The Psychology of Music

I heard about about this piece of research on the radio yesterday morning.

Scientists from Heriot-Watt are looking at personality traits and musical preference.

Apparently liking classical music indicates "high self-esteem, creative, introvert and at ease" whilst jazz indicates "high self-esteem, creative, outgoing and at ease.

And if you like opera, you are "gentle".

You can take part in the research by completing the questionnaire here.

The Psychology of Music

I heard about about this piece of research on the radio yesterday morning.

Scientists from Heriot-Watt are looking at personality traits and musical preference.

Apparently liking classical music indicates "high self-esteem, creative, introvert and at ease" whilst jazz indicates "high self-esteem, creative, outgoing and at ease.

And if you like opera, you are "gentle".

You can take part in the research by completing the questionnaire here.

BBC Jazz - WTF?

Jazz Line-Up is one of four regular jazz shows on Radio 3; it, like Jazz Record Requests (where you can request jazz records - simple, really), is on Saturday afternoons; the other two shows are for insomniacs only - Jazz Library is 10.30pm on Fridays, and it is followed at 11.30pm by Jazz on 3.

(The BBC clearly needs to make sure that anyone browsing the listings knows they have come across a jazz programme: I can't imagine what the Radio 3 schedule would look like if they signposted all their classical music programming so clearly).

Hosting the current show - on now - Julian Joseph has said that they are moving to a new time. 11.30pm on Monday nights.

So one of the few chances to listen to a jazz broadcast at a reasonable hour - rather than either recording it or relying on the iPlayer (both of which I frequently do) - has been thrown out.

Frankly, this is completely fucking useless.

The BBC continues to drive listeners to the internet - and if I have to go to iPlayer to hear jazz on the radio, I might as well go to radio stations in San Francisco, or New York, or Sydney.

For the first time in ages, I feel angry about having to give the BBC my licence fee.

ETA: at the end of JRR, they explained that Jazz Library would be swapping with Jazz Line Up, taking the Saturday afternoon slot. This might actually be an improvement for me. I'll wait and see!

BBC Jazz - WTF?

Jazz Line-Up is one of four regular jazz shows on Radio 3; it, like Jazz Record Requests (where you can request jazz records - simple, really), is on Saturday afternoons; the other two shows are for insomniacs only - Jazz Library is 10.30pm on Fridays, and it is followed at 11.30pm by Jazz on 3.

(The BBC clearly needs to make sure that anyone browsing the listings knows they have come across a jazz programme: I can't imagine what the Radio 3 schedule would look like if they signposted all their classical music programming so clearly).

Hosting the current show - on now - Julian Joseph has said that they are moving to a new time. 11.30pm on Monday nights.

So one of the few chances to listen to a jazz broadcast at a reasonable hour - rather than either recording it or relying on the iPlayer (both of which I frequently do) - has been thrown out.

Frankly, this is completely fucking useless.

The BBC continues to drive listeners to the internet - and if I have to go to iPlayer to hear jazz on the radio, I might as well go to radio stations in San Francisco, or New York, or Sydney.

For the first time in ages, I feel angry about having to give the BBC my licence fee.

ETA: at the end of JRR, they explained that Jazz Library would be swapping with Jazz Line Up, taking the Saturday afternoon slot. This might actually be an improvement for me. I'll wait and see!

Matthew Bourne's "Dorian Gray"

I like Matthew Bourne’s choreography: when a show he has choreographed appears in Edinburgh, I make an effort to see it – which means in the last few years I have seen his famous Swan Lake (famous not least for having an all-male chorus of swans – mute swans, obviously), Play Without Words (his magical take on “The Servant”), Edward Scissorhands (his, er, magical take on, er, “Edward Scissorhands”, using the original music from the film), Highland Fling (his beautiful, disturbing take on “La Sylphide” – one of the few times I have experienced a whole audience in shock during a dance performance), and, just a few months ago, The Car Man (his brilliant, murderous take on Bizet’s “Carmen” – a cross between Carmen and West Side Story, if you like).

(By the way, have a look at the videos on those show websites. Bourne’s company, New Adventures, seem to have high web production values.)

So I was really looking forward to seeing his new production of Dorian Gray - another adaptation, this time of Oscar Wilde’s The Picture of Dorian Gray. I was looking forward to it so much that I accepted a late offer to the opening night, when I already had a ticket for later in the run (the offer fell through due to illness, but I would have gone). This production broke records for a dance production at the Edinburgh Festival, selling out over eight nights.

It shouldn’t have come as too much of a surprise than when I was disappointed. It looked beautiful; it was brash and loud, and sexy (there was a fair concentration on sex in the production); it was smart and clever, and the dance was good.

Indeed, it is hard to identify quite why I felt disappointed: perhaps it was a bit too clever – a bit too knowing. It was also a bit too loud: the music – I think performed live (five guys in black tie were brought on stage for the curtain call) – was over amplified for the relatively small space of the King’s Theatre.

All in all, it just didn’t work – there was a little something missing. I hope Bourne finds it before he next brings something to Edinburgh.

Matthew Bourne's "Dorian Gray"

I like Matthew Bourne’s choreography: when a show he has choreographed appears in Edinburgh, I make an effort to see it – which means in the last few years I have seen his famous Swan Lake (famous not least for having an all-male chorus of swans – mute swans, obviously), Play Without Words (his magical take on “The Servant”), Edward Scissorhands (his, er, magical take on, er, “Edward Scissorhands”, using the original music from the film), Highland Fling (his beautiful, disturbing take on “La Sylphide” – one of the few times I have experienced a whole audience in shock during a dance performance), and, just a few months ago, The Car Man (his brilliant, murderous take on Bizet’s “Carmen” – a cross between Carmen and West Side Story, if you like).

(By the way, have a look at the videos on those show websites. Bourne’s company, New Adventures, seem to have high web production values.)

So I was really looking forward to seeing his new production of Dorian Gray - another adaptation, this time of Oscar Wilde’s The Picture of Dorian Gray. I was looking forward to it so much that I accepted a late offer to the opening night, when I already had a ticket for later in the run (the offer fell through due to illness, but I would have gone). This production broke records for a dance production at the Edinburgh Festival, selling out over eight nights.

It shouldn’t have come as too much of a surprise than when I was disappointed. It looked beautiful; it was brash and loud, and sexy (there was a fair concentration on sex in the production); it was smart and clever, and the dance was good.

Indeed, it is hard to identify quite why I felt disappointed: perhaps it was a bit too clever – a bit too knowing. It was also a bit too loud: the music – I think performed live (five guys in black tie were brought on stage for the curtain call) – was over amplified for the relatively small space of the King’s Theatre.

All in all, it just didn’t work – there was a little something missing. I hope Bourne finds it before he next brings something to Edinburgh.