timeless
Josef Hofmann (1876-1957, piano), live, 1938; Ludwig van Beethoven (1770-1827), Piano Sonata No. 21 in C major (“Waldstein”)
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lagniappe
reading table
You lie in our bed as if an orchard were over us.
You are what’s fallen from those fatal boughs.
Where will we go when they send us away from here?—David Ferry (1924-2023), “In Memory of Anne Ferry” (Bewilderment: New Poems and Translations [2012], dedication)
never enough
Ludwig van Beethoven (1770-1827), Piano Sonata No. 17 in D minor (Op. 31, No. 2; 1801-02; “The Tempest”); Maria João Pires (1944-, piano), live, published 2018
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lagniappe
reading table
In this world
we walk on the roof of hell,
gazing at flowers.—Kobayashi Issa, 1763-1827 (translated from Japanese by Robert Hass)
never enough
Ludwig van Beethoven (1770-1827), Piano Sonata No. 31 in A flat major, excerpt (third movt.); Friedrich Gulda (1930-2000), live, Japan, 1993
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lagniappe
musical thoughts
[M]usic is a higher revelation than all wisdom and philosophy.
—Ludwig van Beethoven (J. W. N. Sullivan, Beethoven: His Spiritual Development, p. 3 [1927])
never enough
András Schiff (1953-, piano), playing Bach and Beethoven, London, yesterday*
*Program:
Bach: Well-Tempered Clavier (“WTC”), Book I, Prelude and Fugue No. 17 in A flat major
Bach: WTC, Book II, Prelude and Fugue No. 17 in A flat major
Beethoven: Piano Sonata No. 12 in A flat (Op. 26)
Bach: WTC, Book I, Prelude and Fugue No. 6 in D minor
Bach: WTC, Book II, Prelude and Fugue No. 6 in D minor
Beethoven: Piano Sonata No. 17 in D minor (Op. 31)
Bach: WTC, Book I, Prelude and Fugue No. 14 in F sharp minor
Bach: WTC, Book II, Prelude and Fugue No. 14 in F sharp minor
Beethoven: Piano Sonata No. 24 in F sharp (Op. 78)
Encore: Bach, Invention No. 8 in F
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lagniappe
random sights
yesterday, Oak Park, Ill.
never enough
Ludwig van Beethoven (1770-1827), Piano Sonata No. 31; Sviatoslav Richter (1915-1997, piano), live, Moscow, 1991
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lagniappe
random sights
this morning, Chicago (Columbus Park)
never enough
Ludwig van Beethoven (1770-1827), Piano Sonata No. 32 in C minor; Sviatoslav Richter (1915-1997, piano), live, Moscow, 1975
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lagniappe
random sights
yesterday, Oak Park, Ill.
never enough
Ludwig van Beethoven (1770-1827), from Piano Sonata No. 31 in A flat major; Igor Levit (1987-, piano), live, Amsterdam, 2013
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lagniappe
random sights
a while ago, Ireland (Dingle Peninsula)
If you learned you had a month to live, what would you want to listen to? This would be on my list. (Whatever you do, don’t miss the third movement.)
Ludwig van Beethoven (1770-1827), Piano Sonata No. 31 in A flat (Op. 110); Solomon (AKA Solomon Cutner, 1902-1988), piano, 1950s
1st mvt.
***
2nd mvt.
***
3rd mvt.
*****
Another take.
Artur Schnabel (1882-1951), piano, 1930s
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lagniappe
random sights
yesterday, Oak Park, Ill.
never enough
Ludwig van Beethoven (1770-1827), String Quartet No. 13, excerpt (Mvt. V, Cavatina), 1826; Guarneri Quartet
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lagniappe
musical thoughts
During a fraught 17-day stay in the hospital because of post-surgical infections 10 years ago, Beethoven’s Cavatina furnished the only moments during which I was released from suffering.
—Susan Gubar, “When Music Is the Best Medicine,” New York Times, 9/26/19
*****
random sights
yesterday, Chicago
never enough
Ludwig van Beethoven (1770-1827), Piano Sonata No. 32 in C minor
Daniil Trifonov, live, New York, 2014
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lagniappe
art beat
Robert Frank (1924-), View from Hotel Window—Butte, Montana, 1955/56
