"Note that
Scriabin did not, for his theory, recognize a difference between a major and a minor tonality of the same name (for example: c-minor and C-Major). Indeed,
influenced also by the doctrines of
theosophy, he developed his
system of synesthesia toward what would have been a pioneering multimedia performance: his unrealized magnum opus
Mysterium was to have been a grand week-long performance including music, scent, dance, and
light in the foothills of the Himalayas Mountains that was somehow to bring about the dissolution of the world in
bliss." - From Russian composer Alexander Scriabin's Wikipedia page
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posted by Rustic Etruscan
on Mar 25, 2013 -
12 comments
The
Canto Ostinato is a minimalist classical composition written in 1976-1979 consisting of "small, entirely tonal cells which are repeated - how many times is left to the performer". Usually performed by
two or
four pianos, it's also been adapted to other instruments
like the harp. The Canto Ostinato ("stubborn song") was written by Dutch composer
Simeon ten Holt, who passed away yesterday.
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posted by MartinWisse
on Nov 26, 2012 -
6 comments
The Groundbreaking Japanese Electronic band,
Yellow Magic Orchestra, has been
mentioned on the Blue
before, and, not too long ago, the band’s most famous album, Solid State Survivor, was noticed as something every science fiction fan should
listen to(#98 on list).
But if one really wants forward looking and innovative it is worth taking a closer look at the career of YMO’s most prolific member, Ryuichi Sakamoto.
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posted by sendai sleep master
on Aug 9, 2012 -
18 comments
Tchaikovsky Timelapse manually snapped frames in-between the frames the animator intended to use, in order to capture the animation process in action. Not sure if the actual time-lapse has been released, but more on the elaborate production of it is available
here.
posted by gman
on May 13, 2012 -
14 comments
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart is well-known for having been a child prodigy. A previously unknown composition of his, dated c. 1767, when he would have been 11 years old,
(PDF of score) had it's
premiere earlier this week.
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posted by bardophile
on Mar 25, 2012 -
32 comments
For centuries, Renaissance composer Alessandro Striggio's
"Missa sopra Ecco sì beato giorno", an enormous setting of the Mass for 40 and 60 voices, was thought to be lost to the ages. A few years ago, UC Berkeley musicologist Davitt Moroney discovered that a copy of the work, attributed to a non-existent composer, was hiding right under our noses, in the Bibliothèque nationale de France. In an hour-long lecture titled
"The Pope, the Emperor and the Grand Duke", Professor Moroney recounts the story of the Mass's disappearance and rediscovery, describes the historical significance of the music, and unravels the intriguing geopolitical landscape of 16th century Italy.
posted by archagon
on Sep 28, 2011 -
7 comments
Showing Off is a series of videos, audio clips and articles in which noted music journalist and Frankie Goes to Hollywood mastermind Paul Morley explores various facets of music. Each month has a theme,
[warning: most links have autoplaying video] Michael Jackson,
Kraftwerk,
classical music,
disco,
The Beatles,
folk music,
The X Factor,
the Noughties,
the next big thing,
UK hip hop,
jazz, and
dance. Here is some of what's on offer:
MeFi faves Dan Le Sac and Scroobius Pip on hip hop,
These New Puritans' Jack Barnett, Johnny Marr on folk (parts
1,
2), but isn't all just interviews, there are also a lot of performances, e.g.
Michael Nyman and David McAlmont,
Badly Drawn Boy,
Susanna Wallumrød covers Thin Lizzy's Jailbreak, and
Cornershop cover Norwegian Wood.
posted by Kattullus
on Apr 26, 2010 -
8 comments
Over the past few years,
Eric Whitacre has been taking the composition world by storm. And now
he's all over the web. (Most links silent, personal website has an autoplay rainstorm going on.) His choral works range from the mysterious and brooding
Water Night to the rambunctious modern madrigal,
With a Lily In Your Hand, to the wonderfully lush
Sleep (formerly a setting of Robert Frost's "Stopping By Woods on a Snowy Evening" - tragically halted by copyright infringement, but still
available thanks to the magic of YouTube). While his instrumental compositions run the spectrum from silly musical parody (
Godzilla Eats Las Vegas) to poignant melancholy (
October) with some delicate crossover between vocal and instrumental (
Lux Aurumque - first choral, then instrumental!). If you are or think you may be even remotely interested in contemporary classical music, you owe it to yourself to become familiar with the work of Eric Whitacre.
posted by greekphilosophy
on Jun 8, 2009 -
36 comments
Music Journalist
David Stubbs has
a new book exploring why when the audience for modern art is huge, that for new music is tiny. The BBC, has
an article about this with an interview with the author and some sound samples.
posted by ob
on Apr 30, 2009 -
34 comments
Beethoven's Sonata for Violin and Piano No. 9 in A, Op. 47 (
audio) was
originally dedicated to the black violin virtuoso
George Bridgetower after he gave such a brilliant rendering of the piece that prompted Beethoven to jump from his seat and embrace him. Bridgetower was a musical child prodigy and composer who, despite rampant racial prejudice, reached "unusual heights in the music world of his day". Having lived and performed in major European cities such as London, Paris, and Vienna, he would later die forgotten and in poverty.
A personal disagreement with Bridgetower led Beethoven to dedicate the sonata to the famous violinist Rodolphe Kreutzer instead who, incidentally, never played it in public deeming it “outrageously unintelligible”.
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posted by lucia__is__dada
on Mar 27, 2009 -
10 comments
Classical Music at the European Archive. Free and legal lossless downloads of out-of-copyright recordings. Formats include WAV, FLAC, MP3 & Ogg.
posted by Gyan
on Mar 9, 2009 -
36 comments
Rejoice, classical music lovers! After closing in October 2007 due to copyright issues, the
International Music Score Library Project (previously) has reopened! (In June, but there's no FPP about it.) From a quick overview, it seems the site has most of every major (pre-20th-century?) composer's opus - far more than any other "free sheet music" website.
posted by archagon
on Oct 20, 2008 -
10 comments
Why are classical music concerts so serious? A fascinating history of how and why classic music concerts evolved to become so stuffy: silent formal audience, ridged schedule, and a canonical play-list of the same dead artists over and over - they used to be more fun and spontaneous, until the gatecrashers showed up..
posted by stbalbach
on Sep 8, 2008 -
84 comments
The Bang on a Can Marathon is currently in progress at the
World Financial Center in Manhattan. This annual Marathon has taken various forms over the years, with a range of lengths, locations and admission prices; this year's features 26 straight hours of music from around the world, with free admission. Bang on a Can is the
20-year-old new music presenting, producing and recording group co-founded by composers Julia Wolfe, David Lang and Michael Gordon.
posted by allterrainbrain
on Jun 3, 2007 -
12 comments
music files is a neat site I found while looking for information on a classical piece I'm learning on guitar. It seems to predominantly cover classical music but also covers other genres. It has biographies, mp3s, sheet music and so on.
posted by substrate
on Feb 21, 2007 -
4 comments
The Hatto Hoax. Joyce Hatto has been described as "the greatest living pianist that almost no one has ever heard of." Her performances of piano works by Liszt, Schubert, and Rachmaninov were
praised by classical afficionados for their "addictively beautiful sonority, cultured musicianship, and total instrumental mastery."
Since she died in June 2006, however, Hatto has been at the center of one of the stranger scandals to hit classical music in years. It's starting to look like some or all of her treasured, hard-to-find recordings made since 1990
are not her playing at all. [Via]
posted by gottabefunky
on Feb 16, 2007 -
52 comments
