User:Jonyungk



Currently a freelance writer, editor and photographer, I formerly wrote music articles for The Flying Inkpot website based in Singapore and have edited on Wikipedia since January 2007. Learning (1) to write for an encyclopedia instead of a reviewing site, which is a different style of writing altogether, and (2) not simply to state something but to explain and simplify it so that others can understand it no matter what their background has been a slow but steady process. While I am far from perfect in these things (as well as everything else), I'd like to think that I am at least getting better at it.

I was bitten by the writing bug in high school. Competing in a national scholastic writing competition started the ball rolling; writing my first published article on a subject I really cared about (Tchaikovsky's Manfred Symphony) accelerated that rolling to high speed. Going through the writing program at the University of Redlands was followed by a five-year stint teaching English as a Second Language, test preparation and composition for a private school and a little over 10 years in publishing. The division for which I worked was closed in 2000 but I still work in the field as a freelance writer and editor.

Along with the writing program, Redlands boasted an excellent music program, of which I took advantage as much as possible. Eventually I studied 20th-century music history with composer Barney Childs, who in turn was taught by Aaron Copland and Eliott Carter. I also studied writing and literature with him at Johnston Center, then called Johnston College and a semi-autonomous offshoot of the university. Childs was one of the two teachers who encouraged me to not just say whether I liked a book, a poem or a piece of music but to take it apart, find out how it worked and why I liked it; this way, I would know what I was talking about and could incorporate it accordingly. This is something I still practice today and use in my Wiki writing, not just for my personal growth but to benefit readers as much as possible.

A couple of things you may read about me:


 * He is difficult: Debatably so, but not always. I'm entitled to my view and have some idea from my editing and writing experience on what to say in an article, how to say it and how to strucure the piece. This does not mean I am not going to listen to you. Quite the contrary: One of my pet peeves is the Wiki editor who bellyaches about how bad, poorly-written or poorly organized an article may be but won't do anything about it. This is, after all, the reference tool that anyone can edit. What part of anyone does not include you?


 * He is opinionated: Well, I try to know what I am talking about before I say anything. That does not mean I think I am always right. (If you think I'm wrong, please let me know and give me enough info with what you say to back up your case. I'd greatly appreciate it.) But I am going to comment with some conviction.


 * He is a pain in the ass: If we disagree or you don't like how I come across, yup.


 * He is mean: Nope. I am blunt and direct and am forthright and honest enough to say something to your face. At least I'm not saying it behind your back (a bad habit of human nature and the microcosm known as Wikipedia).


 * He is negative: I am realistic. Also see He is mean above.

Now that you've been warned about my faults and you may realize I don't sprout horns and a forked tail (though I will admit an extreme fondness for Hellboy, who fits this description), how about we work together?

You might even live to tell about it.

Featured articles (FA)


Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky

Date promoted: 29 Mar 2009

TFA: 17 Oct 2009

Type of article: Biography



Symphonic poems (Liszt)

Date promoted: 29 Jun 2009

TFA: 25 Jul 2009

Type of article: Classical music



Choral symphony

Date promoted: 25 Jul 2009

TFA: 19 Jun 2010 Did you know: 16 May 2008

Type of article: Classical music



Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky and The Five

Date promoted: 10 Jan 2010

TFA:Not yet

Type of article: Biography



Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov

Date promoted: 30 Jan 2010

TFA: 18 Mar 2010

Type of article: Biography



Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky and the Belyayev circle

Date promoted: 28 Feb 2010

TFA: Not yet

Type of article: Biography



Walter Bache

Date promoted: 31 Jul 2010

TFA: 12 Jul 2011

Type of article: Biography

2007


Piano Concerto No. 3 (Tchaikovsky)

Date created: 13 Jan 2007

Current ranking: Unrated

Type: Classical music



Andante and Finale (Tchaikovsky)

Date created: 14 Jan 2007

Current rating: Unrated

Type: Classical music



Pezzo Capriccioso (Tchaikovsky)

Date created: 22 Feb 2007

Current rating: Unrated

Type: Classical music



Nikolay Dimitriyevich Kashkin

Date created: 22 Apr 2007

Current rating: Stub

Type: Biography



Death of Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky

Date created: 30 Jun 2007

Current rating: B/C

Type: Biography



Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky and The Five

Date created: 30 Jun 2007

Current ranking: FA

Type: Biography



List of compositions by Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky

Date created: 12 Jul 2007

Current ranking: List

Type: Classical music

2008


Antar (Rimsky-Korsakov)

Date created: 7 Mar 2008

Current ranking: Unrated

Type: Classical music



Nadezhda Rimskaya-Korsakova

Date created: 16 Mar 2008

Current ranking: B/C

Type: Biography



Sadko (musical tableau)

Date created: 24 Mar 2008

Current ranking: Unrated

Type: Classical music



Symphony No. 1 (Rimsky-Korsakov)

Date created: 25 Mar 2008

Current ranking: Unrated

Type: Classical music



Fantasy on Serbian Themes

Date created: 26 Mar 2008

Current ranking: Unrated

Type: Classical music

Ivan Dzerzhinsky

Date created: 10 Apr 2008

Current ranking: Start

Type: Biography

Alexander Melnikov

Date created: 16 Apr 2008

Current ranking: Start/Stub

Type: Biography



Piano Concerto No. 1 (Glazunov)

Date created: 4 May 2008

Current ranking: Unrated

Type: Classical music



Russian Symphony Concerts

Date created: 10 May 2008

Current ranking: Start

Type: Classical music



Choral symphony

Date created: 12 May 2008

Current ranking: FA

Type of article: Classical music



Orchestral Suite No. 3 (Tchaikovsky)

Date created: 30 May 2008

Current ranking: Unrated

Type: Classical music



Orchestral Suite No. 1 (Tchaikovsky)

Date created: 1 Jun 2008

Current ranking: Unrated

Type: Classical music



Orchestral Suite No. 2 (Tchaikovsky)

Date created: 2 Jun 2008

Current ranking: Unrated

Type: Classical music



Mephisto Polka

Date created: 26 Jun 2008

Current ranking: Unrated

Type: Classical music



Czárdás (Liszt)

Date created: 6 Jul 2008

Current ranking: Unrated

Type: Classical music



Sarabande and Chaconne from Handel's Almira (Liszt)

Date created: 9 Jul 2008

Current ranking: Unrated

Type: Classical music



Walter Bache

Date created: 10 Jul 2008

Current ranking: FA

Type of article: Biography



Symphony No. 1 (Glazunov)

Date created: 14 Jul 2008

Current ranking: Unrated

Type: Classical music



Thematic transformation

Date created: 15 Jul 2008

Current ranking: Unrated

Type: Classical music



Hungarian Fantasy (Liszt)

Date created: 22 Jul 2008

Current ranking: Unrated

Type: Classical music



Orpheus (Liszt)

Date created: 27 Jul 2008

Current ranking: Unrated

Type: Classical music



Tasso, Lamento e Trionfo (Liszt)

Date created: 30 Jul 2008

Current ranking: Unrated

Type: Classical music

August Conradi

Date created: 10 Aug 2008

Current ranking: Stub

Type: Biography



Hungaria (Liszt)

Date created: 26 Aug 2008

Current ranking: Unrated

Type: Classical music



Life of Franz Liszt

Date created: 9 Sep 2008

Current ranking: Start

Type: Biography



Sophie Menter

Date created: 5 Oct 2008

Current ranking: Start

Type: Biography



Symphonies by Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky

Date created: 22 Nov 2008

Current ranking: Unrated

Type: Classical music



First Choral Symphony

Date created: 28 Nov 2008

Current ranking: Unrated

Type: Classical music



Belyayev circle

Date created: 31 Dec 2009

Current ranking: Start

Type of article: Classical music

2009


Stenka Razin (Glazunov)

Date created: 9 Feb 2009

Current ranking: Unrated

Type: Classical music



Tone poems (Strauss)

Date created: 21 Mar 2009

Current ranking: Unrated

Type: Classical music



Macbeth (Strauss)

Date created: 22 Mar 2009

Current ranking: Unrated

Type: Classical music



Piano Sonata in E-flat (Bax)

Date created: 26 Mar 2009

Current ranking: Unrated

Type: Classical music



Yelizaveta Lavrovskaya

Date created: 28 Mar 2009

Current ranking: Start

Type: Biography



List of choral symphonies

Date created: 31 Mar 2009

Current ranking: List

Type of article: Classical music



Siegfried Dehn

Date created: 1 Apr 2009

Current ranking: Start

Type of article: Biography



Symphony No. 2 (Schnittke)

Date created: 6 Jun 2009

Current ranking: Unrated

Type of article: Classial music



Symphony No. 4 (Schnittke)

Date created: 7 Jun 2009

Current ranking: Unrated

Type of article: Classial music



Symphony No. 7 (Penderecki)

Date created: 14 Jun 2009

Current ranking: Unrated

Type of article: Classical music



Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky and the Belyayev circle

Date created: 16 Dec 2009

Current ranking: FA

Type of article: Biography

2010–2012 (Wiki break 2011)
Vladimir Davydov

Date created: 23 Jan 2010

Current ranking: C

Type of article: Biography



Yevgeniya Mravina

Date created: 27 Jan 2010

Current ranking: Stub/Start

Type of article: Biography



Alexander Romanovsky (pianist)

Date created: 10 Jun 2010

Current ranking: Start

Type of article: Biography

Henry Zajaczkowski

Date created: 22 Feb 2012

Current ranking: Stub

Type of article: Biography

Roland John Wiley

Date created: 28 Feb 2012

Current ranking: Stub

Type of article: Biography

Aleksandr Ossovskii

Date created: 4 Mar 2012

Current ranking: Stub

Type of article: Biography



Carmen Suite (ballet)

Date created: 22 Mar 2010

Current ranking: Start

Type of article: Classical music

Daniel Zhitomirsky

Date created: 27 Mar 2012

Current ranking: Unrated

Type of article: Biography

Theodore D. Wilson

Date created: 04 Apr 2012

Current ranking: Unrated

Type of article: Biography



Tchaik nut
Sounds like some exotic food you might buy at Fresh & Easy, doesn't it?

While I did not fall from a tree as nuts generally do (and with that I'll dispense with the bad jokes, so you can now breathe easier), I will have to admit "guilty as charged." The Pathetique symphony was one of the two earliest classical music pieces with which I bonded as a child, which might be some indication of what a moody little kid I was back then. (Dvořák's New World symphony was the other.) Thanks to Time-Life Records, I discovered the Sleeping Beauty suite, Serenade for Strings and Francesca da Rimini By then I was hopelessly hooked. Besides, I was well-acquainted with the 1812 Overture. As both sons of a friend of mine put it, any piece with cannons in it is okay, even if it is classical. (Nice to know there's hope for high culture among the younger set, isn't it?)

Recommended

 * Brown, David, Tchaikovsky: The Early Years, 1840–1874 (New York: W.W. Norton & Company, 1978). ISBN 0-393-07535-2.
 * Brown, David, Tchaikovsky: The Crisis Years, 1874–1878, (New York: W.W. Norton & Company, 1983). ISBN 0-393-01707-9.
 * Brown, David, Tchaikovsky: The Years of Wandering, 1878–1885, (New York: W.W. Norton & Company, 1986). ISBN 0-393-02311-7.
 * Brown, David, Tchaikovsky: The Final Years, 1885–1893, (New York: W.W. Norton & Company, 1991). ISBN 0-393-03099-7.
 * Brown, David, Tchaikovsky: The Man and His Music (New York: Pegasus Books, 2007). ISBN 0-571-23194-2. [In lieu of the four volumes listed above]
 * Poznansky, Alexander, Tchaikovsky: The Quest for the Inner Man (New York: Schirmer Books, 1991). ISBN 0-02-871885-2.
 * Wiley, Roland John, The Master Musicians: Tchaikovsky (Oxford and New York: Oxford University Press, 2009). ISBN 978-0-19-536892-5.

By sheer weight if nothing else, Brown's four-volume set could be considered definitive. A couple of points, good and bad:


 * Negatives: He takes the traditional view of Tchaik as suffering neurotic artist, maladjusted and insecure about his same-sex orientation. This plus his take on the theory that the composer committed suicide rather than succumbing to complications from cholera may have encouraged Simon Karlinsky to brand him a homophobe. You have been warned.


 * Positives: Nobody else gets into the nuts-and-bolts aspect of Tchaik's compositions as thoroughly as he does. Even if his conclusions about some of the music is biased, you can at least see how he came to his opinion and use those parameters to make up your own mind.

If you don't want to wade through the set, Man and Music is a single-volume overview. However, you'll miss way too much of Brown's music analysis to make it worthwhile.

Poznansky concentrates on the composer, not the works, and takes the opposite tack as Brown. To Poznansky, Tchaik saw his sexuality as something he had to live with and did not suffer "serious psychological damage" from it. His insights on the composer, his circle and culture make it a worthwhile counterweght to Brown, particularly with it coming from a Russian as opposed to Western view. (Nothing like the home field advantage, right&mdash;at least since the Stalinist paranoia about his personal life ius supposedly not so pervasive?) Wiley falls between Poznansky and Brown. He thinks Tchaik did not feel guilty over his orientation but remained aware of the fallout from society should it become public; therefore, the composer remained discrete but sexually active. Wiley discusses the music and comes to different conclusions but does not go into nearly the same detail as Brown. Nevertheless, if I had to pick one book with which to become better acquainted with Tchaikovsky, I would select Wiley.

Other books to consider

 * Abraham, Gerald,(Ed.), Music of Tchaikovsky (New York: W.W. Norton & Company, 1946). ISBN n/a.
 * Botstein, Leon, "Music as the Language of Psychological Realm." In Tchaikovsky and His World (Princeton, New Jersey: Princeton University Press, 1998), ed. Kearney, Leslie. ISBN 0-691-00429-3.
 * Holden, Anthony, Tchaikovsky: A Biography (New York: Random House, 1995). ISBN 0-679-42006-1.
 * Warrack, John, Tchaikovsky Symphonies and Concertos (Seattle: University of Washington Press, 1969). Library of Congress Catalog Card No. 78–105437.
 * Warrack, John, Tchaikovsky (New York: Charles Scribner's Sons, 1973). SBN 684-13558-2.
 * Wiley, Roland John, Tchaikovsky's Ballets (Oxford and New York: Oxford University Press, 1985). ISBN 0-198-16249-9.

If you read more than generally about Russian music, you will run into Gerald Abraham sooner or later, as he was a pioneer Westerner on the subject. He was a product of his time, though, in some of his views. The same is true for the authors he corralled for his compilation, Music of Tchaikovsky. If you treat what they have to say in some ways like Brown&mdash;in other words, if you ignore the conclusions and read about the insights that led the writers to them&mdash;you can gain quite a bit on the musical conventions with which Tchaik struggled and how he got around them. High points include Martin Cooper's essay on the symphonies and Eric Blom's on the concertos.

Botstein's essay in Tchaikovsky and His World is valuable in that it offers views from near-contemporary critics on the emotional and psychological impact on his music and opinions not normally seen by general readers as to how it was perceived in the West. He also offers his insight, that of a musicologist and conductor, as to the mechanics of the music. Again, extremely worthwhile.

Holden's biography does not have the authority of Brown or Wiley but is still a solid effort, albeit controversial at times, and adds some details and insights not found in either of the others. (He takes a similar tack as Brown on the suicide theory and has also been labeled a homophobe.) Warrack's biography is likewise well-crafted but is more general and is showing its age. If you like pictures, though, he offers a slew of them. His analysis of the symphonies and concertos, printed separately as a BBC Music Guide, is likewise generalized but a good place to start if you want to learn more about the pieces themselves. Wiley's book on Tchaik's three ballets gives a picture of the musical and societal climate in which they were created; for lovers of these works or of ballet in general, this book is a must.

Occasionally I will work on an article only to discover it is considered a sacred cow by various Wiki editors and readers. Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky has been one of them&mdash;loved not always too wisely but too well, to quote the bard, filled with controversy and yet seemingly so innocent, as though a gentle Holstein quietly chewing its cud as it stood in a pasture filled with grass and sweet clover. Little did I know. Yet I persisted, though PR, GAC, FAC and a near-complete rewrite. I have yet to enjoy the steak that I have seemingly carved from all this effort. Perhaps Twain was right&mdash;I should settle for a burger and be happy. Could I at least have fries with that?





Symphonies by Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky

Current rating: Unrated

Type of article: Classical music



Kamarinskaya

Current rating: Stub

Type of article: Classical music



Anton Rubinstein

Curent rating: B

Type of article: Biography



Symphony No. 2 (Tchaikovsky)

Current rating: Unrated

Type of article: Classical music

Washington's Monument, February, 1885
Ah, not this marble, dead and cold: Far from its base and shaft expanding—the round zones circling, comprehending, Thou, Washington, art all the world's, the continents' entire&mdash;not yours alone, America, Europe's as well, in every part, castle of lord or laborer's cot, Or frozen North, or sultry South&mdash;the African's&mdash;the Arab's in his tent, Old Asia's there with venerable smile, seated amid her ruins; (Greets the antique the hero new? 'tis but the same&mdash;the heir legitimate, continued ever, The indomitable heart and arm—proofs of the never–broken line, Courage, alertness, patience, faith, the same&mdash;e'en in defeat defeated not, the same:) Wherever sails a ship, or house is built on land, or day or night, Through teeming cities' streets, indoors or out, factories or farms, Now, or to come, or past—where patriot wills existed or exist, Wherever Freedom, pois'd by Toleration, sway'd by Law, Stands or is rising thy true monument

by Walt Whitman.

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