Tuesday, August 10, 2004
I'm liking the Africans in this neighborhood (apparently the landlords do also), & I don't even know what country they're from, but they're from the same one. & I swear there are more around than when I moved in 4 months ago. The families are two-parent, the children well-behaved, many are church-goers. The language is melliflous. A lot of the men drive taxis here, in Newark & in New York, because they & their friends from elsewhere stop by in their cabs when in the area. The women are lovely & they are not thin. What I don't like so much: I rarely hear sophisticated African pop music, it's mostly three chord, simple beat nursery rhyme stuff, very lightweight. Ain't it like that everywhere? & the men, many of them single, gather on the corner, front stoop & porches & talk very loudly, sometimes very very late. It sounds like argument but it isn't. But this gathering of "menfolk" seems as much a cultural routine as the slow evening stroll is for hispanic couples & families. When I come home late down Elm Street, I listen for the voices ahead near the corner. If I hear punk talk, I'm careful & I shift into my "walk," which I would describe as "short, white, middle-aged, alert, with attitude, therefore a neighborhood curiosity." If they are the African men, I know I'm good to get there without hurrying.
Recent music aquisitions: Vaughan Williams Antarctica Symphony, Bournemouth Symphony, based on his film score for "Scott of the Antarctic. Very atmospheric, the long Lento in the middle is heart-breakingly icy. & 8th symphony, a more positive late work with a first movement that could stand alone, & an amazing Toccata finale; Philip Glass, Violin Concerto, Ulster Orchestra, the first major work by Glass I've really enjoyed all the way through. Perhaps there are more; Gloria Coates (b. 1938), String Quartets 1,5, & 6. American who has lived in Germany for past thirty years where she done quite well. Her music comprised largely of glissandi, sliding microtonal string playing, tough to take at first. But underneath, all sorts of things going on that are more structurally conventional, & in this context quite entertaining. Also a fine painter; Charles Ives, Symphony #1 & Three Places in New England with Ormandy & Philadelphia. Robert Browning Overture with Stokowski. These are classic recordings. The "conservative" First Symphony, his Yale graduation piece, is recognizably Ivesian, although he doesn't quote any songs or do anything really novel or experimental, he's still tricking up keys & rhythms, breaking a lot of "rules" & no doubt annoyed his conservative teacher. Like his first String Quartet, it's still a strong, likable piece of music given the time & place. & he can write melodies & dances. Three Places is more "typical" Ives, short tone poems, & the "places" themselves are unexpected, like Gauden's statue dedicated to the Colonel & black regiment celebrated in the movie "Glory." Not so impressed by the Sixties sound, which is not very bright. Haven't listened to the Browning yet. The first three of these CDs are from Naxos. I have a few more eBay CDs ordered & paid for, & that's it for the year as I tighten my belt. Just 25 cent CD-Rs I make myself.
coming: impressions of Point Pleasant Beach on a beautiful saturday.
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"If a nation expects to be ignorant and free, in a state of civilization, it expects what never was and never will be." Thomas Jefferson
Recent music aquisitions: Vaughan Williams Antarctica Symphony, Bournemouth Symphony, based on his film score for "Scott of the Antarctic. Very atmospheric, the long Lento in the middle is heart-breakingly icy. & 8th symphony, a more positive late work with a first movement that could stand alone, & an amazing Toccata finale; Philip Glass, Violin Concerto, Ulster Orchestra, the first major work by Glass I've really enjoyed all the way through. Perhaps there are more; Gloria Coates (b. 1938), String Quartets 1,5, & 6. American who has lived in Germany for past thirty years where she done quite well. Her music comprised largely of glissandi, sliding microtonal string playing, tough to take at first. But underneath, all sorts of things going on that are more structurally conventional, & in this context quite entertaining. Also a fine painter; Charles Ives, Symphony #1 & Three Places in New England with Ormandy & Philadelphia. Robert Browning Overture with Stokowski. These are classic recordings. The "conservative" First Symphony, his Yale graduation piece, is recognizably Ivesian, although he doesn't quote any songs or do anything really novel or experimental, he's still tricking up keys & rhythms, breaking a lot of "rules" & no doubt annoyed his conservative teacher. Like his first String Quartet, it's still a strong, likable piece of music given the time & place. & he can write melodies & dances. Three Places is more "typical" Ives, short tone poems, & the "places" themselves are unexpected, like Gauden's statue dedicated to the Colonel & black regiment celebrated in the movie "Glory." Not so impressed by the Sixties sound, which is not very bright. Haven't listened to the Browning yet. The first three of these CDs are from Naxos. I have a few more eBay CDs ordered & paid for, & that's it for the year as I tighten my belt. Just 25 cent CD-Rs I make myself.
coming: impressions of Point Pleasant Beach on a beautiful saturday.
Add YOUR comments here
