MCOTD Hall of Fame
Morton Feldman (1926-1987), For Philip Guston (1984), excerpt; Claire Chase (flute, alto flute, piccolo), Steven Schick (percussion), Sarah Rothenberg (piano, celesta), live, Houston (Rothko Chapel), 2014
more
Maurice Ravel (1875-1937), Piano Concerto in G major (1929-31); Stockholm Philharmonic Orchestra (Yuri Termirkanov, cond.) with Martha Argerich (piano), live, Stockholm, 2009
more
Frederic Chopin (1810-1849), Scherzo No. 2 in B-flat minor; Martha Argerich, live, 1966
**********
lagniappe
It is like what we imagine knowledge to be . . .
—Elizabeth Bishop (1911-1979), from “At the Fishhouses”
Best five minutes you’ll have today?
Robert Schumann (1810-1856), Piano Sonata No. 2 in G minor, excerpt (4th mvt.); Martha Argerich, live, 1966
She’s one of a handful of pianists whose every note I’m hungry to hear.
percussion festival
day four
Augusta Read Thomas (1964-), Resounding Earth (2012)
Third Coast Percussion, live
#1
***
#2
***
#3
***
#4
**********
lagniappe
reading table
In my room, the world is beyond my understanding;/ But when I walk I see that it consists of three or four/ hills and a cloud.
—Wallace Stevens (1879-1955), from “Of the Surface of Things”
percussion festival
day three
Iannis Xenakis (1922-2001), “Claviers” (from Pléïades [1978]); Yale Percussion Group, live, 2009
percussion festival
day one
Edgard Varèse (1883-1965), Ionisation (1929-31); Ensemble InterContemporain (Pierre Boulez [1925-2016], cond.), live
more
One-word review: Wow!
Ludwig van Beethoven (1770-1827), Piano Sonata No. 8 in C minor (“Pathetique”); Annie Fischer (1914-1995), live
**********
lagniappe
reading table
To be alive – is Power –
Existence – in itself –
Without a further function –
Omnipotence – Enough –—Emily Dickinson (1830-1886), 876 (Franklin), excerpt
never enough
Ludwig van Beethoven (1770-1827), Piano Concerto No. 3 in C minor; NHK Symphony Orchestra (Miltiades Caridis [1923-1998], cond.) with Annie Fischer (1914-1995), piano, live
**********
lagniappe
reading table
Even now one is amazed
by transience: how it
outlasts us all.—Geoffrey Hill (1932-2016), from “Scenes with Harlequins” (TLS, 7/8/16)
All that holiday noise—BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!—leave you with a hangover?
Here’s the perfect antidote.
Morton Feldman (1926-1987, MCOTD Hall of Fame), Piano and String Quartet, 1985; Aki Takahashi and Kronos Quartet, 1993
(Taking a break—back in a while.)
music clip of the day 