Suppose that, for the rest of your life, you could listen to only one piece of music. What would you choose? For me it might be this.
Morton Feldman (1926-1987; MCOTD Hall of Fame), Piano and String Quartet (1985); Kronos Quartet with Aki Takahashi (piano), 1993
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lagniappe
art beat: other day, Art Institute of Chicago
Jackson Pollock (1912-1956), Number 17A, 1948 (detail)
sounds of Paris
Ensemble Intercontemporain (Matthias Pintscher, direction), live, Paris, 11/14/20: Edgard Varèse (1883-1965), Octandre (1924); Marko Nikodijevic (1980-), music box/selbstportrait mit ligeti und strawinsky (und messiaen ist auch dabei) (2003/rev. 2006)
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lagniappe
random sights
this morning, outside Chicago (Salt Creek Trail)
like nobody else
Lou Harrison (1917-2003), Concerto for Violin with Percussion Orchestra (1959); Todd Reynolds (violin), Third Coast Percussion, John Corkill (percussion), 2018
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lagniappe
random sights
yesterday, Oak Park, Ill.
*****
reading table
I’d have to be really quick
to describe clouds—
a split second’s enough
for them to start being something else.— Wislawa Szymborska (1923-2012, MCOTD Hall of Fame), from “Clouds” (translated from Polish by Clare Cavanagh and Stanislaw Baranczak)
More beauty?
Maurice Ravel (1875-1937), String Quartet in F major (1903); Sacconi Quartet, live, London, 2015
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lagniappe
random sights
yesterday, Chicago
*****
reading table
The snow is melting
and the village is flooded
with children.—Kobayashi Issa, 1763-1827 (translated from Japanese by Robert Haas)
These tiny pieces I tire of never.
Frederic Chopin (1810-1849), 24 Preludes (1835-1839); Vladimir Ashkenazy (1937-, piano), live, England (Essex), 1980
(Note: After posting this clip, I found that it cannot be viewed here; however, it can be at YouTube.)
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lagniappe
random sights
other day, Oak Park, Ill.
*****
reading table
Not much more than being,
Thoughts of isolate, beautiful—Louis Zukofsky (1904-1978), from “2”
breathtaking
Claude Debussy (1862-1918), Sonata for flute, viola, and harp (1915); Emmanuel Pahud (flute), Yulia Deyneka (viola), Aline Khouri (harp), live, Berlin, 2018
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lagniappe
random sights
yesterday, Oak Park, Ill.
sounds of Paris
Toru Takemitsu (1930-1996), And then I knew ’twas Wind (1992); Ensemble Intercontemporain, live, Paris, 2017
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lagniappe
random sights
this morning, Oak Park, Ill.
*****
reading table
Like Rain it sounded till it curved
And then we knew “twas Wind –
It walked as wet as any Wave
But swept as dry as Sand –—Emily Dickinson (1830-1886), from 276 (Franklin)
Why not begin the week with one of the most beautiful—and moving—pieces I know?
Morton Feldman (1927-1986, MCOTD Hall of Fame), Rothko Chapel (1971); Markus Creed (cond.), SWR Vokalensemble (Vocal Ensemble), et al., live, Germany (Cathedral of Speyer, Schwetzinger), 2017
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lagniappe
art beat: yesterday, Art Institute of Chicago
Mark Rothko (1903-1970), No. 2 (Blue, Red and Green) (Yellow, Red, Blue on Blue), 1953 (detail)
timeless
Arnold Schoenberg (1874-1951), Five Pieces for Orchestra (1909, revised 1949); Vienna Philharmonic (Bernard Haitink, cond.), live, Tokyo, 1997
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lagniappe
art beat: yesterday, Art Institute of Chicago
Joan Mitchell (1925-1992), City Landscape, 1955 (detail)
sounds of Paris
Edgard Varèse (1883-1965), Ionisation (1931); Ensemble Intercontemporain (Susanna Mälkki, direction), live, Paris, 2012
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lagniappe
random sights
other day, Chicago
*****
reading table
In the mountain’s shadow
my grass hut’s
so cold
I’ll be up burning firewood
all night long—Ryokan (1758-1831), translated from Japanese by Burton Watson
music clip of the day 