Playlist

Live

July 30, 2016
Secret Forest Show
John Teske and Neil Welch with friends
Ravenna Park, Seattle

John's piece had us up off our duffs to wander atop the duff, down the trail to a clearing by the creek. Figuring the instructions, even had I been able to read them at distance, were for those who might be uncomfortable simply walking about attending sound, I simply walked about attending sound, which made a most pleasant evening strolling.

Upon regathering on the logs Neil preached saxophone from a hidden green pulpit, skyrocket staccato tones shimmering in the canopy. An ensemble piece followed, searching out the ravine's expanse and texture. From the distance a wandering company's A Midsummer Night's Dream approached. "Lysander!" As we were done and heading home the wcAMND had taken station in the clearing by the creek to which we also had been drawn.

Another bit of Seattle magic. Thank you!

Recorded

August 2, 2016

Waltz in F minor, Op. 70 #2 - Chopin - Peter Katin

An eager nosegay, blossoms crowding just so.

Sonata in A minor, Op. 105 - Schumann - Jean Mouillère, Jean Hubeau

The 2nd movement pas de deux, piano sound touching, supporting, spotting the en pointe violin sound only enough to give the impression of exquisite weightlessness.

August 3, 2016
4 Ernste Gesänge, Op. 121 - Brahms - Janet Baker, André Previn

In a choice between lyric line against/or immutable stasis, these choose the former.
In a choice between expression against/or reflection, these choose the former.
In a choice between comfort against/or fear and trembling, these choose the former.
In a choice between goal against/or presence, these choose the former.

In short, my preference is the Maureen Forrester John Newmark recording.

El Cavito - Grupo Bahianainho [from Alan Lowe's That Devilin' Tune]

The Latin Chaotic. The sound quality in this 1911 recording has severed some of the more obvious clues to the unanimity of their ensemble. It takes work to discover just how together they were.

Chain Gang Blues - Sam Moore [from Alan Lowe's Really The Blues]

Lots of vibrato and slippery pitches, high on the neck.

In Session at The Tintinabulary

August 1, 2016
Banned Rehearsal 915 160801 - Jenny Chung, Karen Eisenbrey, Keith Eisenbrey, Steve Kennedy, Aaron Keyt, Neal Kosály-Meyer
We gathered on the porch, though it wasn't hot, to mix our sounds with those of the taco truck around the corner being subjected to attempted engine repair.

August 6, 2016
Second Thoughts Omnibus 160806 - Keith Eisenbrey
A year and several months ago I ended my self-imposed (and only partly observed) sabbatical from composition. I have gotten to a point in the project where I have sounds to share. This midi-generated sound file is all the parts packed in their box, shrink wrapped, ready to be torn open and re-assembled. The score in this form is for 12 pianos.

Blood and Fire, Hallelujah 160806 - Keith Eisenbrey
And last night I had the idea to take the midi file of Second Thoughts, slow it down (from quarter = 120 to quarter = 32) and use the result as the solo piano part of my 2010 virtual piano concerto Blood and Fire, Hallelujah

Playlist

Recorded

April 12, 2016
Symphony in D minor, Op. 120 (#4) - Schumann - Philharmonia Orchestra, Otto Klemperer

An exuberance spills out and over, washing the countryside. As we pick up the pieces we civilize and in civilizing are civilized. This isn't my favorite recording of this piece, but Klemperer does pick up on some of the work's strangeness, wearing its awkward moments gracelessly but exactly, like an ill-fitting suit of clothes.

Concert Fantasy - Rimsky-Korsakov - Orchestra of Radio Luxembourg, Louis de Froment, Aaron Rosand

The best part of the piece is toward the end where a clarinet finally gives the solo violin some push back. Otherwise it's vapid and dull, like sitting through somebody else's vacation slides.

Klarinettenquintet in B minor, Op. 115 - Brahms - Amadeus Quartet, Karl Leister

Lush, overgrown tendrils of counterpoint have insinuated themselves into every crevice. Each phrase is a complex of threads and asides, no single voice speaking a whole thing entirely. The variations that finish it open the door at last to some fresh air.

April 14, 2016

Mamie Smith

Destimido - Grupo Bahianainho [from Alan Lowe's That Devilin' Tune]

The rhythmic flexibility in play (which is prodigious) is different in flavor but not in degree to, say, a late Beethoven Sonata in Schnabel's reading, or a Chopin Nocturne in Cortot's. Robustly anti-metronomic.

Frankie Blues - Mamie Smith [from Alan Lowe's Really The Blues]

Another, brilliant, take on the great American mythopoetic saga: the romantic betrayal between Frankie and Johnnie.

Fat Meat and Greens - Jelly Roll Morton [from Alan Lowe's Really The Blues]

There is a bluesiness about the swing that is echoed in his bendy attitude toward pitch and touch, offering another way to think about the reflection of the horizontal upon the vertical: meter to (something like) intonation, rather than pitch set to pitch set.

Violin Concerto in D - Stravinsky - Columbia Symphony Orchestra, Igor Stravinsky, Isaac Stern

Khachaturian

Moving, but not going. Circulating, spiraling to get back - spinning wheels within spinning wheels. Each seeming repetition transformed, each nearly familiar angle re-configured.

Concerto - Khachaturian - Seattle Symphony Orchestra, Gerard Schwarz, Dickran Atamian

I wasn't familiar with this piece going in, and it started by reminding me of Bartok, but without the astringency. It certainly is shamelessly Lisztian. I ended up kind of digging the keyboard writing, especially when he piled on as many moving parts at once as he could, like juggling snakes and kittens.

In Session at the Tintinabulary

April 11, 2016
Gradus 288 - Neal Kosály-Meyer

We now have a fourth pitch, as Neal introduces G natural (the highest one), joined by a lowish E for the 2nd rung.

Playlist

Recorded

May 24, 2015

Symphony in D Major (#2) - Jean Sibelius - BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra, Jerzy Maksymiuk

The problematic process of developing a synoptic stance. How to be on all sides of the mountain at once. Sinew and bone. Gaping holes. Synthesis by assertion.

La Patti Negra - Orquestra Typicas - [from Alan Lowe's That Devilin' Tune]

One suspects more slippery rhythm back there than remains on the artifact.

Bambino - Grupo Bahianainho - [from Alan Lowe's That Devilin' Tune]

To be heard on foot, moving.

May 26, 2015
A fából faragott királyfi - Béla Bartók - London Symphony Orchestra, Antal Dorati

A caldron of bubbling forces transformed into a cartoon. What would be comic turns grotesque. The dire extreme has blotted out all else. Cruelty is the spectacle. The happily ever after seems ready to start the whole thing over a few octaves higher. I used to like this piece a lot. now I'm not so sure it's healthy.

Concerto in C Major (#3) - Serge Prokofiev - Seattle Symphony Orchestra, Gerard Schwarz, Dickran Atomian

Innocuous in the sense of being stylistically sophisticated riffs that never stray past unquestioned assumptions about how music goes. From the linear we ne'er veer. The best parts are when it gets busy fussing with its own innards, going nowhere, twiddling its thumbs, crossing its legs, waiting for us to applaud.

All I Want Is That Pure Religion- Blind Lemon Jefferson - [from Goodbye, Babylon]

One-to-one music, rather than one-to-many. The size of a private meeting rather than of a public gathering.

In Session at the Tintinabulary

May 25, 2015
Duet 150525 - Keith Eisenbrey

Back to my duet project for awhile. This session is hollow-body electric guitar and drumset. I was having fun with lots of microphones, 6 tracks per part.

Banned Rehearsal 886 150525 - Jenny Chung, Karen Eisenbrey, Keith Eisenbrey, Steve Kennedy, Aaron Keyt, Neal Kosály-Meyer


Aaron and Jenny have returned for the Summer from far-off climes.