Frustration, Exasperation, Contentment and Opportunity .........

The LCM in 1960 - I was here 1974-78 as Student, and as Junior Professor 1978-81

If you manage to read to the end there is a real treat for you! ....................

If you are not part of the solution you must be part of the problem!
 

Gordon Phillips

John Vallier

Dr. W S lloyd Webber

I suppose it started in India, a realisation that Music was actually flowing in my blood and that after more years than I care to recount, the full-time teaching of music is actually one of the most satisfying things I am doing. Though I occasionally feel I am trying to be a walking "Groves Dictionary of Music" - I am astonished at just how much of my excellent education at the hands of my professors at the London College of Music has come flooding back!   Thank you  Dr WS lloyd-Webber, Dr Pasfield, Paul Sturman, the amazing, angry and arrogant Gordon Phillips, the piano genius John Vallier, John Chapman, Peter Turton and so may others outwith the LCM especially Vernon "Todd" Handley conductor and exponent of British Music and the wise Sir Charles Groves.
 

I wish I had all this knowledge to hand .........

 Here in Trujillo, at the "Carlos Valderamma" Public Conservatoire of Music every day is a joy, of course that joy is tinged with frustration (just a lot!) , the illogicality of the syllabus means that integration of subjects is nigh on impossible and the syllabus leaves little or no room for reflection or revision - woe betide a student who does not understand this weeks subject because next week the subject will change.  Many students in the fourth year fail to understand concepts because a subject back in year one or two was not understood!  

El Conservatorio Coro.

And because the Conservatoire is linked to a university, students are subject to a whole clutch of subjects in their first two years which have no bearing on music or subjects with little or no practical value assume great importance.  The syllabus simply does not enable students to think and develop as "musicians" .........

However, thanks to the kind suggestion of the Director,Carlos Paredes Abad I am to have virtual free reign and will be teaching a range of subjects during the long vacation in a manner that (to me) is designed to get the students thinking like musicians, and to inquire "what did the composer actually mean or want when he/she wrote this?"   To me, this question is the reason for musical performance, trying to recreate the intention with historical and stylistic accuracy.
 
It is going to be a blast!  Learning from the inside out, practically and pragmatically, I hope I release some real motivation/curiosity/potential in the students and am hoping to discover a lot for myself too!

Anyways that all kicks off at the year end and continues to next March!   Currently I am acting as accompanist to a bunch of students doing their end of year recitals, it is so good to be playing and practicing again ( and I need to do a lot of practice) in the pipeline is some serious playing with 3 other professors at the conservatoire. Piano duets, cello and piano and a piano trio.    Maybe even a concert or two!  Phewy!

Here is a video of Prof. Francis in concert with Prof. Carlos  -  the playing of Prof. Francis is inspirational, having had a brief rehearsal with him this week I am dedicated to more practice as it is going to be a joy accompanying him!

Carlos Valderrama

By the way "Carlos Valeramma" (1887-1950) after whom the conservatoire is named was a famous musician, composer and pianist, born in Trujillo,and  linked to musical nationalism and impressionism.

His vocation had always been for music, however due to the advice of his parents he chose to major in Electrical Engineering, developing his studies at the School of Electronics, Cornell University, New York where he finally found his calling and he studied music, becoming a great pianist and composer. He returned to Lima in 1918 where he gave a series of recitals, performed at Carnegie Hall and even made recordings in Thomas Edison Phonograph Co. Since 1927 began touring various cities of Peru and America, performing his own works . Most of which are based on folkloric tunes rhythms and ideas.  on, directing and presenting many choral and symphonic works based on folk rhythms. Here a work of his performed by the Childrens choir of the Conservatoire ......

I have promised myself time to learn some Peruvian music, there is/was a great tradition of Waltzes (Vals) here similar to that of the Tango in Argentina.

I am so settled into life here in Trujillo, and despite having little or no time to study my Spanish in order to really improve and regain the standard I had achieved back in Antigua, BUT somehow I am teaching In Spanish and surviving without recourse to English!
 
AND
 
I have started to be stricter with myself and now have Monday and Friday evenings "off" as well as Saturday afternoon and most of Sunday (except for a couple of hours when I go to the conservatoire for that much needed practice).  Money is tight, but I am surviving on around £70 per week with 50% probably going on printing/photocopying charges for music. 

Monks, like policemen, are just getting younger!

Puruvian Nun

Radiating love!

There is simply no getting away from the Catholicity of Latin America, here are pics from a recent "Relgious Fair" where you could join various religious societies or even sign up to be a monk (or nun) ..... been there, done that, got the tee-shirt (or should that be hair-shirt), but not the video, however the scars have now healed!
 










 I am encouraged by my friend Nick Omar T G (despite the name he is Peruano)to visit the local places of interest, and we also indulge our joint love of food at the weekends visiting the various and numerous restaurants here, thanks to the richly varied "comida del Peru" and after a busy week a large and satisfying steak, chips and salad and bottle of red wine goes down very well! And at £8 per head is even better!
 

The White Mountains

Last Sunday we visited the ruins of the "Huacas del Sol y de la Luna -Temples to the Sun and Moon" from the pre-Inca Moche civilisation which flourished in this part of Northern Peru from 100-800 CE  (note the politically correct CE not AD!)  Actually Huacas was the capital of the Moche civilisation. As you can see from the pictures, despite being only 5 kms from Trujillo we are definitely in the desert at an altitude a dizzying 60 metres. A big change from the 1530m  in Antigua!
 
I quote " Because irrigation was the source of wealth and foundation of the empire,[in the desert water is power] the Moche culture emphasized the importance of circulation and flow. Expanding upon this, the Moche focused on the passage of fluids in their artwork, particularly life fluids through vulnerable human orifices. There are countless images of defeated warriors losing life fluids through their nose, or helpless victims getting their eyes torn out by birds or captors. Images of captive sex-slaves with gaping orifices and leaking fluids portray extreme exposure, humiliation, and a loss of power.
 

The coloration of Moche pottery is often simple, with yellowish cream and rich red used almost exclusively on elite pieces, with white and black used in only a few pieces. Their adobe buildings have been mostly destroyed by looters and natural forces over the last 1300 years, but the huacas that remain show that the coloring of their murals was very vibrant." 

The pottery is simply stunning, especially the portrayal of faces and features on pots ..... so lifelike an dhard to imagine it being nearly 2000 years old.
 
The archeology museum in Lima is famous for it gallery of Moche "erotic art" - I visited in the company of a group of lecturers after a Eurochambres conference, it is very difficult to view erotic artifacts with people you hardly know, we were left sharing knowing winks and slightly embarrassed expressions!
 

 Can you believe this pottery is so old ...... teh features are just amazing!

However, last Sunday Nick and I were part of a tour of only 4 being guided round ( I would have preferred a Spanish idiom tour but that meant a long wait and being in a group of 25!) our guide was OK, but his English was limited and I lost count of how many times he told us that the people were hunters and fishmen and that there were 20,000 of them living here in Huachas!
 
But the temple to the moon was incredible, actually it was 6 temples as every 100 years the temple was filled in and a new one built over and around the old one, the murals were amazingly well preserved, but the temples were looted buy the Spanish because "they had to pay huge amounts of debts to ENGLAND and needed the gold, which the English probably MELTED down to make forks!"  The guide seemed to enjoy that bit!
 
It is thought that  a super El Niño, that resulted in 30 years of intense rain and flooding followed by 30 years of drought, disrupted the Moche way of life and shattered their faith in their religion, which had promised stable weather through sacrifices and this led to the abandonment of the site and  a move up the coast to Chan Chan.




If you have time an amazing programme about the Moche made by the BBC can be seen here (it is 50 minutes)    THE LOST CIVILISATION OF PERU


 

Intrepid explorer 1.  Nick

Intrepid Explorer 2.  The Knowmad himself.

I should have mentioned that human sacrifice played a big part in the religious practices of the Moche, as they tried to appease their Gods whilst living in this harsh desert region of Peru.
 

EEK!

I also learned that the hairless dog I had assumed was Chinese was actually Peruvian and dates back to the Moche people, still doesn't make it an attractive animal! You wouldn't want to stroke it!
 
All this wandering in the desert left us with a real hunger for food and beer, which was satisfied in a Cevicheria next door to a bus terminal on the outskirts of Trujiilo, very unattractive to look at, but the place was run by a woman who was cook, maitre de and general dogsbody. She literally ran from table to table and despite some of her clientele loudly commenting on the slowness of the service when the food arrived ,Chicarrones  (deep fried battered fish and seafood) and Ceviche mixto mmmmmmm. It was worth the wait!   (and, yes, so cheap!)   About £3 per head including beers!

My blog would not be complete without a food pic!  Chicarrones ........

Two more videos on the Moche

 

First of many appearances as accompanist to the (future) stars!

All in all,  very happy, contented, often very tired, but feel I am making  a real contribution to the life of the conservatoire (AND developing a very satisfactory life outside teh conservatoire as well!).......  summed up by this wonderful posting on my facebook page from the Director of the Conservatoire  prof.Carlos Paredes Abad  "Estamos muy contentos de que hayas llegado al Conservatorio Michael, a darnos tan desinteresadamente todas tus enseñanzas que estoy seguro Profesores y Alumnos sabrán aprovechar al máximo."
 

Stats:     Last month this blog received nearly 800 page views, and total page views is now over 4000!  Thanks, it is very encouraging that so many find this blog of interest.














AND THE TREAT   simply wonderful!     enjoy!  MARVILLOSO!
Bach Cantata 147   in a new and lovely rendition  (clever stuff!)

 Happy days!    See you in two weeks or thereabouts!