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)
breathtaking
Claude Debussy (1862-1918), Sonata for flute, viola, and harp (1915); Emmanuel Pahud (flute), Yulia Deyneka (viola), Aline Khouri (harp), live, Berlin, 2018
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lagniappe
random sights
yesterday, Oak Park, Ill.
alone
One-word review: Wow!
Pierre-Laurent Aimard (1957-, piano) plays Etudes by Debussy, Ligeti, Chopin, Bartok, Scriabin; live, England (Aldeburgh), 2014*
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lagniappe
random sights
other day, Oak Park, Ill.
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*Program (courtesy of YouTube): 0:00-, Debussy: Étude 1 pour les cinq doigts d’après Monsieur Czerny L. 136; 03:42-, Ligeti: Etudes: Book 3: White on white (1995–2001); 07:56-, Debussy: Étude 9 pour les notes répétées L. 136; 11:16-, Ligeti: Etudes: Book 2: Der Zauberlehrling (1988–1994); 13:40-, Debussy: Étude 3 pour les quartes L. 136; 18:57-, Ligeti: Etudes: Book 2: Fém (1988–1994); 22:08-, Chopin: Trois nouvelles études: I. in F minor (1839); 24:29-, Ligeti: Etudes: Book 2: En Suspens (1988–1994); 26:35-, Chopin: Trois nouvelles études: III. in A major (1839); 28:50-, Ligeti: Etudes: Book 1: Arc-en-ciel (1985); 32:20-, Chopin: 12 etudes: II. in F minor (Op. 25); 34:03-, Ligeti: Etudes: Book 1: Touches bloquées (1985); 36:14-, Bartók: 3 etudes: I. Allegro molto Sz. 72; 38:45-, Bartók: 3 etudes: II. Andante sostenuto Sz. 72; 42:17-, Bartók: 3 etudes: III. Rubato-Molto sostenuto Sz. 72; 44:25-, Ligeti: Etudes: Book 2: Entrelacs (1988–1994); 47:20-, Ligeti: Etudes: Book 1: Fanfares (1985); 50:56-, Ligeti: Etudes: Book 1: Automne à Varsovie (1985); 55:39-, Scriabin: 3 etudes: I. Allegro fantastico Op. 65; 59:25-, Scriabin: 3 etudes: II. Allegretto Op. 65; 01:01:44-, Scriabin: 3 etudes: III. Molto vivace Op. 65; 01:03:30-, Ligeti: Etudes: Book 2: Galamb Borong (1988–1994); 01:06:30, Ligeti: Etudes: Book 1: Cordes à vide (1985); 01:10:03-, Ligeti: Etudes: Book 2: L’escalier du diable (1988–1994).
string quartets
day two
Dudok Quartet, live, Amsterdam, 2015*
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lagniappe
random sights
late yesterday, Monhegan Island, Maine
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*Program notes courtesy of YouTube:
Pérotin – Selection from Viderunt Omnes
Ligeti – String Quartet no. 2:
I. Allegro nervoso
II. Sostenuto, molto calmo
Debussy – Canope from Preludes, livre II
Ligeti – String Quartet no. 2:
III. Come un meccanismo di precisione
IV. Presto furioso, brutale, tumultuoso
V. Allegro con delicatezza
Brahms – Intermezzo in B minor op. 119 no. 1
Want to be swept away?
Claude Debussy (1862-1918), String Quartet in G minor (1893); New England Conservatory Student Quartet (Minchae Kim & Harry Chang, violins; Heejin Chang, viola; Hsiao-Hsuan Huang, cello), live, Boston, 2014
Claude Debussy (1862-1918), Preludes, Book 1, Nos. 1-7, 9-11; Sviatoslav Richter (1915-1997), piano, live
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I am not a complete idiot, but whether from weakness or laziness have no talent for thinking. I know only how to reflect: I am a mirror . . . Logic does not exist for me. I float on the waves of art and life and never really know how to distinguish what belongs to the one or the other or what is common to both. Life unfolds for me like a theatre presenting a sequence of somewhat unreal sentiments; while the things of art are real to me and go straight to my heart.
Why not begin the week with something beautiful?
Claude Debussy (1862-1918), Preludes, Book 1, No. 2 (“Voiles”); Arturo Benedetti Michelangeli (1920-1995), piano, live (studio performance)
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lagniappe
musical thoughts
When he plays something it sounds like he’ll never play it again.
—Miles Davis, speaking of Arturo Benedetti Michelangeli
(I’m taking a break—back in a while.)
Why not begin the week with something beautiful?
Claude Debussy (1862-1918), String Quartet in G minor (1893); New England Conservatory Student Quartet (Minchae Kim & Harry Chang, violins; Heejin Chang, viola; Hsiao-Hsuan Huang, cello), live, Boston, 2014
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A big birthday shout-out to my son Alex (now twenty-seven), who’s enriched my life, musically and otherwise, more than he could ever know.
Claude Debussy (1862-1918), String Quartet in G minor (1893), first movement; Cypress String Quartet, 2006
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lagniappe
musical thoughts
I wouldn’t want to listen to the same kind of music every day any more than I’d want to eat the same kind of food.
old stuff
Claude Debussy, Children’s Corner, 1908
Alfred Cortot (piano), Marcel L’Herbier (director), 1936
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Children’s Corner was written for Debussy’s three-year-old daughter, Claude-Emma (nicknamed ‘Chou-Chou’ [AKA Chouchou]) and bears the following dedication: ‘to my dear Chou-Chou, with the tender apologies of her father for what is to follow.’
—All Music Guide to Classical Music (2005)
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Claude & Chouchou
picnicking in a pine forest near Archachon, 1915
