Thursday, November 21st
One-word review: Wow!
Alfred Schnittke (1934-1998), String Quartet No. 3, 1st movt.; Danish String Quartet, live (studio), Seattle, 2015
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lagniappe
random sights
yesterday, Chicago
music clip of the day
jazz/blues/rock/classical/gospel/more
Category: viola
2019
Tuesday, November 12th
sounds of Haiti and Chicago
Nathalie Joachim (vocals, electronics) with Spektral Quartet, “Papa Loco” (trad.), live (studio), New York, published 10/29/19
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lagniappe
random sights
yesterday, Oak Park, Ill.
*****
reading table
She cries. Oh no. Oh no no no.
—Eimear McBride, A Girl Is a Half-Formed Thing
2019
Thursday, October 31st
never enough
Bela Bartok (1881-1945), String Quartet No. 4 in C major (1928); Quatuor Ebène, live, France (Wissembourg), 2013
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lagniappe
random sights
yesterday, Oak Park, Ill.
*****
reading table
Domestic as
an empty shopping cart
parked on a ledge
above a freeway.—Rae Armantrout (1947-), from “Hang On” (New Yorker, 10/21/19)
2019
Tuesday, October 22nd
sounds of New York
Jason Kao Hwang (1957-), If We Live in Forgetfulness, We Die in a Dream (2011); Momenta Quartet, live, New York, 2012
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lagniappe
random sights
yesterday, Chicago (Columbus Park)
*****
reading table
If you have some photos of yourself when you were four or eight or twelve or fifteen, hold them up against the mirror. Are you the four-year-old, the eight-year-old, the fifteen-year-old, the twenty-five-year-old, or the one who is looking into the mirror, or all of them? If you are all of them, then by now you must be thousands of different people.
—Ayya Khema (1923-1997), Being Nobody, Going Nowhere: Meditations on the Buddhist Path (1987)
2019
Monday, October 21st
Why not begin the week with something new?
Nathalie Joachim (vocals, flute, electronics) with the Spektral Quartet and a Haitian children’s choir (recorded), “Suite pou Dantan: Prelid” (Fanm d’Ayiti [Women of Haiti]), 10/8/19
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lagniappe
random sights
yesterday, Oak Park, Ill.
2019
Monday, September 16th
sounds of New York
day one
Jason Kao Hwang Human Rites Trio (JKH, compositions, violin, viola; Ken Filiano, bass; Andrew Drury, drums), live, New York, 7/16/19
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reading table
Today is very nothing like / Any other day that once soared / In this place.
—W.S. Graham (1918-1986), from “The Don Brown Route”
2019
Tuesday, September 10th
more
Jürg Frey (1953-), Extended Circular Music No. 4 (2011-2014); Flex Ensemble (Kana Sugimura, violin; Anna Szulc-Kapala, viola; Martha Bijlsma, cello; Endri Nini, piano) with Yoann Trellu (video art), live, Germany (Hannover aka Hanover), 2017
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lagniappe
reading table
Moon, plum blossoms,
this, that,
and the day goes.—Kobayashi Issa (1763-1827), translated from Japanese by Robert Hass
2019
Monday, September 9th
Why not begin the week with something slow, and quiet, and beautiful?
Jürg Frey (1953-), Petit fragment de paysage (Ko Ishikawa, shō; Mari Adachi, viola), Wen 16 (Seiko Takemoto, cello), Petit fragment de paysage (Mari Adachi, viola; Seiko Takemoto, cello); Wen 29 (Mari Adachi, viola); Petit fragment de paysage (Ko Ishikawa, u; Seiko Takemoto, cello), live, Tokyo, 2016
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lagniappe
reading table
even poorly planted
rice plants
slowly, slowly . . . green!—Kobayashi Issa (1763-1827), translated from Japanese by David G. Lanoue
2019
Wednesday, September 4th
string quartet festival
day three
Maurice Ravel (1875-1937), String Quartet in F major (1903); Hagen Quartet, live, Austria (Salzburg), 2000
1st movt.
2nd movt.
3rd movt.
4th movt.
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lagniappe
random sights
this morning, Oak Park, Ill.
2019
Tuesday, September 3rd
string quartet festival
day two
Elliott Carter (1908-2012), String Quartet No. 5 (1995); Pacifica Quartet, live, Tokyo, 2004
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lagniappe
reading table
The book itself is sort of a perfect metaphor for a human being. It’s got a front and a back, it’s got a spine, and it’s bigger on the inside than it is on the outside.
—Chris Ware
music clip of the day 