Boulez: Douze Notations
performed by Pierre-Laurent Aimard, or the first Notation performed by the composer, also below We start off our discussion of the Darmstadt school with Pierre Boulez. Needless to say, this is going to be a tough month of articles, for … Continue reading Boulez: Douze Notations
NSO’s 2016/17 Salon Concert
The salon concert is here! I had the privilege of attending last year, and as usual, it was a highly-anticipated event. It’s the NSO’s 30th anniversary this coming season, and we had the privilege of enjoying comments and thoughts from … Continue reading NSO’s 2016/17 Salon Concert
Opera: Verdi’s Otello
as below: The end. Opera is one of the best things ever. And it’s something we don’t get nearly enough of here in Taipei. Unfortunately, we’ll likely be getting even less of it now that the opera house, built in … Continue reading Opera: Verdi’s Otello
Messiaen: Quatuor pour la fin du temps
performed by Pierre-Laurent Aimard, Maryvonne Le Dizes, Pierre Strauch & Alain Damiens or below by Pianist Matthew Schellhorn and Soloists of the Philharmonia Orchestra: James Clark (violin), Barnaby Robson (clarinet), David Cohen (cello) Never was I listened to with such rapt attention … Continue reading Messiaen: Quatuor pour la fin du temps
Messiaen: Quatre études de rythme
performed by Peter Hill, or below by Yvonne Loriod, the composer’s second wife (please be aware that you can find the specific times for the beginning of each etude in the description of the above video, which I have copied … Continue reading Messiaen: Quatre études de rythme
René Leibowitz: L’explication des Metaphores, op. 15
or Explanation of Metaphors for two pianos (Marc Reichow, Florian Hoelscher) harp (Françoise Friedrich), percussion (Boris Müller) and narrator (Julie Comparini), under Walter Nußbaum, with text by Raymond Queneau, translated into English by the composer, on this album, a world premiere recording (the two discs are … Continue reading René Leibowitz: L’explication des Metaphores, op. 15
Messiaen: Huit préludes
performed by Peter Hill, or below by Hakon Austbo “Preludes to what?” is a question that has been asked many a time by someone approaching likely far more often-performed preludes, like those of Chopin, Debussy, or Scriabin, but it is a … Continue reading Messiaen: Huit préludes
Debussy String Quartet in Gm, op. 10
performed by the Emerson String Quartet, or below by the Kodaly Quartet Any sounds in any combination and in any succession are henceforth free to be used in a musical continuity… -Claude Debussy Our first piece in the Darmstadt Series isn’t. … Continue reading Debussy String Quartet in Gm, op. 10
Series: The Darmstadt School
It’s July. Do you remember what we did last July? Go have a look. It seemed like a cool thing at the time to dedicate July to an interesting program of stuff, and last year’s month-long piano series was originally … Continue reading Series: The Darmstadt School
Webern: Symphony, op. 21
performed by members of the London Symphony Orchestra under Pierre Boulez, or the below with (members of) the Berlin Philharmonic also under Boulez Greater unity is impossible. Even the Netherlander didn’t manage it. In the fourth variation there are constant … Continue reading Webern: Symphony, op. 21
Wrap-up to a Series?
I used to have ‘thoughts’ articles a lot more often than I do now. Concert reviews would be every Tuesday, but now they’re the evening of (or a day or two after) the concert, and I’m taking on too much … Continue reading Wrap-up to a Series?
Webern: Six Bagatelles, op. 9
performed by the Juilliard Quartet Non multa sed multum (Not much in quantity, but much in content) A Deruchie We’re nearing the end of a long stretch of history (of course skipping over a lot) into the modern era, but … Continue reading Webern: Six Bagatelles, op. 9
Mahler Symphony no. 8 in E-flat major
performed by the Chicago Symphony, with the Vienna State Opera Chorus, Singverein Chorus, and the Vienna Boys Choir, under Sir Georg Solti, vocalists: Heather Harper, Lucia Popp, Arleen Auger, Yvonne Minton, Helen Watts, René Kollo, John Shirley-Quirk & Martti Talvela (I’ll … Continue reading Mahler Symphony no. 8 in E-flat major
Mahler: Kindertotenlieder
(Songs on the Death of Children) performed by Anne Sofie von Otter and the Vienna Philharmonic under Pierre Boulez Rückert’s 428 poems on the death of children became singular, almost manic documents of the psychological endeavor to cope with such … Continue reading Mahler: Kindertotenlieder
Podcast: Dvorak’s Diverse Concerto
featuring Carmine Miranda. Listen here or find Fugue for Thought in iTunes. As mentioned in the first part of my conversation with Mr. Miranda, much of the more successful blog articles and things that I prepare are on more obscure (or … Continue reading Podcast: Dvorak’s Diverse Concerto
Schoenberg String Quartet in D major
performed by the LaSalle Quartet I owe very, very much to Mozart; and if one studies, for instance, the way in which I write for string quartet, then one cannot deny that I have learned this directly from Mozart. And … Continue reading Schoenberg String Quartet in D major
NSO’s 100% Vodka
Maybe a little cliché, but it was an all-Russian program. And a good one. The program was originally to consist of Rachmaninoff’s Capriccio on Gypsy Themes followed by his fourth piano concerto and Shostakovich’s sixth symphony. Maestro Gennady Rozhdestvensky was to … Continue reading NSO’s 100% Vodka
Zemlinsky String Quartet no. 1 in A, op. 4
performed by the Lasalle Quartet or as below: I’m not going to take the time now to discuss why Alexander von Zemlinsky is as important a name as it is and do an Influential People post or anything; I’m not even sure … Continue reading Zemlinsky String Quartet no. 1 in A, op. 4
Brahms Symphony no. 4 in E minor, Op. 98
performed by the Vienna Philharmonic under Carlos Kleiber Many hail this as the greatest recorded performance of the Brahms, and it is indeed exquisite. We are here, I must admit, with even a little bit of apprehension, at the end … Continue reading Brahms Symphony no. 4 in E minor, Op. 98
Brahms’ Variations on a Theme by Joseph Haydn
performed by the Berlin Philharmonic under Claudio Abbado (original two-piano version here) … except not, because it isn’t. The “Chorale St Antoni” was supposed or assumed at the time to have been composed by Haydn, but later found not to be so; … Continue reading Brahms’ Variations on a Theme by Joseph Haydn
NSO’s The Planets
We’re coming up on the end of the concert season. I attended my last TSO show last week, and there are only two more left in this season from the NSO, so this began the countdown of the final three. … Continue reading NSO’s The Planets
Fugue for Thought 