aworks :: "new" american classical music

Violin and Orchestra (1979). Morton Feldman #ravishing

Joshua Kosman on a new Morton Feldman recording:

For those who love this composer's music - we know who we are - "Violin and Orchestra" is a ravishing creation, given beautiful life here by violinist Carolin Widmann and the Frankfurt Radio Symphony Orchestra under conductor Emilio PomÀrico.

I"m always a little skeptical of the orchestrated Feldmanm but maybe I will get this. Rdio only has it in preview form:

Carolin Widmann, Frankfurt Radio Symphony Orchestra, Emilio Pomarico – Morton Feldman: Violin And Orchestra – Rdio http://www.rdio.com/artist/Carolin_Widmann%2C_Frankfurt_Radio_Symphony_Orchestra%2C_Emilio_Pomarico/album/Morton_Feldman_Violin_And_Orchestra/

Mass to Honor St. Elizabeth (18??). Faustina Hodges #"new" #womencomposers

Georgian Homes, Philadelphia (Wikipedia)

For personal reasons, I ended up at Google Books: Organ and Harpsichord Music by Women Composers: An Annotated Catalog, which leads to the books's index and ultimately Faustina Hodges.

Wikipedia:

Faustina Hasse Hodges (7 August 1823 – 4 February 1895)^[1] was an English-American organist and composer. She was born in Malmesbury, England, the daughter of organist and composer Edward Hodges, who brought his family from England to America in 1838. Faustina Hodges taught music and also worked as a church organist in Brooklyn and Philadelphia, and began publishing songs and piano/organ music in the 1850s. She also wrote and published her father's biography. She died in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.^[2][3][4]

aworks operational note :: "new" blogging

As the blogosphere winds down, I of course have all kinds of ideas of how to inspire its progress. But I'm also pragmatic.

It's analogous to being a fan of the songs of Charles Ives. Great artistic achievement but not clear anyone under the age of fifty cares. See also, John Fahey.

But my personality is this strange combination of stubbornness and "new"-seeking. So I feel compelled to step it up on the blog but also engage more on twitter, facebook, tumblr, rdio, and other social media that matter. 

For the record, spotify and youtube bore me, the above John Fahey youtube link, notwithstanding. 

Hey, what's the new social media platform? 

I'm also interested in ambient American classical music i.e. how do I play music wherever I am. Today's solution includes an "old" iPod classic in the car via cable, rdio at work via headphones, TVs at home that play rdio via soundbars, and an "old-fashioned" but one-year-old Dell Windows 7 desktop that still can play everything via computer speakers. My Sony Vaio Windows 8 laptop is still an experiment and not recommended. I just ordered a Chromecast but too soon to tell if this solves the current TV/audio/Internet/cable morass.

Despite all those complicated technologies, I endeavor to blog about what's really "new", be it recordings, composers, music delivery technologies, retail merchants, my rare personal appearances, or whatever.

On the other hand, I fully acknowledge that social media no longer includes this typepad blog.

Happy listening...

 

aworks organized list :: the standing room edition @thestandingroom @dwohl88

While we long-time bloggers in general wrestle with the declining reach of personal weblogs, this long-time blogger is also realizing that our mode of communcation is becoming a private channel to any  remaining readers, who by definition are sophisticated and worldly. Hello, sophisticated and worldy readers. 

I'll keep the channel open, if anyone is listening. Of course, that's not to say my blog posts will necessarily be as sophisticated and worldly as my readers...

In any case, in honor of the The Standing Room, here's my recent music rotation (hey, these days, rdio automatically computes and formats this output!).

aworks listening log :: cage! accordion! cage on accordion!

1. John Cage. Souvenir. Teodoro Anzellotti - 3 Compositions By John Cage [Winter & Winter] Solo accordion by Cage. Better than you would ever expect. 
2. David Lang. Depart. David Lang - Death Speaks [Cantaloupe] 
3. HyeKyung Lee. Shadowing. Thelema Trio - Verge,Tremors Of A Memory Chord [Naxos] "The trio’s sound comes from a unique combination of piano, clarinet and saxophone."
4. Steve Reich. Piano Phase (version for 2 theorbos). Peter Söderberg - The Contemporary Lute [Alice Musik Produktion] 
5. Lei Liang. Vergo. Stephen Schick, Palimpsest Ensemble - Verge,Tremors Of A Memory Chord [Naxos] 
6. John Cage. Dream. Teodoro Anzellotti - 3 Compositions By John Cage [Winter & Winter]  

---

7. Tan Dun. Symphony 1997 "Heaven Earth Mankind". Tan Dun, Hong Kong Philharmonic Orchestra - Symphony 1997 (Heaven Earth Mankind) [Sony Classical] Remaster of a 1997 recording.

Limbs (2013). Daniel Wohl #***** #studio

'on “Limbs”, the original acoustic piano plays in perfect unison with an electrified and transformed version of itself. The result is an utterly dynamic and emotionally-charged work in which the acoustic and electronic sounds seamlessly intertwine to the point of becoming one.' New Amsterdam Records

'The title “Limbs” is actually short for “Phantom Limbs,” which I think is descriptive of the interplay between the piano, the electronics, and the strings.' textura

"But like many a clever pop producer — George Martin, Bob Ezrin, Jon Brion and the like — Mr. Wohl and his technical accomplices employ the studio as one more expressive tool at a composer’s disposal." Steve Smith/NY Times

aworks sentences :: day 3650, more or less

• "Marin Alsop, who recently had a fall in her hotel room in Brazil has had to cancel her appearances at the Cabrillo Festival. Glass Notes: Marin Alsop & Symphony No.10." Glass Notes 
• "But the monumental achievement of his multi-stylistic, multi-combinatorial Ten Freedom Summers and the recording of most of it that came out last year (I named it my record of the year and reviewed it earlier on these pages) put together all the strands that have been present in his music for many years but never so explicitly and fully expressed." Gapplegate Music Review
• "Philip Glass' 1976 work Einstein on the Beach became a creative touchstone for Seagle, even though he knew very little about it and, when searching for information in pre-Internet days, couldn't find production footage or much of anything about this avant-garde opera." Brian Truitt/USA Today
• "Yet the unswerving determination of the Nazis to rid Europe of what they called entartete musik (degenerate music) may well have had an even more far-reaching effect on postwar European musical culture." Andrew Sullivan
• "As of Sunday afternoon, the pulldown includes a Thom Yorke solo album and a release from Atoms for Peace (which includes Yorke and Radiohead producer Nigel Godrich)." Digital Music News
• "As Ashley Bathgate played and passers-by gawked, the rumble of air traffic overhead complemented her instrument’s groans." Steve Smith/NY Times

aworks operational note :: 10+ years

I just noticed that I first blogged on July 6, 2013. So that's officially ten years, plus a week.

I also noticed that the link in that first post on Gershwin's Rhapsody in Blue is now broken. A lot has evolved in the last decade with social media, so that seems apropos. 

I used to try to blog every day and did blog at least once a week for seven or eight of those years. I haven't felt as compelled to keep that pace lately. So it may be time to do a re-think about what I want to do with social media in general, and the aworks media empire specifically, especially this blog.

I do listen to recorded American classical music as much as always, despite more distractions than ever. 

Cheers.

aworks ratings log :: 7/14/13

*****

Matin. Robert Gibson. Robert Gibson Chamber Music [Capstone]. The composer is on the faculty of the University of Maryland.  Vergo for 18 Solo Strings. Lei Liang. Verge,Tremors Of A Memory Chord [Naxos] Music For Piano With Amplified Sonorous Vessels. Alvin Lucier. Panorama [Lovely Music]. This may be my current favorite of Lucier's works. How to Pray. David Lang. Elevated [Cantaloupe Music]

****

Mirage. Robert Gibson. Robert Gibson Chamber Music  Scordatura Suite. Andrew McKenna Lee. Gravity & Air [New Amsterdam]

***

Calling. Robert Gibson. Robert Gibson Chamber Music  Three Sketches. Robert Gibson. Robert Gibson Chamber Music  A Sound Within. Robert Gibson. Robert Gibson Chamber Music   Riverrun. Stephen Albert. Mstislav Rostropovich, National Symphony - Symphony Riverrun / To Wake the Dead. [Delos]. Won the 1985 Pulitzer Prize. The composer was killed in a car wreck in 1992. Cross-Currents. Tom Flaherty. Matthew Elgart - New Music with Guitar, Vol. 5 [Bridge] Synchronisms No. 10. Mario Davidovsky - New Music with Guitar, Vol. 5  Symphony No. 5. George Rochberg. Christopher Lyndon-Gee: Saarbrucken Radio Symphony Orchestra - Rochberg: Symphony #5, Black Sounds [Naxos]

**

Cello Sonata. Andrew Violette. Ben Capps, Andrew Violette - Violette: Sonatas for Cello and Clarinet [Innova] Setting. Mel Powell. David Starobin - New Music with Guitar, Vol. 5

aworks top ten artists of all time, this week's edition :: july 3, 2013 #fahey #hawkins @dwohl88