Day 2, March 19: Home Snugs 'n Harmony
Hope you are all home, healthy, and cozy! Today’s works focus on interesting harmonies, some surprising, some simply lovely. Today’s artists come from all over: Elizabethan Britain, Post-War France, Mid-Century America, and 2018 Japan.
William Lawes - Viol Consort no. 8 for 6 Viols in F Major
Elizabethan-era composer William Lawes wrote some wacky harmonies for the early 1600s and the prolongation of the final cadence here is up there. After some jaunty imitations, the music suddenly cuts and we land on an augmented dominant which resolves to the MINOR TONIC Y'ALL and winds it's way back to the major tonic. Maybe not the most adventurous thing ever, but wacky nonetheless.
Ichika Aoba - テリフリアメ The Rain From Light And Shadow
Japanese singer-songwriter, commercial jingle writer, and installation artist Ichika Aoba is new to me (only learned about the jingles and installations today) but her music is beautiful, subtle, and complex. She's got a gorgeous, breathy voice with a high register that reminds me of John Luther Adams' The Wind In High Places or when the reverb in the shower makes everything you sing sound like Enya. She's also a cracking guitarist.
Junior Wells - Little by Little (I'm Losing You)
Just a great tune.
Olivier Messiaen - Visions de l'Amen - I: Amen de la Creation
Composed in 1943, only 8 years after French organist and composer Olivier Messiaen had been liberated from his concentration camp, Visions de l’Amen is simply stunningly gorgeous. The opening movement of work for two pianos, harmonies cycle around building in intensity with each passage. The ‘creation’ theme, which is present throughout the suite, rises from the bass register into glorious chords, a la Tchaikovsky’s Piano Concerto, giving actual life.
Thelonious Monk Septet - Abide With Me
One of my favorite hymns, it contains one of my favorite voice leading cliches: a #4-5 in the top voice which is immediately met with a natural 4-3 in the bass (Also in Beethoven’s Piano Sonata no 30 in E Major, op. 109). Thelonius Monk and co here do a TASTY version with some lovely movements in the inner voices.