|| default || § ¶Morton Feldman
Recently I finally got around to reading Morton Feldman's writings in the collection published by Exact Change in 2001 called Give My Regards To Eight Street, which is actually the title of one of the little essays in this wonderful book.There really are some amazing and provocative things here.
"Where in life we do everything we can to avoid anxiety, in art we must pursue it."
"Cezanne is not responsible for Picasso. But Picasso is responsible for Warhol."
"Art in its relation to life is nothing more than a glove turned inside out. It seems to have the same shapes and contours, but it can never be used for the same purpose. Art teaches nothing about life, just as life teaches us nothing about art."
"I was once told about a woman living in Paris -- a descendant of Scriabin -- who spent her entire life writing music not meant to be heard. What it is, and how she does it, is not very clear; but I have always envied this woman. I envy her insanity, her impracticality."
There's much more. A great portait, too, of the downtown NYC artists and musicians in the 50's and 60's.
A very exciting read. I'm reading it slowly, in short periods. I want to savor it all.
(The collection was edited by B.H.Friedman. No relation, by the way, but an art collector and friend of Feldman's. He adds a great biographical introduction.)
|| default || § ¶MUSIQUE CONCRETE
On this Friday's Music From Other Minds on KALW (91.7 FM, San Francisco), I'll be featuring the music of Francis Dhomont. Now nearly 80, Dhomont is one of the leading composers of electro-acoustic music, or musique concrete. His work is extremely impressive. The French have always been in the lead with this style of electronic music, where the sound material all comes from the world around us. Very little if any of it is "synthetic". By manipulating tape, or, now, by manipulating the digitized recorded sound, new sounds are created, but the shadow of the original remains. The human voice, or the very ordinary sounds in nature are the starting points for these carefully arranged collages. They create their own visual imagery in the listener's mind. Quite an extraordinary experience. I suggest listening in a dark room, sitting between your speakers, as close as you can get. Or, better still, use headphones, and close your eyes. Here is a brief example:mp3. Others are available from the ElectroCD.com website: Jalons | Cycle du Son.
|| default || § ¶Glass/Close
Charles McGrath has a great article in today's New York Times (you may have to register if you haven't already) about the relationship between the artist Chuck Close and composer Philip Glass. We are all familiar with Close's "head" portrait of Phil from the mid-70's. But now Phil has completed the circle with a musical portrait of Close for piano. It's a wonderful tale about how the lives of these two artists have intertwined over the past 40 years. Read more...
|| default || § ¶Pt. Reyes!
Victoria and I took yesterday off (it was our anniversary) and headed up to Pt. Reyes Nat'l Seashore in the morning. 
It was an absolutely beautiful day, altho the wind was pretty stiff and cold. Wildflowers were everywhere, as were hawks, crows, buzzards, and the smallest of songbirds. Point Reyes is just North of San Francisco, across the Gate and to the west. It is one of our favorite places on Earth. More pictures: There is more to read...
|| default || § ¶The Independents
While producing programs for my Music From Other Minds show (program #14 aired last night) on KALW (91.7 San Francisco), I've come to realize how much I rely on music released on CDs from small, independent producers that specialize in music by contemporary composers. Few if any of the larger companies would risk recording the music that these independents release on a regular basis. So I thought it might be helpful to list them and point to their websites so anyone interested in what living composers of serious music are doing these days can hear some amazing and wonderful new music.Some of the companies listed below are run by composers themselves, not only as a way of distributing their own music, but that of their own circle of fellow composers as well. There is more to read...