21:
I was just watching TV and realized that blogging is the Everyman’s TV. I looked at all the content and image manipulation asking myself: would you do this if you could on your blog? The answer would be: yes.
But blogs have a “dear diary” aspect to them, one that the ultahomogenized network TV doesn’t have. The naughty feeling of peering into someone else’s diary.
The playing field is becoming more and more level as a blog made in someone’s den is competing with CNN.
21:
Wow, anti-war concerts are still happening. Are the 60s back? Hmm, no I guess not. Rolling Stone reported anti-war concert that happened last night featuring Michael Stipe, Bright Eyes, Steve Earle, Rufus Wainwright, Fischerspooner, Moby, Peaches and Devendra Banhart. Yeah, it’s not the 60s. The article gives an overview of who sang what, but as you can imagine, I’m curious to know what Rufus sang.
Striking a completely different note, operatic singer-songwriter Rufus Wainwright also inspired the audience — even though he forgot the words to his tune “11:11″ and la la la-ed his way through. With expected melodrama, smoke filled the stage and lights illuminated the crowd during a sing-a-long on his gospel tune “Hallelujah.” Wainwright’s mother Kate McGarrigle played piano as he belted out Judy Garland’s “Somewhere Over the Rainbow” — changing the closing lyrics to “Where troubles melt like lemon drops/Away from Bush and Cheney/That’s where you’ll find me.”
Rufus, you’ve got a LOT of music to memorize by June. Let’s not start having memory lapses with music YOU wrote!
21:
The concept of contrast is one that is elemental in life. I stumbled across a passage in The Urantia Book about art that helped me focus on one of the important underlying forces of art: “great art invariably involves the effective maninulation of contrasts.” As a composer, here are some parameters in music where contrast rules:
- pitch
- loudness
- register
- orchestration
- texture
- perceived tempo
- perceived tonality
- sectional proportion
- harmonic design
- chordal spacing from close to wide
- musical styles or languages
And the list goes on. When I listen to Beethoven, I hear contrast everywhere. In Debussy, like Monet, the edges are blurrier, but the contrast is still there.
•
What about contrast in love and life?
Del Kolve
Photo by Roger Bourland
I am in an intergenerational relationship where there is a 24 year age difference between us. When I began to fall in love over 11 years ago, I ran to one of my closest friends, Del Kolve, who himself has been in an intergenerational relationship (19 yrs difference) for 33 years, and asked him for guidance. He said something to the effect of:
“Two men already have a certain amount of similarity (i.e. non-contrast) between them, and that is even more true if they are the same age. The contrast in all things between two men in an intergenerational relationship is always interesting. Granted, there are those who prefer the ‘grow old together’ scenario, but I find this one perpetually stimulating on all levels. Right now, Larry is the age I was when we first met, and to me, it’s just fascinating to live through again.”
I have chosen another level of contrast in our relationship: Daniel is Eurasion. His parents liked the East meets West contrast, and I love who they made. But I have no Philipino in my family, so learning that way of life was very different to my own traditional white protestant upbringing. Maybe it’s just me living in a multiethnic city like Los Angeles, but I see so many race mixes here, and I for one would like to go on record as finding them beautiful. It seems the more we intermarry, the more beautiful and strong we become.
Intergeneration cohabitation is not all fun and games, as is any other kind of relationship. The older keep his energy up, well beyond what he may have alone or with someone his own age. The younger learns a great deal from the older and is emboldened and respected by the older. The older learns humility through negotiating/arguing with a younger person, and the aging process. The younger feels more confidence as he is treated more and more like an equal. Both partners must continue to love, celebrate, and embrace the age difference, but also not let it be a bully pulpit of power for the older (I’m older and wiser and therefore I’m right), or an “I’m young and cute––you’re not” offensive tactic by the younger.
(I do not have experiences with and therefore cannot comment on “father – son” role playing relationships, as ours is not that at all.)
•
The built-in contrast (gender and heterosexuality) in the majority of men and women, as well as the electrical universe have a great deal of contrast already “built in” so I’d be preaching to the choir rehashing this.
I’m trying to negotiate the notion of contrast and it’s importance in our lives, and how it jibes with the “birds of a feather” phenomenon where people of similar persuasions, ethnicities, sexual preference, philosophies, religions, neighborhoods (etc.) tend to hang out together. This latter societal habit involves the least amount of contrast as people of this persuasion, seek out those that are most like them.
When I think of figures like Romeo and Juliet, I think I may have answered my own question. They are the characters who seek out contrast (i.e. love outside the accepted circle) and are ultimately cast out for doing so. They pierced the birds-of-a-feather perimeter and paid the ultimate price.
•
Today I read in the New York Times a case where contrast has not happened. A bedouin tribe was identified as having been incestuous (breeding with first and second cousins) for centuries and have passed down debilitating genetic traits to its living progeny today.
Muslim religious leaders have been drafted to help educate the members of the group about genetic problems, speaking out about the dangers of marrying relatives and increasing awareness of genetic testing and counseling. The imams also let families know that under Islam a woman can abort a fetus up to four months for health reasons.
•
Well that’s what was on my mind today: contrast. Contrast in music, gay relationships, Romeo and Juliet, and incestuous Bedouins.
20:
There are many resources for digitized cylinder discs on websites and blogs. I’ve been listening to many ancient recordings and am happy to pass on to you a few amusing and/or entertaining numbers.
The first is a digitized cylindrical recording made at UC Santa Barbara’s Donald C. Davidson Library. The song is called “Eli Green’s cake walk” and is scored for banjo and piano. Listen to the piano. Granted, recording techniques were not what they used to be, but wow! it sounds like the piano is under water. The style is a tricky one to identify. Seems in the folk vein mostly, but the harmonic turns are classically informed. (Originally issued on Columbia Phonograph Co. between 1904 and 1909.)
MP3: Play audio file (cusb-cyl4880d.mp3)
Of all organizations, the National Park Service hosts a website devoted to Thomas Edison’s work in the history of recording. Here is “Barbara Allen” sung by Frank Luther and his Pards. ["Pard" is a word my Kentucky grandfather used to use. I never heard anyone else use it; I assumed it means "friend" or partner. ] Notice how every note slides into the next one. Every note has it’s own character; there is no steady state in his voice.
MP3: Play audio file (EDIS-SRP-0198-15.mp3)
Trevor Hill has a passion for collecting 78’s and cylinders and has an impressive website displaying his collection. You will hear old recordings of presidents, actors, and other famous people from the late 19th century. One of my favorite recordings, which was beautifully restored by sound magician Chris Long, contains a toast by Arthur Sullivan to Thomas Edison upon first hearing the phonograph:
” . . . For myself, I can only say that I am astonished and somewhat terrified at the results of this evening’s experiment — astonished at the wonderful power you have developed, and terrified at the thought that so much hideous and bad music may be put on record forever. But all the same, I think it is the most wonderful thing that I have ever experienced, and I congratulate you with all my heart on this wonderful discovery.”
20:
Four Day Hombre
The UK indie group, FOUR DAY HOMBRE, has decided to issue stock in its label, Alamo Music. In fact, 30 fans have foregone their new kitchens for a chance to own stock in this rock band, described as being somewhere between Coldplay and Radiohead.
Can you imagine if we had the opportunity to buy stock in the Beatles? or the Rolling Stones? or Elvis? or Frank Sinatra? or, or, or…
19:
Following the success of “Hidden Legacies,” I received a commission in 1993 for a work for the Windy City Gay Chorus, conducted at that time by founding director, Richard Garrin. Richard’s energy as a conductor was high: he created tremendous momentum, thrilling phrasing, and a very sexy singing sound in his 60 voice male chorus.
Their interest in the commission was addressing the future of gays and lesbians.
My response was to propose approaching eight prominent gay and lesbian living poets, and ask that they contribute a poem, or suggest a yet unpublished one that would be appropriate for this project. The chorus approved the proposal and off I went.
What was different about this project is that I didn’t want to collaborate only one lyricist. I wanted the freedom of picking my own texts from a variety of poets and a variety of points of view, which seemed appropriate for this project.
The poems and poets appear below:
1. Song of God Biology (James Merrill)
2. Symmetrical Companion (May Swenson)
3. Distressed (Thom Gunn)
4. Spring Spell (Francisco X Alarcon)
5. the last song (bell hooks)
6. Years from Now (J. D. McClatchy)
7. Now and Forever (Allen Ginsberg)
8. Something in Mind (Adrienne Rich)
The process of composing this piece was tremendously stimulating, and this is one of my favorite pieces. Garrin wanted a similar orchestration to “Hidden Legacies” so I scored it for men’s chorus, soloists, bass, 3 synthesizers, and drums. (I got to play bass.)
I will serialize the story of writing this piece and share the poetry used for this cantata, most of which has been published since, some will appear here for the first time. I will attach a performance of each movement with each installation for your entertainment.
17:
[A continuation of the first chapter in Teresina's book called "Ride 4 Your Life."]
After my knee became stronger, I got cocky and bored (a very dangerous combination). Between swimming, the clothes changing, chlorine hair, and having to go to the gym, it was just too much to do everyday. And I also wanted to sweat. I needed something to get my adrenaline going the way that aerobics did. The treadmill and the stair stepper put too much stress on my joints, and because of that, I couldn’t use them, ever.
Reneé suggested that I get on the stationary bike and ride –– fast! So, through no choice of my own I discovered the bike. Even better, there was no stress and no weight-bearing, joint-jolting damage. But, after a while, although I was getting a lot of reading done, some how something was missing. More than that, I got BORED. Really bored. I ached to move, longed for the exhilaration I felt when I danced. And although I was sustaining a healthy weight, I still felt like it was a struggle. When I did the aerobics and the swimming, when all the parts of my body were being used, I could eat and lose weight, which was (and still is) my favorite thing. There I was at the gym, working out for 45 minutes at a clip, but needed to exercise my upper body after that. So after an hour plus, I’m still not feeling great. There had to be something more; I was only working my lower body, and my upper body was just…there.
Then I had a thought. I decided I would try to do everything that I had done in classes over the years with my arms, ON THE BIKE. I started moving, and something happened. My heart began to pound, and I started to get sweaty! I immediately felt the blood and endorphins coursing through my body. It was joyous, I was pumped, I was high. I danced –– and then ––– I got bored again, which is not unusual for me.
I had done some weight training over the course of my physical education, so I knew how to use weights effectively. I thought to myself, “How boring, just standing here doing all these reps, why take the extra time after the bike exercise? Why not just do my free-weight exercises at the same time!”
Who would run with weights? It’s much too dangerous. But if you are sitting, if you don’t have to worry about falling, or injuring yourself, or losing your balance, or tripping, it becomes safe! Your legs are going around and around and around, working, pumping, moving, but you can concentrate on upper-body sculpting, breathing, burning fat, accurate form, letting go of tension and igniting the metabolism –– which is the key to weight loss!
As I moved the weights, I felt my whole body working. This was cool. Whether I was doing a portebra (a ballet arm movements), or a military press (an overhead press with weights), I could feel my body energized. I was getting an all over workout, not experiencing boredom, getting skinny and eating! I was getting more done in less time. I was wearing myself out and loving it. I didn’t have to have a teacher, a pool, a studio, a gym, or a class. I felt liberated. I felt in control.
As time went on, I added bands and bars, and as time went on, a program that will keep you fit and happy –– in just ten minutes a day –– was born. The best news for me is that, after all these years, I’m still not bored. There is always something new to come up with: a new move, a new exercise, a new stretch, something to think about, or music –– new or old –– to inspire me to perspire.
After many years of torturing myself, I now have chosen to dedicate my energy to something that has become profoundly worthwhile. And after years of self-abuse, eating disorders, bad relationships, doormat behavior, and the everlasting desire for skinniness, I have found a program that I can’t wait to share with you: it’s call Ride 4 Your Life!
© 2006 by Teresina
17:
The death of the CD continues. Now, the LA Times just announced that my hometown orchestra will begin selling it’s concerts as downloads. I’m thrilled. I’m sad for Virgin and Tower and all the rest, but times are changing and I’m ready. How about you?
16:
Now that I’ve finished my Rufus seminar, I must confess: over the last 4 months I fell out of love with Rufus.
When I get to know the music of a particular composer or songwriter, I read everything I can about them, I listen to EVERYTHING they have done, I become completely obsessed. This fanaticism pays off in that I am able to learn a lot in a short amount of time. And then after I’ve devoured it all, I ask “is that all there is?” I encourage students to do this with their research: fall in love with what you do, and you’ll get A’s.
I wrote about half of my book under this obsessed whirlwind. And then, when I found out that Cherry Lane Publishing would “not allow” me to print my transcriptions of Rufus’s songs in my book, the wind went out of my sails. I thought I was offering something to a group of people who are dying for his sheet music. Standing back, I realized that this is Rufus’s job, not mine. Many of us are puzzled as to the delay of releasing his songs as sheet music. Is it really Rufus who doesn’t want it out there? Is it that only he wants himself to play his music?
Teaching the Rufus seminar at UCLA was an interesting challenge, as I had fallen out of love with Rufus and yet had to teach a course on his music with the same passion I had when I was obsessed. This is the side of teaching that is most like the acting career: one has to “sell” something to students as if your life depends on it. I “sell” composing in the 12-tone technique as though it were a lost commandment.
I stopped listening to Rufus’s music and put aside working on the book for three months while I taught the course. It was just what the doctor ordered. That respite put some distance between me and my subject, and the time away feels good.
I can now come back to the project with a bit less testosterone and a bit more Tai Chi.
I am once again in love with the music of Rufus Wainwright.
Celebrated here in a 1999 stamp, the Happy Face symbol was created 33 years earlier by Seattle ad executive David Stern.
15:
I know, I know, it’s a sad moment: the Rufus seminar is over. We had our last class of the quarter. (We are on quarters at UCLA, which means 10 weeks: the first class was an introduction.)Today the class was “teacher’s choice” meaning I brought in my iPod and played my favorite songs outside the canon (the officially released four CDs). If this were a class of music majors or composers, I would have played:
The Red Thread
Schubert Song
The Bela Song
The Money Song
But these were bright undergraduates NOT in music, and so I picked he following songs:
I’ll Build a Stairway to Paradise (G. Gershwin)
Ups and Downs (quotes from Boris Godinov)
What’ll I do? (with Antony and the Johnsons)
Sonnet 29 (a Shakespeare setting)
The Maker Makes (if this were not used in BB Mountain, would is sound cowboy like?)
Some Children See Him (sentimental Xmas song)
Minuet Chretiens (”O Holy Night” in French; different)
I Eat Dinner (by his mom, Kate, sung her with Dido)
He Ain’t Heavy (He’s My Brother) (a cover of a Hollies song)
The students filled out class evaluations at the beginning of class. Paymon bought cookies for all. It was interesting: usually at the end of class, the student leave instantly at 3:50, yesterday, they all lingered, like me, not really wanting it to end. Sigh….
—————
In the “my favorite new instrument” category, I choose the following instrument:
Here is what this instrument sounds like.
MP3: Play audio file (builda.mp3)
This instrument seems to be a brass/string instrument, analagous to a violin, but with a bell so that it’s sound can be projected, and compete with the brass, saxes, and percussion. But what the hell is this thing called? Anyone know? Rufus performed George Gershwin’s “I’ll Build a Stairway to Paradise” on Conan O’Brien, and this dude was in the orchestra. I don’t own the video, so I don’t know whether this instrument also appears in “The Aviator” which is where this performance originally was heard. If anyone has the video, let me know… Later on in this performance we see a huge brass, or metal string bass analogous to the double bass but made of metal with a kind a pewter patina.
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