Thursday, December 5th
soundtrack to a dream
Witold Lutoslawski (1913-1994), String Quartet (1964); Tetris Quartet, live, Thailand (Bangkok), 2012
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lagniappe
art beat
Lee Friedlander (1934-), Japan (Kyoto), 1981
music clip of the day
jazz/blues/rock/classical/gospel/more
Category: classical
2013
2013
Wednesday, December 4th
two takes
Eugene Ysaye (1858-1931), Violin Sonata No. 3 in D minor (1923)
Maxim Vengerov, live
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Hilary Hahn, live
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lagniappe
reading table
Fragments from the December issue of Poetry:
Mother died last night,
Mother who never dies.—Louise Glück, “Nocturne”
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The purpose
Life is
To find—May Swenson, “Banyan”
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Poetry knows we are as close as a feather to disaster.
—Marianne Boruch, “Melodrama”
2013
Tuesday, December 3rd
career plans for the next life
If none of those other things pan out (tap dancer, rubboard player, reggae bassist, guitarist in a Malian band), I might give cellist-in-a-string-quartet a shot.
Keller String Quartet, Johann Sebastian Bach (1685-1750), The Art of the Fugue (excerpts); György Kurtág (1926-), Officium Breve (excerpts)
2013
Wednesday, November 27th
serendipity
This I bumped into the other day on the radio.*
Salvatore Sciarrino (1947-), Piano Trio No. 2 (1987); Alter Ego Ensemble, 1999
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lagniappe
art beat
Paul Strand (1890-1976)
Abstraction, Porch Shadows, Twin Lakes, Connecticut, 1916
*****
*WKCR-FM (Columbia University), Afternoon New Music (11/25/13).
2013
Tuesday, November 26th
alone
John Cage (1912-1992), In a Landscape (1948); Keiko Shichijo (piano), live, Amsterdam, c. 2009
This I could listen to all day, all week, all month.
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lagniappe
musical thoughts
I find that music is humans’ most advanced achievement, more so than painting and writing, because it’s more mysterious, more magical, and it acts in such a direct way.
2013
Monday, November 25th
alone
Something quiet to start the week.
Morton Feldman (1926-1987), Palais de Mari (1986); Michael Hicks (piano), live, Brigham Young University (Provo, Utah), 2006
His music, like Mozart’s, grants us access to an alternative world—one that’s clear, and light, and airy.
2013
Thursday, November 14th
Georg Friedrich Haas (1953-), String Quartet No. 5; Crash Ensemble, live, Ireland (Dublin), 2013
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lagniappe
musical thoughts
All theater is musical and all music theatrical.
2013
Monday, November 11th
People talk about getting enough of this or that in their daily diet. But what about beauty? There’s an epidemic, unreported by TV, radio, newspapers, of beauty malnutrition.
Lou Harrison (1917-2003), Threnody for Carlos Chavez (1978); William Winant Percussion Group with David Abel (viola), live, Berkeley, Calif., 2010
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lagniappe
art beat: Friday at the Art Institute of Chicago (while waiting for the jury to return a verdict in a trial involving an alleged conspiracy to steal millions of dollars of diamonds)
Paul Cezanne, The Bay of Marseilles, Seen From L’Estaque, c. 1885
2013
Saturday, November 9th
alone
His sound world is so clear, so lyrical, it can be hard to leave.
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (1756-1791), Fantasia in D minor, K. 397
Yvonne Loriod (1924-2010), live, 1969
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lagniappe
art beat
Paul Strand (1890-1976)
music clip of the day 