two takes
Eugene Ysaye (1858-1931), Violin Sonata No. 3 in D minor (1923)
Maxim Vengerov, live
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Hilary Hahn, live
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lagniappe
reading table
Fragments from the December issue of Poetry:
Mother died last night,
Mother who never dies.—Louise Glück, “Nocturne”
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The purpose
Life is
To find—May Swenson, “Banyan”
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Poetry knows we are as close as a feather to disaster.
—Marianne Boruch, “Melodrama”
career plans for the next life
If none of those other things pan out (tap dancer, rubboard player, reggae bassist, guitarist in a Malian band), I might give cellist-in-a-string-quartet a shot.
Keller String Quartet, Johann Sebastian Bach (1685-1750), The Art of the Fugue (excerpts); György Kurtág (1926-), Officium Breve (excerpts)
serendipity
This I bumped into the other day on the radio.*
Salvatore Sciarrino (1947-), Piano Trio No. 2 (1987); Alter Ego Ensemble, 1999
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lagniappe
art beat
Paul Strand (1890-1976)
Abstraction, Porch Shadows, Twin Lakes, Connecticut, 1916
*****
*WKCR-FM (Columbia University), Afternoon New Music (11/25/13).
Georg Friedrich Haas (1953-), String Quartet No. 5; Crash Ensemble, live, Ireland (Dublin), 2013
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lagniappe
musical thoughts
All theater is musical and all music theatrical.
alone
Johann Sebastian Bach (1685-1750), Violin Sonata No. 3 in C major, 3rd movement (Largo); Christian Tetzlaff (1966-), violin, Berlin, 6/22/13
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lagniappe
art beat
Robert Adams (1937-), Pikes Peak
mesmerizing
Benjamin Britten (1913-1976), Lachrymae (1950; arranged for viola and string orchestra, 1976); A Far Cry with Roger Tapping (viola), live, Cambridge, Mass., 2008
#1
#2
alone
Canray Fontenot, “Bonsoir Moreau,” live, near Eunice, La., 1983
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lagniappe
art beat
Lee Friedlander (1934-)
less is more*
Rashied Ali (drums), Leroy Jenkins (violin), “Swift Are the Winds of Life,” 1975
*****
*Sometimes, anyway.
This I could listen to forever.
Morton Feldman (1926-1987), Piano and String Quartet (1985)
Aki Takahashi (piano) and Kronos Quartet
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lagniappe
musical thoughts
Earlier in my life there seemed to be unlimited possibilities, but my mind was closed. Now, years later and with an open mind, possibilities no longer interest me. I seem content to be continually rearranging the same furniture in the same room. My concern at times is nothing more than establishing a series of practical conditions that will enable me to work. For years I said if I could only find a comfortable chair I would rival Mozart.
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If a man teaches composition in a university, how can he not be a composer? He has worked hard, learned his craft. Ergo, he is a composer. A professional. Like a doctor. But there is that doctor who opens you up, does exactly the right thing, closes you up—and you die. He failed to take the chance that might have saved you. Art is a crucial, dangerous operation we perform on ourselves. Unless we take a chance, we die in art.
love it or hate it
Anthony Braxton 12+1tet, Composition 355, live, Italy (Venice), 2012
*****
Anthony, a MacArthur “genius” award winner (1994) and professor at Wesleyan University, talks about this and that:
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lagniappe
musical thoughts
Music can take us places we’ve never been before, if we’re willing to listen to sounds we’ve never heard before.
music clip of the day 