Tuesday, October 21, 2008
Friday, October 17, 2008
Wednesday, October 8, 2008
Big country
I saw Robert Plant and Alison Krauss this weekend. It was great to see the voice of Led Zeppelin but unfortunately its range had reduced about two octaves. The show was entertaining enough but I kind of felt like the RIAA might have shot me if I wasn't having a good time. Its good to see that some great musicians still colaborate on their own accord. Ladies and gentleman: Chick Corea and Bela Fleck....
And in the end
On Saturday, I had the pleasure of attending the funeral of Ben Larsen, noted musician and composer, who passed away last week at age seventy-six. His wife Corrina, found him deceased on Friday from a combination of the bubonic plague and a crossbow to the right temple. The arrow, fried inadvertently by Larsen’s dog, was quickly removed however he could not be saved.
Most well known for his all genre-crossing lifetime of performance on mandolin and guitar performance, the seventy-six year old is survived by his wife and two children along with a list of musical greats both living and dead. The service, which felt more like a night at the Grand Ole Opry, consisted of several performances by music’s most beloved characters, but featured performances of all seven movements of Larsen’s Acoustic Planet’s. An arrangement of Gustav Holst’s Planets Suite, arranged for acoustic guitar, fiddle, mandolin, bass and mando-cello, Acoustic Planets is Larsen’s least known work, but has also been quoted as being his personal favorite.
The service began with Nashville great Tim O’Brien performing a traditional arrangement of Foreign Lander, for solo cello and voice. This haunting performance left the stage open for a teary eyed Corrina Larsen to recite a passage from the Essene Gospel of Peace. The first four movements of “Acoustic Planets” Mars, Venus, Mercury and Jupiter were then performed featuring return-from-the-dead performances from Jerry Garcia on acoustic guitar, Darol Anger on Fiddle, David Grisman on Mandolin, and living members, Larsen’s two sons on fiddle and Bass. The audience waited quietly and somberly as the original four Beatles took the stage, also from beyond the grave, to perform the closing section of their 1969 release, Abbey Road. Mean Mr. Mustard, Polythene Pam, Came in Through the Bathroom Window, Golden Slumbers, Carry That Weight and The End were played flawlessly and to a momentarily overjoyed crowd. When the Beatles finished and disappeared into mid air, smiles lingered as the return-return-from-the-dead acoustic quintet took the stage to perform the final three movements of Planets: Saturn, Uranus and Neptune.
Despite the tragedy that united the crowd, the mood was surprisingly light. Perhaps it was because of the “no-black-allowed” dress code, or maybe it was because of the all-star lineup of ghost musicians. For me hearing Acoustic Planets played exactly how Larsen recorded it in 2016, made me feel as though, (excuse the cliché) that he really had gone to a better place, or that perhaps he return to being one with the cosmos, just star dust. Whatever it was, the day was anything but sad. The service closed with Bela Fleck and Edgar Meyer, looking like they may have been around during World War One, played Big Country. An incredibly moving piece that Larsen once praised for making the listener feel, “the way love should make one feel.” As the service ended love was all that anyone felt. For a while the crowd lingered hugging one another and reminiscing about their mutual friend.. Their mutual friend whose presence will be missed for light years to come.
Most well known for his all genre-crossing lifetime of performance on mandolin and guitar performance, the seventy-six year old is survived by his wife and two children along with a list of musical greats both living and dead. The service, which felt more like a night at the Grand Ole Opry, consisted of several performances by music’s most beloved characters, but featured performances of all seven movements of Larsen’s Acoustic Planet’s. An arrangement of Gustav Holst’s Planets Suite, arranged for acoustic guitar, fiddle, mandolin, bass and mando-cello, Acoustic Planets is Larsen’s least known work, but has also been quoted as being his personal favorite.
The service began with Nashville great Tim O’Brien performing a traditional arrangement of Foreign Lander, for solo cello and voice. This haunting performance left the stage open for a teary eyed Corrina Larsen to recite a passage from the Essene Gospel of Peace. The first four movements of “Acoustic Planets” Mars, Venus, Mercury and Jupiter were then performed featuring return-from-the-dead performances from Jerry Garcia on acoustic guitar, Darol Anger on Fiddle, David Grisman on Mandolin, and living members, Larsen’s two sons on fiddle and Bass. The audience waited quietly and somberly as the original four Beatles took the stage, also from beyond the grave, to perform the closing section of their 1969 release, Abbey Road. Mean Mr. Mustard, Polythene Pam, Came in Through the Bathroom Window, Golden Slumbers, Carry That Weight and The End were played flawlessly and to a momentarily overjoyed crowd. When the Beatles finished and disappeared into mid air, smiles lingered as the return-return-from-the-dead acoustic quintet took the stage to perform the final three movements of Planets: Saturn, Uranus and Neptune.
Despite the tragedy that united the crowd, the mood was surprisingly light. Perhaps it was because of the “no-black-allowed” dress code, or maybe it was because of the all-star lineup of ghost musicians. For me hearing Acoustic Planets played exactly how Larsen recorded it in 2016, made me feel as though, (excuse the cliché) that he really had gone to a better place, or that perhaps he return to being one with the cosmos, just star dust. Whatever it was, the day was anything but sad. The service closed with Bela Fleck and Edgar Meyer, looking like they may have been around during World War One, played Big Country. An incredibly moving piece that Larsen once praised for making the listener feel, “the way love should make one feel.” As the service ended love was all that anyone felt. For a while the crowd lingered hugging one another and reminiscing about their mutual friend.. Their mutual friend whose presence will be missed for light years to come.
Beat Oven and His Over Cooked Nephew
Many scholars of music and informed people of any sort for that matter; are at least somewhat familiar with the life and times of composer Ludwig van Beethoven. That is to say: most know he was somewhat insane and deaf and also that he was a prolific, and brilliant composer. Maynard Solomon, co-founder of Vanguard records cum musicologist, forgets that Beethoven was indeed a prolific and brilliant composer and in his article Beethoven and his Nephew writes only of Beethoven’s considerable mental defects and the custody fight over his nephew Karl between 1815 and 1820. Of the thirty-three pages that make up his article, only three have any mention of the music that Beethoven composed. These three pages read as a rushed insert, included only to refute people like me who would make snide remarks about the lack of musical commentary. I would probably also be told, “shut up and read the thesis you idiot,” as Mr. Solomon clearly states that the article is actually about, “Beethoven’s life between the end of 1815 and early 1820 [and] the complex, and occasionally arcane, story of his attempt to surmount-indeed to survive- a personal and creative crisis that threatened to overwhelm him.” Still in an article about a composer as well known as Beethoven, I would think it imperative to have far more mention and description of the music and how it intertwined with this time in Beethoven’s life. .
Once I got over the lack of musical remark, it was easy to come to terms with the article and completely agree with Solomon that Beethoven was completely and utterly insane. While that may not actually be the case, there is little room for argument in this biased lambasting of the great composer in a very fragile state. In the entire article I found one quote that was not manipulated to make Beethoven sound like he is crazy as loon. “[Karl’s] whole future depends upon this education, which cannot be left to a woman or to his mother alone.” All sexism aside, this quote reinforces the seldom touched upon idea that Beethoven actually was concerned for his nephew’s well being.
Unfortunately for Beethoven and his corpse, which is surely rolling over, Solomon holds stubbornly to the idea that Beethoven’s nephew Karl was in fact Beethoven’s savior, and thus the reason for Beethoven’s madness concerning the custody issue. This idea almost enables the reader to imagine Beethoven as very human. Solomon however does his best to dispel this notion throughout the article by centering his attention on describing the volatile nature of Beethoven’s relationship with his sister in law Johanna, Karl’s mother. Every instance of Beethoven speaking ill of Johanna is followed by a remark from Solomon about the diminishing validity of his mental state. From a conversation book (as result of Beethoven’s loss of hearing he would hold his conversations through a book) Solomon quotes, “Last night that Queen of Night was at the Artists’ Ball until three A.M. exposing not only her mental but her bodily nakedness- it was whispered the she- was willing to hire herself- for 20 florins! Oh Horrible!” Solomon then deems the statement, “A sexual fantasy, [and] subsidiary to a complex rescue fantasy.” Even when Solomon depicts a time when Beethoven was an extremely reasonable man, he quickly attributes all kindness to Beethoven’s desire to manipulate future events.
Finally near the end of the article Solomon stops his castigation of the great composer to essentially list all the music Beethoven wrote in the midst of his custody battle, and describe a few in scarce detail. While Maynard’s article in certainly informative it lacks an objective view. Maynard goes into this article with far too much emotional attachment thus rendering him a biased and overly passionate commentator on these tumultuous times in Beethoven’s life.
Once I got over the lack of musical remark, it was easy to come to terms with the article and completely agree with Solomon that Beethoven was completely and utterly insane. While that may not actually be the case, there is little room for argument in this biased lambasting of the great composer in a very fragile state. In the entire article I found one quote that was not manipulated to make Beethoven sound like he is crazy as loon. “[Karl’s] whole future depends upon this education, which cannot be left to a woman or to his mother alone.” All sexism aside, this quote reinforces the seldom touched upon idea that Beethoven actually was concerned for his nephew’s well being.
Unfortunately for Beethoven and his corpse, which is surely rolling over, Solomon holds stubbornly to the idea that Beethoven’s nephew Karl was in fact Beethoven’s savior, and thus the reason for Beethoven’s madness concerning the custody issue. This idea almost enables the reader to imagine Beethoven as very human. Solomon however does his best to dispel this notion throughout the article by centering his attention on describing the volatile nature of Beethoven’s relationship with his sister in law Johanna, Karl’s mother. Every instance of Beethoven speaking ill of Johanna is followed by a remark from Solomon about the diminishing validity of his mental state. From a conversation book (as result of Beethoven’s loss of hearing he would hold his conversations through a book) Solomon quotes, “Last night that Queen of Night was at the Artists’ Ball until three A.M. exposing not only her mental but her bodily nakedness- it was whispered the she- was willing to hire herself- for 20 florins! Oh Horrible!” Solomon then deems the statement, “A sexual fantasy, [and] subsidiary to a complex rescue fantasy.” Even when Solomon depicts a time when Beethoven was an extremely reasonable man, he quickly attributes all kindness to Beethoven’s desire to manipulate future events.
Finally near the end of the article Solomon stops his castigation of the great composer to essentially list all the music Beethoven wrote in the midst of his custody battle, and describe a few in scarce detail. While Maynard’s article in certainly informative it lacks an objective view. Maynard goes into this article with far too much emotional attachment thus rendering him a biased and overly passionate commentator on these tumultuous times in Beethoven’s life.
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