Bach festival
day one
Violin Sonata No. 3 in C major, 3rd Movt. (Largo); Christian Tetzlaff (1966-, violin), Berlin, 2013
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lagniappe
random sights
yesterday, outside Chicago (Dean Nature Sanctuary, Oak Brook, Ill.)
*****
reading table
Just being alive!
—miraculous to be in
cherry blossom shadows!—Kobayashi Issa (1763-1827), translated from Japanese by Sam Hamill
Why not begin the week with something that’s unlike anything you’ve ever heard before?
Nathalie Joachim (vocals, flute, electronics, compositions, arrangements) and Spektral Quartet, Fanm d’Ayiti (Women of Haiti), live (with recorded voices), New York (Kaufman Music Center), 2019
Composer/performer Nathalie Joachim and Spektral Quartet perform Joachim’s Fanm d’Ayiti (Women of Haiti), an evening-length work for voice, flute, string quartet and electronics. A celebration of some of Haiti’s most iconic yet under recognized female artists as well as an exploration of Joachim’s Haitian heritage, Fanm d’Ayiti features original songs incorporating the recorded voices of Joachim’s grandmother and the girls’ choir of her family’s home farming village of Dantan; new arrangements of songs by some of the greatest known female voices in Haitian history; and recorded interviews with these artists about their lives fighting for social justice and uplifting the people of Haiti.
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random sights
yesterday, Oak Park, Ill.
what’s new
Why not immerse yourself in something beautiful?
Antonín Dvořák (1841-1904), String Quartet No. 12 in F major (“American,” 1893); Lincoln String Quartet (featuring members of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra: Qing Hou and Lei Hou, violins; Lawrence Neuman, viola; Kenneth Olsen, cello), live, Chicago, 8/16/20
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lagniappe
random sights
yesterday, Chicago
Want to go somewhere you’ve never been before?
Linda Catlin Smith (1957-), String Quartet No. 6 (2013); Mivos Quartet (Olivia De Prato, violin; Maya Bennardo, violin; Victor Lowrie Tafoya, viola; Tyler J. Borden, cello), live, New York, 2019
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lagniappe
random sights
other day, outside Chicago
sounds in the dark
Morton Feldman (1926-1987, MCOTD Hall of Fame), Clarinet and String Quartet (1983); KOAN Quartet and Katie Porter (clarinet), live, Los Angeles, 2/15/20
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lagniappe
random sights
yesterday, Chicago
*****
reading table
In the beggar’s tin
a few thin copper coins
and this evening rain—Kobayashi Issa (1763-1827), translated from Japanese by Sam Hamill
sounds of New York
Jason Kao Hwang’s Spontaneous River Orchestra (JKH, conductor, violin; Sarah Bernstein, Skye Steele, Rosie Hertlein, Helen Yee, Leonor Falcon, Ben Sutin, Fredrika Krier, Aimee Nieman, Gwen Laster, violin; Melanie Dyer, Joanna Mattrey, viola; Daniel Levin, cello; Hill Greene, Ken Filiano, bass; Andrew Drury, drums), “New York” (L. Jenkins), “Bien Ho Blues / Nothing But Love” (B. Bang), live, New York, 2016
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lagniappe
random sights
other day, Chicago
One-word review: Wow!
Sofia Gubaidulina (1931-), String Quartet No. 1 (1971); Armida Quartet (Martin Funda, violin; Johanna Staemmler, violin; Teresa Schwamm, viola; Peter-Philipp Staemmler, cello) with Manaho Shimokawa (dance), live, Berlin, 2018
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lagniappe
random sights
yesterday, Chicago (Columbus Park)
*****
reading table
With dewdrops dripping,
I wish somehow I could wash
this perishing world—Matsuo Basho (1644-1694), translated from Japanese by Sam Hamill