July 19, 2016
2 Nocturnes op. 48 - Chopin - Claudio Arrau
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| Chopin |
1 - A stutter step in the bass, a tune venturing far afield, a chorale: each, as we focus on it, distracts from where the others are heading so that, as we refocus, we find ourselves much further into the brambles than we had planned to go. We continually adjust our thinking, and in doing so the parts seem to readjust to each other's reality, on down the line, like marbles rolling down a toy switchboard. Plink a plunk a clitter clack.
2 - The first two measures are a title to a nice story. But it is primarily the duration of 'two measures' that becomes the subject of the whole. This becomes solidified in the sequence of two-measure variations that makes up the greater part of the trio.
Sonata in D minor op. 121 (#2) - Schumann - Jean Mouillère, Jean Hubeau
Well, we'd best deal with it now, and so we get on with it. First we observe its facets and corners, rolling it around in our hands. It isn't as big or heavy as a bowling ball, more like a large gourd. Soon it's all over us and so in we dive, vigorously.
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| Strauss and Brahms |
The vinyl record I ripped this from was horribly noisy, and the music signal was such a tiny part of the sound that it was nearly impossible to hear the music behind the 'warm vinyl sound'. I was able to clean it up a little. The bass is still boomy and dull, but for the most part one can imagine something like music going on back there. The organ tones appear here as if embodied in their cathedral space, liberated from the mechanism that produced them. I had the impression of pitches just hanging out among themselves, digging each other, ignoring us. This may be the closest Brahms ever got to sounding like early computer music. Switched On Brahms anyone?
July 20, 2016
Waltz Sequences from Der Rosenkavalier - Richard Strauss - Seattle Symphony Orchestra, Gerard Schwarz
Switched on Strauss wouldn't work so well, it is far too enamored of its nostalgic sheen, the warm afterglow of its imperial splendor.
Poor Buttermilk - Zez Confrey [from Alan Lowe's That Devilin' Tune]
Trouble In Mind - Chippie Hill [from Alan Lowe's That Devilin' Tune]
In Session at the Tintinabulary
July 17, 2016
Zillah 160717 - Karen Eisenbrey, Keith Eisenbrey
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| Zillah, WA |
Karen and I set out after breakfast to wait out the opening of the local wineries and discover what Zillah sounds like on a Sunday morning in July. There were some crows, and the truck sounds were often nicely isolated. The municipal sound system (who knew?) seemed to be set to selections from Dave Marsh's Heart of Rock & Soul.
July 18, 2016
Banned Rehearsal 914 160718 - Karen Eisenbrey, Keith Eisenbrey, Steve Kennedy, Aaron Keyt, Neal Kosály-Meyer
The porch furniture being scattered around the front yard and stored in the garage while our painting project got underway, we gathered around the kitchen table and did what we do, little knowing that even at that moment Banned Rehearsal had been mentioned in a footnote in the Selected Letters of John Cage. Yes, that's right! BR has achieved footnote status!
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