Daniel Wolf has Anton Webern's back here, Marc Geelhoed a deliciously evil review here, and I review a disc by eighth blackbird here.
And a happy 70th to Phil Glass!
31.1.07
25.1.07
Words of Caution
Clement Greenberg:
These words should give pause to anyone contemplating engaging in Style Wars criticism. (h/t to Leonard Pierce)
One cannot condemn tendencies in art; one can only condemn works of art. To be categorically against a current art tendency or style means, in effect, to pronounce on works of art not yet created and not yet seen. It means inquiring into the motives of artists instead of into results. Yet we all know — or are supposed to know — that results are all that count in art.
These words should give pause to anyone contemplating engaging in Style Wars criticism. (h/t to Leonard Pierce)
22.1.07
18.1.07
Electric Now
Stirling Newberry has written a telling introduction to George Crumb's Black Angels and posted it on the Crooks and Liars blog. Crooks and Liars is a center-left political blog that chronicles the top down media's treatment of politics. I've posted about my mixed feelings concerning political posting on cultural blogs, but I think posting on political blogs about cultural matters and artifacts is a spectacular idea, especially when the two realms meet as they do in Black Angels.
I also want to add my conratulations to Alex Ross for completing his book on 20th century music. It appears, though, that the critics are already being catty.
I also want to add my conratulations to Alex Ross for completing his book on 20th century music. It appears, though, that the critics are already being catty.
14.1.07
Lee Hyla
Jeremy Eichler of the Boston Globe writes about Lee Hyla (registration may be required to get theough the whole article).
Here's my take on Mr. Hyla, from The High Hat.
Here's my take on Mr. Hyla, from The High Hat.
8.1.07
29.12.06
Year-Enders
The High Hat year-end supplement is up. My review of news in the concert music world is here.
23.12.06
And to all. . .
a happy holiday seaon. Posting will be sporadic, if that, while I am traveling over the next ten days visiting family.
22.12.06
18.12.06
The Beginning of Things
A recording of the Alazan Trio performance of The Beginning of Things (2006, piano trio) is posted on my page at Classical Lounge. They did a fine job on the piece, especially considering it was the first performance.
11.12.06
Elliott Carter
Today is Elliott Carter's 98th birthday. I posted on his birthday in 2004 and in 2005. Matthew Guerrieri's list of recipes named for composers includes this:
Eggs Carter: Break an egg into a pan with a multitude of other ingredients, and place on the stove. Continually and simultaneously vary both the temperature and the cooking time. The dish is done when the aggregate intervals of the other ingredients allegorically crush the individuality of the egg.
10.12.06
5.12.06
Links and Listening
Scott Spiegelberg links to an online music dictionary maintained by Virginia Tech.
Matthew Guerrieri on the value of whimsy, magic, and serious lightness in literature and music.
Listening:
Max Levinson, piano. Music by Brahms, Schumann, Schoenberg, and Kirchner.
The Lanier Trio. Music by Stephen Paulus.
Michael Boriskin, piano. Music by Lou Harrison.
Andrzej Wasowski, piano. Chopin, Mazurkas.
Dallas Symphony/Andrew Litton. Ives, Symphonies 1 and 4, Central Park in the Dark.
Bonus Tracks:
A compilation of seventies soul and R&B, featuring, among others, The Spinners, Earth, Wind, & Fire, Marvin Gaye, The Temptations, and Al Green.
Matthew Guerrieri on the value of whimsy, magic, and serious lightness in literature and music.
Listening:
Max Levinson, piano. Music by Brahms, Schumann, Schoenberg, and Kirchner.
The Lanier Trio. Music by Stephen Paulus.
Michael Boriskin, piano. Music by Lou Harrison.
Andrzej Wasowski, piano. Chopin, Mazurkas.
Dallas Symphony/Andrew Litton. Ives, Symphonies 1 and 4, Central Park in the Dark.
Bonus Tracks:
A compilation of seventies soul and R&B, featuring, among others, The Spinners, Earth, Wind, & Fire, Marvin Gaye, The Temptations, and Al Green.
29.11.06
Elitism
Anne Midgette reviews the first performance of Kaija Saariaho's La Passion de Simone. Ms. Saariaho's piece concerns the life and death of Simone Weil, the French "philosopher, mystic and activist. Near the end of the very thoughtful review, Ms. Midgette writes:
A large part of the on-going discussion of the future of concert music, which discussion often dominates writing about concert music, concerns the music's status as an "elite" art. I have no answers, but lots of questions:
What is meant by "elitism", particularly in the artistic world?
Is elitism a good, bad, or value-neutral thing?
Are there different kinds of elitism and different kinds of elites?
Does it mean anything w/r/t elitism that, in very general terms, popular musicians are wealthier than their audiences and, in very general terms, audiences for concert music are wealthier than the musicians?
Which is, in that case, the more elitist art form?
Rather than attempting to "reach past" the monied elite that can afford to see/hear works like La Passion de Simone, isn't that elite precisely the audience that need to get the message?
Which artform has a greater claim to being "counter-cultural", popular music or concert music?
What, if anything, does the answer to that last question have to do with elitism?
. . . this piece represents many things Weil wanted to get away from; even if it is conceived in a spirit of breaking down barriers and challenging the status quo, a work presented in this form will reach only the elite it ostensibly sets out to reach past.
A large part of the on-going discussion of the future of concert music, which discussion often dominates writing about concert music, concerns the music's status as an "elite" art. I have no answers, but lots of questions:
What is meant by "elitism", particularly in the artistic world?
Is elitism a good, bad, or value-neutral thing?
Are there different kinds of elitism and different kinds of elites?
Does it mean anything w/r/t elitism that, in very general terms, popular musicians are wealthier than their audiences and, in very general terms, audiences for concert music are wealthier than the musicians?
Which is, in that case, the more elitist art form?
Rather than attempting to "reach past" the monied elite that can afford to see/hear works like La Passion de Simone, isn't that elite precisely the audience that need to get the message?
Which artform has a greater claim to being "counter-cultural", popular music or concert music?
What, if anything, does the answer to that last question have to do with elitism?
28.11.06
Around and About
Helen Radice on education.
Alex Ross on Adams and Kurtág.
Greg Sandow on cultural boundaries. I disagree with a lot of Mr. Sandow's ideas about how to expand the audience for concert music, but I admire his willingness to think out loud about issues that are fraught with emotion for many people.
Pliable on how commemorations of the biggest name composers often sucks all of the oxygen out of the room, leaving lesser-known, worthy composers to struggle in a smaller cultural space.
Sun sets in east.
Alex Ross on Adams and Kurtág.
Greg Sandow on cultural boundaries. I disagree with a lot of Mr. Sandow's ideas about how to expand the audience for concert music, but I admire his willingness to think out loud about issues that are fraught with emotion for many people.
Pliable on how commemorations of the biggest name composers often sucks all of the oxygen out of the room, leaving lesser-known, worthy composers to struggle in a smaller cultural space.
Sun sets in east.
23.11.06
Thanksgiving
I hope everyone is enjoying the day, whether it's a holiday where you are or not.
Here's a post from two years ago about Thanksgiving Day listening.
Here's a post from two years ago about Thanksgiving Day listening.
21.11.06
There's a long goodbye . . .
Robert Altman has died at age 81.
Obituaries and tributes will accumulate on the web and elsewhere, but I want to point again to the recently pulished issue of The High Hat, which contains a special section on Altman, who I believe is one of the greatest artists of the second half of the 20th centruy.
Obituaries and tributes will accumulate on the web and elsewhere, but I want to point again to the recently pulished issue of The High Hat, which contains a special section on Altman, who I believe is one of the greatest artists of the second half of the 20th centruy.
20.11.06
17.11.06
The Still, Small Voice (III)
Part I
Part II
Jeffrey Potter collects reminiscences of Jackson Pollock’s wake in his “oral biography” of the artist, called To a violent grave (New York: Putnam, 1985):
Part II
Jeffrey Potter collects reminiscences of Jackson Pollock’s wake in his “oral biography” of the artist, called To a violent grave (New York: Putnam, 1985):
MORTON FELDMAN: What stays with me is that baked Virginia ham. I have never tasted such ham, never.
I was asked to write a piece for saxophone trio in 1988, and I decided to make it a memorial to Feldman, who had recently passed the previous year. Feldman’s influence on my music up until that time had been manifest in the slow movements/sections of my pieces, which tended to be really slow and very soft. On the surface of these pieces, with fast rhythms, irregular phrase structures, and frequent changes in harmony, Carter’s influence was clearer.
I can see in retrospect that the occasion of the sax trio was an opportunity for me to explore a reconciliation between what I had learned from Feldman and Carter. The solution (I’m not sure “solution” is the right word, because this is a “problem” that I’m not sure anybody else had) was simple: Combine the kinds of slow and soft textures that had attracted me to Feldman’s music in the first place with the fixed vertical sonorities around which Carter’s music was organized.
Without getting overly technical about it, but providing enough information to communicate the issues, the resulting piece, What stays with me, is made from a specific voicing of a particular six-note pitch-class set (Forte number 6-Z17, for the terminally dorky, and you know who you are). This set is unique in that it contains at least one iteration of every three-note set in the 12-note equal temperament universe.
The materials of What stays with me are the single notes (six), intervals (15), and three-note chords (20) that can be drawn from a six-note set whose notes are fixed in a specific register. (The chord is voiced so that all six notes are playable by all three saxes.) As the piece unfolds over its approximately eight minutes, each of these 41 “sonorities” is sounded once. The sonorities are often extended by the instruments trading notes or overlapping entrances and exits.
I didn’t realize it at the time, but the techniques I worked out for myself for What stays with me would resurface in different and surprising ways in almost every piece I’ve written since then.
14.11.06
The High Hat
The new issue of The High Hat is up. My article on Pierrot Lunaire is here, and my article on Robert Altman is here.
As usual, the whole issue is worth a read.
As usual, the whole issue is worth a read.
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