tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8827040061563065922.post4845398743860148191..comments2024-03-27T23:06:03.736-05:00Comments on The Music Salon: The Most Audacious Composition of the 20th CenturyBryan Townsendhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09482696991279345516noreply@blogger.comBlogger11125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8827040061563065922.post-59953177432688384882020-06-19T21:16:24.836-05:002020-06-19T21:16:24.836-05:00This post dates back quite a few years now and whi...This post dates back quite a few years now and while my relating of the experience is still just as true as it was, I might have a different view now. Funny thing about the Rite of Spring, it is now entering its second century! I haven't listened to the Crumb for a few decades now. Have to see how it is wearing.Bryan Townsendhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09482696991279345516noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8827040061563065922.post-25134906989178675982020-06-19T21:07:00.095-05:002020-06-19T21:07:00.095-05:00This is an old post but still quite timely and it ...This is an old post but still quite timely and it also relates to our discussion of pop vs classical. I assume what you really mean by the title is the most audacious classical composition composed after WW2. If it truly is the whole 20th C I think it has to be The Rite of Spring. <br /><br />Along with the Reich pieces you cite I would also add Ancient Voices of Children by George Crumb which is simple music but with a fresh non-hackneyed structure. Interestingly it was written about the same time. Perhaps these pieces were indirectly the result of prodding by the rising influence of pop music.Maurynoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8827040061563065922.post-59441211836030765602013-11-19T07:45:18.510-06:002013-11-19T07:45:18.510-06:00Ghana is certainly the place to hear great drummin...Ghana is certainly the place to hear great drumming. In fact, Steve Reich went there to study with a master-drummer. I'm sure mine is a minority opinion, but I think that Drumming is fascinating for what it refused to do: no more dissonance and no more hidden complexity. Just audible processes. At the time, this was a very radical step.Bryan Townsendhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09482696991279345516noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8827040061563065922.post-43628366831950796712013-11-18T22:35:38.380-06:002013-11-18T22:35:38.380-06:00This might just be a reflection of my growing up i...This might just be a reflection of my growing up in Ghana, where I heard excellent drumming on an almost-daily basis, but I don't understand the hype about the Reich piece.Augustinenoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8827040061563065922.post-21067707153984694602012-10-02T14:10:00.290-05:002012-10-02T14:10:00.290-05:00Yes those are certainly two of his better works I&...Yes those are certainly two of his better works I've heard. I slightly prefer his Triple Quartet, if only because it's one of his darker pieces.<br /><br />Still it all has this 'soundscape' quality, perhaps better suited to the background of a movie or video game than to the concert hall. That's not really to put it down though, and only my personal opinion of course.Nathan Shirleyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14123467208814463388noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8827040061563065922.post-85230038078233958432012-10-02T12:55:51.350-05:002012-10-02T12:55:51.350-05:00I think my favorite Reich is Eight Lines/Octet and...I think my favorite Reich is Eight Lines/Octet and the Music for 18 Instruments. I think I know what you mean about Different Trains, though I find it aesthetically interesting.<br /><br />I will look into Julius Eastman and the clip you sent!Bryan Townsendhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09482696991279345516noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8827040061563065922.post-61443655486884186642012-10-02T12:20:41.488-05:002012-10-02T12:20:41.488-05:00Yes I think Picasso and Reich share at least a few...Yes I think Picasso and Reich share at least a few things in common.<br /><br />Every now and then I hear a piece by Reich that really catches my attention, some very nice stuff from time to time. Overall though, he and Glass are about the same to me (glass has a good harmonic progression from time to time).<br /><br />I hate to say it, but I find Different Trains not only pretentious, but downright obnoxious. Maybe as someone who grew up hearing 'sampled' music regularly (industrial music and all), I heard Different Trains in a different light?<br /><br />Julius Eastman is probably my favorite of the minimalists. He didn't write much as far as I know, but what he did write is certainly on the better end of the minimalist spectrum. Really I'm just not especially crazy about that genre, a bit like trance music.<br /><br />The best minimalist piece ever??<br />http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6_QGQcKq1ik&feature=relmfuNathan Shirleyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14123467208814463388noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8827040061563065922.post-90072879850242666802012-10-02T07:48:29.949-05:002012-10-02T07:48:29.949-05:00Nathan, thanks so much for pushing back on my clai...Nathan, thanks so much for pushing back on my claims. I think the context in which I first heard Drumming contributed a lot to the impact it made on me, which I was trying to get across in the post. I was and still am impressed at the courage it must have taken to take such a radical step. And to bring off an hour and a half composition with such restricted means.<br /><br />But I fully take your point about minimalism. I'm afraid nearly all 20th century composition falls prey to some extent to the 'fashion' model. I ran across this analysis of 20th century modernism in a large history of art by Paul Johnson in which he cites Picasso as being a good example of a 'fashion' modernist.<br /><br />But that being said, I tend to regard Steve Reich as being in a different class than the other minimalists such as Phil Glass. I think that Reich tries to come to grips with some fundamental musical principles. Just how significant he is, only time will tell.<br /><br />What do you think of his string quartet Different Trains?Bryan Townsendhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09482696991279345516noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8827040061563065922.post-5209255943951665062012-10-01T22:51:43.091-05:002012-10-01T22:51:43.091-05:00"if you throw all the colors on the canvas an..."if you throw all the colors on the canvas and mix them together, you always end up with greyish-brown"<br /><br />Very well said.<br /><br />I'm not sure I would give Reich quite as much credit however. To me minimalism was simply a reaction. ANY reaction would have been better. From time to time some of the minimalists stumbled upon a gem, but for the most part they still suffer from the exact same problem as the majority of composers of the time... they are afraid to put aesthetics 1st, in its rightful place. They are too concerned with their self image, the need to stand out. This is what fashion is all about, not art.<br /><br />Most people might say minimalism tends to all sound the same too.Nathan Shirleyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14123467208814463388noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8827040061563065922.post-76241703106691078832012-09-25T10:01:30.835-05:002012-09-25T10:01:30.835-05:00Thanks so much cloudpine! And welcome to the Music...Thanks so much cloudpine! And welcome to the Music Salon. If I do have a bit of wisdom, I think it mostly comes from forty-six years of being a practical musician.Bryan Townsendhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09482696991279345516noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8827040061563065922.post-60763261993879990362012-09-24T15:30:44.799-05:002012-09-24T15:30:44.799-05:00Fantastic Bryan, just wonderful! I don't know ...Fantastic Bryan, just wonderful! I don't know where you fit all your wisdom!cloudpinehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07739638560920581987noreply@blogger.com