Notes: In one of those random happenstances, the word of the week was “deracinated” appearing both in “The Rest is Noise” and the novel I’m reading “City on Fire”. Meaning in context, “taken from it’s roots”, I thought it appropriate for the music of the week.
Anyway, My listening included the Rite, some Villa Lobos, some Janáček, and some Beck*. I’ve never heard the riot in the rite of Spring, and actually quite enjoy it. It is a precursor to some of the percussive repetition I enjoy in later compositions and styles. As an uncultured peasant, I feel somewhat lost without a driving beat under whatever I’m listening too.
The real discovery for me was the last piece mentioned, Stravinsky’s “Symphony of Psalms”. What a lovely piece.
What did you read that made you want to learn more?
The music of Janáček will definitely get more exploration, and I owe Bartok a deeper dive as well.
*. Sea Changes and Morning Phase. After all that Ravel and Debussy, I needed a song. Beck is a master of the song.
The opera references were difficult as I’m ignorant. The interplay between Strauss and Mahler was interesting as well as their perceptions in popular culture. My having absolutely no background in music theory hopefully isn’t a hindrance but I worry it may be as I go forward.
The commentary on certain music being “satanic” stood out to me. I could see, based simply on the subject matter and within Puritan morality constructs, Salome being considered along those lines but Mahlers 6th seemed like sensationalism was present and problematic at the turn of century. No surprise.
I had a long drive so decided to listened to the 6th with the devil on my mind. Its an interesting mix of light and dark but “satanic” is a big stretch. I think it’s a great piece. I admit to not being much aware of the global interpretation of thematic elements within classical music outside of my own responses to it but still… sensationalism.
The author did point out that Mahler rewrote parts of the 6th so maybe I’m listening to a watered down version, I will concede that.
Writing style is decent, probably could have been edited down a little but that could be more a reflection of my lack of opera exposure making it a tougher slog but not what I would deem a difficult read.
The music samples weren’t a help, yet. I was reading in an area with poor wifi so accessing them was a no go. I think I’d rather find pieces of interest myself and listen when I get the time. I will try and explore some of the Strauss works that were referenced.
I haven’t posted anything yet for this week’s chapter because I’m still listening to music.
@mfadio , thanks for the Boulez recommendation. I’ve been listening to various Stravinsky works by Boulez and loving them.
The Stravinsky chapter is my favorite so far, it really brought me into that world. In comparison, a later chapter on Duke Ellington and US composers felt a bit flat and unfinished to me, maybe because he had to fit so much into one chapter.
I had the best of intentions to get the weekly reading notes up, but while walking the dog Monday, my wife stepped on something and rolled her ankle. After a night of Tylenol, we went to urgent care and got a diagnosis of a broken bone. This has thrown our house into a bit of turmoil.
So, since I suddenly have double (or more) the domestic work to accomplish on a daily basis, I ask:
Are the weekly posts with links and assignment helpful? There aren’t the many of us still plugging along, should we dispense with the formal structure and proceed at our own pace? Any other ideas of things we can / should / could do to enhance this experience?
I tend to read in fits and starts, so I may have long pauses interspersed with my reading 3-4 chapter really quickly.
I dont mind you doing what you wish as I do try and keep up wth the postings even though I am behind. However, if your workload is increased look after that before you worry about the book club. This is a first time event, so kinks will have to be ironed out. I think its a noble endeavour.
I intend to post as I go along. I try to keep mental notes about what I find particularly of interest so I have something to share.
I think there are a number of things we’re considering, and here are my opinions.
Do we need @mfadio to spoonfeed us with information each week? I’d say the answer is no. If we take that off his plate, it will give him more time to look after his wife and do various chores. If we need to listen to music samples for any particular chapter, we can go to this link.
Should we loosen the 1 chapter per week structure? I’m hoping the answer is yes. I’m way ahead of schedule when it comes to the reading part, but woefully behind when it comes to listening to music. I’m really enjoying the book, but even more excited about each chapter being a gateway to new music for me. If it’s OK with everyone, I’d prefer to wait until I’ve finished listening to the music before I post my thoughts, which may be a week or two later than scheduled. Or alternatively, I can split it into 2 parts: thoughts on the chapter itself, and then a week or two later, my impressions on the music, and perhaps how my take on the chapter has changed now that I’ve absorbed the music. Or (after reading what I wrote in my 3rd point) just post thoughts as I have them, which I think would be my preference.
Should this be more conversational? So far, the way I’ve approached this is to try to come up with a “book report” after each chapter, which takes a lot of time think through. And this seems to be the opposite to how my wife’s book club does things, because they tend to drink a lot of wine and go back and forth about their impressions. Going back to my last point, maybe if we just post thoughts as we have them, and as many times as we like, it will become more fluid and interactive.
I agree with @PaisleyUnderground that it’s easier to keep up with the reading than with the listening, and that we should be relaxed about people posting on a lenient schedule. I’ve had a great time with the Stravinsky stuff but I’m still catching up. My two main responses to the material so far: 1) the Stravinsky-Charlie Parker anecdote is worth the price of admission, and 2) I was really struck by what Ross writes about Stravinsky’s last years and the Symphony of Psalms. So interesting to listen to that and “Rite of Spring” side by side. “Rite” seems eternally new and indelibly Stravinsky’s own. “Psalms” feels like a recap, a homecoming, a reconciliation, and musically it seems like it could have been composed by another gifted composer. I feel like we see this late-life coming to terms in so many people’s last few novels, poems, movies, etc. I’m of a certain age and still working and boy can I relate.
Catching up on re-reading this gem! I haven’t touched it since one of my upper level theory classes at Oberlin a few years ago, but this thread has me excited to pick it up again and dive back in.
One thing that I particularly love about giving challenging modern music like this a real in-depth listen is that it expands your ears as a listener and makes you reconsider surface level judgements. Nothing about Stravinsky or Schoenberg is disposable, but you’ve got to dig to really hear what’s beautiful about it - and how it fits into the classical canon.
I’m also wondering how folks are choosing performances? I find a great performer essential when listening to this, as some recordings musically don’t quite seem to nail it.
Hi friends – I’ve really been enjoying the stuff about Dvorak, Ives, Ellington, Sibelius. About Dvorak, I’d like to put in a plug for his “American” Quartet. I believe it came out of the same American travel as “New World” and it’s just some of the sweetest chamber music I can think of. I love Ives and Ellington but am behind the curve on Sibelius – I found the 5th Symphony (Berlin Philharmonic recording) quite beautiful. Varese’s “Ameriques” is the first piece of music from the book that sounded to me like a big nothing, but I know a lot of people like it to this day.
I’d also like to put in a word for George Antheil. He goes by quickly in The Rest is Noise, but I’ve always liked his chamber work and his album Bad Boy’s Piano Music. A bonus fun fact about Antheil is that he worked with Hedy Lamarr on the frequency-hopping technology that helped pave the way for the cell phone. You can’t make this stuff up.
Loved the "City of Nets"chapter and all the Weimar info. I’m somewhat familiar with the Brecht/Weill stuff and hadn’t heard of Schreker, so I listened to Schreker’s opera Der Ferne Klang (p. 185). Really a pleasure – tuneful and entertaining throughout. Then, so I wouldn’t get too cheerful, I got into Schoenberg’s Moses und Aron, which is epic and wrenching as Ross suggests. Great, but the Schreker’s the one I’d go back to.
I haven’t seriously listened to any Brecht / Weill, so it’s been a lot of adding to my playlist. The chapter was incredibly enjoyable though, Great look into the intra-war tumult and cultures part in it.
The Art of Fear was a page turner for me! So much Prokofiev to listen to, a composer I have had little knowledge of up to this point. Also a fascinating note on Shostakovich’s string quartets. Whoof. Favorite chapter so far.
I was ahead of schedule, and then work kicked my butt (resulting in me falling asleep after reading a paragraph or two each night - how did I turn into my Dad?), so I regressed over the last couple of weeks. But I think I’m probably still on schedule, because I’m in the middle of the Shostokovich chapter right now, and I agree with you, this is by far my favorite chapter. Lot’s of stuff going on, and the stories about how the Communist party treated culture are so interesting.
I’ll try to write a little more over the weekend, but the Duke Ellington chapter was my least favorite. Or maybe it’s better to call it the chapter that had only a few paragraphs about one of the most important composers of the 20th century. I wonder if he was given short shrift because the author wanted to at least mention him, but didn’t want to spend too much time on a jazz composer? But if that’s the case, then leave him out completely.
This is interesting. I haven’t gotten to the chapter titled “BEETHOVEN WAS WRONG: Bebop, Rock, and the Minimalists” yet, but I was actually surprised to see as much Ellington as there was. It seems like Ross is trying to tell the story of what is broadly defined as classical music. Of course where there is cross pollination, it should be addressed, and it seemed like it was, as well as laying the seeds for the jazz techniques and styles being incorporated into art music.
So, then the question is, “is Ellington more influential on classical music than Bartok”? Which is an argument that I think Ross has settled, at least in his own mind.
It’s a daunting task, to tell of a centuries development and fracturing of classical away from popular music, and there is no way it can be told coherently while mentioning everyone, and everything that happened.
Which is not to say that your disappointment is wrong, but rather that I think it brings up one of the core questions the book is dancing around and dealing with; “what is classical music in the 20th century?”
Ross seems to think Ellington influenced it, but was not of it.
This mirrors an arguement a roomomate and I used to have regarding how to shelve our cds. He argued for strict genre separation, and I argued that the edges of genres are never sharp, it is a fools errand, and it was better to shelve them by the very loosest categories. Neither of us were in the library sciences.
But cheer up! At least we have a chapter named “death fugue” to look forward to!
@PaisleyUnderground , I agree that Ross leans more heavily toward classical (or neo-classical) music in the book than he might have, although he can be excellent writing about pop when he wants to (his 1997 New Yorker piece on Pavement sold me on them, happily). But yes, it’s rewarding to hear the connections among “different” genres of modern music. This comes to life for me on the “New Sounds” stream at wqxr.org . They play the moderns we’ve been reading about in Ross, lots of living composers like John Zorn and the Bang on a Can people, but also “post-rock” music like Tortoise and post-bop jazz. You can hear the cross-pollination in real time. @mfadio , I’m with you about the Shostakovich string quartets. I’ve tried many times to get with his symphonies but it doesn’t happen for me. I feel like the misery of composing under Stalin resulted in overwrought, compromised orchestral works. But I love the string quartets. It kind of seems as if the symphonies are the public work, anticipating commissars’ and dissidents’ opinions, while the quartets are a personal diary, a little more under the radar.
I recommend a book by Wendy Lesser (disclosure: a friend) called Music for Silenced Voices, about the quartets and what was going on in Shostakovich’s life as he composed each one. Good musical commentary and illuminating interviews with S’s surviving contemporaries – a great listening companion.
