never enough
Johann Sebastian Bach (1685-1750), Sonata No. 1 in G minor for Solo Violin, excerpt (movts. I, II); Patricia Cordero, live, Spain (Madrid), 5/10/16
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lagniappe
reading table
Perhaps I asked too large –
I take – no less than skies –—Emily Dickinson (1830-1886), 358 (Franklin), fragment
never enough
Two days ago I’d never heard of him; last night he took my breath away.
Johann Sebastian Bach (1685-1750), Partita No. 2 in D minor for Solo Violin, excerpt (Sarabande); Leonidas Kavakos, live, France (Annecy), 2015
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lagniappe
reading table
The Poets light but Lamps –
Themselves – go out –—Emily Dickinson (1830-1886), 930 (Franklin), fragment
I can’t think of a finer way to begin the week.
Johann Sebastian Bach (1685-1750), Cello Suite No. 6, excerpt (Allemande); Natalia Gutman (1942-), live, Moscow, 1987
more
Johann Sebastian Bach (1685-1750), Goldberg Variations
Andras Schiff (piano), live
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lagniappe
radio
WKCR‘s Bach Festival concludes at midnight.
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reading table
Nobody does letters to the editor like the Brits. Here, for instance, is how one begins in the December 17th issue of the London Review of Books:
I hesitate to disagree with my brother, David Matthews, about the order of the middle movements of Mahler’s Sixth Symphony, but we have long held opposing views, mine being that the scherzo should come third (Letters, 3 December). . . .
Colin Matthews
London SW 11
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random sights
yesterday, Chicago (Columbus Park)
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To all who’ve dropped by this year (from, I’m told, 120 countries): May you have a happy and peaceful new year.
sounds of Chicago
Hamid Drake (drums, percussion, voice), live, Sardinia, 2013
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lagniappe
radio
One of the year’s great musical events has begun: the annual Bach Festival on WKCR (Columbia University)—all Bach, all the time, through New Year’s Eve.
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musical thoughts
How lucky to be alive in a world of sound.
more
Johann Sebastian Bach (1685-1750), The Art of Fugue (excerpts)
Glenn Gould (1932-1982), piano
Has anyone played Bach—or anything else—more searchingly?
Johann Sebastian Bach (1685-1750), Partita No. 4 in D major
Glenn Gould (1932-1982), piano
#1
#2
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lagniappe
reading table
Musicians wrestle everywhere –
—Emily Dickinson (1830-1886), #229 (Franklin)
This I turned to late yesterday afternoon, amidst darkness and rain and news of a neighbor’s terminal illness. I’ve been living with this piece for forty-some years, and it has never let me down—never failed, whatever the circumstances, to make life seem lighter, brighter, more porous, more spacious. Never.
Johann Sebastian Bach (1685-1750), Suite No. 1 in G major for Unaccompanied Cello; Mischa Maisky, cello
never enough
Johann Sebastian Bach (1685-1750), Sonatas and Partitas for Solo Violin; Johnny Gandelsman, live, East Lansing, Michigan, 2015
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lagniappe
musical thoughts
Dance?
Sing?
Why not both?
music clip of the day 