Saturday, March 2nd
like nobody else
Laurie Anderson, “Language of the Future,” Dublin, 2017
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lagniappe
random thoughts
Each day we go somewhere we’ve never been before.
music clip of the day
jazz/blues/rock/classical/gospel/more
Category: violin
2019
2019
Saturday, February 16th
Want to be swept away?
Johannes Brahms (1833-1897), Violin Concerto in D major; Frankfurt Radio Symphony (Paavo Järvi, cond.) with Hilary Hahn (violin), live, Frankfurt, 2014
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lagniappe
random sights
other day, Oak Park, Ill.
2019
Tuesday, February 5th
Yesterday, listening to this while driving to see a client at an outlying jail, I was reminded, again, that hearing the right music at the right time can change your entire day.
Johann Sebastian Bach (1685-1750), Sonatas and Partitas for Solo Violin; Oscar Shumsky (1917-2000), violin, 1979*
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*Sonata No. 1 in G minor: 00:01
Partita No. 1 in B minor: 17:04
Sonata No. 2 in A minor: 48:26
Partita No. 2 in D minor: 1:11:43
Sonata No. 3 in C major: 1:43:33
Partita No. 3 in E major: 2:07:17
2019
Tuesday, January 15th
what’s new
Miguel Zenón (alto saxophone, compositions) featuring Spektral Quartet, live (“Rosario,” “Milagrosa,” “Villabeño”), Washington, D.C., 1/4/19
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lagniappe
reading table
thin wall—
from the mouse’s hole
the cold—Kobayashi Issa, 1763-1827 (translated from Japanese by David G. Lanoue)
2019
Tuesday, January 1st
2019?
Hard to believe.
But then so much is.
Arvo Pärt (1935-), Fratres for violin, string orchestra, and percussion (1992); Lithuanian Chamber Orchestra (Sergej Krylov, soloist and conductor), live, Lithuania (Vilnius), 2018
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lagniappe
reading table
New Year’s morning—
everything is in blossom!
I feel about average.—Kobayashi Issa, 1763-1827 (translated from Japanese by Robert Hass)
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The Future is exactly the same . . .
—The Baffler, Jan.-Feb., 2019
2018
Thursday, December 27th
more
Johann Sebastian Bach (1685-1750), Partita No. 2 in D minor for solo violin; Bella Hristova (violin)
first four movements, live (studio), Boston, 2012
fifth movement (Chaconne), live, Philadelphia, 2013
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lagniappe
radio
WKCR’s Bach Festival (until midnight New Year’s Eve)
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musical thoughts
On one stave, for a small instrument, the man writes a whole world of the deepest thoughts and most powerful feelings. If I imagined that I could have created, even conceived the piece, I am quite certain that the excess of excitement and earth-shattering experience would have driven me out of my mind.
—Johannes Brahms (1833-1897), on Bach’s Chaconne, in a letter to Clara Schumann (translated from German)
2018
Monday, November 12th
more
Tyshawn Sorey Double Trio (TS, composition, conducting, drums; Cory Smythe, piano; Chris Tordini, bass; Fung Chern Hwei, violin; Kyle Amburst, viola; Rubin Kodheli, cello), “The Inner Spectrum of Variables” (T. Sorey), live, Ojai, Calif., 2017
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lagniappe
art beat
other day, National Museum of Mexican Art, Chicago
Nicolas de Jesus (1960-), La ofrenda (The Offering), 2009 (Día de Muertos: A Spiritual Legacy, through December 9th)
2018
Thursday, October 18th
more
TM Krishna, Raga Hamir Kalyani, live, 2017
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lagniappe
reading table
Heaven does not change her blue.
—Emily Dickinson (1830-1886), from 167 (Franklin)
2018
Monday, October 15th
sounds of India
Yesterday he sang at the University of Chicago (Logan Center), accompanied by violin, drums (mridangam), and drone instrument (tamboura). He performed for over two hours without intermission, singing not a word of English. Sailing these unfamiliar seas was, for me, heavenly.
TM Krishna (vocals) featuring Vikku Vinayakram (ghatam), Raga Begada, live, India (Mumbai), 2018
2018
Saturday, October 13th
Last night, at the University of Chicago (Mandel Hall), they opened with this piece, which was followed by Shostakovich (String Quartet No. 4 in D Major), Brahms (String Quartet in A Minor) and, in an encore, Webern (Langsamer Satz). One-word review: spellbinding.
Joseph Haydn (1732-1809), String Quartet in D Major, Op. 20, No. 4 (excerpt); Takács Quartet, live, New York, 2018
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lagniappe
random sights
this morning, Oak Park, Ill.
music clip of the day 