Thursday, January 14th
sounds of Chicago
Still fresh after seventy years.
John Cage (1912-1992), Credo in Us (1942)
Third Coast Percussion, live, Chicago, 2011
music clip of the day
jazz/blues/rock/classical/gospel/more
Category: classical
2016
2016
Tuesday, January 12th
passings
Pierre Boulez, composer, conductor, March 16, 1925-January 5, 2016
Dérive 2 (P. Boulez), Ensemble Intercontemporain (Pierre Boulez, cond.), live
*****
Pierre Boulez, who has died aged 90, was arguably the single dominant figure of the classical musical world through the second half of the 20th century and beyond.
—The Guardian obituary, 1/6/16
2015
Thursday, December 31st
more
Johann Sebastian Bach (1685-1750), Goldberg Variations
Andras Schiff (piano), live
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lagniappe
radio
WKCR‘s Bach Festival concludes at midnight.
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reading table
Nobody does letters to the editor like the Brits. Here, for instance, is how one begins in the December 17th issue of the London Review of Books:
I hesitate to disagree with my brother, David Matthews, about the order of the middle movements of Mahler’s Sixth Symphony, but we have long held opposing views, mine being that the scherzo should come third (Letters, 3 December). . . .
Colin Matthews
London SW 11
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random sights
yesterday, Chicago (Columbus Park)
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To all who’ve dropped by this year (from, I’m told, 120 countries): May you have a happy and peaceful new year.
2015
Monday, December 28th
Close your eyes . . .
John Luther Adams (1953-), . . . and bells remembered . . . (2005)
Callithumpian Consort, 2011
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lagniappe
reading table
aware of the sun
setting, the butterfly
flits away—Kobayashi Issa (1763-1827), translated from Japanese by David G. Lanoue
2015
Tuesday, December 22nd
The only thing hard about listening to this is letting go of everything else.
John Luther Adams (1953-), Dream in White on White (1992); Virtuoso String Orchestra (Joaquin Valdepenas, cond.), Sanya Eng (harp), live, Toronto, 2014
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lagniappe
reading table
Barn’s burnt down—
now
I can see the moon.—Mizuta Masahide, 1657-1723 (translated from Japanese by Lucien Stryk and Takashi Ikemoto)
2015
Saturday, December 20th
alone
Georg Friedrich Haas (1953-), Hommage a Steve Reich (1982)
Hans Ludemann (piano), live, Germany (Cologne), 2012
Each time I listen to this, it sounds different.
2015
Friday, December 18th
lucid, adj. translucent, pellucid, clear. E.g., Steve Reich’s Music for 18 Musicians.
Steve Reich (1936-), Music for 18 Musicians (1974-76)
Ensemble Intercontemporain with Synergy Vocals, live, Paris, 2014
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lagniappe
reading table
the door latch
rusting scarlet . . .
winter rain—Kobayashi Issa (1763-1827), translated from Japanese by David G. Lanoue
*****
random sights
this morning, Chicago (Columbus Park)
2015
Thursday, December 17th
more
Johann Sebastian Bach (1685-1750), The Art of Fugue (excerpts)
Glenn Gould (1932-1982), piano
2015
Tuesday, December 15th
Has anyone played Bach—or anything else—more searchingly?
Johann Sebastian Bach (1685-1750), Partita No. 4 in D major
Glenn Gould (1932-1982), piano
#1
#2
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lagniappe
reading table
Musicians wrestle everywhere –
—Emily Dickinson (1830-1886), #229 (Franklin)
music clip of the day 