Friday, April 1, 2011

Today is the first day of the 10x5 Listening Group! What new music have YOU listened to today? I started with an all time favorite - Javier Alvarez's Metro Chabacano (1991). Then it was off to something completely different - Ed Wright's Y Twr (2009). Off we go  . . .  Vinny Fuerst
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10 comments:

  1. UnknownApril 2, 2011 at 6:38 AM

    I found this amazing music on ted.com. I love the idea of virtual compositions.
    http://www.ted.com/talks/eric_whitacre_a_virtual_choir_2_000_voices_strong.html

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  2. 20/21 explorerApril 2, 2011 at 7:06 AM

    You can check out more of Eric Whitacre's music at Pytheas!
    http://www.pytheasmusic.org/whitacre.html

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  3. SharonApril 3, 2011 at 12:04 PM

    Thank you for introducing me to contemporary music. I'm very excited to be part of the Listening Group for YCMD 2011. Looking forward to hearing more! Sharon

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  4. GordonApril 3, 2011 at 12:21 PM

    A Mental Musical Journey
    Edward Wright ~ Y Twr
    ..."We are sitting on the porch on a stormy night. There is blacksmith, or perhaps several, pounding steel. The weather clears and seagulls are very close to the horse-drawn carriage we are riding in which is pulling up to the wailing pipers. We get out into a small boat (in a very large puddle left by the rain) and sail past the church ... opps!, we're back in the carriage, trotting along side a choo-choo train, which hisses to a stop as a plane flies over. We get out and walk through the throng of people and variety of noises; the car stops; the boat rows; the train chugs; the telephone rings; and the chimes bleat and jingle when, finally, the blacksmith returns to hit the bell. Are those bagpipes I hear? No, it is nothing -- and it is over..."
    -- Gordon Wilcox

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  5. TracyApril 3, 2011 at 12:23 PM

    Hey Vinny, cool background music, somewhat Philip Glass like simple,sparse, with a Hitchcockian Hauffman (sp?) ice edge...
    Tracy Ginn

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  6. 20/21 explorerApril 3, 2011 at 12:24 PM

    The Hitchcockian (actually Bernard Herrmann!) edge didn't occur to me at first, but it's definitely there - with a nice Latin American groove and beat.
    - Vinny

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  7. GordonApril 3, 2011 at 1:26 PM

    Maybe Its Better Live

    Edward Wright ~ Polarities movt. 3 Tarantella - Live

    This seems like music designed to stretch one's imagination, in sometimes conventional, but often erratic ways. It is brew of sounds, coherent and not, sometimes thematic and often brazen. Are we witnessing a storm? Chaotic conflict? Then there are the majestic parts with cacophony and just plain noise. All in all, it is not particularly a satisfying piece on aesthetic grounds. It might be labeled " gobbledygook" rather than Tarantella. But then, I didn't hear it in the context of the other movements of Polarities.

    -- Gordon Wilcox

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  8. gaygraceApril 6, 2011 at 4:48 AM

    I want to comment on a piece that others have heard, so I just listened to the Alverez. IT's one of the few so far that I really liked. And is it really that short??
    I should say up front that I listen for concrete elements.. harmonic structure, voicings, motivic development, odd meters/numbers, etc, as I try to find something that could be useful or at least inspiring for improvisation.

    I usually like the percussive use of strings, especially like this in perpetual motion. I think it's in 9/4 or 9/8, and seems to overlay the basic Afro-Cuban(tumbao) rhythm some of the time. I like the was it starts with the tension of the Bb and A. i like the use of the basic melodic/rhythmic motive in the violin and the chord progressions, tho mostly diatonic to d minor.

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  9. gaygraceApril 6, 2011 at 5:45 AM

    I"m now listening to MIchael Brecker playing Psathas' Omnifenix, since it was 2 videos below Alvaraz, and I"ve heard tracks from some of Brecker's jazz CDs(before his tragic untimely death from a rare blood disease). I just noticed a trascription of his solo(in one of my old JazzImprov magazines) in his tune "Madame Toulouse".
    In Psathas I"m having trouble discerning any specific identifiable harmonies( no clear tension/resolution) that he's playing over... seems to be kind of clusters of sound much of the time. And with basically no groove, I"m having trouble getting my teeth into anything here, but Michael's playing is impressive.. i wonder if he's improvising any of it. But as always, I would like to know the composer's intentions before passing any judgement.

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  10. gaygraceApril 6, 2011 at 3:52 PM

    I"ve listened a few times to Osvaldo Golojov's Tenebrae.
    Tho the harmonic rhythm is slow, the ongoing "tremolo"(starts in viola) gives it a feeling of movement, along with certain tension tones that are milked , which enhance the natural beauty of the lines.

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