Something beautiful to begin the week.
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Piano Concerto No. 23 in A major, excerpt (2nd movt., Adagio); Hélène Grimaud (piano), Bavarian Radio Chamber Orchestra
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lagniappe
musical thoughts
It is music and dancing that makes me at peace with the world and at peace with myself.
—Nelson Mandela (July 18, 1918-December 5, 2013)
sounds of Chicago
Something quiet to begin the week.
Tobias Broström (1978-), “Twilight”; Third Coast Percussion, live
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lagniappe
reading table
quite remarkable
being born human . . .
autumn dusk.—Kobayashi Issa (1763-1827; translated from Japanese by David G. Lanoue)
serendipity
Last night I was feeling glum. Then I happened upon this. Listen to this piano sing.
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Piano Concerto No. 27 in B flat major; Maria João Pires (piano), Chamber Orchestra of Europe (Trevor Pinnock, cond.), live
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lagniappe
reading table
Why love what you will lose?
There is nothing else to love.—Louise Glück, “From the Japanese” (excerpt)
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
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”
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)
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
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*WKCR-FM (Columbia University), Afternoon New Music (11/25/13).
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.
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.
music clip of the day 