Day 11: March 28 - Each Day The Same
Music with repetitive harmonic progressions passacaglias and ballads from Dylan to Britten.
Philip Glass - Knee Play 1 (from Einstein on the Beach)
Librettist, Robert Wilson, and Glass hoped to portray Einstein as a reference point, without placing a larger narrative on his persona. As such, the libretto for Glass’ classic 1975 opera Einstein on the Beach is entirely numbers, solfege, and phonetic syllables. These are scored with saxophones and synthesizers, codifying the new-age minimalist sound . The five hour opera consists of 4 acts separated by 5 knee plays (intermezzi). This ‘knee play’ opens up the work, establishing a numerical motif which is present throughout the work. It’s mesmerizing and dramatic and filled with odd importance. Performed here by the Philip Glass Ensemble under the baton of Michael Riesman.
Georg Muffat - Armonico Tributo, String Sonata no. 5 in G Major: V. Passacaglia
Georg Muffat was a Baroque composer who, though French-born, primarily worked in Germany. He is known for detailed instructions on scores (unusual for that time) and, what appear to be, a lot of very cool sounding piece titles. This one, Armonico Tributo (Harmonic Tribute), is a series of trio sonatas (composers often published sonatas in large set up until Beethoven’s time). Muffat was stationed at the crossroads of a flourishing musical interchange between French, German, and Italian musicians. Muffat epitomizes this: trained under Jean-Baptiste Lully in Paris, employed in Vienna and Salzburg, and a deep admirer of Arcangelo Corelli, whose influence is most apparent in this work. This passacaglia is largely light and ornamental with a lovely interplay between the violins. Interspersed are lively and characteristic metric and textural variations, from overtures to brilliant runs to a polyrhythmic syncopated variation eliding into a triplet variation. A subtle and tasteful take on what a variation structure can allow. Performed here by the Concentus Musicus Wien under the famed Nikolaus Harnoncourt.
Bob Dylan - Sad-Eyed Lady of the Lowlands
The closing track to Dylan’s masterpiece 1967 album, Blonde on Blonde, this track is a long love letter to his then-wife, model Sara Lownds (see, like Lowlands? Get it?) A series of very personal imagery, Sad-Eyed Lady of the Lowlands an amazing token of affection and deep knowledge of another person. A personal favorite.
Kanye West - Say You Will
Kanye made the album 808s and Heartbreak after the death of his mother to complications from a surgery. Noted are the minimal textures, use of autotune, and open vulnerability, almost a lamentatious aesthetic. This track features a so many effective repetitious devices: the choir/synth chords, the incessant alternating beeps, and the one-bar drum pattern. Yet, this is Kanye at his most arrecting. When the vocal and synth drop out and it’s just that midi choir and they drop the downbeat, it is exactly like a heart skipping a beat. At one point, Kanye was a relatable human being and one of the best communicators for deep sentimentality.
Benjamin Britten - String Quartet no. 2 in C, Op. 36: III. Chacony. Sostenuto
Oh man, this piece. Another absolute favorite. Britten, a lover of passacaglias through his love of Purcell, included many throughout his work. This mammoth one closes out his Second String Quartet and it is magnificent and epic. Based on the opening 4ths, Britten builds a dizzying array of textures, harmonies, and melodic ideas out of the most minimal source materials. A tour-de-force of both compositional virtuosity and string writing. The dotted rhythm variation is just so crazy splendiferous. Played here by the Brodsky Quartet.