STICKY POST
Tuesday, 20. June 2006, 01:54:38
Music
To play the music, click on George or Glenn's picture.
(Please be patient. It will take a minute to connect with your media player.)
George Friedrich Handel
Suite in D minor HWV 447
Courante
Artist: Keith Jarrett
Format (MP3) / Timing (02:31)
Light and dark combined.
J.S. Bach
Partita in G Major BWV 829
Praeambulum
Artist: Glenn Gould
Format (MP3) / Timing (01:47)
Now playing in a galaxy near you...
Thursday, 26. November 2009, 20:57:26
Music
Bill Withers.
I've had this song running through my head for a
couple of days now. So I thought I would post it.
(Just click on the pic to watch the vid.)
Tuesday, 24. November 2009, 20:51:31
Music, The Four Seasons
"It just kinda fell off a truck."
I mentioned on an earlier post about the possibility of getting a new
recording, an album of Debussy songs, to give me a rest from the more
or less downer music in my collection.
Well as it turns out a good friend of mine sent me the recording that I
wanted and which I was planning to get up the road a bit. It was a
burned copy, so I won't mention his name as I don't want the F.B.I.
showing up at his door. Or the Postal Inspectors.
But I would like to thank him greatly.
Kinda sorta happy music! And in fact several of the songs aren't even
kinda or sorta happy. They're just plain happy.
Monday, 23. November 2009, 19:40:27
Music
Bach's Sonata for solo violin No. 1 in
g minor, BWV 1001 (Adagio).
In the comments to one of Pam's posts a commentator brought up the
subject of naming conventions in classical music.
"This reminds me of something that annoys that crap out of me. The
weird song titles of most Classical music ... WHY would anyone give a
flip in what Key these songs are played? I certainly don't. I mean, you
didn't hear the Doobie Brothers titling a song - Listen to the Music in
E Major. Chicago didn't title their classic - Colour My World in F Major
7. They just stuck to the nitty gritty."
I thought I would take a little time to explain why that is, to the best
of my ability at least.
What we know today as "classical" music (as opposed to folk or popular
music) has a long history dating back to at least medieval times. Across
the years conventions arose as to naming particular works. The history
isn't exactly a linear one nor is it consistent. "It is the way it is."
Let me start out with a kind of well-known benchmark here -- the works
of Johann Sebastian Bach (1685-1750). Back in Bach's day those who wrote
music generally wrote some work or another in return for payment in the
form of cash or a gift. Some composers, if they were lucky, found positions
with wealthy aristocrats where they would be expected to produce music
for the pleasure of the aristocrat. Bach held several of these "paying jobs"
throughout his life.
In Bach's day there was only a minimal publishing industry (printing
was very expensive then) and of course no recording industry. The common
practice for a composer was to compose a work, perform it, then take the
sheet music and put it on a shelf or whatever in case it needed to be
performed later. Sometimes the composer would write some sort of title
across the top of the music to identify it. But while there was a
tendency for composers of songs to just write the song title, the bulk
of classical music in Bach's day was either instrumental or instrumental
with vocal (masses, cantatas, oratorios). So if the work was given a
title at all it was just given something like Sonata in D. The reason for
including the key being that one composer might write a whole bunch of
sonatas etc., so it was necessary to distinguish them from each other.
That was basically the first naming convention, then: The type of work
and its key. Bach tended to be very detailed about titles (if he bothered
to write them at all), perhaps because he was so prolific.
After Bach many composers started adding numbers to the work in order
to distinguish it from other works. This was mainly due to the growing
publishing industry, who needed to keep track of things more neatly for
their catalogues. Beethoven, for example wrote more than one piano
sonata in the key of B-flat -- his 11th piano sonata and his 29th. So
that was the next step really, and thus we get Piano Sonata No. 29
in B-flat.
Somewhere at that same time composers started distinguishing their works
be assigning so-called "Opus numbers" to them. "Opus" is just the Italian
word for "work," a composition. Music publication also figured into this.
So then we end up with something like Piano Sonata No. 29 in B-flat Op. 106.
It should be mentioned that the assignment of some of these didn't have
anything to do with the order of composition of the work.
Now things get even more involved. Sometimes a composer would write a
dedication line or some phrase below the title that eventually entered
into the name of the work. And sometimes the work was simply given an
"affectionate" title by the listening public or a publisher. The
"Emperor Concerto," for example, Beethoven's Piano Concerto No. 5 in
E-flat Op. 73, was titled such by one of Beethoven's publishers. This
tradition continues today in several ways. If you say "the Emperor"
every classical music fan knows what you are talking about. So in a
sense some classical works of the past actually are known by simpler
titles such as you find in contemporary songs. But the vast majority
of the music of the past does not carry this type of title.
Now things get a bit more complicated still. As I mentioned a lot of
the music of Bach's day or earlier wasn't published. And there was a
tendency for a while for music to be forgotten about after a composer's
death. But eventually this music, such as Bach, was rediscovered and
pulled off the shelves where the sheets had been gathering dust. And
eventually the works of one composer or another were catalogued by music
historians. Bach's complete works (or at least all the ones that have
been discovered to this point) were catalogued in the mid-20th century
by Wolfgang Schmieder. Thus Bach's compositions now also have BWV
numbers, which is short for Bach Werke Verzeichnis (Bach Works Catalogue).
Mozart's works were catalogued by Ludwig Köchel; and so we now have
Piano Sonata No. 10 in C major K. 330.
I'm leaving out a few minor things in terms of clarity, but that's
basically it. Though the naming conventions of classical music may seem
kind of crazy, that is how it evolved and that is how it continues
today. Classical musicians tend to start very early, and quickly get
used to the namings. And music listeners soon grow used to it also.
And by the way, next February I will be going to see Valentina Lisitsa
play Rachmaninoff's Piano Concerto No. 2 in c minor, Op. 18. Which is
known pretty much universally among classical music fans as "the Rack
2." Why isn't it called "the Rock 2", which would be closer to the
pronunciation of Rachmaninoff's name? Well perhaps something to do
with regional accents, but really I don't know. "It is the way it is."
My thanks to Pam and Suntana for the interesting dialogue.
Sunday, 15. November 2009, 23:12:15
Music, The Four Seasons
Happy music? I guess I'll find out.
Yesterday I grabbed a bottle of Amstel Light and my smokes and went back
into The Cave to listen to some music. Once I got back there, though, I
had a hard time deciding what music to listen to. I had been listening
to the Chopin nocturnes like hell over the past week. So the last thing
I wanted was more piano music. So I went through my albums. What I
wanted was something not depressing. Something uplifting. And while
there was certainly some music in my stacks that had this affect on me
they were Bach for the most part and on piano. And in any case there's
just something about the formality of Bach that doesn't quite say "let's
party!" As for my popular music any album that I went through had it's
downer side -- even the Moby instrumental stuff. And as far as trying to
find anything suitable on youTube, I can't get that back in The Cave
anyway.
So finally I did something I hadn't done in years -- I turned on the
radio. The first station I settled on was a type of Indie rock channel.
But it quickly became apparent that I knew none of the songs or any of
the artists. I had totally lost touch with stuff like that. And that
after a while became depressing in itself.
So I turned the dial and then settled on a Top Country station. While
Bluegrass and Alt Country might be some of the saddest stuff around,
there's something about mainstream country that is more uplifting. Even
though a guy's girlfriend might have run off with another man and even
though his truck won't start, there is a kind of stoicism to it all, as
if to say that yeah things are tough but you'll get through it so why
worry about it -- so just write a song about it.
In any case it was apparent that I need some new music in my collection.
I started thinking for some reason about Debussy. I was never a big
Debussy person, but I did know that he wrote a good number of songs for
voice and piano and that maybe there was some of that stuff that would
be good for moods like yesterday. As such I contacted Richard, whose
knowledge when it comes to music is broad and substantial, and asked him
for some suggestions. And he came back with one by Dawn Upshaw that looks
very promising. I also found a few more branching out from that which
look good.
So as soon as I scrape up the money, which will probably be January, I'll
try them. But I wonder if going that route will be worth the expense. How
many times would I really listen to them?
Because you know usually I am quite content with my dark gray skies and
my cold weather. It isn't usually any problem. Even if my girl really did
run away with another guy. And even if my truck -- if I had one -- probably
wouldn't start either.
Tuesday, 10. November 2009, 21:19:00
In Memory, Music
Frederic Chopin
Nocturne Op. 9 No. 1
Artist: Ivan Moravek
Format (MP3) / Timing (05:43)
For our service men and women on Veterans Day.
(click on the photo to listen to the track)
Friday, 6. November 2009, 04:47:17
Valentina Lisitsa, Music
The hands of Valentina Lisitsa.
Wednesday, 4. November 2009, 15:45:23
Music, Astronomy, The Four Seasons
I’m not normally given to writing song lyrics, but back in
the 80s I came up with the words for a punk rock song. Here’s
the song:
“Write One Song”
by
Edward Piercy
Write one song and play it to death
Write one song and play it to death
Write one song and play it to death
Write one song and play it to death
Write one song
Play it to death
Write one song
Play it to death
Write one song and play it to death
Write one song and play it to death
Write one song and play it to death
Write one song and play it to death
Write one song
Play it to death
Write one song
Play it to death
Following upon the success (in my own mind) of that song,
I wrote another one:
“Write Two Songs”
by
Edward Piercy
Write two songs and play ’em to death
Write two songs and play ’em to death
Write two songs and play ’em to death
Write two songs and play ’em to death
Write two songs
Play ’em to death
Write two songs
Play ’em to death
Etc. etc etc. I think you get the idea.
I never did write a third punk song for some reason. Though
I’m pretty sure that I could.
Also back in the 80s I wrote a song called “Heart Parasol.”
I wrote it while visiting my sister and brother-in-law at
their house near Grissom AFB in Indiana. My brother-in-law,
John, ended up setting the words to music. And eventually,
recently, he recorded it. You can listen to the song on
John’s MySpace page if you care to.
I don’t remember the lyrics to that one. So I can’t put them
down here. I do remember vaguely what my life was like back
then, what I was thinking and feeling. Lots of ancient Roman
history. Lots of beer. Xanax. Echo and the Bunnymen. And of
course the seemingly ever-present depression over some girl
or another.
It seems like so long ago. But of course it wasn’t. It always
gets me when people meet and one will say “Gee, it’s been a
long time.” And the other person will respond “Yes, it has
been. Too long” or something to that effect.
But it hasn’t been a long time. A billion years, now that’s a
long time. All our time is but the blink of a star’s eye.
The Corona Borealis super cluster of galaxies, located
approximately 1 billion light years away from us.
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