Good morning from Reno/Sparks, NV-USA: how's your Sunday morning going?

Question

Good morning from Reno/Sparks, NV-USA: how's your Sunday morning going?

Answer 1

Right back@cha with the good morning, neighbor, what did you think of HAN? As for the classics, I would nominate Holst's The Planets, especially the Saturn piece as the most mournful and bleak.

Answer 2

"2001, A Space Odyssey"--soundtrack, Alex North and various composers



"A Space Oddity(Major Thom)"--David Bowie



A little nihilism with the coffee this morning? Well, I am not awake yet, so I don't really exist until after the second cup of Jamaica Blue Mountain. How can I go about imagining "nothingness"? Well, I consider the size of the solar system, then the relative size of the solar sytem to the galaxy, and then the galaxy's place in the universe. Sometimes, it doesn't even take me past Jupiter or Mars to realize that my insignifigance is so tiny that it barely tolerates contemplation.

Answer 3

I hope you`re feeling better by now.

Answer 4

I know exactilly how you feel, sometimes we fell like nothing can touch us. I sure like to be in your town right now. Have a great day.

Answer 5

I'd vote for Shostakovich's 15th quartet...especially the slow movement (hee hee...they're all slow, as you know), but I think this is a different type of bleakness than you might be looking for.



You're right about the prelude to act 3 of Tristan...brilliant!



(Marimanka...I had no idea there were such neat things going on at Bard. I know Joan Tower has been there for years, but it looks like the conservatory has some other good people and events too! Thanks for the heads-up! One question...their faculty listing doesn't show anyone who teaches percussion. Surely they have SOMEONE, right? And no theory or musicology faculty? Do they make their applied teachers teach that?)

Answer 6

None of above...so I choose (4)

if I really have to choose, I will say Scriabin..(simply because I like him better :p )



as I read through the question,

first thing come into my mind is Ravel..



One of my favorite piece of piano music..

Le Gibet - from Gaspard de la nuit



This music has everything (aloneness, abandonment....all above attributes) and it presents nothing..within unlimited space and constant time..



It has nothing, but it is everything..in which relate to your topic

"nothingness"



(get it? I dont know what I am saying anyway :p )





P.S. Let's leave John Cage to the side..



lol

Answer 7

Hi everyone, this is Miraflores, Lima, Peru (South America) Hi Alberich...You reminded me of my years at the University when I studied Philosophy...I remember most of the concepts that have been mentioned here, although "this" part of Philosopy sounds rather depressing...at least to me and precisely today.



And I don't want to get depressed on a Sunday..



So, maybe tomorrow I will be back with the rest of my ideas.



In the meantime, please get better and hope the sun comes out for you and for everyone.

Cheers!

Answer 8

Good Afternoon from suburban Brandon, FL just a few miles outside of Tampa. It's about 4:10 and hot (93 degrees to be exact) and muggy, looks like the afternoon showers will begin falling shortly. Today's been a normal Sunday...church, lunch with family, cleaning, channel surfing, you know, the norm.



Anyway, in terms of musical bleakness I have a few pieces to throw into the conversation.



Arvo Part - Cantus in Memory of Benjamin Britten

William Walton - Passacaglia : Death of Falstaff

Carl Nielsen - Little Suite

Edward Elgar - Cello Concerto Op. 85

Dmitri Shostakovich - Quartet No. 8 in c minor (his musical suicide note)

Answer 9

Good afternoon from Boston, Massachusetts- partly cloudy, 68 degrees F & alive!



Alberich, I know just the feeling you speak of. As an avid fan of astrobiology and biological anthropology, not a day goes by that I don't feel as though our existence is of little consequence in the grand scheme of things. The feeling is a bit humbling, to say the least.



Perhaps that is the precise reason I prefer classical pieces that exude just the opposite.... the warmer sounds of the human experience: love, expression, relationships, passion, tragedy, meaning, connectedness. It doesn't have to be jovial; on the contrary, most of my favorites are a bit melancholy, yet full of existence, realness, and just BEING. Being in it together, whatever the emotion.



To answer your question, I agree with you on Scriabin's Poem of Ecstasy. Definitely gives one a sense of isolation and aloneness.

Answer 10

Good afternoon from the breezy shores of the Great Pond, or Lake St. Clair as it is properly named. Temp here right now (5:45pm) is 66F, that is the also the high for today. Your topic of nothingness relates very well with my need for a high today - haha, pun intended.



There is no music that represents nothingness to me, not even silence does. I understand your choices, though, and those are beautiful, albeit lonely-feeling pieces. My opinion, of course. To me, music is emotion, rainbows of sound and feeling, and I see colors and feel, deeply, the passion? in even the worst of it. I have, however, lived in years of nothingness, filled with sound, light, and love even - but still, nothingness was me. It was me. All that I was had been shut off, cut off, stomped down to nothingness, and it was not life, but merely the sustaining of life, till I could live again. Now, I feel that even though we are but insignificant notes wafting through this vast universe, we all are something in the hearts and minds of someone else, near or far, friend of foe. We join with others to create masterpieces in love and war; we are here for the time being, so let's get the most out of the music.



Care to dance?

Answer 11

Good Sunday morning to you, Alberich! Yes, I made it on time. lol Here in SE Michigan, (I am nearer to Windsor, Canada than Chicago, IL) our weather has been marvelous lately, the whole summer, actually. Right now, it is sunny and 78F (expected high of 82 today) low humidity, light breeze. I'm dropping the canoe in later to paddle over to a beach BBQ, that should be fun. Wish you could join me. Other than the ones listed already by you and the previous answerers, I can only come up with Raleigh-Durham, and Winston-Salem, NC; I've seen Seattle-Tacoma hyphenated, but not sure if that is indeed a true "twin city" or just referring to the airport. Interesting, I'll have to ask my brother what he can come up with... he's the geography nut. I hope you are feeling better soon, my friend.

Answer 12

A hundred miles north of NYC - and now it is late afternoon. Just having a domestic day - church, some grocery shopping, some cleaning, cooking - no big music stuff today. Rehearsal Friday for upcoming concert (fl/vc/pno), and lotsa music *business* lately. And I have the *incredible* luck to live across the river from Bard College, which has a great conservatory now ( NO, not that dinky music department it had for years - but BIG DEAL teachers and programs). Huge summer festivals go on there now - I can drive in 15 minutes to world-class pre-concert lectures, seminars, and CONCERTS in a gorgeous Frank Gehry hall. Went twice last week - this Friday, the Prokofiev festival began. Heard that 7th sonata played by Michael Abramovich (no, not Charles - he was my son's teacher at Temple). WOW! Mus husband has also played it in concert, so we were interested in hearing it live. Also some Ahkmatova songs; Love of Three Oranges in piano reduction (Jeremy Denk) - and we left at intermission - it had been a long day. Now, the PROGRAM books they give you look like the required reading for a grad class - so it will take a while to read it all. Impossible to read it all while at the concert!



Also heard Of Thee I Sing there last week - excellent production. Many cast members from productions we have seen on Broadway.



If you can get to the lovely Hudson Valley for these incredible summer festivals, I genuinely encourage you! We do not bother to drive to Tanglewood nearly as often anymore (well, we're going Wednesday, I take that back . . ) - the programming at Bard and the QUALITY of playing (American Symphony, plus GREAT guests!) is fabulous. And - for all those SERIOUS students who are inquiring about conservatories - please give Bard a look. Just make sure you are looking at the CONSERVATORY, not the college's little department of music - two different worlds.



Have read the NYTimes - should file some music - soon there will be inquires as to the status of dinner . . it's still raining . . .



Bleakness? The 2nd movement of the Hindemith Flute Sonata. Hindemith must have seen some SCARY stuff before he escaped the Nazis . . .

Answer 13

well obviously ive only seen the movie tristan and isolde so im going to have to go with that one