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composers in one word
I like to read Stephen Hough's blog. One of his recent blog posts is about characterizing a composer in just one word. This is, of course, impossible to do entirely satisfactorily -- but that doesn't mean it isn't fun, and that it isn't, as one commenter on Hough's page put it, "a kind of musical Rorschach test." I just came back from a walk to ( Read more... ) -
Made it up and down the mountain!
I did La Plata! Despite 3.5 hr. of sleep, it worked, and it was brilliant ( Read more... ) -
Aspen (Hiking) Festival and School
OMG IT'S 4 AM AND I CAN'T SLEEP AND I'M SUPPOSED TO BE UP AT 5 TO HIKE A 14ER -- I'M GOING TO DIE!!
...
Well, actually, chances are that I'll probably be fine. But since I'm tossing and turning anyway I might as well be writing in LiveJournal, right?
I love these mountains so much, and I love the weather and the beauty and the whole thing so ( Read more... ) -
Random Shuffle: short-lived but interesting
I think it's safe to say that my Random Shuffle project, after 24 installments, has fallen by the wayside. I might pick it up again, but I can't make any promises ( Read more... ) -
Random Shuffle 24: Játékok
Hommage à Soproni, György Kurtág
from Játékok, volume IV (2:10)
György and Márta Kurtág, piano
I sometimes forget how influenced my own music is by Kurtág. This wonderful short piece for four hands is type of thing I wish I’d written, but Kurtág beat me to it. Damn.
( Mostly not about Kurtág ) -
Random Shuffle 23: Petit René
La Tragique Histoire du petit René, Francis Poulenc (1934)
(1:13)
Felicity Lott, Soprano; Pascal Rogé, Piano
One of Poulenc’s set Quatre Chansons pour enfants. A delightful song about a boy who does nothing but pick his nose, much to the embarrassment of his parents. The music is totally light-weight and unremarkable, but it’s cute, and I can ( Read more... ) -
Random Shuffle 22: The Holy Sonnets of John Donne
The Holy Sonnets of John Donne, Benjamin Britten (1945)
Sonnet XIV: Batter my heart (1:16)
Philip Langridge, Tenor; Steuart Bedford, Piano
I think I was once asked to sight-read this song for a singer’s audition; though I am normally an intrepid sight-reader, I declined. It’s a crazy, swirling piano part, and the song is a flurry of activity. To me ( Read more... ) -
Random Shuffle 21: Fauré Variations
Theme and Variations in c-sharp minor, Op. 73, Gabriel Fauré (1897)
Variation VII (0:51)
Jean-Philippe Collard, Piano
I posted on another piece from this album already (the Ballade, Op. 19), but my iTunes random shuffle has brought me back around to Fauré - and I can’t complain about that!
This track popping up caused me to go back and give another ( Read more... ) -
Random Shuffle 20: Incidendo/Fluido
Incidendo/Fluido, for piano and CD playback, Olga Neuwirth (2000)
(11:38)
Nicolas Hodges, Piano
A lot of this piece sounds about the same as music by any number of other European avant-garde composers - some of the de-tuned piano notes and sine-wave-like electronic sounds are hypnotizing, but the clustery, repetitious structure of the material sounds ( Read more... ) -
Random Shuffle 19: Bylsma plays Bach
Cello Suite #3 in C major, BWV 1009, J.S. Bach (c. 1720)
III. Courante (3:20)
Anner Bylsma, Cello
What is it about the Netherlands that creates such amazing cellists? I love Bylsma’s Bach Suites better than any other recording I’ve heard; and a friend recently introduced me to the playing of Pieter Wispelwey, who’s got to be one of the most ( Read more... )