In the wake of the terrible attacks in Paris, I found myself listening to a lot of French music and thinking about the Leonard Bernstein quote going around on Facebook: "This will be our reply to violence: to make music more intensely, more beautifully, more devotedly than ever before." This list came to seem like my natural response. A very small response, I know. This list is chronological and leaves off people I should probably include. The forty [note: now forty-one] composers listed below are merely a start.
Léonin Aka Leoninus (c.1135-c.1201)
The Cathedral of Notre Dame in Paris in the 1100s was a major musical center, and Léonin (the first named composer from whom we have notated polyphonic music) was a crucial figure for defining the liturgical use of organum, the first polyphony. Earlier organum was fairly simple, involving parallel intervals and later contrary motion, but the mid-12th century brought...
Léonin Aka Leoninus (c.1135-c.1201)
The Cathedral of Notre Dame in Paris in the 1100s was a major musical center, and Léonin (the first named composer from whom we have notated polyphonic music) was a crucial figure for defining the liturgical use of organum, the first polyphony. Earlier organum was fairly simple, involving parallel intervals and later contrary motion, but the mid-12th century brought...
- 11/15/2015
- by SteveHoltje
- www.culturecatch.com
Music and Sex: Scenes from a life - A novel in progress by Roman AkLeff (first installment can be read here; second here; third here; fourth here; fifth here).
[Warning: the chapter below contains "adult situations." Seriously, this one's not for the faint-hearted.]
Walter’s new home, Carman Hall, was an utterly soulless pile of cinder blocks. No effort at all had been made, during its design and construction two decades earlier, to build in anything conveying the slightest sense of warmth. No carpeting in either the halls or in the suites, no wood anywhere except the doors, no decorative touches, nothing but bare straight lines. One imagined it had been designed so it could be hosed down with minimum effort between school years to as to be literally as well as aesthetically antiseptic. There was not even any accommodation made for cooking; not only were there no kitchen nooks, even hotplates were forbidden (though, given that they were horrific fire hazards, that made sense,...
[Warning: the chapter below contains "adult situations." Seriously, this one's not for the faint-hearted.]
Walter’s new home, Carman Hall, was an utterly soulless pile of cinder blocks. No effort at all had been made, during its design and construction two decades earlier, to build in anything conveying the slightest sense of warmth. No carpeting in either the halls or in the suites, no wood anywhere except the doors, no decorative touches, nothing but bare straight lines. One imagined it had been designed so it could be hosed down with minimum effort between school years to as to be literally as well as aesthetically antiseptic. There was not even any accommodation made for cooking; not only were there no kitchen nooks, even hotplates were forbidden (though, given that they were horrific fire hazards, that made sense,...
- 6/16/2015
- by RomanAkLeff
- www.culturecatch.com
Last Days In Vietnam IFC Films Reviewed for Shockya by Harvey Karten. Data-based on Rotten Tomatoes Grade: A- Director: Rory Kennedy Screenplay: Mark Bailey, Keven McAlester, story by Keven McAlester Cast: Stuart Herrington, Juan Valdez, Kiem Do, Frank Snepp, Henry Kissinger, Dam Pham, Richard Armitage, Rep. Pete McCloskey, Miki Nguyen, Paul Jacobs, Jim Laurie Screened at: Review 1, NYC, 6/26/14 Opens: September 5, 2014 A bumper sticker that has made its presence felt on New York City cars features and American flag with the slogan, “These colors don’t run.” Would that this were true. Let’s forget about Iraq (I guess the slogan was printed some years ago) and look to [ Read More ]
The post Last Days in Vietnam Movie Review appeared first on Shockya.com.
The post Last Days in Vietnam Movie Review appeared first on Shockya.com.
- 9/1/2014
- by Harvey Karten
- ShockYa
Reposted For 2013 Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award
It was playing Bach that brought Canadian pianist Glenn Gould worldwide fame when his recording of the Goldberg Variations – at the time, 1955, a rather esoteric corner of the repertoire – and certainly a hefty percentage of his albums over the course of his career were devoted to the German Baroque master's keyboard output. But in celebrating the 80th anniversary of his birth on September 25, 1932 (and looking forward with sadness to the 30th anniversary of his death of a stroke on October 4, 1982), it's worth remembering that he was interested in many more composers. I didn't have to make too much of a conscious effort to diversify this baker's-dozen list until I got down to the last two spots. (All the recommended recordings were issued by Columbia Records/CBS Masterworks/Sony Classical.)
J.S. Bach: Goldberg Variations, Bwv 988; Sweelinck: Fantasia in D major; Schoenberg: Piano Suite Op.
It was playing Bach that brought Canadian pianist Glenn Gould worldwide fame when his recording of the Goldberg Variations – at the time, 1955, a rather esoteric corner of the repertoire – and certainly a hefty percentage of his albums over the course of his career were devoted to the German Baroque master's keyboard output. But in celebrating the 80th anniversary of his birth on September 25, 1932 (and looking forward with sadness to the 30th anniversary of his death of a stroke on October 4, 1982), it's worth remembering that he was interested in many more composers. I didn't have to make too much of a conscious effort to diversify this baker's-dozen list until I got down to the last two spots. (All the recommended recordings were issued by Columbia Records/CBS Masterworks/Sony Classical.)
J.S. Bach: Goldberg Variations, Bwv 988; Sweelinck: Fantasia in D major; Schoenberg: Piano Suite Op.
- 2/11/2013
- by SteveHoltje
- www.culturecatch.com
Alice Eve, Dr. Carol Marcus, took the stage with Paul Jacobs, Qualcomm’s CEO, to announce an app to promote Paramount’s new film, Star Trek: Into Darkness. You can watch the presentation here:
The Into Darkness app allows fans to become Enterprise crew members. As a member of the crew, you will be sent out on real world missions, think of it as an iEaster Egg hunt. The app completes missions using Qualcomm’s context awareness platform, Gimble. Gimble allows smart phones to interact to the surroundings using geo-fencing, image recognition and audio recognition. So, if you are walking down the street close to a billboard, the app with direct you to it. Scan the billboard or poster with the app to complete the mission. The more missions you complete the more you move up in rank. In addition to bragging rights, there will be special content presented.
The Into Darkness app allows fans to become Enterprise crew members. As a member of the crew, you will be sent out on real world missions, think of it as an iEaster Egg hunt. The app completes missions using Qualcomm’s context awareness platform, Gimble. Gimble allows smart phones to interact to the surroundings using geo-fencing, image recognition and audio recognition. So, if you are walking down the street close to a billboard, the app with direct you to it. Scan the billboard or poster with the app to complete the mission. The more missions you complete the more you move up in rank. In addition to bragging rights, there will be special content presented.
- 1/10/2013
- by Aeryk Pierson
- Obsessed with Film
Qualcomm turned to Hollywood, Nascar and even Microsoft's Steve Ballmer to spice up its opening keynote at the Consumer Electronics Show on Monday, highlighting their latest processors that will make mobile devices much faster and visually sharper. "Pacific Rim" director Guillermo Del Toro joined Qualcomm CEO Paul Jacobs to show a clip of his new robot epic from Warner Bros., streaming it from a tablet that uses a new Qualcomm high-speed chip. Jacobs was showing off two new generations of Snapdragon, a processor that will power mobile devices like phones and...
- 1/8/2013
- by Lucas Shaw
- The Wrap
Composer and pianist whose work included film scores, opera and jazz cabaret
The composer Richard Rodney Bennett, who has died in New York aged 76, pursued multiple musical lives with extraordinary success. He was one of the more distinguished soundtrack composers of his era, having contributed to some 50 films and winning Oscar nominations for his work on Far from the Madding Crowd (1967), Nicholas and Alexandra (1971) and Murder on the Orient Express (1974).
But it scarcely seemed credible that this knack for writing for a mainstream audience in a melodic, romantic style co-existed with his mastery of serialism and 12-tone techniques. From 1957 to 1959, Bennett was a scholarship student with Pierre Boulez in Paris and soaked up the latter's total serialism techniques as well as his infatuation with the German avant garde. He also attended the summer schools at Darmstadt, the mecca for diehard atonalists.
His tremendous facility as a pianist would prompt the...
The composer Richard Rodney Bennett, who has died in New York aged 76, pursued multiple musical lives with extraordinary success. He was one of the more distinguished soundtrack composers of his era, having contributed to some 50 films and winning Oscar nominations for his work on Far from the Madding Crowd (1967), Nicholas and Alexandra (1971) and Murder on the Orient Express (1974).
But it scarcely seemed credible that this knack for writing for a mainstream audience in a melodic, romantic style co-existed with his mastery of serialism and 12-tone techniques. From 1957 to 1959, Bennett was a scholarship student with Pierre Boulez in Paris and soaked up the latter's total serialism techniques as well as his infatuation with the German avant garde. He also attended the summer schools at Darmstadt, the mecca for diehard atonalists.
His tremendous facility as a pianist would prompt the...
- 12/28/2012
- by Adam Sweeting
- The Guardian - Film News
Born August 22, 1862 in St.-Germaine-en-Laye, France, Claude-Achille Debussy was a child prodigy pianist who was admitted to the Paris Conservatory at age 10. Now generally considered to have been the greatest French composer, Debussy is proof that great art can come from terrible human beings. He was supremely self-centered and selfish. Two women -- one his wife -- attempted to kill themselves after he ended his relationships with them in cruelly casual fashion; his behavior was so beyond acceptable norms, even by bohemian French standards, that many of his friends turned their backs on him. In the midst of his greatest personal controversy, when he'd left his wife for a married woman and moved with the latter to England for awhile after to escape the constant recriminations, he wrote his biggest masterpiece, La Mer.
But, of course, there's nothing the French enjoy more than a controversy. Debussy's music was controversial as well.
But, of course, there's nothing the French enjoy more than a controversy. Debussy's music was controversial as well.
- 8/16/2012
- by SteveHoltje
- www.culturecatch.com
James Murdoch, Howard Stringer, Les Moonves, David Zaslav, and, interestingly, Comcast's Brian Roberts and Ge's Jeff Immelt back to back, will be speaking at the annual hush-hush Quadrangle confab being held Wednesday and Thursday in NYC. No media are allowed unless they're moderating panels, and then they're prevented from reporting what's said inside: Speakers -- Emilio AZCÁRRAGA, Grupo Televisa; Dennis Crowley, Foursquare; Barry Diller, Iac; Brian Dunn, Best Buy; Charles Forman & Dan Porter, Omgpop; Reed Hastings, Netflix; Reid Hoffman, LinkedIn; Chad Hurley, YouTube; Jeff Immelt, Ge; Paul Jacobs, Qualcomm; Olli-pekka Kallasvuo, Nokia; Jason Kilar, Hulu; Les Moonves, CBS; Anne Mulcahy, Xerox; James Murdoch, News Corp; Brian Phillips, Thread; Brian Roberts, Comcast; Paul Sagan, Akamai; Eric Schmidt, Google; Ivan [...]...
- 11/3/2009
- by Nikki Finke
- Deadline Hollywood
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