Why not begin the week with something beautiful?
Claude Debussy (1862-1918), String Quartet in G minor (1893); Parker Quartet, live, Cambridge, Mass., 2019
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lagniappe
art beat: other day, Art Institute of Chicago
Dish, Hellenistic or early Roman; eastern Mediterranean; mid-2nd/early 1st century BC; glass, mosaic glass technique (detail)
Why not begin the week with something beautiful?
John Luther Adams (1953-), The Farthest Place (2001); Robin Lorentz (violin), Amy Knoles (vibraphone, marimba), Bryan Pezzone (piano), Barry Newton (bass), 2002
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lagniappe
random sights
other day, Chicago
what’s new
Sevdaliza (with Anthony Amirkhan, drums; Leon den Engelsen, keyboards; Jonas Pap, cello; Mihai Puscoiu, violin), live (“Human,” “Dormant,” “All Rivers at Once,” “Gole Bi Goldoon”), Amsterdam, published 1/5/21
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lagniappe
random sights
other day, Chicago (Columbus Park)
string quartet festival
day three
Mivos Quartet, Bronx Community College Online Concert Series, 11/30/20: Michaela Catranis, Luminous Animal (2020); Linda Caitlin Smith, String Quartet No. 6 (2013); George Lewis, String Quartet 2.5: “Playing with Seeds” (2017)
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lagniappe
random sights
yesterday, Oak Park, Ill.
*****
reading table
Old age is
a flight of small
cheeping birds
skimming
bare trees
above a snow glaze.—William Carlos Williams (1883-1963), from “To Waken an Old Lady”
string quartet festival
day two
JACK Quartet (with Conrad Tao, piano), Library of Congress Virtual Event, 12/3/2020*
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lagniappe
random sights
yesterday, Oak Park, Ill.
*****
*Program:
1. Rodericus (fl. late 14th century)/Christopher Otto, Angelorum psalat (c. 1390s).
2. Elliott Carter (1908-2012), Duo for Violin and Piano (1973-4).
3. Tyshawn Sorey, Everything Changes, Nothing Changes (2018).
4. Ruth Crawford [Seeger] (1901-1953), String Quartet 1931 (1931).
5. Tyshawn Sorey, For Conrad Tao (2020).
6. Elliott Carter (1908-2012), String Quartet no. 3 (1971).
string quartet festival
day one
Thomas Adès (1971-), Arcadiana (1994); Danish String Quartet, live, New York, 2015
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lagniappe
random sights
other day, Oak Park, Ill.
sounds of Chicago
Saturday I posted the first of these two (wonderful) performances; here’s the second.
Mars Williams presents: An Ayler Xmas Vol. 4 (Night 2) (Mars Williams, tenor saxophone, toy instruments; Josh Berman, cornet; Jim Baker, piano, viola, ARP synthesizer; Krzysztof Pabian, bass; Brian Sandstrom, bass, guitar, trumpet; Steve Hunt, drums; Peter Maunu, violin), live (performance begins at 5:15), Chicago (Constellation), 12/19/20
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lagniappe
random sights
other day, Oak Park, Ill.
*****
reading table
An empty day without events.
And that is why
it grew immense
as space. And suddenly
happiness of being
entered me.I heard
in my heartbeat
the birth of time
and each instant of life
one after the other
came rushing in
like priceless gifts.—Anna Swir (1909-1984), “Priceless Gifts” (translated from Polish by Czesław Miłosz and Leonard Nathan)
sounds of Chicago
Mars Williams presents: An Ayler Xmas Vol. 4 (Night 1) (Mars Williams, tenor saxophone, toy instruments; Josh Berman, cornet; Jim Baker, piano, viola, ARP synthesizer; Krzysztof Pabian, bass; Brian Sandstrom, bass, guitar, trumpet; Steve Hunt, drums; Peter Maunu, violin), live (performance begins at 3:45), Chicago (Constellation), last night
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lagniappe
random sights
other day, Chicago
*****
reading table
Such a moon—
the thief
pauses to sing.—Yosa Buson (1716-1784), translated from Japanese by Lucien Stryk and Takashi Ikemoto
alone
What better way to begin the week?
Hilary Hahn (violin), live (friend’s empty place), 11/8/20: W.A. Mozart (1756-1791), Violin Concerto No. 5 in A major (K. 219, “Turkish”) and New Cadenzas (H. Hahn)
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lagniappe
musical thoughts
Mozart was a kind of idol to me—this rapturous singing . . . that’s always on the edge of sadness and melancholy and disappointment and heartbreak, but always ready for an outburst of the most delicious music.
—Novelist Saul Bellow (1915-2005)
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random sights
other day, Oak Park, Ill.
more
György Ligeti (1923-2006), excerpts from Concerto for Piano and Orchestra, Hamburg Concerto for Solo Horn and Chamber Orchestra, Concerto for Cello and Orchestra, Concerto for Violin and Orchestra; Ensemble Intercontemporain, live, Paris, 2019
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lagniappe
random sights
other day, Chicago
music clip of the day 