Dear Ralph,*
I have gone through the material that you sent me. I have to say I don’t understand why Hector thinks you are a composer. You seem like mostly a songwriter. I wrote some songs in my day, some good ones, and some really bad ones. You can find them in the collection called “144 [...]
[Email sent to M. Rufus Wainwright from M. Claude Debussy; 19 February 2007]
Mon cher,
Do not listen to that macho cowboy Ives about changing your name. He is an idiot.
I was assigned to oversee your work on your new opera, but told not to interfere. I have been in correspondence with Ms. Brown about my insistence [...]
[Charles Ives has been granted permission from Rosemary Brown to correspond with Rufus Wainwright and Roger Bourland via instant messaging software. This is a transcript of their correspondence from this morning.]
CI: Hello, hello. Mayday. Do you read me?
RW: Yeah, hi. I’m here. Hello Mr Ives.
CI: Call me Charlie.
RW: You can call [...]
Rosemary Brown at the piano; Franz Liszt looks on.
I was recently contacted by the famous, or infamous British weekend pianist and spiritualist, Rosemary Brown (1916-2001). Rosemary spent much of her life channeling new compositions by a variety of deceased composers including Liszt, Schumann, Beethoven, Debussy, Chopin, Grieg, and famous music writer, Sir Donald Tovey. (For [...]
Rufus Wainwright will release his fifth album, Release the Stars, on Geffen on May 15. Pet Shop Boys singer Neil Tennant executive produced the Want Two follow-up, which is Wainwright’s first self-produced album. Producer Marius DeVries (David Bowie, Björk, Madonna, Melanie C) mixed the record, and it features contributions from Richard Thompson, Joan Wasser (Antony [...]
Rufus Wainwright has sold out all performances of his Judy Garland show in both London and Paris. And for you Angelenos who didn’t get to go to Carnegie Hall, fear not as he will be doing the show at the Hollywood Bowl September 23, 2007. Tix will go on sale mid-February.
Go Rufus!
My Dear Rufus,
Silence is an important compositional element. Pepper it throughout your music and you’ll find it helps the music breathe. Phrases chunk better. Silence can range from complete silence that lasts for just a moment, to a long silence that lets a powerful chord or orchestral stab reverberate throughout the auditorium.
Think carefully about the [...]
Rufus,
I overheard some students working on their harmony exercises at the cafe last night. One said “No! You can’t do that; that’s parallel 5ths.” The other sighed in disappointment.
I don’t recall your telling me why you couldn’t tolerate being a music student, but if this is what they were feeding you, I don’t blame you! [...]
[Scribbled on a postcard with a hand-cancelled French stamp on it]
Cher Rufus,
Knowing you to be the drama queen you are, you must promise me to write for the contrabassoon. It tone is an exotic utterance that is unique in the dark, murky underworld of the orchestra’s bass. There is nothing like it when you want [...]
If wading through the Rufus Wainwright bulletin board is not on your list of websites to read, allow me to bring you up to date about some new projects on the 2007 horizon.
Rufus Wainwright’s next studio album will be titled “Release the Stars” and will be produced solely by Rufus. Release estimated in early May [...]
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