Breathing Curiosity
Weird, strange, unusual —- all terms which seem to me quite inaccurate labels for things we are either not accustomed to or lead us to somewhat uncomfortable states.Which might be the “right” time of the day to absorb such moments, especially those of the musical type?Before going to bed, the common thought is that relaxation… Continue reading Difficult Morning
A truly singular figure in rock music, Robert Fripp is a guitarist, composer, and bandleader who has brought a unique, strikingly intelligent perspective to his work. One of the most technically gifted guitarists in rock, Fripp is the thinking-person's guitar hero, showing no interest in shredding but eager to challenge himself and blaze new trails… Continue reading Robert Fripp *V 16 1946 / The Life You Give
Morton Feldman, born on January 12 1926, in New York, N.Y., U.S.A., was an avant-garde composer. He studied composition with Wallingford Riegger and Stefan Wolpe. In the 1950s, much more influenced by Abstract Expressionist painters than by other composers, he began using a method of graphic notation that included such devices as indicating the length… Continue reading Morton Feldman *I 12 1926 — The Life You Give
Conlon Nancarrow was an iconoclastic American composer who wrote in an utterly new way using new instrumental resources. While isolated from the main currents of music, he was virtually ignored by the public and his colleagues until the 1970s. In the 1980s composer György Ligeti said Nancarrow was writing "the best music by any living… Continue reading Conlon Nancarrow *X 27 1912 — The Life You Give
Luciano Berio, born October 24, 1925, in Oneglia, Italy, is the musician, whose success as theorist, conductor, composer, and teacher placed him among the leading representatives of the musical avant-garde. His style is notable for combining lyric and expressive musical qualities with the most advanced techniques of electronic and aleatory music.Berio studied composing and conducting… Continue reading Luciano Berio *X 24 1925 — The Life You Give
pinna, auricle, outer ear pinna - noun pin·na | \ ˈpi-nə \plural pinnae\ ˈpi-ˌnē, -ˌnī \ or pinnas• a projecting body part (such as a feather, wing, or fin)• the largely cartilaginous projecting portion of the external ear• conducive to the inner ear, in which, with the judgment of other body parts — in flesh… Continue reading pinna this!
Karlheinz Stockhausen, born Aug. 22, 1928, in Mödrath, near Cologne, Germany, is the composer, and important creator and theoretician of electronic and serial music who strongly influenced avant-garde composers from the 1950s through the ’80s.Stockhausen studied at the State Academy for Music in Cologne and the University of Cologne from 1947 to 1951. In 1952… Continue reading The Life You Give: Karlheinz Stockhausen *VIII 22 1928
It seems odd to consider the work of Dagmar Krause as specifically rock, mainly due to her superb talent singing non-rock popular music. It is because of her association with German progressive rockers Slapp Happy, and British avant-garde prog rockers Henry Cow and the Art Bears that Krause becomes a suitable subject for inclusion in… Continue reading The Life You Give: Dagmar Krause *1950
Peter Blegvad — musician, songwriter, cartoonist, writer, and member of the avant-garde band Slapp Happy / born on August 14 1951
...listening to the “Aeolian Harp” — a piece from 1923, by Henry Cowell (1897-1965). It is one of the first piano pieces composed for extended piano techniques, including plucking and sweeping of the actual piano strings. Black tea goes well with it. Henry Cowell, Piano Music / Composers Recordings Inc. (CRI-109), Cover by Carl Malouf
Sila Blume 