A Vienna of the Mind

In 2011, Vienna, Austria, ranked first in the world for its quality of living.  I have no idea about the veracity of the report.  Its purpose seems to be to guide companies in deployment of their “expatriate employees,” and the categories used are understandably mundane.

Happy Holiday, the Remix

I have a confession to make:  before this year, I had no idea what a “remix” was.  Thank goodness for Wikipedia, which advised, “A remix is an alternative version of a recorded song, made from an original version.”

Blessed Be The Music Makers

When I ventured into the world of contemporary classical/new music last year, I wasn’t at all sure how to proceed.  I followed every lead suggested by composer John Metcalf, reached for book after book (notably Alex Ross’s indispensable The Rest is Noise), searched the internet, and read reviews.

Tranströmer’s haydnpockets

Tomas Tranströmer’s Allegro begins:

After a black day, I play Haydn,
and feel a little warmth in my hands.

The keys are ready.  Kind hammers fall.
The sound is spirited, green, and full of silence.

The sound says that freedom exists
and someone pays no tax to Caesar.

Dreaming in Swedish

My poems are meeting places.  Their intent is to make a sudden connection 

between aspects of reality that conventional languages and outlooks ordinarily keep apart.

—Tomas Tranströmer

On a bitter winter evening this past February, I left the bustling warmth of New York City’s Grand Central Station and headed to Scandinavia House.  The wind blew frigid air at me in a sideways slant, the sort of weather that usually keeps me pinned to my chair at home.  But there was a concert on, and I’d arranged to meet a fellow named Michael Douglas Jones.

Terry Riley’s In C, In School

Do you know what this young man is doing?

Finnegan's Hat

When Dylan Mattingly first introduced me to violinist Finnegan Shanahan, Shanahan was wearing a hat.  He and Mattingly conferred about whether he should wear it during the Contemporaneous concert that night, and they decided:  no hat.