"This is the Voice of Moderation. I wouldn't go so far as to say we've actually SEIZED the radio station . . . "
by liberal japonicus Last week, I mentioned Daphnis et Chloé by Maurice Ravel, so down the rabbit hole we go. My favorite work by Ravel is Le Tombeau de Couperin, and I was able to find the album that was my first listen to this. Had I heard that earlier in my life, I might … Read more
by liberal japonicus If you don’t know the old joke referenced in the title, the answer is ‘Practice. Lots of Practice’. And with that, here is the first youtube video. Yes, that’s elementary school kids. If you didn’t notice, they don’t have any sheet music, everything is being played from memory. Even more shocking to … Read more
by liberal japonicus I was looking at some pages about the war in Ukraine and it noted in passing that Donetsk airport, which was the site of Ukrainian resistance in 2014 before the Minsk agreement, was officially named Sergei Sergeyevich Prokofiev airport because Prokofiev was born in the region. This had me think that Prokofiev … Read more
by russell I have a long time friend, Kile Smith, who is actually a living breathing composer. He heard a recording of the Brahms Requiem when he was a teenager and decided, without much other background or context other than playing some bass and singing in his high school chorus, that that was what he … Read more
by liberal japonicus If you couldn’t guess from the title of this week’s edition, these music threads are not always going to be music that is on my playlist, and I would be surprised if this week’s is on anyone else’s. After Russell’s fascinating dive into the clave, I thought that connections between music and … Read more
by liberal japonicus The word ‘band’, for many people, brings to mind school buses and high school students. This image has groups that are bands call themselves ‘wind orchestras’ or ‘wind ensembles’ in order plug into the prestige of high culture. This first recording here by the North Texas Wind Symphony, which is the ‘band’ … Read more
by russell Last Friday, Joe put up a post about Bad Bunny. That led to a discussion of reggaeton, which took a side trip into rhumba, which sent me off down a rabbit hole about clave. Joe very kindly asked if he could use my comment as this week’s music post, which was more than … Read more
by liberal japonicus I may be asking for trouble by doing a music post that shades into politics, but I thought it might be interesting to link to some Bad Bunny videos. Quick précis: Bad Bunny is the stage name for Benito Antonio Martínez Ocasio, a Puerto Rican DJ, rapper, actor and record producer. He … Read more
by liberal japonicus To be honest, my musical tastes are probably clinically insane levels of ecleticism. This hasn’t been helped with the purchase of ear pods that prevent Mrs LJ from being subjected to whatever I’m listening to. I also use music in my classes, so even if I don’t like it, if students like … Read more
by liberal japonicus Trying to post little bits for the next month or so to keep the blog going, and I thought of morceau, which is cognate with the English word morsel, and I thought about Saint-Saëns’ horn composition Morceau de concert, which you can enjoy from the youtube video at the bottom where Anneke … Read more