I learned to type when I was in college. I don’t remember correctly but believe they had typewriters in the 1.5 units typing course I took at DeAnza Community College. Computers were around but were a novelty. A company named IBM had made big news with a device called IBM PC jr. Computers were finding their place and I was a computer major myself. Typing was not an easy task to learn and I never did learn to be a typist. I just learned the keyboard and my speed picked up over time. The computer keyboard increased that speed later and soon no typewriters existed anyway.

The keyboard has not changed since I first used them on HP 3000 computers. They look the same and function the same. Apple keyboard is slightly different but PC has the same layout.The original keyboard layout for the computer keyboard is what was used on typewriters. Typewriters were mechanical devices and naturally had to be designed to function well given the limits of the device. The keyboard layout was made so the letters and numbers functioned easily. The layout was not made with human needs in mind. Humans were plenty back then. A company could hire many just to type all day and that was normal. The fact that an employee could get sick or hurt because of the job was not a big issue. Many did routinely and still were part of the work world. That was when “America worked” as I saw a photo essay in Time magazine call those days. America just worked and got hurt too. The part about getting hurt was not the big issue. The part about working was. That was important. Is that any different today? I wonder how many people have become disabled, since those days, because of the chronic use of this keyboard layout. The answer is obvious to all of us. Too many.

An alternative keyboard layout – Dvorak keyboard – was designed with the needs of the human hand in mind. Apple keyboards give you the option to use this layout which is not ubiquitous yet. The keyboard should save many hands and wrists over the life of a typical computer user. I also think Dvorak keyboard is a great alternative. I checked and it should take me a short time to learn to type using the new keyboard configuration. My question is if I learn to type Dvorak and I am not an my computer, what will happen then? Can I use any keyboard anywhere to Dvorak my work? I assume advance software give you the option but what about overall use? I am still hesitant about using completely new ideas. American standards were not made to help people. They were created so someone could make money. The original keyboard could have been changed decades ago but has remained the same because the big business keeps it that way and the worker injury is a lower priority issue. Dvorak maybe a better standard, regardless of how long it has existed, but American business does not respond well to change. I wonder what surprises lie dormant if and when I and others switch to Dvorak or some other system to protect our puny wrists and fingers? There has to be catches. It does not make sense that a good American way of doing things can go out without a new thing coming in and no problems are in store unless someone is making a lot of money from this change. Then, we probably will not be able to see the surprises because it is good for America.

I myself am aiming for the voice-activated typing. I was one of the original users when IBM’s ViaVoice had arrived and was impressed how little good it did for me. They did not work well back then. I read they still don’t for some people but can be made to work very well with effort and the right hardware. I have to research more but am sure voice-activated typing will be the big winner. How about the rest of the country and the world? How many will become disabled this year because of this faulty keyboard design? Is it possible to design computers so we don’t have to type as much? Computers today have hardware strong enough for a commercial server. Could they not come equipped with very high end software, sound cards and microphones so we can skip typing? Should that not be a high priority?

*This post belongs to this week’s edition of Writing by Cush blog and published early in World of Cush also.

I’ve been way into French music these days.  I listen to it almost non-stop (save a little Dvorak, and recently some Riegger, just for kicks).  This piece is BY FAR my current favorite.

It kills me that this was the last thing Debussy ever wrote.  I’m not particularly a fan of his earlier stuff (Claire de fricking Lune, anybody?), but this is so heart-wrenchingly painful, it kills me every time I listen to it.  And these days, I can’t seem to get enough.  I literally listen to this piece every night when I get home from work.  I just love it.  Especially when he transitions into major (at 1:32 in the video) for just a little while.  So so so so beautiful.

How much do you love Debussy now??  Right?  Just listen.  I mean, REALLY listen to it.  He is so unabashedly unapologetic about his dissonance, not even bothering to resolve it or hide it most of the time.  And he is still so in-your-face French, even at the end of his life (this was due to his hatred for Wagner, and really, who could blame the guy? everyone hated Wagner except Wagner…), except he still manages to incorporate all these other styles in his writing…mostly Asian and Spanish, from his traveling.  And still, with all that going on, with the whole tones and the dissonance and the cornucopia of style, you can still hear the pain and the triumph of his life in this piece.  The guy was dying of rectal cancer.  I mean, COME ON.

Long story short, I LOVE THIS PIECE.  I love the almost counterpoint going on between the piano and violin.  I love the bitonality and the way he employed the ENTIRE spectrum of the violin.  I love the sadness and the beauty and the fact that this was the last thing he left us before he died.

Also, in case anyone was curious, this is not the greatest performance of the piece.  I vote Joshua Bell or Midori, but this was all I could find on youtube.

Thu 29 Oct 7:30pm at Symphony Hall

Czech Philharmonic Orchestra
Jakub Hrusa conductor
Nicola Benedetti violin

Janáček Taras Bulba
Tchaikovsky Violin Concerto
Dvořák Symphony No 7

Style and authenticity just ooze from the Czech Philharmonic Orchestra. Dvořák himself conducted this orchestra’s first concert and the highlight of tonight’s programme is his grandly tragic Seventh Symphony. Superstar of the violin, Nicola Benedetti, is a regular visitor to Symphony Hall and joins the orchestra in Tchaikovsky’s heart-warming Violin Concerto.

Review by Maggie Cotton, Birmingham Post:

http://www.birminghampost.net/life-leisure-birmingham-guide/birmingham-culture/music-in-birmingham/2009/11/02/review-czech-philharmonic-orchestra-at-birmingham-symphony-hall-65233-25066687/

“Impeccable woodwind, exquisite flute solo and careful accompanying from conductor Jakub Hrusa were perfect partners for muted violin, leading to a formidable finale taken at a spanking pace… 4/5″

Given that great minds think alike, I recently read a post (eerily similar to mine, while being better written) about the loss of productivity due to increased technology.  Check out John Dvorak”s post.

He makes an interesting point about smart phones.  For a long time, I was hesitant to upgrade from the standard mobile phone to the smart phone.  I use it to make phone calls, text, and take mediocre pictures.  Even though my old Nokia was an incredibly powerful machine capable of most of the same things as the smart phone (minus the data package), I didn’t use any of the technology.

Now that I have my Blackberry, I still don’t use it to it’s fullest, but I could never go back.  I am a Pavlovian dog whenever I hear my phone buzz.  I jump to see what endlessly important email I have just received.

Mainly the Blackberry has made me realize how few important emails I actually receive.

The technology is so advanced, but we still don’t even use it.  Much like the writer in Dvorak’s piece whose work has not been made easier since the advent of the word processor, society can’t keep up with the engineers who create this stuff.

It has been a while. Again. Oh well. So is the nature of this blog.

As I haven’t had a post in more than a month (partially due to the fact that I’ve been busy with classes), I might as well fill you all in on what’s been happening.

Mostly I’ve been busy. Not terribly busy, but busy none the less. I find that I have a lot of reading to do this term. I listed my classes in my last post, but I’ll list them again: organic chemistry, biochemistry (BI 214), a class on early Judaism (the midterm was yesterday), and a reading class including all of us who are going to Ecuador in the spring. Basically, I have a lot of required reading for the Judaism class, which I have basically neglected to do the majority of, and so far a lot of reading for the reading class (really good books, though). We read a book called Tropical Nature: Life and Death in the Rain Forests of Central and South America, which is chock full of all sorts of awesome and interesting facts and observations. I really recommend it if you are a biology geek to any extent. We also just finished a book called Savages, which follows the travels and experiences of Joe Kane (the author) in his interactions with the natives of the Ecuadorean rain forests, specifically the Huaorani (now spelled Waorani), and also the impact of big oil on their way of life. It, too, is a great book and I’d recommend it.

The nice thing about my other classes (biochem and organic chem) is that they don’t actually have any required homework, which kind of has been a blessing and a curse. A blessing since I would definitely not be able to get all the work done and a curse because it leaves me less prepared and knowledgeable about the material. Surprisingly, this hasn’t been much of a problem in organic chemistry (exam on Wednesday went well, I believe), but has had more of an impact on my knowledge of the biochem material. It may also have to do with the fact that I have biochem at 9:00 in the morning.

Luckily my courseload isn’t bad at all, but I still have less time than normal. Part of this is because I’ve started practicing with the U of O ultimate team on Mondays and Wednesdays, and even went to a tournament with them last weekend. Unfortunately, I seem to have tweaked my lower back (it seems to happen occasionally), so I was completely unable to play the second day. It’s gotten better over the past couple days and I’m planning on seeing a physical therapist next week to make sure it isn’t anything major.

All of these activities seem to leave me with not a whole lot of time during the week (oh, yeah, I’m also taking a time management class until next week) which leaves me with less time at work, which is annoying. It isn’t fun to only work eight hours a week and see your paycheck amount to about half of last month’s.

Life around the house has been pretty good, although almost everyone is really busy getting ready for the conference they are putting together, which you can check out at their website. I really respect and admire what they are doing and I hope it helps make a difference. During the actual conference, though, I may be hiding away at a friends apartment so that I don’t go crazy with all the people around (we are hosting a bunch of people in the house). I really need to clean my room before that happens, too.

Finally, I am planning on actually purchasing my plane tickets to and from Ecuador tomorrow. I will be leaving on March 28th and have decided to stay about a month past when the program ends to get back in early July. As I’ve mentioned, this scares the heck out of me, but I know it will be good for me and that I can only benefit from it.

More to come later, as always.

On another note, I bought myself a Dvorak keyboard cover so that I can practice it. It definitely a good investment since I am enjoying not getting any crumbs or anything into my keys either. Now, to get on to actually using the layout…

Music:
Millionaire – Slumdog Millionaire soundtrack
Blackbird – Across the Universe soundtrack
Bomb the World – Michael Franti & Spearhead
Bukowski – Modest Mouse
New World Rising – Evan Hazen Kimble
Know Your Onion! – The Shins
I Will Possess Your Heart – Death Cab For Cutie
Getting Better – The Beatles
There’ll Come A Time – The John Butler Trio
Maxwell’s Silver Hammer – The Beatles
Because – Across the Universe soundtrack
We Used To Be Friends – The Dandy Warhols
Be My Escape – Reliant K
Disconnected – Funkstörung & Enik

Op vrijdag 30 oktober kan men, evenals de daaraan voorafgaande avond, in een aflevering van de reeks Konzert live, twee composities beluisteren die zijn ontstaan tijdens de laatste zeven jaar van de negentiende en het eerste jaar van de twintigste eeuw: het vermaarde en geliefde Concert voor cello en orkest in b-klein, opus 104 (1894-95) van Antonín Dvořák (1841-1904), en de Vierde Symfonie in G-groot (1899-1901) van Gustav Mahler (1860-1911).
Uitvoerenden zijn de cellist Johannes Moser, begeleid door het Sinfonieorchester Köln onder leiding van Eivind Aadland. Het ensemble wordt in het vierde deel van de Mahler-symfonie bijgestaan door de sopraan Mojca Erdmann.
Meer over dit concert kunt u lezen in mijn bijdrage van donderdag 29 oktober in het elektronische Nederlandse fin de siècle tijdschrift All art is quite useless van Rond1900.nl.
__________
Afbeelding: De componist Gustav Mahler.

Are you frustrated with your typing speed? Worried what your wrists and fingers may feel like 10-20 years from now? Perhaps it’s time for a switch.

In high school we are taught to type on the QWERTY keyboard layout.

QWERTY Keyboard Layout

QWERTY is what we grow up with and what we know. Every computer you buy comes with a keyboard configured this way. Did you know there are better layouts for typing? The most popular is Dvorak.

Dvorak Keyboard Layout

Quite a bit different isn’t it? What makes Dvorak better? The layout was designed for the following:

• Letters should be typed by alternating between hands.
• For maximum speed and efficiency, the most common letters and digraphs should be the easiest to type. This means that they should be on the home row, which is where the fingers rest, and under the strongest fingers.
• The least common letters should be on the bottom row, which is the hardest row to reach.
• The right hand should do more of the typing, because most people are right-handed.
• Digraphs should not be typed with adjacent fingers.
• Stroking should generally move from the edges of the board to the middle. An observation of this principle is that, for many people, when tapping fingers on a table, it is easier going from little finger to index than vice versa. This motion on a keyboard is called inboard stroke flow.

List from the Dvorak Simplified Keyboard article on Wikipedia.

For the history and more details on Dvorak, take 15 minutes to read The Dvorak Zine, which is presented is a fun comic book style.

My first introduction to Dvorak came several years ago when I read Matt’s post about the Dvorak keyboard layout. I was very interested but didn’t want to devote the time it would take to learn typing all over again. I also worked tech support at a college where I might be on 20 different computers over the course of a day.

I’ve been to two Automattic company meetups recently and Matt talked about the benefits of making the switch. He handed out copies of the comic and decided to give it a try. Donncha and a few others from the company are diving in as well.

I bought MasterKey for $18 and started cranking through the lessons. It took 18 hours to get through all of them. At the end I was averaging about 35 words per minute. Here is a graph showing my progress. Can you tell where new keys were introduced?

Now that I know all of the keys, I’ve made the permanent switch on my computers so that I can put it to work in real situations. The biggest challenge isn’t learning the new layout, it’s getting your mind to forget the old one. I expect to be slowed down for a few weeks but think this is the best way to make fast progress.

One negative I can already see is that on QWERTY there were many keyboard shortcuts I could perform by only using the left hand, allowing the right hand to stay on the mouse. The Mac does have a keyboard layout that uses QWERTY for the Command key combinations and Dvorak for everything else. I can see how it would be useful but think it may cause unnecessary confusion.

As the weeks pass I’ll keep posting progress updates to Twitter.

If you are serious about making a switch make sure to check out the Colemak layout as well. It was designed with many of the same principles as Dvorak. The site has a great tool to compare all three layouts so you can determine what would be best for you.

Note: This entire post was typed using the Dvorak keyboard layout after only one week of training.

The beautiful third movement of Dvořák’s 8th Symphony, performed by the Korean Symphony Orchestra under Yoon Kuk Lee. “Most of the third movement is a melancholy waltz in 3/8 time.” A mp3 version of their own performance is available for free from the Columbia University Orchestra.

Despite some serious reservations regarding the “swine flu” vaccine I decided to forgo my safety and become one of the soon to be many who gets “the shot”.  My initial concerns regarding the vaccine were based largely in part to information that was put before me by the No Agenda podcast. The hosts, John C. Dvorak and  Adam Curry informed the masses (or whatever you call their followers) about the use of experimental adjuvents in the new H1N1 vaccine.  They also made mention of verbage legislation removing any liability of drug companies or the U.S. government regarding side effects of these vaccinations. Even with all this information I still decided to get myself AND my children vaccinated.

I have read on several news sites ,and further confirmed through my doctor (who was initially OPPOSED to the vaccine) that the first round of vaccines are FREE OF ADJUVENTS. The use of adjuvents can (and I believe WILL) be used when the availability of the vaccine is not meeting demand. The adjuvents will then be used to increase vaccine production by allowing drug companies to “water down” existing stock.

But nonetheless I am documenting the next few days allay any fears Mr. Dvorak and Mr. Curry may have.

Just out of curiosity…Do you think you guys could maybe hook me up with a No Agenda T-Shirt for risking my life you?

Thanks.

Jamie A. MacDonald

Oh my gosh, you guys.

I just got home from a surreal experience. I attended the San Francisco Symphony concert, featuring Osmo Vänskä conducting John Adams’ Slonimsky’s Earbox, Tchaikovsky’s Piano Concerto No. 1 (Antti Siirala playing solo), and Dvořák’s Seventh Symphony.  That sounds like a lovely evening out, and it was. However, it was enhanced significantly by the fact that this was the first time SFS played Mr. Adams’ piece, so he attended the concert.  Through the generosity of some very nice people, I ended up sitting in Loge A (it’s a box) right in front of Mr. Adams.

That’s right. I met John Adams. It was great. I got a little twitter-pated when I first found out where we were going to sit. It turned out to be even better than I imagined. He was gracious and kind, interested in meeting me.  If he weren’t the Famous John Adams, you wouldn’t know him from any other music enthusiast of a certain age wearing a tweed jacket and a red tie. His wife had a pretty sparkly jacket, and everyone was in a great mood. Mr. Adams has a long-standing collaboration with SFS (he lives nearby) and you could tell that many people have known him for years.

Before I met Mr. Adams at intermission, I was very nervous. I didn’t know what he’d be like, where he would take the curtain call from (there was a rumor of shining a light on the box so he could acknowledge the audience. I was so glad he went down to the stage), or who was watching me fidget during the music. I was so relieved to meet him and find out how nice he was, so I could enjoy the second half of the concert.

Osmo Vänskä conducted Dvořák’s Seventh Symphony beautifully. He put the baton down for the second movement, and just used his hands. From this new angle (sitting in the most amazing box in Davies Symphony Hall), I could see how lovingly and beautifully his gestures caressed the music and drew it out from the ensemble. The whole evening drew to a wonderful close with the dramatic finale.

In other news, after reading Alexandra Amati-Camperi’s program notes for the Symphony and a few other arts organizations, I would really like to meet this lady. She teaches right around the corner from my house.

No han sido pocos los compositores que a lo largo de la historia han utilizado de forma muy especial sus obras con un marcado carácter nacionalista. Compositores inspirados por su nación, por su país, por la naturaleza del mismo o momentos de crisis. Inspirados por situaciones difíciles. Música que moviliza a la acción, a la independencia. Claros ejemplos de este tipo de composiciones los encontramos en obras maravillosas como la Finlandia de Sibelius o el Moldavia de Smetana.

Dvorak (1841-1904), compatriota de Smetana, compondría las ocho Danzas Eslavas agrupadas en dos opus, los op. 46 y 72. Estas piezas fueron encargadas por el prestigioso editor Simrock, a quien Brahms había recomendado el trabajo de Dvorak -hecho muy particular puesto que el genio alemán no sentía mayor entusiasmo por la música de la mayoría de los jóvenes compositores-. El inmenso éxito obtenido con la primera colección (op. 46) hizo que, años después, Simrock solicitara de Dvorak la composición de un segundo álbum de Danzas Eslavas (op. 72).

La primera colección está situada en el período “eslavo” de Dvorak y se limita, poco más o menos, a danzas específicamente checas (a diferencia de la segunda colección que incluye danzas de otros países eslavos). En estas piezas Dvorak no cita literalmente las melodías tradicionales de su patria sino que más bien trata de acercarse a su esencia.

Often, when I am dreaming, I hear music. While I’m still asleep, I’m likely to be sure it’s something intrinsic to my own dream universe. Sometimes that’s true — I wake up with a scrap of melody in my head that I can’t connect to anything I ever heard, and hum it all morning — but often as not, it’s perfectly identifiable, even if quaint in the context.

This morning I dreamt that I was cleaning the corridors and cupboards in an old-age home, and finding that animals were being kept in the cupboards and only taken out for inane behavioral experiments (will the rabbit pick the green card or the blue card?), though not otherwise harmed. There was a tune going in my head so vividly that when I awoke, I lay quite still, thinking it was too lovely to let get away, and deliberately visualizing a transcription onto stave paper.

By the time I had my tea steeping I was clear in my mind that this was a chunk of a piano trio or quartet or even quintet, but I am damned if I can remember which one. A lush and emotionally powerful piece, full of velvety lyric sonority. Dvorak? Mendelssohn? Brahms? Foote?

Anyone able to help me out here?

Many smartphones lack changing from QWERTY to Dvorak. This layout was out since 1936 but hardly noticed by the typing population. I use the QWERTY keyboard layout at home but funny, Dvorak makes it faster to type, with less strain on hands.
Mr. Longstreth typed 110 words on Dvorak vs 40 on the QWERTY by learning Dvorak in College. If I typed it, I would type by pressing on each key but it will get slower than if I did it on QWERTY untill I get used to the layout.
Even though a few Dvorak Typewriters were made, Mr Dvorak could never go in the insustry to abandon the conventional keyboard.

Dvorak a fost un compozitor ceh care a creat minuni. Mai jos aveţi doar două dintre cele mai frumoase dovezi.

On memories…

Not just memories, but good ones. Mostly everyone has a favourite song, o piece of music that reminds him about a special moment. Like travelling backwards in time, often music acts like a white screen where our memories get projected helping them to be alive once and again. A wonder of our powerful brain, listening to this or that music makes us recall a person, a place, a situation, a feeling …

Well, the four tracks added now in the Audio section, four delicious pieces by Montsalvatge and Guridi sung ravishingly by Anna Alás i Jové with me at the piano, mean to me all what I have described above.

Indeed, this set of pieces, together with some other Shostakovich and Dvorak, bounded together a programme called Abanico de Canciones that both Anna and I toured throughout Spain already two years ago. Many things happened in this tour, many towns that I didn’t know before and discovered thanks to those pieces, and especially many moments of extremely high musical and personal commitment I lived with Anna during that days.

Inevitably, listening to these songs again brings all these beautiful memories back to me and I can’t listen to them without smiling. Even now that I have recently played the Monstalvatge again, I feel that somehow they will always be attached to that tour and to Anna.

Fortunately I´m going to meet Anna soon again for our next project, Cabaret, together with Ana Puche Rosado and that way we will continue building beautiful memories together.

 By the way, these songs mean now as well the musical symbol of a strong friendship.

Las tres últimas sinfonías del checo Antonín Dvorak son piezas claves en el repertorio orquestal del romanticismo tardío. Gran amigo y seguidor de Brahms, Dvorak respeta las formas clásicas en la sinfonía, sin renunciar, sobre todo en las dos últimas, a una variedad melódica abrumadora, que bebe de las fuentes del folklore.

La Sinfonía nº9 “del Nuevo Mundo” es una de las obras más famosas de la música clásica, y todas sus melodías son conocidas y reconocidas por cualquier persona, incluso sin saber que son, ya que han inundado los anuncios, forman parte de las BSO de películas, series de animación, e incluso sus melodías han inspirado canciones a todo tipo de grupos, desde folk hasta el heavy.

Sinfonía nº 7 en re menor, Op. 70 (1885)

El espectacular ascenso de Antonín Dvorak hasta alcanzar fama internacional a finales de la década de 1870 vino seguida rápidamente de multitud de encargos procedentes de toda europa. Esencial para su floreciente carrera fue el éxito con el público británico en la década de 1880. Concretamente, se aferraron a su Stabat Mater, y Edward Elgar estaba entusiasmado con su Sexta Sinfonía. Las solicitudes de los importantes festivales corales de Birmingham y Leeds dieron lugar a una cantata, un oratorio y una misa de réquiem, pero tal vez el encargo más relevante provino de la Philharmonic Society of London cuando le pidió una sinfonía.

La consiguiente Séptima Sinfonía se considera de forma generalizada su mayor obra sinfónica (incluso se le llegó a llamar “la quinta” de Brahms). Dvorak la sometió a una rigurosa revisión antes de darle su forma definitiva. El primer movimiento exhibe una intensidad y una inminencia sin igual en toda su producción, y el movimiento lento es uno de los más profundos, con su mágico solo de trompa. El scherzo, basado en el entrecruzamiento de ritmos de danza popular checa denominada furiant, recupera la intensidad del primer movimiento, mientras que el último conduce al conjunto a un cierre triunfal. Aunque hubiera ciertas afinidades con Brahms, del que era gran amigo, la personalida de Dvorak no queda nunca en entredicho en esta absorbente partitura.

I.Allegro maestoso

II.Poco adagio.

III.Scherzo – Vivace.

IV.Finale – Allegro.

Dvorak Symphony No. 7 – 1st Movement: Allegro Maestoso -Hong Kong Sinfonietta – Conducted by Daniel Raiskin

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Sinfonía nº 8 en Sol mayor, opus 88 (1889)

Esta sinfonía representó para Dvorak un nuevo punto de partida. Mientras que la Sexta y Séptima miraban más al clasicismo vienés, la Octava está marcada por la experimentación formal más desenvuelta (sobre todo en el primer y último movimiento) y por un lirismo casi sobreabundante. Dvorak la compuso durante el otoño de 1889, gran parte del cual lo pasó en su lugar de retiro en el campo de Vysoká, en el sur de Bohemia.

El comienzo de la obra viene marcado por una melodía sombría y conmovedora que oscila entre las modalidades menor y mayor, antes de que la textura se despliegue con una melodía etérea para la flauta. El movimiento lento ofrece un espectro emocional amplísimo: iniciándose con una melodía majestuosa, casi vocal, parece en ocasiones la auténtica imagen de la vida rural satisfecha; en otros, raya en una violencia metafísica extraordinaria. El scherzo y el movimiento final son mucho más cálidos.

I.Allegro con brío:.

II.Adagio

III.Allegretto grazioso – Molto vivace

IV.Allegro, ma non troppo

Dvorak: Symphony No.8 - 4. Allegro ma non troppo -Los Angeles Philharmonic Orchestra-Zubin Mehta

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Sinfonía nº9 en mi menor, Op.95 “del Nuevo Mundo” (1893)

A principios de la década de 1890, Antonín Dvorak era el compositor más admirado del Imperio Austrohúngaro después de Brahms. Por tanto, no es de extrañar que, cuando se necesitó a un director para el Conservatorio Nacional de Música de Nueva York, su nombre figurase entre los candidatos. Las dos estancias de Dvorak en Estados Unidos, entre 1892 y 1895, le permitieron convertirse en una de las estrellas de la música romántica, creando obras maestras como la Sinfonía “del Nuevo Mundo”, el Concierto para violonchelo, y el Cuarteto de cuerda “Americano”.

Dvorak casi nunca se sintió a gusto en Nueva York, pero adaptó su estilo al público americano dotándolo de una mayor simplicidad argumental, una propulsión rítmica dinámica y, sobretodo, una melodía atractiva y memorable. Esta sinfonía, subtitulada “del Nuevo Mundo”, es un compendio de estas cualidades y fue todo un éxito en su primera representación; rápidamente se convirtió en su pieza orquestal más conocida. Aunque todos sus temas son originales, muchos se encuentran ensombrecidos por los rasgos melódicos que Dvorak detectaba en la música de los espirituales americanos. El resultado es una de las obras más populares del repertorio sinfónico, y sin duda, de la música clásica.

I.Adagio – Allegro molto

II.Largo (primeramente denominado por Dvorak “Leyenda”)

III.Scherzo: Molto Vivace – Poco sostenuto

IV.Allegro con fuoco

 Dvorak 9 – 3. Scherzo (molto vivace) – Filarmónica de Munich -Celibidache

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Para que las podáis disfrutar os dejo las últimas versiones que he escuchado, que sin ser, en mi opinión, las mejores (Kertész, Kubelik o Ancerl) sí nos presentan a un interesante Giulini (menos lento en los tiempos de lo que es habitual en él) y al gran Vaclav Neumann con la excelente Filarmónica Checa en una música que está impresa en su ADN y unas versiones muy, pero que muy notables (sobre todo la 7ª).

Philharmonia Orchestra
London Philharmonic Orchestra
Carlo Maria Giulini, conductor
CD 01
Symphony No. 7 in D minor, op. 70
Symphony No. 8 in G major, op.88
CD 02
Symphony No. 9 in E minor, op. 95 “From the New World”
Overture Carnival, op. 92
Scherzo capriccioso, op. 66

La interpretación corre a cargo de la Orquesta Filarmónca Checa dirigida por Vaclav Neumann, en una grabación digital realizada a principios de los 80.

Sinfonía nº7, Sinfonía nº8 y Sinfonía nº9

I am now able to type fast enough with the Dvorak Keyboard layout to make it bearable to write again. Now that the worst of the learning curve is behind me, all that is left is to increase the speed from the current slow plod I move at.

Vim is a bit wonky with the nicely placed directional keys now spread across the keyboard. The use of the program has only changed in that I use the directional arrow keys instead. xmonad’s keybindings were easy enough to switch; no difficulties there.

Current keyboard layout looks like this:

There is sense to this layout. The numbers alternate between hands, so they are easy to learn. Your hands alternate between letters more often than on QWERTY meaning the load your fingers carry is spread out and you will not find yourself typing long words with one hand. “Stewardess,” for instance.

Despite my best efforts, it matters not, in the long run. Parallel to how Solid State Hard Drives are making defragmentation a thing of the past, alternative input methods will force keyboards and their layouts to obsolescence.