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Wednesday - Contemporary - Glass, Mertens, Giger, Hortobagyi

Wednesday

Contemporary music

Philip Glass:

It's Armin Brunner's (from  ETH Zurich) guilt that I  came into contact with Philip Glass' oevres. Glass is a member of the  Minimal Music guild, but he is very versatile.

The first CD (a cardboard box containing two CDs and a thick booklet) was Akhnaten, an opera. My very big favorites are

• Window of Appearances: Echnaton, Nofretete and Tye appear on the palace window, accompanied with the acoustical regalia of power: kettledrums, trumpets and increasing orchestra.
• dazu erklingen die akustischen Insignien der Macht: Pauken, Trompeten und zunehmend erstarkendes Orchester und
• Epilogue: we slowly proceed from the waves of the nile towards the barren wasteland, where sand swirls seem to grant a short-lived kind of body for the spirits of the sunken city.

The choice wasn't easy, many passages are worth mentioning.

The Concerto for Violin and Orchestra is very nice, too: especially the 2nd movement. Or something entirely different: Negro River.

These Minimal Music representatives have very nice pieces to offer:  In Wim Mertens' "Motives for Writing" the piece The Whole as an example (thoroughly joyful!) or Karma Shadub by Paul Giger (hold out until minute 3.14, that's where a melody breaks through - the one that explains the title. The piece is very subtle, like the silhouette of a landscape not fully revealed by the mists. Appenzell. Note the flurry ice crystals in the sparse sunrays. At 5:20 the darkness of the fir forest, and finally the clear view into the majestic mountains. The sun gets very bright in the middle of the piece, we didn't expect that. But towards the end the mists succeed.

With Karma Shadub we enter fusion cooking. If you liked this, you probably want to listen to pieces of Laszlo Hortobagyi (e.g. Barocus Raga or Legend of Yrch, fascinating).

Tuesday - Jazz. Chicco Rhea...

2. Tuesday

Jazz

Chicco Rhea:

I met him accidentally in a hotel lobby, where he  introduced himself after our 2nd encounter:  "Hi, I'm Chiccoreah." "Chicco Rhea?" "Yes." Years later I recognized him, and how he writes his name. As a consequence of this my wife-at-that-time bought me a record, Duet, where he plays with Gary Burton (that was 1979). When concentrating hard I managed to follow their play.* A piece I really love is    Children's Song No. 15.  But besides that I feel like the that old lady who, after listening to a famous musician, said : "I don't understand what you're doing there" - and he answered: "you know, I also needed 15 years for that" . Come to speak of it:   Children's Song No. 2, 6 and 7  are very charming, too .

(Hier findet ihr auch raus wie er sich wirklich schreibt.)

---

* Ten years later I listened to it again. Something must have changed in my head. Nowadays the piece is quite enjoyable. :-)

Music and Me

Music is - had always been - very important to me. 

In the first years of my life there wasn't much of it. As I grew older and able to roam record stores, I started exploring and discovering. After years of discovery I realized that I prefer music with "distinctive lines", I get bored by fuzzy sound carpets. In general, music generates pictures, emotions, motion - ideally all three together. 

In the next few weeks I'd like to share my findings with you, describing what those pieces mean to me and what they evoke in my mind.

100 things...Jan 22, 2009...

100 things...

• Dec 18, 2008 at 7:30 PM
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copied from: leahsiddall and stolen from Skoolie

 

Blogging for the lazy blogger....Just the thing when I'm too busy to think! Just copy the list and green-afy the things you've done. Give your readers MUCH more than they ever wanted to know about you.

1. Started your own blog
2. Slept under the stars
3. Played in a band
4. Visited Hawaii
5. Watched a meteor shower
6. Given more than you can afford to charity
7. Been to Disneyland
8. Climbed a mountain
9. Held a praying mantis
10. Sang a solo
11. Bungee jumped
12. Visited Paris
13. Watched a lightning storm
14. Taught yourself an art from scratch 
15. Adopted a child
16. Had food poisoning
17. Walked to the top of the Statue of Liberty
18. Grown your own vegetables
19. Seen the Mona Lisa in France
20. Slept on an overnight train
21. Had a pillow fight
22. Hitch hiked
23. Taken a sick day when you’re not ill
24. Built a snow fort
25. Held a lamb
26. Gone skinny dipping
27. Run a Marathon
28. Ridden in a gondola in Venice
29. Seen a total eclipse
30. Watched a sunrise or sunset
31. Hit a home run
32. Been on a cruise
33. Seen Niagara Falls in person
34. Visited the birthplace of your ancestors
35. Seen an Amish community
36. Taught yourself a new language
37. Had enough money to be truly satisfied
38. Seen the Leaning Tower of Pisa in person
39. Gone rock climbing
40. Seen Michelangelo’s David
41. Sung karaoke.
42. Seen Old Faithful geyser erupt
43. Bought a stranger a meal at a restaurant
44. Visited Africa
45. Walked on a beach by moonlight
46. Been transported in an ambulance
47. Had your portrait painted
48. Gone deep sea fishing
49. Seen the Sistine Chapel in person
50. Been to the top of the Eiffel Tower in Paris
51. Gone scuba diving or snorkeling
52. Kissed in the rain
53. Played in the mud
54. Gone to a drive-in theater
55. Been in a movie
56. Visited the Great Wall of China
57. Started a business
58. Taken a martial arts class. 
59. Visited Russia
60. Served at a soup kitchen
61. Sold Girl Scout Cookies
62. Gone whale watching
63. Got flowers for no reason
64. Donated blood, platelets or plasma
65. Gone sky diving
66. Visited a Nazi Concentration Camp
67. Bounced a check
68. Flown in a helicopter 
69. Saved a favorite childhood toy
70. Visited the Lincoln Memorial
71. Eaten caviar
72. Pieced a quilt
73. Stood in Times Square
74. Toured the Everglades
75. Been fired from a job
76. Seen the Changing of the Guards in London
77. Broken a bone
78. Been on a speeding motorcycle
79. Seen the Grand Canyon in person
80. Published a book
81. Visited the Vatican
82. Bought a brand new car
83. Walked in Jerusalem
84. Had your picture in the newspaper
85. Read the entire Bible
86. Visited the White House
87. Killed and prepared an animal for eating
88. Had chickenpox
89. Saved someone’s life
90. Sat on a jury
91. Met someone famous
92. Joined a book club
93. Lost a loved one
94. Had a baby
95. Seen the Alamo in person
96. Swam in the Great Salt Lake
97. Been involved in a law suit
98. Owned a mobile phone
99. Been stung by a bee
100. Read an entire book in one day