two takes
Dmitri Shostakovich (1906-1975), String Quartet No. 10, 3rd movt.
Fabian Almazan Trio with String Quartet, live, New York, 2012
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Borodin Quartet, recording
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lagniappe
random thoughts
If life weren’t so sad, it wouldn’t be life.
soundtrack to a dream
Morton Feldman (1926-1987), The Viola in My Life; João Pedro Delgado (viola), et al., live, Portugal, 2014
#1
#2
#3
#4
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lagniappe
reading table
The Suicide’s Room
by Wislawa Szymborska (1923-2012; MCOTD Hall-of-Famer), translated from Polish by Stanislaw Baranczak and Clare CavanaghI’ll bet you think the room was empty.
Wrong. There were three chairs with sturdy backs.
A lamp, good for fighting the dark.
A desk, and on the desk a wallet, some newspapers.
A carefree Buddha and a worried Christ.
Seven lucky elephants, a notebook in a drawer.
You think our addresses weren’t in it?No books, no pictures, no records, you guess?
Wrong. A comforting trumpet poised in black hands.
Saskia and her cordial little flower.
Joy the spark of gods.
Odysseus stretched on the shelf in life-giving sleep
after the labors of Book Five.
The moralists
with the golden syllables of their names
inscribed on finely tanned spines.
Next to them, the politicians braced their backs.No way out? But what about the door?
No prospects? The window had other views.
His glasses
lay on the windowsill.
And one fly buzzed—that is, was still alive.You think at least the note could tell us something.
But what if I say there was no note—
and he had so many friends, but all of us fit neatly
inside the empty envelope propped up against a cup.
Who needs coffee?
Witold Lutoslawski (1913-1994), Variations on a Theme by Paganini
Martha Argerich & Gabriela Montero, pianos, live
alone
Henry Cowell (1897-1965), The Tides of Manaunaun, c. 1917
Andy Costello (piano), live, Chicago, 2009
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lagniappe
art beat: more from Thursday night at the Art Institute of Chicago
Josef Koudelka (1938-), Ireland, 1972
Nationality Doubtful, through September 14th
never enough
Johann Sebastian Bach (1685-1750), Suite No. 3 in C major for Unaccompanied Cello; Jean-Guihen Queyras (1967-), live, c. 2007
passings
Lorin Maazel (mah-ZELL), conductor, violinist, composer
March 6, 1930-July 13, 2014
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (1756-1791), Symphony No. 41 in C major (“Jupiter”), Orquesta Sinfónica de Galicia (Lorin Maazel, cond.), live, Spain (A Coruña), 2012
Charlie Haden, Tommy Ramone, Lorin Maazel: their differences are dwarfed by what, as music makers, they shared.
alone
Franz Schubert (1797-1828), Piano Sonata No. 20 in A major (2nd movt., Andantino), Paul Lewis (1972-), live, Boston, 2013
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lagniappe
reading table
During Wind and Rain
by Thomas Hardy (1840-1928)They sing their dearest songs—
He, she, all of them—yea,
Treble and tenor and bass,
And one to play;
With the candles mooning each face. . . .
Ah, no; the years O!
How the sick leaves reel down in throngs!They clear the creeping moss—
Elders and juniors—aye,
Making the pathways neat
And the garden gay;
And they build a shady seat. . . .
Ah, no; the years, the years;
See the white storm-birds wing across!They are blithely breakfasting all—
Men and maidens—yea,
Under the summer tree,
With a glimpse of the bay,
While pet fowl come to the knee. . . .
Ah, no; the years O!
And the rotten rose is ript from the wall.They change to a high new house,
He, she, all of them—aye,
Clocks and carpets and chairs
On the lawn all day,
And brightest things that are theirs. . . .
Ah, no; the years, the years;
Down their carved names the rain-drop ploughs.
alone
Olivier Messiaen (1908-1992), organ, “Improvisations,” live, Paris
never enough
Same composer, same pianist—23 years earlier.
Ludwig van Beethoven (1770-1827), Piano Sonata No. 29 in B-flat major (“Hammerklavier”), Friedrich Gulda (1930-2000), live, Germany (Bonn), 1970
1st & 2nd movements
3rd movement (beginning)
3rd movement (end), 4th movement
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lagniappe
art beat
Henri Cartier-Bresson (1908-2004), Seville, Spain, 1933
music clip of the day 