aworks :: "new" american classical music

aworks quotes :: leonard bernstein

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I sat and mused on words, and the decline of language. Love, Peace, War. So overused we barely know what they mean anymore; like love: Is love a concept from the Gospels, from Plato, or that impossibly repetitive word in any pop song? “All you need is love, love, love...” Meaningless. Religion: are we talking about prayer, charity, faith, or militant fundamentalism? Enemy: that old word we can’t live without. We can all conceive of a personal enemy; a jealous lover, a bitter rival, and so on; but that big-concept word—THE ENEMY—is it not invented and constantly re-invented to give us something against which to fight? Could we have a thriving economy, or even a modest affluent society, without this perennial reason to build our arsenals? Would we be in space without an enemy to beat there?

Leonard Bernstein -- Truth in a Time of War.

Ask Me Now (1951). Thelonious Monk

Image by oddsock via Flickr

I've been listening to more and more Thelonious Monk lately and in the middle of trying to decide if the almost simplistic Ask Me Now is as good as I think it may be, I ran across this salient synopsis of Monk's contemporary relevance by Gabriel Solis:

These include the singularity of Monk's approach to time, his characteristic use of developmental logic in his soloing, the unified quality of his individual performances, his use of humor or playfulness, and, finally, the way in which his music in toto represents an entire self-created world.

Not surprisingly, I have yet to find another musician's performance of Ask Me Now that is remotely as good as Monk's.

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ask me now: monk on lala. joe henderson on youtube.

Prayer of St. Gregory (1946). Alan Hovhaness

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I caught the last few minutes on the radio of the television program NewsHour with Jim Lehrer. There was apparently a feature on the new SF opera, The Bonesetter's Daughter. But the program ended with an (unfortunately regular) feature of showing photos of US soldiers who have died in service. Alan Hovhaness' Prayer of St. Gregory, from the opera Etchmiadzin, played in the background.

Wikipedia on St. Gregory:

St. Gregory's pontificate saw the development of the notion of private penance as parallel to the institution of public penance. He explicitly taught a doctrine of Purgatory where a soul destined to undergo purification after death because of certain sins, could begin its purification in this earthly life, through good works, obedience and Christian conduct, making the travails to come lighter and shorter.

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• pbs: bonesetter podcast.
• lala: wynton marsalis version of prayer of st. gregory. gerard schwarz symphonic version.

aworks links etc. :: 080924 /"i'll try to find you some and i'll bring them to you"/

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• Great, I'm not just taking my political cues from Andrew Sullivan's leadership but now he's even starting to influence my musical life. Fortunately, it's time I opted back into the Pet Shop Boys.
• David Letterman on today's candidate cancellation: "...the economy is exploding"
• Thomas Muthee: "In a moment, I'll be asking you that we pray for Sarah..."
• Calculated Risk reports the "TED spread" has increased + a video of the president in 2002 on efforts to increase home ownership
• Radiohead has more "stems" for use in remixing (and my favorite Reckoner). Oops, Country First!.
• US/UK topical soccer joke, via Atrios (text only)
• Campbell Brown: "Bear with me..."
• Katie Couric interviews a VP candidate: "...isn't that a conflict of interest?" (plus her pre-interview post on NYC Moms). I have to say I never imagined I would post a photo of Katie Couric with non-ironic intent. Maybe it was her sincere rapport with mommy bloggers.

aworks links etc. :: 080923 /awards edition/

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• This new McArthur Fellow may have something interesting to say about music.
• See also this McArthur Fellow and composer/instrument builder.
• Journey gets their Hollywood star (actually, YouTube from 2005 and fortunately Steve Perry doesn't sing).
• Don Rickles wins the Emmy for Outstanding Individual Performance In A Variety Or Music Program.
• The Spice Girls win out over Led Zeppelin in "Best Live Return" during the Vodafone Live Music Awards.
• Lawrence Lessig disputes the "great/abysmal"dichotomy, in this case regarding a certain VP's performance in a recent television interview. He goes on to make some irrelevant point of some kind, but you can safely ignore his section <2>. Didn't know Millard Fillmore had all that experience, though...

Congratulations to all winners but especially the first two.

Milk Cow Blues (1934). Kokomo Arnold /aw, now take it away boys (and girls)

lyrics:

Well you gotta treat me right honey
Day by Day
Get out your little prayer book
Get down upon your knees and pray
Cause you're gonna need me
You're gonna need my help someday
Lord you're gonna be sorry
Ou, you treated me this a way
Aw, now take it away boys

Kinks version on YouTube:

aworks links, quotes and comments of the day :: 080922 /retreating from the real world/

• The econoblogs call him Professor Krugman; in a similar sign of respect, I will henceforth use the term "Professor Gann" in my blogging, although "Doctor Gann" also has a nice ring to it.
• FoeWeel !!! ??? on the group TV on the Radio: These guys are making important music. I hate to say this, but they are the American version of Radiohead. I'm sorry I also missed Hot Chip this weekend on Treasure Island.
• Tertium Quid is the most vivid music on the latest CD from The Wire magazine. Although it lacks Early Disturbance from said CD, their MySpace page does list what they sound like --  music, chaos, order, improv, environment -- and their influences, including Minimalism and Fred Frith.

m18m by stevehuang7 via Flickr

• Mark Adamo blogs about a Steve Reich concert: M18M, strangely, reminded me of Bernstein’s Prelude, Fugue and Riffs, with which it shares almost nothing.
• A reasonable Q&A on the financial crisis, investment banks etc.
• Jazz & Blues Music Reviews: Ok, I admit I didn't exactly know Kokomo Arnold was a guitarist although I have been listening to  Cannonball Adderley since the seventies.
• John Schaefer: I guess, in the end, if the composer says it’s opera, it’s opera.  The real question is, who is it for?

aworks travelogue :: hollywood walk of fame (via amoeba music)

On the Hollywood Walk of Fame...

Beyond the industry hacks, has beens, and half-forgottens...














...It's reassuring to see recognition for at least one American artistic hero.

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wikipedia: thelonious monk. marion davies. amoeba music

Wall Drawing #935 (1999). Sol LeWitt

Image via WikipediaI'm surprised and sad about the paint-over of the gigantic Sol LeWitt acrylic works at SFMOMA, although in hindsight, its non-permanence is logical. via Disquiet and sfgate.

The seven figures are in a certificate of sole right to reproduce. This is what the museum owns, and it can have "Wall Drawings #935" and "#936" repainted at any time anywhere in any size, so long as it is to scale, and the artist's written instructions are followed.

The Holy Presence Of Joan D'Arc (1981) Julius Eastman /yikes/

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From time to time, I ask myself if I might better spend my time managing the family finances versus finding the latest way to apply web 2.0 to advocating "new" American classical music. For some reason, that question is particularly acute tonight. And in a bit of irony, my online Wall Street Journal account expired today and attempts to renew fail with some kind of internal error.

So, in an attempt to diversify, I've started to think how I can make people aware of the wealth of American classical music, except without using the web. No answer yet but I'm afraid it will somehow involve face-to-face (or even door-to-door) contact. Yikes.

("Hi, I'm Bob, do you have a moment to talk about Charles Ives?")

Back on message, Julius Eastman's emphatic and gripping The Holy Presence Of Joan D'Arc is my nominee for awork of the week, given our current financial struggles.

And here's hoping for a calmer, more tonal financial market tomorrow morning...

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• aworks disclaimer: past performance is no guarantee of future results, although eastman's work sounds darn good, tonight anyway.
• lala: the holy presence of joan d'arc. also appropriately recommended, eastman's piano piece gay guerilla
• and in a reminder we are still in a political season: You know, an 84 / 9 legit email to spam ratio is pretty good for a Yahoo! account.  At least in my experience.

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