Saturday, January 30, 2021

Really Difficult Tasks

Encouraged by the positive reception to yesterday's eccentric post, Short-Squeezing in the Cave: An Epistemological Meditation, I offer a whimsical post that will have some musical content. Herewith my list of Really Difficult Tasks:

  • Doing a jigsaw puzzle based on a Mark Rothko painting. 

  • Doing a harmonic analysis of a piece by Morton Feldman. 

  • Doing a harmonic analysis of 4'33 by John Cage. 

  • Explaining Austrian business cycle theory to a member of the Federal Reserve. (Sorry, that one is a bit esoteric, even for this blog. Extra points for anyone who comments on it.) 

  • Explaining the Zen koan about the "one hand clapping" to the audience at a Grigory Sokolov concert. (Sokolov is renowned for playing six encores after every concert. Why six? Because he can: no-one is going home as long as he is willing to keep playing.) Here are three of six encores from a concert in March 2019. 

  • And just for guitarists: playing the Prelude No. 1 by Villa-Lobos without squeaking. 

Any suggestions?

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