks!) to go to a medical meeting in the local area devoted to central nervous system germ cell tumors, which is even more specialized (this is a rare sub-class of brain tumors). I contacted several physician-scientists who did Neuro-Oncology to get their perspective, and needless to say, they were surprised to be hearing from a student who still had a few years left before he’d even started a residency, much less a second fellowship (a Pediatric Neuro-Oncology fellowship would be an additional 1 to 3 years after 5 or 6 years of previous residency and fellowship).
Unfortunately, the meeting I went to was way over my head, and I kind of lost interest. In fact, at this point some exciting things were happening with my research in the lab, so I kind of lost interest in doing a residency altogether, and wondered if I should just do research 100% after getting the MD-PhD. This idea persisted until I attended a conference geared toward medical students doing research. The people I met and the talks I attended were so inspiring that I decided I really wanted to keep active in both worlds of clinical medicine and basic science or translational research. I did more clinical rotations interspersed with research in the lab. I really enjoyed psychiatry (I almost considered it, but not enough to look up any residency programs) and was fascinated with aspects of OB-GYN, especially High-risk OB. But then, my wife was pregnant with our first child at the time, so it kind of makes sense why I had a lot of motivation to learn.
The following year I did more research toward my PhD, interspersed with my Internal Medicine and Surgery clinical rotations. I also had an opportunity to do a 2-week elective in Radiation Oncology, which I had become very interested in through a friend. Perhaps it was due to my friend’s enthusiasm, but even before I did the elective, I convinced myself that’s what I wanted to do, and I again looked up a ton of residency programs, etc. However, when I finally did the elective, it just didn’t hold my interest. At least it would be easy to rule out!
When I finally did Internal Medicine, I told myself “Now THIS is why I came to medical school!” I not only enjoyed my in-patient hospital experience at the very busy county hospital, but I even loved the out-patient clinic experience (I never liked clinic much in the other specialties). Around the same time, I went to that same conference for medical students again and met some physician-scientists successfully conducting labs doing translational research in Infectious Disease and seeing patients part time. This reinforced my decision for Internal Medicine and now I was convinced I would do an Infectious Disease fellowship, coming full-circle to what I wanted to do since I was in college. This meant, of course, spending lots more time looking up residency/fellowship sites on the web and pondering which places also had the best research programs in that field, etc.
I wasn’t too interested in Surgery when I started it several months later. By the end, however, I became less sure of Internal Medicine. General Surgery was so interesting and the traumas and operating room experiences so exhilarating, and there was a need for research here as well. Hmm… maybe I could do Surgical Oncology… Well, I haven’t been inspired enough to look up residency programs in Surgery yet, so maybe that’s a sign that I shouldn’t pursue that path any further.
During and after all these experiences, I know my parents don’t believe anything I say now about what specialty I’m going into (my wife still does – bless her soul… or at least she says she does). Nevertheless, I’m pretty sure that I’ll be applying to Internal Medicine residency positions in the latter part of 2008. I don’t have to decide now, but I’m still thinking either Medical Oncology or Infectious Disease as a subspecialty. Feel free to tune in during the next several months to see if I change my mind again…
I remember in college, I applied to medical schools with the goal of doing Internal Medicine followed by a fellowship in Infectious Disease (a subspecialty of Internal Medicine). I was doing research in a lab studying Virology and I had the opportunity to work on some ideas for vaccines against Hepatitis C. I loved what I did and imagined myself continuing this type of research and seeing patients in this field. However, then came the beginning of graduate school, and my work on DNA damage and repair moved my interests toward Medical Oncology (also a subspecialty of Internal Medicine). Following that, during the first two years of medical school, our classes in Histology, Cell Biology and Pathology grabbed my attention, so for a while I imagined myself doing Pathology as a specialty. But then came our Neuroscience course, which was so well-taught and interesting that I convinced myself I would do Neurology, a notion which was furthered by a physician-mentor of mine who was a Neurologist. Even though all these ideas came quite early in my education, I was very serious about looking into each one. I would research a bunch of different residency programs on the internet, talk to physicians in those fields, etc.
Then came my first exposure to patients. My first clinical rotation was Pediatrics, and I loved it. In order to combine my previous interests, I decided I’d do… Pediatric Neuro-Oncology! Talk about specialized. But I was so convinced I wanted to do this that I even paid out-of-pocket (several hundred bucks!) to go to a medical meeting in the local area devoted to central nervous system germ cell tumors, which is even more specialized (this is a rare sub-class of brain tumors). I contacted several physician-scientists who did Neuro-Oncology to get their perspective, and needless to say, they were surprised to be hearing from a student who still had a few years left before he’d even started a residency, much less a second fellowship (a Pediatric Neuro-Oncology fellowship would be an additional 1 to 3 years after 5 or 6 years of previous residency and fellowship).
Unfortunately, the meeting I went to was way over my head, and I kind of lost interest. In fact, at this point some exciting things were happening with my research in the lab, so I kind of lost interest in doing a residency altogether, and wondered if I should just do research 100% after getting the MD-PhD. This idea persisted until I attended a conference geared toward medical students doing research. The people I met and the talks I attended were so inspiring that I decided I really wanted to keep active in both worlds of clinical medicine and basic science or translational research. I did more clinical rotations interspersed with research in the lab. I really enjoyed psychiatry (I almost considered it, but not enough to look up any residency programs) and was fascinated with aspects of OB-GYN, especially High-risk OB. But then, my wife was pregnant with our first child at the time, so it kind of makes sense why I had a lot of motivation to learn.
The following year I did more research toward my PhD, interspersed with my Internal Medicine and Surgery clinical rotations. I also had an opportunity to do a 2-week elective in Radiation Oncology, which I had become very interested in through a friend. Perhaps it was due to my friend’s enthusiasm, but even before I did the elective, I convinced myself that’s what I wanted to do, and I again looked up a ton of residency programs, etc. However, when I finally did the elective, it just didn’t hold my interest. At least it would be easy to rule out!
When I finally did Internal Medicine, I told myself “Now THIS is why I came to medical school!” I not only enjoyed my in-patient hospital experience at the very busy county hospital, but I even loved the out-patient clinic experience (I never liked clinic much in the other specialties). Around the same time, I went to that same conference for medical students again and met some physician-scientists successfully conducting labs doing translational research in Infectious Disease and seeing patients part time. This reinforced my decision for Internal Medicine and now I was convinced I would do an Infectious Disease fellowship, coming full-circle to what I wanted to do since I was in college. This meant, of course, spending lots more time looking up residency/fellowship sites on the web and pondering which places also had the best research programs in that field, etc.
I wasn’t too interested in Surgery when I started it several months later. By the end, however, I became less sure of Internal Medicine. General Surgery was so interesting and the traumas and operating room experiences so exhilarating, and there was a need for research here as well. Hmm… maybe I could do Surgical Oncology… Well, I haven’t been inspired enough to look up residency programs in Surgery yet, so maybe that’s a sign that I shouldn’t pursue that path any further.
During and after all these experiences, I know my parents don’t believe anything I say now about what specialty I’m going into (my wife still does – bless her soul… or at least she says she does). Nevertheless, I’m pretty sure that I’ll be applying to Internal Medicine residency positions in the latter part of 2008. I don’t have to decide now, but I’m still thinking either Medical Oncology or Infectious Disease as a subspecialty. Feel free to tune in during the next several months to see if I change my mind again…
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