httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hUJagb7hL0E
You might have heard the piece 4’33” (Four minutes and 33 seconds) by John Cage for piano, but here it is presented by a full orchestra.
httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pcHnL7aS64Y
John Cage talks about Silence. “We don’t know a difference between time and space, we don’t know where one starts and the other stops.”
httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cPNxTCp9mEQ
Comedian Lee Evans performs the Lee Evans Trio.
httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZMSEPUuNP8k
(Part Two is the performance, so I post it first)
Itzhak Perlman and Peter Schickele mix it up in a hilarious duet at a Boston Pops Concert with John Williams conducting. Part 1 is mostly the setup, with Peter Schickele expounding on the life of P.D.Q. Bach, “the 21st of Johann Sebastian Bach’s 20 children.”
PDQ Bach is the ultimate in combining High Art and Low Art for awesome high brow comedy. It was great in this video to see PDQ Bach, violinist Itzhak Perlmand and composer/conductor John Williams all working together on the gags. I also like how the music makes you wait for each subsequent gag as they are interspersed with a fiarly straight ahead Riccoco style orchestration.
An update on current activities. I’ve received a couple emails asking why I’m not blogging so much. After making it through Chinese New Year here in Macau, China I was able to take a long overdue vacation and return to the United States for the first time in two years. (Beloved Skagit County, Washington USA – I didn’t visit down in Southern California). The break gave me a chance to bring some more gear back to China and to set new goals and aspirations for myself – pretty much like starting a new year.
“Curiosity is the most powerful thing you own,” he said. “Don’t put limitations on yourself. Other people will do that for you…failure has to be an option in art and exploration because it’s a leap of faith.”
“In whatever you’re doing, failure is an option, but fear is not.”
– James Cameron – TED Talks 2010
Just read these words today and they hit me so strong. Like if you’re reading the bible and a verse jumps out and you think God is speaking directly to you.
httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dzg-ztr0vow
You’ll notice a definite “Cirque du Soleil” influence on this presentation by Pink at the 2010 Grammy Awards. Hope you enjoy it.
httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sDeXUvWbLp8
There is a little confusion in China when it comes to Western holidays. For instance, on Christmas Eve the street was littered with confetti as people exploded party poppers at the stroke of midnight for the beginning of Christmas Day. And then Auld Lang Syne is playing on all the bar sound systems. Christmas Eve, New Year’s Eve – what’s the difference right? Ugh.
So thank you to my friend from the Great White North who sent me this. I got home tonight as Christmas Eve turned to Christmas Day in China. Was feeling very sad not to be with my family, and to not have the usual Christmas events around me. This video helped center me a bit.
Her is an alternate verse for O Holy Night (Cantique de Noel), and I think a more powerful one.
Chains shall he break
for the slave is our brother
And in His name
all oppression shall cease
Sweet hymns of joy
In grateful chorus raise we
Let all within us
Praise His holy name
Christ is the Lord
And ever ever praise we
Noel, Noel
O night, O night divine
Noel, Noel
O night, O night divine
What a trip. Someone posted this photo on Facebook. I think it’s 1982 at Interlake High School (Bellevue, WA) at a Symphonic Band concert. I am the third French Horn player from the right. I graduated the following year in 1983 first chair. So I think I was 15 years old in this photo. Leo Dodd was the music director for bands and jazz ensembles. He is a legend.
After this I went to Pacific Lutheran University, gave up French Horn, and focused on piano, voice and composition.
httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lfegOxTCuOQ
Such a beautiful song by Jacques Brel (recorded in 1959). Here is an English translation.
Jacques Romain Georges Brel (8 April 1929–9 October 1978) was a Belgian singer-songwriter. Brel composed and recorded his songs almost exclusively in French. The quality and style of his lyrics are highly regarded by many leading critics of popular music.
Brel’s songs are not especially well known in the English-speaking world except in translation and through the interpretations of other singers, most famously Scott Walker and Judy Collins. In French-speaking countries, Brel is also remembered as an actor and director. Jacques Brel has sold over 25 million records worldwide, including over 12 million albums and singles in France and Belgium.
Ne Me Quitte Pas (If you go away)
If you go away on this summer’s day,
Then you might as well take the sun away
All the birds that flew in the summer sky
When our love was new and our hearts were high
When the day was young and the nights were long
And the moon stood still for the night bird’s song
If you go away, if you go away, if you go away.
In Christmas 2008 I received a donation given in my name. I made a nasty blog post about giving donations at Christmas presents which has gotten me a lot of hate mail.
The nasty blog post is here:
https://www.conradaskland.com/blog/2008/11/making-donations-as-christmas-presents/
But one person from the Great White North took pity on me for Christmas this year and has sent me a giant box which I received today. I am under strict orders not to open it or the accompanying Christmas card until December 25, 2009 – which I will honor.