music clip of the day

last night

I heard a concert, at the University of Chicago, devoted to the work of this man, a composer, a longtime professor, a MacArthur “genius” grant recipient. The performances featured different combinations of violin, viola, cello, clarinet, and piano. The music was often thorny. Occasionally whimsical. Frequently emphatic. Sometimes beautiful. And wholly absorbing.

Ralph Shapey (1921-2002), String Quartet No. 6 (1963)
The Lexington Quartet of the Contemporary Players of the University of Chicago

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lagniappe

musical thoughts

To me, [it’s] very important that [the audience] can recall it as an emotional experience; as though it were something they could hold in their hands.

—Ralph Shapey