Deconstructing Brunch

I have not yet received much feedback about my most recent post, in which I combine a serious Sondheim song with a silly song about Barbie; but on a Facebook Sondheim forum, a commenter wrote: "I don't know whether to love this or to be horrified." I suspect this comes from a point-of-view which holds Sondheim's works to be somewhat sacred. I don't even completely disagree with that notion, but I think I've proven over and over here that playing around with greatness doesn't have to diminish the greatness. Meanwhile, this kind of play can yield all sorts of discoveries.

The Barbies Who Brunch

Well, here we are right in the middle of August with the annual existential crisis that marks the near end of summer. (I realize that in some parts of the country, school started weeks ago, but I've still basically got a week to go before real work kicks back in.) What better way to mark an existential crisis than by bringing together a world-weary Sondheim anthem and a Europop cultural critique of empty-headed materialism? But first, a little background.

Upgrading Haydn

Almost exactly five years ago, I wrote about an obsessive love I developed for the slow movement of a late Haydn string quartet - a post which included a homemade recording of my own piano transcription of this music. I believed then, as I still do, that this arrangement would rank as the best slow movement from any of Haydn's 50-plus piano sonatas, although you are free to disagree. [This, starting at 8:23, would likely be the closest competitor, but I am admittedly not a Haydn connoisseur.] My one frustration had been that the recording was made on my own piano which was not in great shape at the time - oh, and a kind YouTube commenter pointed out a wrong note in m.10, so that had always bothered me. [There were likely other wrong notes, and certainly some imprecisions, but this one - which I had misprinted in my arrangement - was just stupid wrong, although it doesn't sound bad.]

An Inner Augmented Sixth

First of all, HAPPY AUGMENTED SIXTH DAY! If you've forgotten to celebrate, or somehow don't know why today is so special, you can check in on the original "Augmented Sixth Day" post from 2012, plus other past celebrations here:

• Happy Augmented Sixth Day - 8/6/2012
• Happy Augmented Sixth Day! (2016 ed.) - 8/6/2016
• Augmented Reality - 10/16/2021
• An Aug 6 for Aug 6 in an August Sextet - 8/6/2022
• The Augmented Reality Waltz - 8/6/2025

Staggered Canon

When historians look back at the various projects associated with this blog, today's exhibit will not be among the most important or impressive in terms of inspiration or effort. But, today's project is certainly right on brand, inspired as it is by a technological happenstance which lit up my own interest. We'll get right to it.

Geographical Fun

About a week ago, a musically-minded Facebook friend posted that seeing Trinidad on a map always makes him think of....well, I only had to get that far to think I knew what he was thinking about. Though I was wrong! He was observing that the shape of the island of Trinidad reminds him of Gru's airship in Despicable Me...which is a connection I would never have made for a variety of reasons. (Someone has posted about this on Reddit as well.) Here's a quick comparison to see what you think:

So, that's not what I was thinking. But if you've spent much time around choruses, you might well guess that hearing "Trinidad" makes me think of THIS:

Joyful Morning with Bach (and Schumann...and Yo-Yo Ma)

Last night, the violinist in a chamber music trio I coach was a no-show at rehearsal. The cellist, pianist, and I gamely worked on their assigned music for most of the time with me sometimes singing the violin part (eek!) or playing it up high on the piano. But there was a point when I thought it might be fun to try something different. I asked each student what solo music they were working on. The cellist (about 12 or 13, I think) said she was learning the [very famous] Prelude from Bach's first cello suite. This reminded me that last year, in a very similar situation, I'd mentioned to a very young Bach-playing cellist that Robert Schumann had written piano accompaniments for all the Bach suites. So, on the spur of the moment then, I pulled up the music from IMSLP and we played a little of it together, but she was only ready to play about 10-12 bars.

Chant noir

Here is an unusual musical creation from a few weeks ago (with video added today):

Happy Birthday from The Alcotts

My official 20th year of blogging began on February 24th, although I failed to post on the 19th Anniversary this year. (I promise I won't forget next year when it's the 20th!) It's been a very busy winter, but a few days off means I'm finally back with new stuff to share.