As you may or may not know, I went to Leeds, UK for a year to do a master’s in music. So for the past couple of months I’ve been seeing more shows and learning more about music than ever, pretty much living the dream. Who knows, by the time I’m done maybe I’ll have created something worthwhile myself – in the meantime, I thought I’d write down some of what I’ve learned and bring the blog out of hibernation:
- Jaga Jazzist are an amazing live band. You can’t afford to miss them, they’re pretty incredible. They’re putting out an album early next year and, judging from what they played in Leeds it’s going to sound wonderful.
- I saw Steve Reich in London, witnessed a mindblowing Music for 18 Musicians, and after the concert Reich talked a bit about his music. He, like in many ways his music, seemed like a very down-to-earth guy, which depending on who you ask can be a good or a bad thing. He made a couple of points that stuck with me:
- Originality is a product of circumstance and dedication. Basically the techniques he invented in the 60s and 70s were very much a product of the time and place he was living in, and being passionate about what you’re writing is a prerequisite for coming up with original stuff. It’s always good to be reminded of this.
- Classical music has always had a connection to the “man on the street” – they tried to change that in Europe after WW2 and the result was unnatural; this is what Reich and like-minded composers decided to fight against. Now, I’d only partly agree with this, and anyway I wouldn’t want to get too deep into this discussion – suffice it to say I don’t think the distinction is that clear cut. What I do strongly agree with though, is that music should be written&performed to be listened – it sounds obvious but sometimes it’s not
- The Leeds International Film Festival is in town, bringing countless amazing films I can’t watch because of lack of money/time
Anyway, part of this was a brilliant Film Music Conference at my school which I’ll be writing about more in my next blog(s). Now I’ll just mention Tobias Pontara’s analysis of the music in Tarkovsky’s Stalker, especially the last scene: Pontara’s thesis is that, by blending the Ode to Joy with the sound of the train, Tarkovsky’s subverts the meaning of Beethoven’s music, and rather shows it as symbolizing the civilized masses, which are controlled through products like the traditional Western classical canon – thus exposing the untruth of our civilized world being perceived as the ultimate reality, an untruth that acts as an obstacle on our way to inner freedom and all that crap. - I’ve been going through listening/reading/worshiping composers – first Arvo Part, then Ligeti, Horatiu Radulescu (we need more torrents of his music!) and now Morton Feldman. Also digging a fair bit of Vaughan Williams on the side. Next I want to get into Webern, I’ve been putting him off for too long.
Anyway that’s enough for now, I need to do some schoolwork and tonight I’m seeing Stewart Lee, yayyyy.
