I’ve been absent because of school duties and computer problems. (When I moved from a 4GB computer to a 40GB, I laughed at the idea of ever filling it up – now I’m realizing it’s too small to play fast and loose with aiff audio files the way I need to.) But I stumbled across a cache of my rare cassettes, and I’ve put up some recordings on Postclassic Radio that you’d have a hell of a time finding anywhere else. One is the sole work by Conlon Nancarrow that isn’t commercially recorded: his Trio No. 2 of 1990, for oboe, bassoon, and piano, close to being his last work (at least, the last he composed without ransacking previous material). Another is the Wittgenstein Cycle (1980) of the inimitable Jeffrey Lohn, who was the third leg of the art-rock trio he shared with Rhys Chatham and Glenn Branca in the ’80s, but who detoured out of history for a decade or two and is now reportedly composing again. Lohn set Wittgenstein’s entire Tractatus Logico-Philosophicus to music, in German, in a bouncy, Stravinskian idiom, and this is an excerpt. It’s wonderful. And on top of that I’m uploading a mystery bootleg recording that I’m not even going to advertise, not having any desire to be visited by disgruntled musicians’ union goons. The Mad New-Music Broadcaster strikes again!
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mclaren on Ives, Caught Between Two Caricatures
Once again we get a high-octane musician slamming a composer for producing "naïve" work. And what, I ask you, is...Bob Gilmore on Ives, Caught Between Two Caricatures
Agreed. I love Ives 1, terrific piece. But I'd have to say my favourite of all the symphonies is the...M. on Ives, Caught Between Two Caricatures
Mr. Plush has already written, in his first sentence, what I would have liked to. Consider it seconded.Bill B on Ives, Caught Between Two Caricatures
You can hear it without going to it. The concert is streamed live over WQXR, as are all of...Vincent Plush on Ives, Caught Between Two Caricatures
Kyle, you have just reminded us (as if we needed reminding) why we regard you as one of the most...Steven Ledbetter on Minimalism Invented in England, It Turns Out
Sullivan did, indeed, brilliantly solve the problem set him by Gilbert's lyric, but he didn't find it easy. In fact...Paul Schleuse on Minimalism Invented in England, It Turns Out
The additive process is clearly there, but the harmony isn't really static. The alternation between D and D maj7/sus4 is...Gene on Minimalism Invented in England, It Turns Out
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The minimalist I'm most reminded of by that Gilbert and Sullivan piece is Tom Johnson. - For additive process, there's...Ian Stewart on Minimalism Invented in England, It Turns Out
For additive precedents there is also the the folk song "Green Grow the Rushes, O". I also believe that the big...