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Good Morning
Mar. 6th, 2017 08:28 am
I had a dream that i was Kirk with a lovely woman - ah well, Working day alas.
Mar. 6th, 2017
I had a dream that i was Kirk with a lovely woman - ah well, Working day alas.
Ashford and Canterbury Visits
Mar. 6th, 2017 09:40 pmWell,four visits done today.Three in Ashford and one in Canterbury.So a fairly productive day in fact. The weather remained sunny if colder than recently,but at least it did not rain.
On my travels,which none included a charity shop,i did find two books of interest in Faversham from the Fleur bookshop fora quid.
Off for a quick pint soon.
On my travels,which none included a charity shop,i did find two books of interest in Faversham from the Fleur bookshop fora quid.
Off for a quick pint soon.
Just Wondering Bookwise
Mar. 6th, 2017 09:43 pmWhat book have you re-read the most number of times, and why is it so worthy of repeated readings? Do you pick up new plot points or details each time, or do you simply find comfort in spending time with a favourite storyline and characters?
Monday Modern Classical Selection
Mar. 6th, 2017 11:08 pmTime for some music -
Peter Michael Hamel - Gestalt für Orchester
Southwest German Radio Symphony Orchestra
Cristóbal Halffter
This work is based on a nine-bar passage which is taken up and varied many times in the course of section I, and later as well. Intrinsically, this passage owes its character to the scale B-C-F-E-A-G sharp-G-D-B flat, which governs all four sections of the piece. In its acoustical form, however, it is given to upper-register string sonorities based on a', to the sonorities of the piano, vibraphone and xylophone, and to the trumpets and woodwinds. The e''' in the piccolo dominates and delimits the upper register. These few bars present "breaths" of sound entering peacefully at half-bar intervals.
At first glance, the form of section I may give cause for surprise. The expressive character of the basic figure is subjected to a process of progressive erosion: a conflicting pizzicato structure takes up an increasing amount of space -- three, five and finally 13 bars. Thus section I seems to be riddled with fissures, torn apart by crevasses. On the other hand, the initial passage expands its tonal ambitus to C and is enriched by pivoting 2nds in the deep winds. The conflict between the breathing sounds and the pizzicato attacks from the strings leads ultimately (once the fundamental has changed again from C to E) to a fortissimo gesture which ushers in section 2.
Section 2 evolves from a quiet sonority into a modal-periodic continuum, and hence into a mode of musical thought which finds expression in the overlapping of repeating figues. At first these repetitive layers are given to the piano, marimba and alto flute. Gradually, however, the texture incorporates other formulations and instruments and is accented by striking eight-note figures in the trombones and horns rising to the octave. This section too expands its tonal ambitus, this time from D flat to d", culminating in a 12-note chord. Following these two sections, which pose a conflict and yet remain meditative and subdued, section 3 is given the function of developing the compositional elements and the areas of expression. Seeking to strike a balance between East and West, Hamel begins by presenting the pizzicato structure in frenetic abbreviation and superimposing repeating figures upon it. Even the basic figure itself is manipulated, its half-bar gestures either being welded into mighty blocks of sound or blurring as the unaccented portions of the bar are filled in. This entire process ultimately leads to nine chords based on the fundamental C.
Section 4 is the shortest in the piece. It takes up elements from section 2, extracting the modal-periodic continuum and again developing the eight-note figure in the trombones and horns before ending with a virtually literal reminiscence of the original basic figure. --Wolfgang Burde
Art by Charline von Heyl.
Hans Werner Henze - Labyrinth
The London Sinfonietta
Hans Werner Henze
"In 1951, when I was artistic director of a small ballet company attached to the National Theatre of Wiesbaden, I wrote this psycho-chamber-jazz ballet for it. It was never staged because the company dissolved before we could put it on. I conducted the score in a concert on the Darmstadt-Frankfurt a.M. Music Festival on May 29th, 1952.
The ballet tells the story of Theseus, Ariadne, and the Minotaur, in a condensed, anagogical and anagrammatical fashion. It is, as a subject, quite similar to Gozzi's "The King Stag" which I composed as an opera three years later." --Hans Werner Henze
I. Permanent Menace: Adolescents of Knossos under the threat to be fed to the Minotaur.
II. Cantus choralis: Plea to Theseus to kill the monster.
lll. Conflict: Ariadne tries to prevent Theseus from facing the dangers involved by going into the Labyrinth and challenging the Minotaur. But Theseus is adamant.
IV. Variation: She invents the device of the thread stuck to Theseus, made to pull him back out of the Labyrinth in case he would get lost in it.
V. Minotaurus Blues: Theseus in the Labyrinth fights the Minotaur and kills him.
VI. Fantasy in Rose: Theseus and Ariadne happily reunited among the people of Crete who are grateful to be liberated from their nightmare.
Art by Jeffrey Smart
Peter Michael Hamel - Gestalt für Orchester
Southwest German Radio Symphony Orchestra
Cristóbal Halffter
This work is based on a nine-bar passage which is taken up and varied many times in the course of section I, and later as well. Intrinsically, this passage owes its character to the scale B-C-F-E-A-G sharp-G-D-B flat, which governs all four sections of the piece. In its acoustical form, however, it is given to upper-register string sonorities based on a', to the sonorities of the piano, vibraphone and xylophone, and to the trumpets and woodwinds. The e''' in the piccolo dominates and delimits the upper register. These few bars present "breaths" of sound entering peacefully at half-bar intervals.
At first glance, the form of section I may give cause for surprise. The expressive character of the basic figure is subjected to a process of progressive erosion: a conflicting pizzicato structure takes up an increasing amount of space -- three, five and finally 13 bars. Thus section I seems to be riddled with fissures, torn apart by crevasses. On the other hand, the initial passage expands its tonal ambitus to C and is enriched by pivoting 2nds in the deep winds. The conflict between the breathing sounds and the pizzicato attacks from the strings leads ultimately (once the fundamental has changed again from C to E) to a fortissimo gesture which ushers in section 2.
Section 2 evolves from a quiet sonority into a modal-periodic continuum, and hence into a mode of musical thought which finds expression in the overlapping of repeating figues. At first these repetitive layers are given to the piano, marimba and alto flute. Gradually, however, the texture incorporates other formulations and instruments and is accented by striking eight-note figures in the trombones and horns rising to the octave. This section too expands its tonal ambitus, this time from D flat to d", culminating in a 12-note chord. Following these two sections, which pose a conflict and yet remain meditative and subdued, section 3 is given the function of developing the compositional elements and the areas of expression. Seeking to strike a balance between East and West, Hamel begins by presenting the pizzicato structure in frenetic abbreviation and superimposing repeating figures upon it. Even the basic figure itself is manipulated, its half-bar gestures either being welded into mighty blocks of sound or blurring as the unaccented portions of the bar are filled in. This entire process ultimately leads to nine chords based on the fundamental C.
Section 4 is the shortest in the piece. It takes up elements from section 2, extracting the modal-periodic continuum and again developing the eight-note figure in the trombones and horns before ending with a virtually literal reminiscence of the original basic figure. --Wolfgang Burde
Art by Charline von Heyl.
Hans Werner Henze - Labyrinth
The London Sinfonietta
Hans Werner Henze
"In 1951, when I was artistic director of a small ballet company attached to the National Theatre of Wiesbaden, I wrote this psycho-chamber-jazz ballet for it. It was never staged because the company dissolved before we could put it on. I conducted the score in a concert on the Darmstadt-Frankfurt a.M. Music Festival on May 29th, 1952.
The ballet tells the story of Theseus, Ariadne, and the Minotaur, in a condensed, anagogical and anagrammatical fashion. It is, as a subject, quite similar to Gozzi's "The King Stag" which I composed as an opera three years later." --Hans Werner Henze
I. Permanent Menace: Adolescents of Knossos under the threat to be fed to the Minotaur.
II. Cantus choralis: Plea to Theseus to kill the monster.
lll. Conflict: Ariadne tries to prevent Theseus from facing the dangers involved by going into the Labyrinth and challenging the Minotaur. But Theseus is adamant.
IV. Variation: She invents the device of the thread stuck to Theseus, made to pull him back out of the Labyrinth in case he would get lost in it.
V. Minotaurus Blues: Theseus in the Labyrinth fights the Minotaur and kills him.
VI. Fantasy in Rose: Theseus and Ariadne happily reunited among the people of Crete who are grateful to be liberated from their nightmare.
Art by Jeffrey Smart
Monday Avant Garde Selection
Mar. 6th, 2017 11:30 pmAnd now for some other avant garde music-
Scott Walker - Farmer In The City
Scott Walker -Jesse
Gastr Del Sol - Hello Spiral
Autechre - Foil
Enjoy.
Scott Walker - Farmer In The City
Scott Walker -Jesse
Gastr Del Sol - Hello Spiral
Autechre - Foil
Enjoy.
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