#string sextet

[lesser-known-composers]

Alexander Borodin (1833–1887) - String Sextet in d minor

I. Allegro II. Andante

BIN CHAO, JORGE TEIXEIRA -violino

LU ZHENG, LEONOR BRAGA SANTOS -viola

VAROUJAN BARTIKIAN, MARCO PEREIRA -violoncelo

[depressedraisin]

that is a lot of chairs for a string quartet tho

[cuddlytogas]

it's possible I made an extended playlist to give context to the classical (non-technically speaking) music in OFMD, with the pieces listed in historical/chronological order, and in the context of their full pieces (mostly - I'm not literally going to put entire operas on there, but symphonies and concertos have mostly been finished)

and it's possible that that playlist is ten hours long

and it's possible you can find it on spotify right now, and that below the cut is the full chronology

(edit: corrections welcome btw!!!! i am by no means a music historian, nor have any higher level music education, just a lifelong association and interest <3 if you know better than me, PLEASE let me know so it can be more accurate!)

N: most of the Vivaldi pieces don't really have any dates I could find, so they're just sort of scattered through the first few decades of the 18th century. and yes, technically the opening Corelli isn't in there, but I think putting another La Folia in is important for the context of s2!

1700 - Arcangelo Corelli, Violin Sonata in D Minor, Op 5 No 12 "La Follia"

1703-6 - George Frederic Handel, Keyboard Suite No 4 in D Minor, HWV 437

? - Antonio Vivaldi, Cello Concerto in G Minor, RV 416

1711 - Antonio Vivaldi, Concerto No 11 in D Minor for Two Violins and Cello RV 565

1715 - Georg Philipp Telemann, Sonata for Violin and Basso Continuo in G Major TWV 41:G1

1718-20 - Antonio Vivaldi, The Four Seasons, Violin Concerto in G Minor Op 8

Early/mid C18 - Domenico Scarlatti, Keyboard Sonata in F Major, K 107

? - Antonio Vivaldi, Oboe Concerto in C, RV 452

1720s? - Antonio Vivaldi, Concerto for Two Cellos in G Minor, RV 531

1727 - Johann Sebastian Bach, Ich steh mit einem Fuß im Grabe, BWV 156

1725-35 - Georg Philipp Telemann, Concerto for Recorder and Viola da Gamba in A Minor TWV 52:a1

? - Antonio Vivaldi, Concerto in G Minor, RV 576

1730 - Johann Sebastian Bach, Orchestral Suite No 3 in D Major, BWV 1068

? - Antonio Vivaldi, Piccolo Concerto in A Minor, RV 445

? - Antonio Vivaldi, Trio Sonata in D Minor, RV 63, 'La Follia'

1738 - Johann Sebastian Bach, Harpsichord Concerto No 4 in A Major, BWV 1055

1738-9 - Johann Sebastian Bach, Concerto for Harpsichord, Strings, and Continuo No. 5 in F Minor, BWV 1056

Early/mid C18 - Domenico Scarlatti, Keyboard Sonata in E Major, K 380

1741 - Johann Sebastian Bach, Goldberg Variations, BWV 988

1747 - Johann Sebastian Bach, Musical Offering, BWV 1079

1747-8 - George Frederic Handel, Concerto in F Major, No 16, HWV 305a

1773 - Mozart, Symphony No 25 in G Minor, K 183

1782 - Mozart, String Quartet No 14 in G Major, K 387

1795 - Beethoven, Piano Sonata No 2 in A Major, Op 2 No 2

1792 - Beethoven, Piano Sonata No 3 in C Major, Op 2 No 3

1780 - Mozart, Symphony No 34 in C Major, K 338

1786 - Mozart, Le nozze di Figaro (excerpts)

1810? - Beethoven, Bagatelle in A Minor, WoO 59: Für Elise

1811-12 - Beethoven, Symphony No 7 in A Major, Op 92

1826 - Franz Schubert, Ständchen (Serenade) "Horch, horch, die Lerch!" D 889

1827 - Franz Schubert, 4 Impromptus, Op 90, D 899

1833-4 - Felix Mendelssohn, Lieder Ohne Worte, Book 2, Op 30

1835 - Frédéric Chopin, 12 Études, Op 25 (excerpts)

1838 - Robert Schumann, Kinderszenen, Op 15 (excerpts)

1838 - Franz Liszt, arr., 12 Lieder von Franz Schubert, S 558, No 9

1842 - Frédéric Chopin, Waltz No 12 in F Minor, Op 70, No 2

1871 - August Wilhelmj, arr., Air on a G String

1874 - Giuseppi Verdi, Messa da Requiem (excerpts)

1878 - Antonín Dvořák, String Sextet in A Major Op 48

1888-91 - Claude Debussy, Two Arabesques, L 66

1890 - Claude Debussy, Rêverie, L 68

1888, 89, 90 - Erik Satie, Trois Gymnopédies, Gnossienne No 5, Trois Gnossiennes

[opera-ghosts]

OTD in Music History: Carnegie Hall opens in New York City in 1891 with a concert that included Ludwig van Beethoven’s (1770 - 1827) “Leonore Overture No. 3” conducted by Walter Damrosch (1862 - 1950) and Pyotr Tchaikovsky (1840 - 1893) leading his own “Marche Solennelle (Coronation March).” Tchaikovsky is undoubtedly the most popular Russian composer of all time. Although he has sometimes drawn scorn from critics and academics, Tchaikovsky's music has always held great appeal for the general public because of its incredible melodic inspiration, lush harmonies, and colorful orchestration. Remarkably, Tchaikovsky did not seriously begin studying music until his early 20s -- and although he died in his early 50s, he managed to complete 20 choral works, 11 overtures, 11 operas, 7 symphonies, 5 suites, 4 cantatas, 3 ballets, 3 piano concertos, 3 string quartets, a violin concerto, a string sextet, and more than 100 individual smaller songs and piano pieces. One contemporaneous review of Tchaikovsky’s contribution to the opening of Carnegie Hall offered the following assessment: “Tchaikovsky’s march is simple, strong, and sober, but not very original. The leading theme recalls Handel’s ‘Hallelujah Chorus,’ and the treatment of the first part is Handelian… but of the deep passion, the complexity, and poetry which mark other works of Tchaikovsky, there is no sign in this march.” (Oh well... you can’t win ‘em all.) For his part, Tchaikovsky kept a private travel diary in which he recorded his views that Carnegie Hall was "unusually impressive and grand when illuminated and filled with an audience" and that New York was "a very beautiful and original city… on the main streets, single-story cottages alternate with buildings that extend up to nine floors!” PICTURED: A photo portrait of Tchaikovsky showing him much as he would have appeared at the time of his participation in the opening of Carnegie hall.

[krispyweiss]

Dweezil Zappa at KEMBA Live!; Columbus, Ohio; April 30, 2025

With choreographed dance moves, a lack of spontaneity and Dweezil Zappa speaking between songs with the purposeful inflections of his father, Frank, the son for the first time since 2006 felt more like an imitator than an interpreter of timeless material.

The Dweeze’s band that brought the Rox(postroph)y tour to Columbus, Ohio’s, KEMBA Live! April 30 sported a new lineup that found keyboardist Bobby Victor and guitarist, percussionist and singer Zach Tabori joining the long-term core of Ryan Brown (drums), Kurt Morgan (bass), MVP Scheila Gonzalez (woodwinds, keys, percussion, vocals) and guitarist Zappa, who played Dad’s Gibson Les Paul and SG guitars as part of his six-string arsenal.

Technically proficient in the extreme, the sextet performed with invisible chains holding them back, making for an evening of potential excellence that broke free but a few times - Gonzalez’s singing of “Montana” among them - during the 150-minute set. As a result, “Inca Roads” dragged rather than raced across more than a quarter-hour of composed improvisation that left the smallish, seated audience antsy and mild in their reactions between tracks.

But then …

… the lengthy and challenging “More Trouble Every Day” and “Punky’s Whips,” both full of tricky time signatures and stylistic shifts, earned the only mid-show standing ovations as Dweezil channeled Frank with searing solos over the double drumming of Tabori and Brown. These were the kind of performances that’ve kept people returning to see and hear the son of … for nearly two decades.

These moments ameliorated to some extent time-eating escapades that included a band dance-off for baby-seal nachos after the early-show run of “Don’t Eat the Yellow Snow”-> “Nanook Rubs It” -> “St. Alphonso’s Pancake Breakfast” -> “Approximate.” Later, Gonzalez led a duckcall-subbing-for-vocals version of Lionel Richie’s “Hello,” which was funny enough; however, the joke was stale by the time Bon Jovi’s “Livin’ on a Prayer” followed. And to tack Van Halen’s “Push Comes to Shove,” with Victor down front as “Bobby Lee Roth,” on to that was a sucking-oxygen-from-the-room decision.

The band ill-advisedly wrote some new lyrics to “Cosmik Debris” and wisely resurrected the “Lost Zappa Song,” a never-recorded-or-written-down piece Dweezil learned from his uncle that sounded like something Edgar Winter might’ve wrote.

It this’d been Sound Bites’ first Dweezil/Zappa Plays Zappa gig, the blog probably would not go see it again. But given the previous seven shows were unbelievably spectacular - more interpretation than tribute act - he’s willing to consider the possibility of an off night, or perhaps overall rustiness after not touring since before the COVID-19 pandemic, including a show in Columbus two days before quarantine began, and will give it a shot next time.

Grade card: Dweezil Zappa at KEMBA Live! - 4/30/25 - B-

5/1/25

[amadea-nachtmusik]

A Musical Joke (German: Ein musikalischer Spaß) K. 522, (divertimento for two horns in F, and string quartet) is a composition by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart; he entered it in his Verzeichnis aller meiner Werke (Catalogue of All My Works) on 14 June 1787. Commentators have opined that the piece's purpose is satirical – that "[its] harmonic and rhythmic gaffes serve to parody the work of incompetent composers" – though Mozart himself is not known to have revealed his actual intentions.

The title A Musical Joke might be a poor rendering of the German original: Spaß does not necessarily connote the jocular, for which the word Scherz would more likely be used. In Fritz Spiegl's view, a more accurate translation would be Some Musical Fun

The sometimes-mentioned nicknames Dorfmusikantensextett ("village musicians' sextet") and Bauernsinfonie ("farmers' symphony") were added after Mozart's death; these names ridicule the players more than inept composers.

Structure and compositional elements

The piece consists of four movements and takes about 20 minutes to perform.

Allegro (sonata form), F major

Menuetto and trio, F major (trio in B♭ major)

Adagio cantabile, C major

Presto (sonata rondo form), F major

Compositorial comedic devices include:

secondary dominants replacing necessary subdominant chords;

dissonance in the horns;

parallel fifths

whole-tone scales in the violin's high register;

clumsy orchestration, backing a thin melodic line with a heavy, monotonous accompaniment in the last movement;

going to the wrong keys for a sonata-form structure (the first movement, for example, never succeeds in modulating to the dominant, and simply jumps there instead after a few failed attempts);

starting the slow movement in the wrong key (G major instead of C major);

a pathetic attempt at a fugato, also in the last movement.

The piece is notable for one of the earliest known uses of polytonality (though not the earliest, being predated by Heinrich Ignaz Franz Biber's Battalia), creating the gesture of complete collapse at the finale. This may be intended to produce the impression of grossly out-of-tune string playing, since the horns alone conclude in the tonic key. The lower strings behave as if the tonic has become B♭, while the violins and violas switch to G major, A major and E♭ major, respectively.

[lesser-known-composers]

Vincent d'Indy (1851–1931) - String Sextet in B-Flat Major, Op. 92 (1927)

Movement One: Entrée en Sonate - 0:00

Movement Two: Divertissement - 6:27

Movement Three: Théme, Variations, et Finale - 9:17

Performed by the Quatuor Joachim +

[slackville-records]

As the man who popularized the guitar in a jazz setting, his legacy lives on.

Charlie Christian was born on July 29, 1916 in Bonham, Texas but was raised in Oklahoma City from the time he was two years old. Charlie's immediate family were all musically talented - his mother played the piano; his father sang and played the trumpet and guitar; his brother, Clarence, played the violin and the mandolin; and his oldest brother, Edward, played the string bass. His parents made a living writing accompaniments for silent movies. At the age of twelve, Charlie was playing on a guitar that he had made from a cigar box in a manual training class. Charlie was actually first trained on the trumpet which was a huge contribution to his fluid single-note guitar style. Then, his father and brothers formed a quartet and Charlie got a real guitar. They performed in Oklahoma City clubs and Charlie even met Lester Young (tenor saxophonist) during one of his performances. Charlie was fascinated by Lester's style which helped in shaping his own stylistic development.

At the age of twenty-one he was playing electric guitar and leading a jump band. At the age of 23 (1939), Charlie was discovered by a talent scout, John Hammond, who had stopped in Oklahoma city to attend Benny Goodman's first Columbia recording sessions. Pianist Mary Lou Williams had actually recommended Charlie to John Hammond. Goodman was not very excited, this was due to the fact that Charlie was an unknown musician playing an electric instrument. The amplified electric guitar was fairly new at the time (trombonist and arranger Eddie Durham began playing it as a solo instrument in Jimmie Lunceford's band in 1935). It was essentially an amplified "f-hole," and it helped in making the jazz guitar solo a practical reality for the first time.

Previously relegated to a chordal rhythm style by the limitations of the acoustic instrument, jazz guitarists could now revel in the volume, sustain, and tonal flexibility provided by amplification. Charlie quickly realized the potential of the electric guitar, and developed a style which made the most of the unique properties of the instrument. When Charlie arrived in Los Angeles, he was only allowed a brief audition and he was not even allowed the time to plug in his amp. Goodman was not impressed so Hammond decided to sneak Charlie onstage later that night during a concert at the Victor Hugo. This made Goodman angry and he responded by launching into "Rose Room," which he assumed Charlie would be unfamiliar with. Charlie performed an impressive extended solo on the piece. This impressed Goodman and Charlie was let into the band.

Charlie was a hit on the electric guitar and remained in the Benny Goodman Sextet for two years (1939-1941). He wrote many of the group's head arrangements (some of which Goodman took credit for) and was an inspiration to all. The sextet made him famous and provided him with a steady income while Charlie worked on legitimizing, popularizing, revolutionizing, and standardizing the electric guitar as a jazz instrument.

After working at nights with Goodman, Charlie would seek out jam sessions. He discovered a club in Harlem, Minton's, located on New York's West 118th Street. At Minton's Charlie played with such greats as Dizzie Gillespie, Charlie Parker, Thelonius Monk, Joe Guy (trumpet), Nick Fenton (bass), Kenny Kersey (piano), and Kenny Clarke (drums). Charlie impressed them all by improvising long lines that emphasized off beats, and by using altered chords. He even bought a second amp to leave at Minton’s. Jamming sessions would usually last until about 4 A.M. and Minton’s became the cradle of the bebop movement. Charlie's inventive single-note playing helped popularize the electric guitar as a solo instrument and helped usher in the era of bop.

In the summer of 1941, Christian was touring the Midwest when he began showing the first signs of tuberculosis. He left the tour and was admitted to the Seaview Sanatorium on Staten Island. While he was there, he died on March 2, 1942 at the age of twenty-five.

Charlie Christian’s most familiar recordings are those with Benny Goodman which were available on vinyl for years ("Solo Flight") and which are now available on cd as "Charlie Christian: Genius of the Electric Guitar." There are recorded sessions from when he played with members of the Goodman and Count Basie bands, Lester Young, and numerous artists at Minton's. Charlie Christian had an immense influence on the development of BeBop and the transition from Swing to BeBop.

Source: All About Jazz

[dustedmagazine]

X-Ray Hex Tet — s-t (Reading Group)

The ensemble X-Ray Hex Tet is the convergence of some of the most interesting improvisers currently working in the UK. Seymour Wright (alto saxophone) and Pat Thomas (piano and electronics) play together in [Ahmed], one of the most forward-thinking groups currently rethinking the jazz tradition. Wright and Paul Abbott (real and imaginary drums) work together in a variety of contexts. XT shatters the reed/drums free improv tradition through the use of feedback, electronics and studio experimentation both as a duo and with collaborators like Thomas, RP Boo and Anne Gillis. lll人 is Wright and Abbott’s skirling elecro-acoustic improv trio along with Daichi Yoshikawa. Wright and Crystabel Riley (drums) play together in the splintered skronk duo @xcrswx. Wright and Abbott have worked with Billy Steiger (celeste and violin) as part of the Creaking Breeze Ensemble, expanding on the writings of American poet/novelist Nathaniel Mackey. Each member of the ensemble also have solo practices well worth investigating. The group is rounded out by Edward George (words and recordings), a writer and broadcaster who was a founding member of Black Audio Film Collective and a member of the techno dub group Hallucinator.

Weaving together so many diverse threads could easily result in a musical mess. But the sextet masterfully draws on their collective experiences, melding the distinctive parts into a true ensemble music. Their debut self-titled release was recorded live at the Taktlos Festival in Zurich in 2023, capturing two half-hour collective improvisations. The first piece begins with blasts of Wright’s alto, meticulously adding in filaments of electronics, percussion and the quiet underflow of chattering words. George’s text emerges from the spare instrumental interplay, examining the colonialization of African and Caribbean countries by Britain. Riley’s cascading drums and Abbott’s percussive punctuations provide a free momentum to the piece as the layers of reeds, keyboards, electronics, strings and reverb-drenched speech move in parallel, intersecting and overlapping while displaying a keen ear toward leaving space for all of the timbrally-rich details to emerge. Densities build and release, pushing and pulling at the free trajectories of the piece. The central section drops to quiet, considered interplay then surges with intertwined forceful torrents  and sputtering fragmented shards of sound which they adeptly bring to a collective resolve.

The second piece emerges with reed overtones, pinging electronics, shuddering sheets of sound, and spattered drums. Steiger’s celeste introduces brittle sonorities that fuse with Wright’s stabbing alto, shimmering electronic scrims, percussive slashes and George’s decayed exclamations. Riley introduces fractured snare rolls that propels the improvisation into surging layers as George chants the names of people martyred to racist state violence as the improvisation transforms into an abstracted dirge. 20 minutes in, the piece builds intensity with whirling ebbs and flows of crackling electronics, roiling drums, chiming celeste and piano, and reed microtones. The group brings the improvisation to a close with hissing textures and George’s whispered and processed recitations that recede into quivering striations. With their debut release, X-Ray Hex Tet has staked out their place at the nexus of free electro-acoustic improvisation and potent political statements. With the impressive, continued output of each of the members, this release hasn’t seemed to get the attention it deserves. One hopes it finds a wider audience. I look forward to hearing where the group will take the project.

Michael Rosenstein

[haveyoulistenedtothisalbum-poll]

Tracklist:

Succession (Main Title Theme) (Extended Intro Version) • Rondo In F Minor For Piano And Orchestra - "Kendall's Journey" • Moderato Con Brio For Violin, Harp, And Orchestra • Intermezzo In C Minor - "Money Wins" • Rondo In F Minor For Solo Piano - "Kendall's Summit" • Atmosphere In B Minor • Contredanse - "Shiv's Move" • Cello Quintet In C Minor - "Tern Haven" • Andante Con Moto - Piano And Strings - "Vaulter" • Rondo In F Minor For String Orchestra • Concerto Grosso In C Minor - Ripieno Strings • Andante Con Moto - String Orchestra Variation • Roman's Beat - "Hearts" • Andante In C Minor - Main Theme Strings Variation • Maestoso - Piano Solo • Larghetto - Piano, Celesta, Strings - "Kendall's Return" • Intermezzo In C Minor - Piano And Double Bass • Moderato Con Brio - Violin Sextet • Boar On The Floor • Kendall's Departure - "This Is Not For Tears" • Maestoso - String Orchestra - "To The Press Conference" • Concerto Grosso In C Minor + End Credits - "You Have To Be A Killer" • L To The OG

Spotify ♪ YouTube

[steinwayandhissons]

classical pieces with the car energy (shamelessly stealing this wonderful idea from @depressedraisin)

and yes these will the most gut-wrenching, heart-breaking pieces of music so brace yourselves

gustav mahler - symphony no.3: finale (berlin philharmoniker, orchestra) -> (this literally makes me cry every time i listen to it without fail)

gabriel fauré - piano trio in d minor op.120: mvmt 1 (beaux arts trio, piano, violin, cello)

edvard grieg - piano sonata in e minor op.7: mvmt 2 (mikhail pletnev, piano)

maurice ravel - sonata for violin and cello: mvmt 3 (nigel kennedy, lynn harrell, violin, cello)

amy woodeford-finden - 4 indian love lyrics no.4: till i wake (ben johnson, voice, piano)

arnold schoenberg - verklärte nacht op.4 (ensemble intercontemporain, string sextet)

frank bridge - cello sonata: mvmt 1 (actually just the whole thing) (steven isserlis, connie shih, cello, piano)

ralph vaughan williams - on wenlock edge: clun (anthony rolfe johnson - tenor, graham johnson - piano, duke quartet - string quartet) -> (literally part of the lyrics - ‘tis sure small matter for wonder if sorrow is with one still. and if as a lad grows older the troubles he bears are more, he carries his griefs on a shoulder that handselled them long before. )

ignacy jan paderewski - miscellanea op.16 no.4: nocturne in b flat major (stephen hough, piano)

[manmetaphysical]

Tomorrow, 21st November, is the solar return of Icelandic singer Björk who is a triple Scorpio- a 'strange fascinator'. So here's a full analysis of her chart along with asteroids and dwarf planets. It's split into parts so here is Part 5 as an example.

5: The Call to the Sacred Shimmering

Photo credit :Bjork Face Book post on the ‘Cornucopia’  Book release (October 8th, 2024)

Polyhymnia is the muse of sacred and choral music and her prominence in Björk’s chart validates the search for these lesser-known asteroids- as there she is prominently conjunct Bjork’s Venus in Capricorn. That is an outstanding connection to have for a musician. Venus is the love of art and beauty and in Capricorn is classy, status conscious, professional and tends to age very well, but with this added touch of the sacred includes yearning for the ineffable, the celestial, which brings about a purer and more mystical state of mind. That gives stature and gravitas to the lush style of a classical composer to all the string arrangements she weaves into her songs. Sometimes this orchestal sound is when she uses the Sibelius computer software and other times, it involves actually being accompanied by the Brodsky Quartet or a clarinet sextet as on the album Fossora (2022).

In 1999 Börk was selected by British composer John Taverner to premier a 15-minute version of a spiritual and devotional piece of music,  ‘A Prayer of the Heart’ which is Kyrie Eleison sung in Greek, Coptic and English. Tavener has a powerful kite formation in his chart and the asteroid of sacred music Polyhymnia is conjunct Chiron in mid-Virgo which just happens to conjunct Björk’s Pluto/Uranus so this was a good collaboration. Thrown into the mix here with Bjork’s Venus with Polyhymia by degree are the asteroids Kaali and the asteroid of the poet Sappho. Sappho gives the personal ‘intimate’ touch to the sacred sound implying there is no difference between lower and higher for her.

If this is reflected in her art then visuals predominate almost as much as sound in her work. She has had some extraordinary looks as she is somewhat of a total performer using multi-media and costume to paintbrush her ideas as visual metaphors. Sometimes this is not subtle at all as with the caterpillar dress, but somehow you never question her honesty in attempting the unthinkable. She has in her time been linked to numerous fashion designers from Junya Watanabe, Hussein Chalayan, Olivier Roustieng, Iris van Herpen and especially to Alexander McQueen who created one of her most iconic looks for the album cover for Homogenic. She is also associated with several musician lovers/frieds Tricky, Damon Albarn, Thom Yorke, Goldie and surrealist artist and video maker Matthew Barney of the Cremaster video series. All her other collaborations are too numerous to mention.  

[opera-ghosts]

OTD in Music History: Immortal composer Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky (1840 - 1893) dies in St. Petersburg. Tchaikovsky is undoubtedly the most popular Russian composer of all time. Although he has sometimes drawn scorn from critics and academics, Tchaikovsky's music has always held great appeal for the general public because of its incredible melodic inspiration, lush (and often surprising) harmonies, and colorful orchestration. Although Tchaikovsky did not seriously begin studying music until his early 20s and died in his early 50s, he composed prolifically and still managed to produce 20 choral works, 11 overtures, 11 operas, 7 symphonies, 5 suites, 4 cantatas, 3 ballets, 3 piano concertos, 3 string quartets, a violin concerto, a string sextet, and more than 100 individual smaller songs and piano pieces. Tchaikovsky's work can admittedly be uneven in quality -- but as often as not, he achieved a remarkable unity of melodic and harmonic inspiration with dramatic content and appropriate form, and his finest masterpieces easily elevate him into the first rank of history's great "classical" composers. PICTURED: An 1890’s cabinet photograph of Tchaikovsky which he signed and dated on June 7, 1893, just five months before his untimely death. Per the date of the inscription, Tchaikovsky signed this photograph while he was visiting Britain (from May 25 to June 30, 1893) to receive an honorary Doctorate from Cambridge University. His distinguished musical colleagues Camille Saint-Saens (1835 - 1921), Max Bruch (1838 - 1920), Arrigo Boito (1842 - 1918), and Edvard Grieg (1843 - 1907) (who was not able to attend due to illness) were also awarded honorary Doctorates at the same ceremony, which took place on June 13th.

“Life is beautiful in spite of everything! There are many thorns, but the roses are there, too.” -- P. Tchaikovsky “To regret the past, hope in the future, and never to be satisfied with the present: that is what I spend my whole life doing.” -- P. Tchaikovsky “Truly there would be good reason to go mad, were it not for music!” -- P. Tchaikovsky

[thebowerypresents]

King Gizzard & the Lizard Wizard Unleash Three-Hour Show on Forest Hills Stadium on Friday Night

King Gizzard & the Lizard Wizard – Forest Hills Stadium – August 16, 2024

Prior to the Paris Olympics, if someone had mentioned Australia and Raygun in the same sentence, you’d have been forgiven for assuming it the reference was to a song or album by the madly prolific (and sci-fi adjacent) Australian rock outfit King Gizzard & the Lizard Wizard. While that country’s reputation still recovers from the breakdancer who couldn’t dance, those assembled at Forest Hills Stadium on Friday turned their attention to the Australian rock band that can, and does, do it all. Their three-hour set — the first of two weekend appearances at the venue — kicked off with the live debut of the blues-heavy “Field of Vision,” off the recently released Flight b741, the six-piece’s 26th(!) LP.

The group’s music covers a wide array of genres, and their shaggy fans of all ages were as comfortable in tie-dyes as they were in the mosh pits erupting throughout the night, first for a speedy, ear-splitting rendition of “Gamma Knife.” Fitting for the season, those mosh pits were shaped like hurricanes, with bodies increasingly moving faster toward the center, except for the inevitable one or two standing still in the eye of the storm. Friday’s show gave the band as much room as they needed to display all facets of Gizzardom. 

“Mr. Beat,” a sing-along, evolved into a jam that could be played out into infinity. With the sun still shining, the music was firmly on the boogie end of the spectrum with an equally playful rendition of the harmonica-heavy, aptly titled “Boogieman Sam.” But as day turned into night with a red sun setting into Manhattan’s hazy skies, the set turned toward the sextet’s heavier jams of the brown-acid variety. 

First came the stellar four-song string of Gizzy mind-palace classics, “I’m in Your Mind,” “I’m Not in Your Mind,” “Cellophane” and “I'm in Your Mind Fuzz.” “God is real. God is a black hole,” announced someone from the stage as they kicked off the speed-metal “Self-Immolate,” complete with an extended, slow-burning drum solo from the inimitable Michael Cavanagh. The tune itself immolated amongst a barraging backdrop of animated, burning flames. Their songs off 2019’s Infest the Rats’ Nest remain the high-water mark for intensity and rocking the fuck out, and it was a bold and impressive feat to tear through that material at the midpoint of a three-hour set, leaving it with their human drummer still intact. 

“Gila Monster” was another fan favorite, off last year’s sprawlingly titled PetroDragonic Apocalypse; or, Dawn of Eternal Night: An Annihilation of Planet Earth and the Beginning of Merciless Damnation. The fans enthusiastically intoning, “Gila, Gila, Gila” felt powerful enough to summon some kind of monster from somewhere in the city, assisted by vocal effects and chants that could’ve rattled out from the depths of a didgeridoo. 

The band welcomed a fan named Gabby to sing a vocal intro to “Nuclear Fusion” that Ambrose Kenny-Smith dubbed “fucking haunting.” Just as impressive as their never-ending discography, King Gizzard & the Wizard Lizard play wildly different sets each night, an audacious feat on its own but especially so when playing three-hour shows.

Somewhere along the way, Friday’s set reached the all gas, no brakes mark and never let up, finishing with “Rattlesnake” and “K.G.L.W.” Welcome to the city that never sleeps to the world’s most prolific band. —Dan Rickershauser | @D4nRicks

(King Gizzard & the Wizard Lizard play the Stage at Suffolk Downs tonight.)

(King Gizzard & the Wizard Lizard play Thompson’s Point in Portland, Maine, tomorrow.)

(King Gizzard & the Wizard Lizard play the Dell Music Center in Philadelphia on 8/27.)

(King Gizzard & the Wizard Lizard play Brown’s Island in Richmond. Va., on 8/28.)

Photos courtesy of Silvia Saponaro | @Silvia_Saponaro

[krispyweiss]

With Stanley Jordan Co-piloting, Phil Lesh & Friends Find the Promise of Darkstarathon

Everyone except Grahame Lesh was seated when Darkstarathon episode 7 began its journey across the cosmos.

And of course drummer John Molo, keyboardist Jason Crosby and pedal-steel guitarist Dan “Lebo” Lebowitz were. And being 84, Phil Lesh can do whatever the fuck he wants.

Which brings us to Stanley Jordan, whose unconventional playing style lent a bit of jazz to the proceedings as Lebowitz, Crosby, Molo and Lesh the elder kept things misty and primordial while Lesh the younger occasionally quoted the titular song.

Before long, even he was seated on his amp as this Darkstarathon lived up to the series’ initial promise of a never-ending “Darkstar.” Episode No. 7 is 27 minutes of instrumental music in which the spirit of adventurism ruled and in-the-moment composition and improv was all that mattered.

A hint of “West L.A. Fadeaway” bubbled to the surface around the 13-minute mark before elements of “Slipknot!” emerged over Molo’s marching fills.

As this dissolved, Lebowitz switched to acoustic and the band gurgled back down to formlessness as young Lesh strummed major chords and the sextet remained on the fly.

“Cassidy?”

No.

“Scarlet Begonias?”

No.

“I Know You Rider?”

Yes. But wordless with the guitarists lightly tracing the vocal lines.

Minute 23: “Darkstar” re-re-emerges; Grahame Lesh, Lebowitz and Jordan “singing” with their respective six-strings.

Shall we go?

Indeed.

Read Sound Bites’ previous “Darkstarathon” coverage here.

8/15/24

[onetwofeb]

Schoenberg - Verklärte Nacht (Transfigured Night), Op. 4, for string sextet (1899)