Daily Hit of Music

Daily Hit of Music's 100th post! Thank you for reading our posts on Daily Hit of Music. We hope you're enjoying them and here's to the next 100! Eitetsu Hayashi is an acclaimed Japanese musician best known for his solo performance work in taiko. Taiko are a broad rang of Japanese percussion instruments. In Japanese, the term refers to any kind of drum, but outside of Japan, it is used specifically to refer to any of the various Japanese drums called wadaiko . The process of constructing taiko varies between manufacturers, and the preparation of both the drum body and skin can take several years depending on the method.  Eitetsu Hayashi performing in 2001 Image source   In feudal Japan, taiko were often used to motivate troops, call out orders or announcements, and set a marching pace; marches usually being set to six paces per beat of the drum.  Watch Ei-tetsu Hayashi's exhilarating performance on a huge o-daiku barrel drum. He performs alongside the Shamisen master, Sh

Beethoven 's Violin Sonata No. 9 is a sonata for violin and piano, known for its technical difficulty and unusual length. The sonata was originally dedicated to the virtuoso violinist George Bridgetower.  George Bridgetower, virtuoso violinist born to a Polish mother and West Indian father. Lived in England for much of his life. (1778-1860) Image source Shortly after the completion, the work was premiered by Bridgetower and Beethoven on 24 May 1803 at the Augarten Theatre at a concert that started at the unusually early hour of 8am. Allegedly, Bridgetower sight-read the sonata, having never seen the work before since there had been no time for any rehearsal. In bar 35 of the first movement, Beethoven had written a huge run just for piano, spanning several octaves. After Beethoven executed the run, Bridgetower imitated it on the violin. Beethoven looked up from the piano in astonishment, ran across the stage, embraced Bridgetower, ran back to the piano and continued playing.  Listen

Pokarekare Ana is a traditional New Zealand love song. It emanated North of Auckland and was popularised by M ā ori soldiers who were training near Auckland before embarking for the war in Europe.  The  M ā ori are the indigenous Polynesian people of mainland New Zealand.  Portrait of a young maori woman with moko by Louis John Steele (1891) Image source Read more about Ta moko M ā ori originated with settlers from eastern Polynesia, who arrived in New Zealand in several waves of waka (canoe) voyages between roughly 1320 and 1350. Over several centuries in isolation, these settlers developed their own distinctive culture, whose language, mythology, crafts and performing arts evolved independently from those of other eastern Polynesian cultures.  Polynesia is generally defined as the islands within the Polynesian triangle Image source We've put together a few different versions of this beautiful song: DHM YouTube DHM YouTube DHM YouTube TEXT: Māori English Pōkarekare ana, ngā wai

Caterina Assandra was an Italian composer and Benedictine nun born in the province of Pavia. She became famous as an organist and published several works during her lifetime, some of which reached outside the borders of Italy.  Caterina Assandra (c.1590 - after 1618) Image source The local composer Agostino Agazzari influenced Assandra's style. Due to Assandra's residence in the convent, her vocal music was often written for female voices so that her music could function without male singers.  Listen to Assandra's setting of Duo Seraphim: Latin text: Duo seraphim clamabant alter ad alterum: Sanctus Dominus Deus Saboath. Plena est omnis terra gloria ejus.  (Isaiah 6:3) Tres sunt, qui testimonium dant in coelo: Pater, Verbum et Spiritus Sanctus: et hi tres unum sunt. Sanctus Dominus Deus Sabaoth. Plena est omnis terra gloria ejus. Translation: Two seraphim cried to one another: Holy is the Lord God of Sabaoth. The whole earth is full of his glory. There are three who bear wit

The Sagbutt (also spelled Sackbut) is an early trombone invented in the 1400s, probably in Burgundy. Man playing the sackbut. Engraving by J.C. Weigel (1661 - 1726) Image source Possessing thicker walls and a narrower bell, the sagbutt imparts a softer tone compared to a modern trombone. The word derives from the Old French word saqueboute  meaning "pull-push": this motion refers to the sliding mechanism which enables the instrument to achieve lower pitches than the trumpet. However, in Italy, composers such as Giovanni Gabrieli, would have known the instrument as trombone , meaning 'large trumpet'.  Watch this introduction to the instrument: DHM YouTube Take a listen to the following compositions written by the English composer and music theorist, Matthew Locke. These 'five-part things for His Majestys Sagbutts and Cornetts' were probably written for performance at the coronation celebrations of King Charles II in 1661.  DHM YouTube Matthew Locke, leading Eng

The Chick Corea Elektric Band is a jazz fusion band, led by legendary keyboardist and composer Chick Corea. Their second album, Light Years (1987) has been described as a fusion of jazz, funk and rock. Musically, 'funk' refers to a style of urban dance music driven by syncopated bass lines and drumbeats and accented by any number of instruments involved in rhythmic counterplay, all working toward a "groove".  The line-up of the band at the time of Light Years formed what is considered the band's definitive lineup: Chick Corea - Keyboard Image source John Patitucci - Bass Image source Dave Weckl - Drums Image source Frank Gambale - Guitar Image source Eric Marienthal - Saxophone Image source Take a listen to Light Years : DHM YouTube And Time Track from the same album: DHM YouTube This blog is intended to be educational and to share knowledge about music. Daily Hit of Music does not claim to own anything contained in this post and declares its sources openly.  The

Konnakol ( கொன்னக்கோல்) is the art of vocally performing percussive syllables in South Indian Carnatic music. Carnatic music is one of two main subgenres of Indian classical music. The rhythmic language of konnakol is one of the most intricate systems in the world and is the spoken component of solkattu, which refers to a combination of spoken konnakol syllables while simultaneously "counting" the tala (meter) with the hand.  Image source In the Tamil language, the word "konnakol" means to stammer . Konnakol, however, is hardly akin to that which is involuntary - instead, mastering this art form takes many years, but can result in such a rapid articulation of rhythmic subdivisions, that it might sound like stammering. In fact, konnakol has helped many people with speech disorders.  Watch these brilliant performers and notice how they count the 'tala' with their hands whilst reciting konnakol: DHM YouTube B C Manjunath & Varijashree Venugopal: DHM YouTube