Comments on: We Are All Amaranth

By: J.C. Combs

J.C. Combs — Fri, 23 May 2008 00:26:18 +0000

Thanks Steve Layton and S21 for posting this. FYI: I have now switched my name to J.C. Combs from James Combs as I found it impossible to not get clumped in with the very talented rocker out of California. Some of you might have noticed that if you visited the iTunes link.

Cheers,

J.C.

By: Michael G. Breece

Michael G. Breece — Mon, 12 May 2008 07:38:04 +0000

Yea, I tend to just say “art music” or “modern art music” or “modern classical” or “modern classical art music with a cherry cut by a rusted razor blade on top” though really when speaking to a true “average Joe/Jill” it’s more like “weird shit that you might hear in a horror movie” that one gives them the best impression of how most of THEM (those miserable rat scourge PLAGUES! OFF WITH THEIR HEADS) would interpret OUR works of GENIUS…more than anything (it’s what most Joe’s and Jill’s refer to as being “modern classical art music” anyway, so screw it, no skin off my prick – that was already taken as a baby – ps: FUCK YOU DOC! YOURRRR TURRRRN). But, I digress… I dig James Combs’ piano work in a similar way that I do Satie’s (Layton comes up with the yums-yums, so I won’t even try to touch that = “Each small piece has the quality of a Mark Ryden painting; antique poise and luminescence recalled in a disturbing dream from just last night.”).

By: Joseph Benzola

Joseph Benzola — Sun, 11 May 2008 16:11:35 +0000

Ah…James Combs. Thanks for the update/article Steve. I remember James quite well and the arguments that we used to have at mp3.com over 10 years ago. Oh the memories.

By: robert berger

robert berger — Sat, 10 May 2008 19:08:15 +0000

I still disagree with you about WQXR.They play all kind of
interesting things by a very wide variety of composers.
You never know what they will program next.I guess you
haven’t seen all their playlists.And you do hear challenging
pieces on their taped broadcasts of orchestras such as the
NY Phil. and Chicago sym,etc.

By: Eric Lin

Eric Lin — Fri, 09 May 2008 22:19:59 +0000

http://www.wqxr.com/cgi-bin/iowa/air/playlist#1805

Robert, I think you’re giving them too much credit. WQXR is anything but adventurous. Take a look at the playlist for the day…the only thing that’s remotely close may be the Lou Harrison. But that’s about it.

By: mars webbens

mars webbens — Fri, 09 May 2008 18:32:45 +0000

Wikipidia: Aesop’s Fables (6th century BC) compares the Rose to the Amaranth to illustrate the difference in fleeting and everlasting beauty.

A Rose and an Amaranth blossomed side by side in a garden,
and the Amaranth said to her neighbour,
“How I envy you your beauty and your sweet scent!
No wonder you are such a universal favourite.”
But the Rose replied with a shade of sadness in her voice,
“Ah, my dear friend, I bloom but for a time:
my petals soon wither and fall, and then I die.
But your flowers never fade, even if they are cut;
for they are everlasting.”
Thus, in John Milton’s Paradise Lost (1667), iii. 353:

“Immortal amarant, a flower which once
In paradise, fast by the tree of life,
Began to bloom; but soon for man’s offence
To heaven removed, where first it grew, there grows,
And flowers aloft, shading the fount of life,
And where the river of bliss through midst of heaven
Rolls o’er elysian flowers her amber stream:
With these that never fade the spirits elect
Bind their resplendent locks.”
Samuel Taylor Coleridge, in Work without Hope (1825), also references the herb, likely referencing Milton’s earlier work. (ll 7-10 excerpted):

Yet well I ken the banks where Amaranths blow,
Have traced the fount whence streams of nectar flow.
Bloom, O ye Amaranths! bloom for whom ye may,
For me ye bloom not! Glide, rich streams, away!

By: Steve Layton

Steve Layton — Fri, 09 May 2008 15:46:23 +0000

Taking your cue from all the actors out there, eh Brian?

One reason I’m struck by James’ “amaranth” suggestion is that it doesn’t recycle any of the old art or music terminology. And it applies neutrally to the whole spectrum, Josquin to Beethoven to Xenakis to J.L. Adams. It’s elegant — and a little cheeky, too…

By: Brian Vlasak

Brian Vlasak — Fri, 09 May 2008 14:21:06 +0000

When people ask me “What type of music do you write?”, I usually reply with the answer: “[Music] you would never hear on the radio.” When pressed, I’m compelled to reply with “Contemporary art music.” When pressed even further and asked for examples, I’m usually at a loss and fall back to something along the lines of “[Music] that would be performed in a recital hall.” The questioner usually is satisfied with that answer and pretty much drops the subject or replies with: “That’s really cool, neat” etc… and then ask for the website, which I happily give them.

Of course, there’s always my favourite reply of “Well, what do you hope to do with that?” The answer to that is the obligatory “I work in a restaurant; we [composers] had to learn how to wait tables in grad school, as well as how to compose.”

By: robert berger

robert berger — Fri, 09 May 2008 14:09:21 +0000

What you say about classical radio stations rarely playing
anything but”baroque,classical and romantic” music may be
true of many of these stations,but WQXR is an exception.
There is no lack of it there,and they even play music by
the likes of Adams,Glass,Torke,Corigliano,Harrison and other
living or recently deceased composers,if not Carter and Boulez etc.
Their programming is extremely varied,and does not only
feature the same old warhorses.You can hear many interesting rarities from all periods,and you can hear this station anywhere
through your computer.

By: Matthew Pierce

Matthew Pierce — Thu, 08 May 2008 13:21:04 +0000

It comes down to instrument. I play the violin. If you ask the “average joe” to associate a musical genre with my instrument, what do you think he will say? Next step is further genrefication. I play “rock” violin, “jazz” violin. Fighting the genre battle is a useless waste of time and energy. Let reporters and critics work out the language, it’s their job. Right now they are flailing about try to hammer down what to call Barak Obama’s constituents.