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.
Some folks are intimidated by this stuff. Part of the problem is the label: “classical” music. That sounds like something for graduate students. Nonsense. You don’t need to know anything—anything at all—to connect with this. All you need are two ears, a mind, and a heart.
Maurice Ravel (1875-1937), String Quartet in F major (1903), first movement; Chiara String Quartet, live, University of Nebraska, 2013
alone
This is something I would never tire of hearing, not even if I were to live a thousand years.
Johann Sebastian Bach, Violin Sonata No. 1 in G minor, 2nd movement (fugue)
Henryk Szeryng (1918-1988), violin
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lagniappe
musical thoughts
Music offers a respite from the mind’s incessant chatter.
