Morton Feldman (1926-1987), Why Patterns?; California EAR Unit (Dorothy Stone, flute; Arthur Jarvinen, glockenspiel; Gaylord Mowrey, piano), 1991
His music makes so much use of space it seems to keep going even after the sounds have stopped.
passings
Claudio Abbado, conductor, June 26, 1933-January 20, 2014
Gustav Mahler (1860-1911), Symphony No. 5 (4th Movt.); Lucerne Festival Orchestra (Claudio Abbado, cond.), live, 2004
I love watching him conduct: his hands and arms embody the music, moving with the grace, and the precision, of a ballet dancer.
**********
lagniappe
reading table
[T]he time of death is every moment . . .
—T. S. Eliot, “The Dry Salvages”
never enough
One-word review: riveting.
Johann Sebastian Bach, Chaconne in D minor for solo violin (Partita for Violin No. 2); Ivry Gitlis (violin), live, Japan (Tokyo), 1990
**********
lagniappe
art beat
Weegee (AKA Arthur Fellig, 1899-1968)
another take
Frederic Chopin (1810-1849), Nocturne in D-flat major, Op. 27, No. 2; Dinu Lipatti (1917-1950), piano
**********
lagniappe
musical thoughts
Things didn’t have to be this way: you could have been born into a world without music.
Something quiet, and lyrical, and beautiful to begin the year.
Frederic Chopin (1810-1849), Nocturne in D-flat major, Op. 27, No. 2; Shura Cherkassky (1909-1995), piano, 1956
**********
lagniappe
reading table
year after year—
the monkey wearing
a monkey’s mask—Matsuo Basho (1644-1694), New Year’s Day, 1693 (translated from Japanese by David Landis Barnhill)
never enough
Johann Sebastian Bach, Partita No. 2 in C minor, BWV 826; Martha Argerich, piano, live, Switzerland (Verbier Festival), 2008
**********
lagniappe
radio
WKCR’s Bach Festival, now in its tenth day, concludes at midnight.
*****
reading table
Those who love their own noise are impatient of everything else. . . . Our noise, our business, our purposes, and all our fatuous statements about our purposes, our business, and our noise: these are the illusion.
—Thomas Merton, No Man Is An Island
*****
no passport needed
This year folks from ninety-five countries stopped by to listen. Welcome, all.
never enough
Johann Sebastian Bach, Suite No. 3 in C major for Unaccompanied Cello; Jean-Guihen Queyras, live, c. 2007
**********
lagniappe
radio
WKCR’s annual Bach Festival continues through New Year’s Eve.
*****
random thoughts
Life is one long lesson in learning how to breathe.
Last night this woman, who died of cancer in 2006, was very much alive, singing Bach on the radio.*
Johann Sebastian Bach, “Ich Habe Genug” (“I Have Enough,” church cantata), Lorraine Hunt Lieberson (1954-2006), 2003
**********
lagniappe
Christmas, 1948
Charlie Parker (alto saxophone), Kenny Dorham (trumpet), Al Haig (piano), Tommy Porter (bass), Max Roach (drums), “White Christmas,” live, New York (Royal Roost), 12/25/48
*****
*WKCR-FM (Columbia University), Bach Festival, through New Year’s Eve.
never enough
Johann Sebastian Bach, Goldberg Variations (excerpts); Glenn Gould (piano), live, 1964
**********
lagniappe
radio: Bach Festival 2013
If, like me, you can’t get enough Bach, you’re in luck. Tonight through New Year’s Eve, it’s all Bach all the time at WKCR-FM (Columbia University).
*****
reading table
One, seven, three, five—
Nothing to rely on in this or any world;
Nighttime falls and the water is flooded with moonlight.
Here in the Dragon’s jaws:
Many exquisite jewels.—Setcho Juken (980-1052)
Heaven isn’t somewhere else. It’s right here, right now. Don’t believe me? Put on a pair of headphones. Close your eyes. Listen.
Johann Sebastian Bach, Suite No. 5 in C minor for Unaccompanied Cello; Anner Bylsma, live, Germany (Dornheim), 2000
#1
#2 (ends at 9:15)
**********
lagniappe
art beat
Lee Friedlander (1934-), Kyoto, 1984
music clip of the day 