Arvo Part

Thanks for that clip! Hadn't thought to look for it on YouTube. Yeah – motorbikes? ¿¿Qué?? I liked his closing comment: Every time I feel I have to start from scratch. (Yep, I'm with him there.)

My current favourite piece (of all!) is Spiegel im Spiegel. The Tasmin Little CD has semi-permanently taken up residence in the player. I find myself writing complicated stuff when I actually want to be able to strip it all away ... *drifts into reverie*

The Hillier book: I picked up my "pre-loved" copy at a university book sale ... $2! *thinks* it might be the sort of thing that would appear on required reading lists, and therefore turn up in secondhand bookshops or on eBay or wherever.

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The mention of status of a flower prompted me to google up the William Blake verse (thinking that Pärt may have been quoting or alluding to it). Not quite, but here it is anyway:

To see the* world in a grain of sand,
and heaven in a wild flower,
hold infinity in the palm of your hand,
and eternity in an hour.

* some sources: "a"; also various versions of punctuation, obvious "www" errors, etc ... must chase this up.

Originally Posted by jada

Thanks for that clip! Hadn't thought to look for it on YouTube. Yeah – motorbikes? ¿¿Qué?? I liked his closing comment: Every time I feel I have to start from scratch. (Yep, I'm with him there.)

My current favourite piece (of all!) is Spiegel im Spiegel. The Tasmin Little CD has semi-permanently taken up residence in the player. I find myself writing complicated stuff when I actually want to be able to strip it all away ... *drifts into reverie*

The Hillier book: I picked up my "pre-loved" copy at a university book sale ... $2! *thinks* it might be the sort of thing that would appear on required reading lists, and therefore turn up in secondhand bookshops or on eBay or wherever.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

The mention of status of a flower prompted me to google up the William Blake verse (thinking that Pärt may have been quoting or alluding to it). Not quite, but here it is anyway:

To see the* world in a grain of sand,
and heaven in a wild flower,
hold infinity in the palm of your hand,
and eternity in an hour.

* some sources: "a"; also various versions of punctuation, obvious "www" errors, etc ... must chase this up.

Theres something about spiegel im spiegel

I like the tasmin little spiegel im spiegel but I must side with Vadim Gluzman's interpretation, its a little slower(8:35, while little's is 8 minutes), then I have a even slower version which lasts 10 minutes but I dont know who performs that one.....

Right know I really like his festina lente for string orchestra and harp, good stuff, It makes me cry when I listen to it

Well I will have to keep my eyes open for any good deals on the book

cheers

I hvae to say that I don't really enjoy his music. I have actualyl 4-5 CDs and an oxford publication with all details about his techniques. So I did research on him.

But I just can't stand (personal opinion, nothing to do with him, or his choices, right), this eternal calm setting, the choirs, the everlasting F maj through the tintinabily, and the pseudo-religious settings (at least this is what it reminds me).

Again this is personal, I'm not discrediting nor the composer, or his works, or the people who enjoy his music.

Originally Posted by nikolas

I hvae to say that I don't really enjoy his music. I have actualyl 4-5 CDs and an oxford publication with all details about his techniques. So I did research on him.

But I just can't stand (personal opinion, nothing to do with him, or his choices, right), this eternal calm setting, the choirs, the everlasting F maj through the tintinabily, and the pseudo-religious settings (at least this is what it reminds me).

Again this is personal, I'm not discrediting nor the composer, or his works, or the people who enjoy his music.

Funny, I feel sort of the same about Pärt - ambivalent. It's actually nice music to have in the background during a dinner party. It's not really anything I would sit and listen to rapturously.

Originally Posted by QcCowboy

Funny, I feel sort of the same about Pärt - ambivalent. It's actually nice music to have in the background during a dinner party. It's not really anything I would sit and listen to rapturously.

it's really mind blowing how people can be SO different.
i must get out completely of the place to listen to some of the best parts works - cantos for benjamin britten or fratres, or spiegel, or fur alina, or lamentate. maybe i need that, because it's so little on surface of his (late) music, so, yeah, you could pass it as background music, but it's not the whole story anyways.
and - arvo part wasn't just tintinabuli composer, his earlier works draw major influences from bach, his collages are massive, though don't like his symphonies and choral works (being atheist).
i think his tintinabuli and this calm surface sound has some roots in him a) being once film composer and b) being deeply religious. the first one requires to be able to open up a space for an image. the second one - to, well, see lord (beauty and love) in every single thing. i do him high five, when he states that a single note is enough. many composers try to force notes to be. part tries to let the note be.
(not implying that murdering notes is essentially a threat to music)
well, anyway, he is not a one way composer.
from collages through fratres to lamentate there is wide variety of his music.

and he actually started of as a serial composer!

Told you I've read a book about him

Having sung several of Part's works, including "The Beatitudes" and "Passio," I can say that I thoroughly enjoyed the challenge of performing them - his frequent voice crossings (and hence unusual voice leadings) make them deceptively difficult to execute. Revoicing chords by crossing tenor below bass and alto below soprano, and back again, he achieves a subtly undulating texture and timbre. The effect can be mesmerising.

That said, I don't own any recordings of Part's music, and wouldn't listen to it for pleasure even if I did, despite it's effectiveness and, at times, great beauty.

Is this the J. Lee Graham I think it is?

Or is this just an april-fools joke, since it is created the 1st of April...

No, it's me. Though in light of recent events, if I had any belief that I am of any consequence whatever as regards the disposition of this community, I might deduce that my homecoming has done more harm than good!

Nah you are out saviour

LOOK *points at the map*

There, he lives there; let us bring myrrh, gold and (was it incense)?