old instruments, new sounds
Daniel Levin (cello), Mat Maneri (viola), live, Norway (Oslo), 2017
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lagniappe
art beat: yesterday, Art Institute of Chicago
Robert Frank (1924-), US 285, New Mexico, 1955 (The Photographer’s Curator: Hugh Edwards at the Art Institute of Chicago, through October 29th)
like nobody else
Anthony Braxton Accelerator Ghost Trance Septet (AB, reeds, composition; Taylor Ho Bynum, trumpet, flugelhorn; Jessica Pavone, viola; Chris Dahlberg, bass, cello; Mary Halvorson, guitar; Jay Rozen, tuba; Aaron Siegel, drums, percussion, vibraphone), live, Spain (San Sebastian), 2008
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lagniappe
random sights
this morning, outside Chicago (Forest Park)
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random thoughts
Aging criminal-defense lawyer’s retirement plan: drop dead at my desk.
more
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Clarinet Quintet in A major; Hagen Quartet with Sabine Meyer (clarinet), live
1st movt.
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2nd movt.
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3rd movt.
***
4th movt.
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lagniappe
musical thoughts
Mozart was a kind of idol to me—this rapturous singing . . . that’s always on the edge of sadness and melancholy and disappointment and heartbreak, but always ready for an outburst of the most delicious music.
—Saul Bellow (1915-2005)
(Taking a break—back in a while.)
more
A week ago I hadn’t heard of this guy—now I can’t get enough of him.
Enno Poppe (1969-), Trauben (“Grapes”), (2004); ATOS Trio,* live, Berlin, 2016
*Annette von Hehn, violin; Stefan Heinemeyer, cello; Thomas Hoppe, piano.
sounds of Russia
Alfred Schnittke (1934-98), Piano Quintet (1972-76), live (Katya Apekisheva, piano; Boris Brovtsyn, Julia-Maria Kretz, violins; Amihai Grosz, viola; Torleif Thedéen, cello), Netherlands, 2010
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lagniappe
random sights
other day, outside Chicago (Chicago Botanic Garden)
(Taking a break—back in a while.)
sounds of Ukraine
The only thing better than one cello is two.
Valentin Silvestrov (1937-), Hiéroglyphes de la nuit; Anja Lechner (cello), Agnès Vesterman (cello), Valentin Silvestrov (piano), live, Paris, 2015
Another take.
Maurice Ravel (1875-1937), String Quartet in F major (1903)
Hagen Quartet, live, Austria (Salzburg), 2000
1st movt.
2nd movt.
3rd movt.
4th movt.
Sometimes I just want to be swept away.
Maurice Ravel (1875-1937), String Quartet in F major (1903), 1st Mvt.
Takács Quartet, live, New York, 2017
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lagniappe
reading table
cloud becomes a mountain
becomes
a cloud—Kobayashi Issa (1763-1827), translated from Japanese by David G. Lanoue
Saturday night, in Chicago, at the Museum of Contemporary Art, I heard the Spektral Quartet. They performed a single piece, this one, which lasted not one, or two, or three, or four, but five hours. Awash in sounds and silences, I got up out of my metal chair, I looked at my watch, I checked my text messages, my email, not once.
Morton Feldman (1926-1987, MCOTD Hall of Fame*), String Quartet No. 2 (excerpt), Flux Quartet, live, 2013
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lagniappe
random sights
this morning, Oak Park, Ill.
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*With saxophonists Von Freeman and Henry Threadgill; trumpeter Lester Bowie; drummer Hamid Drake; gospel singer Dorothy Love Coates; poets John Berryman, William Bronk, and Wislawa Szymborska; and photographer Helen Levitt.
Last night, in Chicago, worn out by work and the world, I walked from my office to Symphony Center, where I heard these folks perform pieces by, among others, this composer—and I’m so glad I did.
Kremerata Baltica with Gidon Kremer (violin), live; Mieczyslaw Weinberg (1919-1996), Sinfonietta No. 2, excerpt (3rd mvt., Adagio)
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lagniappe
random sights
yesterday, Chicago
music clip of the day 