WEEK OF 081027: MOZART'S 25TH // BF/BS
Mozart: Symphony 25
I listened to four different versions. This is actually the first Mozart I've ever listened to in any deep way. It wasn't bad, but I think I'll go back to Beethoven and the melancholic Romantics.
Black Forest / Black Sea: Portmanteau
I forgot about this band. Very nice electric space folk drone atmospheres.
Here I list the "record of the week" (often a few records), which I listen to repeatedly all week long while I work, letting the music seep deep into my mind, and painting my activities with a color that I will forever remember whenever I later recall each piece. I also post other thoughts on music here too.
2008-10-27
2008-10-20
WEEK OF 081020: UTON // KOTO
Uton: Shiva Blues
Good electric klanging cleansing false-drone.
Japan Music: Koto Traditions
I can never get enough of this stuff. If I ever get some stability in my life I would purchase a koto. I once had the privilege to try one out, when a koto orchestra came to Berkeley for a lecture/performance/demonstration.
Uton: Shiva Blues
Good electric klanging cleansing false-drone.
Japan Music: Koto Traditions
I can never get enough of this stuff. If I ever get some stability in my life I would purchase a koto. I once had the privilege to try one out, when a koto orchestra came to Berkeley for a lecture/performance/demonstration.
2008-10-13
WEEK OF 081013: SCHUMANN // BEETHOVEN // HAYDN
Schumann: Davidsbundlertanze
Some of Schumann's piano work doesn't appeal to me immediately, but I know that with repeated listens I am able to probe into it to find his fractured mind. By the end of the week I don't want to stop listening to it.
Haydn: String Quartet, Op.20,no.6
I decided that this week I would have to find something less somber to listen to, as I finally ended my long stretch of homelessness and found a home (the graduate student co-op) in which I am now residing (albeit on a temporary basis). Although this quartet comes during Haydn's "Sturm und drang" period, this quartet is very light and pleasant, and has helped me feel some comfort this week as I embark on a new experience of a complicated yet bold new living experience, and grapple with my own directions in life.
Beethoven: Piano Quintet
I believe this is an earlier piece of Ludwig's, and I've listened to a version of it that has again smoothed out his idiosyncrasies, but that is fine for me right now, as I'm not looking for terror or agitation this week. The wind instruments in this piece are appealing, as lately I've been intrigued by them. This seems to be a rather lighthearted piece (though there is depth if you look for it in the right places, as there always is with Beethoven).
Schumann: Davidsbundlertanze
Some of Schumann's piano work doesn't appeal to me immediately, but I know that with repeated listens I am able to probe into it to find his fractured mind. By the end of the week I don't want to stop listening to it.
Haydn: String Quartet, Op.20,no.6
I decided that this week I would have to find something less somber to listen to, as I finally ended my long stretch of homelessness and found a home (the graduate student co-op) in which I am now residing (albeit on a temporary basis). Although this quartet comes during Haydn's "Sturm und drang" period, this quartet is very light and pleasant, and has helped me feel some comfort this week as I embark on a new experience of a complicated yet bold new living experience, and grapple with my own directions in life.
Beethoven: Piano Quintet
I believe this is an earlier piece of Ludwig's, and I've listened to a version of it that has again smoothed out his idiosyncrasies, but that is fine for me right now, as I'm not looking for terror or agitation this week. The wind instruments in this piece are appealing, as lately I've been intrigued by them. This seems to be a rather lighthearted piece (though there is depth if you look for it in the right places, as there always is with Beethoven).
2008-10-06
WEEK OF 081006: BRAHMS SECOND SYMPHONY
Brahms: Symphony #2 (Op.73), D Major
There was no better choice for the record of the week this week, following Kirsten Brydum's murder, than to invest myself in the frustration of a Brahms symphony. Even in a major key, the man manages to infect you with his paranoia and nervousness. Whatever worried him is beyond me, but clearly there is a lot to loathe when a friend is put to her abrupt end by bullets. I was able to attend a performance of this piece by the UC Symphony at Hertz Hall at the end of the week, and found the live version to be far superior than listening to it on headphones. I found it to be quite rhythmic and repetitive, which is a flair I hadn't noticed in Brahms before.
Brahms: Symphony #2 (Op.73), D Major
There was no better choice for the record of the week this week, following Kirsten Brydum's murder, than to invest myself in the frustration of a Brahms symphony. Even in a major key, the man manages to infect you with his paranoia and nervousness. Whatever worried him is beyond me, but clearly there is a lot to loathe when a friend is put to her abrupt end by bullets. I was able to attend a performance of this piece by the UC Symphony at Hertz Hall at the end of the week, and found the live version to be far superior than listening to it on headphones. I found it to be quite rhythmic and repetitive, which is a flair I hadn't noticed in Brahms before.
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