like nothing else
György Ligeti (1923-2006), Violin Concerto (1993) (with encore [Bela Bartok, Sonata for Solo Violin, excerpt]): Gürzenich Orchester Köln (François Xavier Roth, cond.) with Christian Tetzlaff (violin), live, Germany (Cologne), 2017
No matter how many times I hear this, it’s always new.
Morton Feldman (1926-1987, MCOTD Hall of Fame), Palais de Mari (1986): Sabine Liebner (piano), 2007
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lagniappe
random sights
yesterday, Oak Park, Ill.
tonight outside Chicago
She’ll be performing in a 400-seat hall (Northwestern University)—can’t wait.
Frederic Chopin (1810-1849), Nocturne in C-sharp minor, Op. 27, No. 1; Maria João Pires (1944-, piano), live, Belgium (Brussels), 2021
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lagniappe
random sights
other day, Oak Park, Ill.
alone
Víkingur Ólafsson (1984-, piano), live, Washington, D.C., published 3/28/24: J.S. Bach, Goldberg Variations, Aria, Variation No. 1; Jean-Philipe Rameau (arr. Ólafsson), “The Arts and the Hours”; Béla Bartók, Three Hungarian Folksongs from Csík; Sigvaldi Kaldalóns (arr. Ólafsson), “Ave Maria”
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lagniappe
art beat: other day, Des Moines, Iowa (Des Moines Art Center)
Edward Hopper (1912-2004), Automat (1927), detail
sounds of New York
Earle Brown (1926-2002), Times Five (1963), for chamber ensemble; Argento New Music Project (Michel Galante, conductor; Francesca Ferrera, flute; William Lang, trombone; Jacqueline Kerrod, harp; Conrad Harris, violin; Michael Katz, cello), live, New York, 2023
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lagniappe
random sights
this morning, Oak Park, Ill.
timeless
No one ever died from too much beauty.
Johannes Brahms (1833-1897), Piano Quartet No. 1 in G minor (Op. 25); Fauré Quartet, live, Tokyo, 2014
never enough
Johann Sebastian Bach (1685-1750), Contrapunctus I-XIV; Daniil Trifonov (1991-, piano), live, published 2023
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lagniappe
random sights
yesterday, Oak Park, Ill.
passings
Seiji Ozawa, conductor, September 1, 1935–February 6, 2024
Vienna Philharmonic (Seiji Ozawa, cond.) with Anne-Sophie Mutter (violin), live, Tokyo, 2020; Toru Takemitsu (1930-1996), Nostalghia: In Memory of Andrei Tarkovsky (for violin and orchestra), 1987
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lagniappe
random sights
other day, Chicago
two takes
Carlos Simon (1986-), “Between Worlds” (2019); Miranda Cuckson (1972-), violin
#1 (1/21)
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#2 (9/21)
*****
About “Between Worlds”
Bill Traylor was born a slave in Alabama in 1853 and died in 1949. He lived long enough to see the United States of America go through many social and political changes. He was an eyewitness to the Civil War, Emancipation, Reconstruction, Jim Crow segregation and the Great Migration. As a self taught visual artist, his work reflects two separate worlds— rural and urban, black and white, old and new. In many ways the simplified forms in Traylor’s artwork tell of the complexity of his world, creativity, and inspiring bid for self-definition in a dehumanizing segregated culture. This piece is inspired by the evocative nature as a whole and not one piece by Traylor. Themes of mystical folklore, race, and religion pervade Traylor’s work. I imagine these solo pieces as a musical study; hopefully showing Traylor’s life between disparate worlds.
—Carlos Simon
*****
Bill Traylor: Chasing Ghosts (2023)
timeless
His is a singular sound-world.
Anton Webern (1883-1945), String Trio (Op. 20), 1926-27; Psappha Ensemble (Benedict Holland, violin; Heather Wallington, viola; Jennifer Langridge, cello), live, England (University of Manchester), 2015
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lagniappe
random sights
other day, Oak Park, Ill.
music clip of the day 