Sequenza21

Corey Dargel’s remarkable “theatrical song cycle” Removable Parts is being reprised at the HERE Arts Center.  The run started yesterday and goes through Sunday (Jan 7-11).  The show, which is performed by Corey Dargel (voice) and Kathleen Supové (piano), is a sort of cabaret show about Body Integrity Identity Disorder which, in a strange and wonderful way, ends up dealing with questions of love, the self, and of what “normal” really means.  I saw and reviewed the show when it was premiered in September 2007, and I loved it. The Removable Parts website has audio and video samples. UPDATE: Corey

Interesting piece by Martin Kettle in Friday’s Guardian, but one very strange line: “The musical establishment may continue to agonise over the important question of whether a bad man can produce a great piece of work. . .”  Are there really people who ask that question, or is it simply a rhetorical flourish?  My sense has always been that Carmina Burana is loved by audiences but doesn’t get a lot of respect from the establishment, but that the reasons are musical rather than based on Orff’s politics.  Would we think any more of Wagner’s music if he hadn’t been a

I thought we might talk about what musical goals y’all have for the New Year. I know I have some. Last year, inspired by Jay Batzner, I resolved to send out two scores every month–to competitions, calls, or just musicians with whom I have some sort of connection. I am happy to say I met the goal of 24 scores in November and exceeded it by a few this month. I plan to continue this practice in perpetuity. This year, I have three new resolutions. 1) Write some pieces that are easy to play. My last three pieces–a string quartet,

Okay, let’s put it another way.  How important is a top-of-the-line musical education to success as a composer? Can a composer who went to, say, Houston Baptist University, Western Michigan University, and the University of Iowa be as good as your typical Sequenza21 Eli? I ask the question because I was listening to WNYC2 (the best source of contemporary music on the Internet, if you don’t know already–playing Tehillim right now) and I heard a terrific piece called Edges by a composer named Luke Dahn, whom I’d never heard of before.  Awfully damned good piece.  So I googled him and

And so it came to pass that our Gaucho Amigo Marvin Rosen was abidin’ over his flock in a starry meadow high in the Cuspadores when an angel appeared unto him and said:  “Marvin, remember last year when you did that fabulous 24-hour music marathon on WPRB in Princeton — available around the world via the miracle of the Internet?  Man, that was cool.  You ought to do it again.”  And lo, Marvin agreed and the time and date were set. I’ll wait while you get a pencil. The second Marvin Rosen Post-Christmas Classical Discoveries The Hits Keep Coming Musical Marathon

I first wrote and posted this two years ago, but maybe it will lighten the mood as everybody in the Northeast freaks out about their travel plans and the current and impending meteorological conditions.  Stay safe out there. A Visit From J.S. Bach By Galen H. Brown, with apologies to Henry Livingston, Jr. ‘Twas the night before Christmas, when all through the city The critics were trying their best to be witty; They printed their lists of the past year’s best fare, In hopes that their trendy young readers would care; But the readers were nestled all snug in their