sounds of New York
Is there any greater joy, as a listener, than being swept away by sounds unlike any you’ve heard before?
Jason Kao Hwang (composer, conductor, violin) and the Spontaneous River Orchestra (Andrew Drury [drums], Ken Filiano [bass], 37 string improvisers), Symphony of Souls, live (studio), New York, 2011
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lagniappe
random sights
yesterday, Chicago
never enough
Johann Sebastian Bach (1685-1750), Violin Partita No. 1 in B minor; Shunske Sato (violin), live, Netherlands (Haarlem), published 10/31/19
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lagniappe
random sights
yesterday, Chicago
*****
reading table
along the mountain road
somehow it tugs at my heart—
a wild violet—Matsuo Basho (1644-1694), translated from Japanese by Makoto Ueda
sounds of New York
Why not begin the week with something new?
Jason Kao Hwang’s Sing House (JKH, violin, viola, compositions; Kalun Leung, trombone; Christopher Forbes, piano; Ken Filiano, bass; Andrew Drury, drums), live, New York, 9/29/19
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lagniappe
random sights
other day, Oak Park, Ill.
*****
reading table
not grown to a butterfly
this late in autumn
a caterpillar—Matsuo Basho (1644-1694), translated from Japanese by Makoto Ueda
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
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
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)
can’t wait
They’re playing Sunday afternoon at Chicago’s Symphony Center—Beethoven, Shostakovich, Franck, Kurtág.
Johannes Brahms (1833-1897), Scherzo (from F-A-E Sonata); Christian Tetzlaff (1966-, violin), Lars Vogt (1970-, piano), live, Germany (Bremen), 2015
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lagniappe
random sights
yesterday, Oak Park, Ill.
Ever feel a hunger for less?
Jürg Frey (1953-), Ephemeral Constructions (2015-2016); Erik Carlson (violin), Jürg Frey (clarinet), Greg Stuart (percussion), University of South Carolina Experimental Music Workshop (Greg Stuart, director), 2017
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lagniappe
reading table
a solitary
crow on a bare branch—
autumn evening—Matsuo Basho (1644-1694), translated from Japanese by Sam Hamill
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)
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.
