Interview with Georg Mertens

Georg Mertens (Photo: Sandy Smith)

Four years ago cellist and guitarist Georg Mertens' idea of Youtube was that it was a social media site for amateur videos made by naughty skatie boys. An offer from video professional Chris Callaghan to put some clips from Georg’s well known Jenolan Caves concerts series on the same site initially make him think twice, but he was persuaded with the thought that there was nothing to lose by being involved.

Now three years later, Georg has purchased his own high end video camera to manage his own his production. His concert series clips are currently receiving hits of up to a thousand a day.
”The popularity of our Youtube site is such a surprise really, as our videos don't include popular music, and there are no special effects. Our music is not amplified or modified, but is purely acoustic cello solos and duos for violin and guitar,” says George “and I do nothing for the video promotion. Perhaps, just good music has an appeal again!” he adds.

Georg and fellow Mitchell Conservatorium violin teacher Gustaw Szelski, who play regularly as the Paganini Duo, recently enjoyed a successful tour to Canowindra, Mudgee and Bathurst as part of the Mitchell Conservatorium Musicians Spring Series II concerts. ”I applaud Georg for his ability to get his music out there” says Fiona Thompson, Executive Director of the Mitchell Conservatorium. "We try to do that same on our own Youtube Channel but have yet to achieve the same notoriety as Georg.”

Top runners in the popularity stakes are the cello solos: Bach's Prelude from the G Major Cello Suite, Georg's Asturias (Albeniz) transcription for cello and his Arabian Improvisation. Other popular videos, recently uploaded include The Paganini Duo's performances of La Cumparsita, Czardas and Dark Eyes.

The clip below, one of 78 on Georg's site today, is of Villa-Lobos' Prelude no 4 for classical guitar.


Christine Sweeney

A million hits on Youtube

Georg Mertens

Congratulations to our colleague, Georg Mertens, whose Georgcello Youtube site has now received a million visits.

As we said in a post last month, Georg Mertens is a cellist, guitarist, composer, arranger, teacher and author who combines great musical skills with an astute knowledge of successful internet marketing.

How did he achieve a million hits on Youtube? It was not by choosing to play current popular music, which was the way former Mitchell Conservatorium student, Ella Jamieson and her band, Aston, clocked up the magic million, with their classical version of Lady Gaga's Telephone.

And it was not a viral campaign, like the wildly successful Canadian Christmas flashmob version of Handel's Hallelujah Chorus.

Georg's success in attracting a million visitors to his Youtube site has been achieved through providing so many musically interesting, varied performances on guitar and cello, both solo and in combination with other musicians.

His most popular video, so far, has been an Arabian improvisation on cello.

Musical Time Machine

Do you know your composers and which musical periods they belong to? Was Mozart born in the 20th century? Did Bach know Debussy? Who was the most famous composer in the Renaissance Period?

You might enjoy the DSO Kids Time Machine.

Would you like some hints to help you? The Naxos Brief History of Music could be just the ticket.

Britney Spears goes Baroque

Remember the Lady Gaga fugue? The very clever Giovanni Dettori has done it again: this time with his Baroque version of Britney Spears's songs Hit Me Baby One More Time and Oops, I Did It Again in his new composition called Counterpoint.

Mr Dettori has kindly made the sheet music available, too.

Counterpoint refers to the unique ability musicians have of saying two or more things at once and making sense! Lots of pieces of music have several tunes going at once, but this was developed to a high art in the Renaissance Period of Music (1450-1600 AD) and perfected by Johann Sebastian Bach in the Baroque Period (1600-1750).

The Naxos summary of periods in Music history is pretty well written and useful.

Giovanni Dettori teaches counterpoint via his Youtube website, which is well worth investigating.

I like the way you can listen to this piece and follow the scrolling score. Well done, Maestro Dettori!




Did I mention that Britney Spears is an anagram of Presbyterians?

What springs to mind?

When you see this picture of Beethoven, what kind of music do you think of?
His symphonies
or his wonderful piano sonatas?

It might surprise you to know what he spent quite a lot of his time doing.
Although he wrote a lot of piano variations and chamber music, and more than a hundred songs, what he wrote most of was
(drum roll, please Jamie)

Arrangements of British folksongs!

He wrote more than two hundred of them. Why? Because he was paid very well for it. The more they commissioned, the more he churned out.

The portrait on the right is a picture of a teacher of Beethoven (and Mozart). Joseph Haydn is one of the most important composers of the 18th Century.When you think of Haydn, what springs to mind? Is it  his  very popular Surprise Symphony, or his oratorio, The Creation?

You probably don't think of the odd-looking instrument on the left. Do you know what it is? It is called a baryton. Haydn wrote 175 pieces for it, because his patron, Prince Nikolaus Esterházy enjoyed playing the instrument, and kept asking, and paying, for more pieces to play.
It sounds like a bass viol da gamba, and has 6 or 7 strings which are bowed, and 10 more which vibrate in sympathy with the other strings, or which can be plucked. It is very hard to play and fell out of favour. 

Here is a movement from a Haydn baryton trio. Do you think these instruments will ever return to popularity?

Haydn Seek

He was the most famous composer of his day, more popular than Handel had been and certainly more popular than Mozart or Bach were, in their own lifetimes. He has been called the father of the symphony and the father of the string quartet. New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians says

No other composer approaches his combination of productivity, quality and historical importance in these genres.

Mozart and Beethoven were both taught by him, and were greatly influenced by his music. But surprisingly, most people would not know much of his music.

I'm hoping to change this with The Haydn Pages. This is my effort to add a little about Joseph Haydn, because there is not a lot of information about him that is easily accessible.

As a student, I learnt his wonderful late Sonata in E Flat Major, Hob XVI:52, when I was studying for my licentiate diploma (L Mus A). This is the first movement, played by Bulgarian pianist, Ivaila Ivanova.

Mitchell Con Puts Students in Hospital

Anthony Tran

Mitchell Conservatorium is still putting students in hospital. But we're not making them sick, or injuring them. We are giving them performance opportunities, through Christine McMillan, Arts Coordinator at Bathurst Base Hospital.

On Wednesday, 23rd November, 2011 Belinda Macri and Anthony Tran played some piano pieces at Bathurst Base Hospital. Their piano teacher, David McKay, also played a few tunes.

Belinda Macri, David McKay and Anthony Tran

Australian Music was a special feature of our short concert, which included pieces by Ross Edwards, Elissa Milne, Sonny Chua and the first Bathurst performance of two pieces from Justin McKay's Lewis Carroll Suite.