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But I wanted to post a video of me conducting Alkan's Funeral March on the Death of a Parrot. I've posted on here for a while about my interest - and more recent studying and experiences - in conducting, so I wanted to share an example of it with you all!

This piece, scored for three oboes, bassoon, and SATB (I just used four soloists instead of a choir), is Alkan's most bizarre and humorous work. It depicts the over-dramatic despair of someone discovering that their parrot Jaco has died. The performers are friends from my university and in the city.



I also have several other examples of my conducting on my YouTube channel, if anyone is interested.

Thank-you for this! Isn't this piece just wonderful? I have loved it for years and was delighted to find a copy of the score at a London dealer back in my uni days.

As Raymond Lewenthal pointed out, Alkan was emulating Wagner in writing his own libretto!

Is the score in treble clefs for soprano, alto, and tenor parts, or are they in C clefs?

And thanks for listening. I'm glad you liked it!

Treble clef in the Lewenthal edition. Was that not the edition you were using?

It's a different modern edition, but also with treble clefs. I had no idea Lewenthal made an edition!

OSK
I hope you continue to post something you're conducting. Very well done and delightful choice
😊

I would think that this forum is the perfect spot for posting your conducting work. If folks aren't interested, they don't have to open the threads

Very cool, OSK! I love the music! Great job by the ensemble to your conducting.

Unfortunately, the humor is lost on me. I don't speak Finch.

Um, I mean, Frinch.

WOW!!

Thank you all for your kind words! I'm glad you like it. This piece may be performed again at my university this school year... We will see if the opportunity arises or not. No matter what, I will try to do this piece more times during my life. It's so much fun to put together, and the audience enjoyed it a lot, too (I talked briefly about the work before the performance). It also helps that eight incredible and dedicated musician friends agreed to do this. Great musicians make conducting a lot easier!

I'm about to start another thread that has two more Alkan selections from the recital: Allegro Barbaro and Madwoman on the Seashore. I wanted to have live concert recordings of those two pieces. I'll also include Brahms' Ballade Op. 10 No. 1 "Edward." I played the Brahms when I was 17, so I think it was time to revisit it.

Love it--thank you!

Excellent performance - what a treat! Congrats to everybody involved!

By the way, the piece is apparently sort of a parody of the section of Rossini's La Gazza Ladra that starts here:

https://youtu.be/HJYryVpL-l0?t=1h46m43s

Alkan even puts a note in the score that no impertinence towards that opera is intended (which probably means exactly the opposite of what he says).

Another odd factoid - Rossini wrote a piano piece dedicated to a parrot. I don't know if Alkan was familiar with it, though.