Pardon my interruption... but don't interrupt my Pardon!
For today, just some calming, contemplative music… multicultural, by one of our master composers. Happy Holidays to all, from all cultures and backgrounds! Hope you had a great Rosh Chodesh Kislev, and good Ben-Gurion Day coming up. Happy Diwali! May the Advent of fattening food be with you. Atheists, happy stuffing (our face) day. Buddhists, rub that Buddha belly!
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Hi, I’m Itzl!
As you can see by Itzl's concerned look, this group (Itzl Alert Network or IAN) is for us to check in at to let people know we are alive, doing OK, and not affected by such things as heat, blizzards, floods, wildfires, hurricanes, tornadoes, power outages, or other things that could keep us off DKos. If you're not here, or anywhere else on DKos, and there are adverse conditions in your area (floods, heatwaves, hurricanes, etc.), we are going to check up on you. If you are going to be away from your computer for a day or a week, let us know here. We care! Send us a message if you want to publish a diary or have a cause to share. Head site admins FLSNMom at www.dailykos.com/… or Art Ah Zen at www.dailykos.com/…
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Henry Cowell was a great 20th Century American composer who taught George Gershwin, Aaron Copland, John Cage, Conlon Nancarrow, Percy Grainger, Lou Harrison, and Burt Bacharach (all famous greats in their own right). He wrote groundbreaking avant-garde music but also more traditional, beautiful music like this gentle and gorgeous Hymn For Strings, that could be for any occasion:
Henry Cowell, Hymn For Strings:
Just beautiful Quartal and Triadic harmonies, modern but lovely and mystical.
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Here’s a very fine song to a poem by Conrad Aiken, Music I heard:
Austere but gorgeous harmonies, carefully blended with the words by Aiken, a disciple of Cowell's lifelong friend TS Eliot. Music of sorrow, but also somehow hopeful and transcendent.
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Henry Cowell, Hymn and Fuguing Tune No. 2:
Makes you think of the Frost poem, “The woods are lovely, dark and deep...” Dark but also deep harmonies in the fugue, splendid counterpoint.
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Here’s his tribute to Indian Subcontinent music, his Madras Symphony:
Subtle and beautiful tone colors, imitating the Sitar and using the Tabla and some Indian Ragas. Meditative and musically sophisticated; each movement is a different poetic prayer. Cowell seriously studied Carnatic Theory with Dr. Sambamoorthy of South India.
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And this is his lovely and enigmatic Ongaku, a magnificent Concerto for Japanese Koto and Orchestra:
Performed here by blind master Koto player Kimio Eto, just wonderful work and orchestration. Love those Takemitsu scales! There's a sly little quote of an American hymn tune in there, just before the Koto-flute duet.
By the way, Happy Japanese Labor and Thanksgiving Day! Yes it’s their national holiday week too, Pro-Union!
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