Merry Christmas, Be Joyous

In C on the OC

As a part of Octave's never-ending quest to expand the musical horizons of Cornell, we will be hosting a performance of Terry Riley's "In C" during lunch this Tuesday (November 30th) on the OC - come to just to watch this great incidental performance, or bring an instrument and join in!

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/In_C
http://imslp.org/wiki/In_C_(Riley,_Terry)

Borodin String Quartet No. 2

This is the best thing that has ever happened to music. Period.

Michael Nyman, Time Lapse

Michael Nyman is the author of one of the books we are reading in the Avant-Garde Music class, so I thought I would do a little research on him. It turns out that he is a composer and has his own band that tours with him, similar to Steve Reich. After listening to this piece a few times, I'm still unsure about it. What do you think??

Don't Tell Me You've Never Gotten the Led Out

First we have Over the Hills and Far Away. One of my favorite songs to listen to and play. By one of my favorite bands. On one of my favorite albums. Oh boy. 'Nuff said.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0EVNeh9dasI

Next we have a selection of two songs by Flogging Molly. As a little Irish boy, I love Irish folk music. However, I also love punk, so a combination like this is absolutely perfect! Unfortunately, I was unable to narrow my choice for this evening's radio show down to just one Flogging Molly song, so I have left it up to tonight's DJs to choose one. Here are link to both of them:

Tomorrow Comes A Day Too Soon: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rNNDMEgVphY

What's Left of the Flag: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yXNj-4BXLng

I like the Irish!!!!!!!!!!

Tess's Picks

It's impossible to pick a favorite Beatles song, but this one has always stayed with me. I love this song for its eloquent lyrics and its ability to evoke such nostalgia within me. I like the interlude!!!!!!!!!!

I started listening to St. Vincent several months ago and have not stopped. It has this ethereal, dream-like quality that I really like. Coupled with Annie Clark's gorgeous voice, this song is a winner.

"Fools In Love," "Dreaming from the Waist"

I like the way that Joe Jackson presents his frustration with love in "Fools in Love." The verses are almost non-musical chant or sung a capella, as if he wants to make sure you have understood exactly what he wants to say. He only lets loose in the chorus, but even here he still has a very raw sound. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bGPb7qL-Sck

Dreaming from the Waist one of my favorite songs from the Who because of the tremendous energy put forth by all band members. It's an angry song about getting old - something that Pete Townshend would never do.http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=awqEiIW7eyo

Osean's Faves

Deerhoof - +81
I love technology. I sleep with my cell phone next to my ear. I never turn my computer off. You can find me napping on the couch next to my stereo system at several points during the day. I have this car that I drive, it's a crappy old Canadian thing. The Death Wagon, we call it. I drive stick and it stalls and jerks a lot. I make a lot of sharp turns. Nobody really cares how I drive in Iowa. Sometimes I text while driving while I'm listening to the radio. On an even more literal level, I love cute things. And I love Asians!

And (obviously): Hanson - Thinking 'Bout Somethin'


"Mmmbop" is dead as fucking. . . Dead. But Hanson: they're coming back in a big fucking way. So what if they're ripping off the Blues Brothers, or paying homage, or whatever. So what if they were a one hit wonder and they're maybe going for another. So what if the music video is 75% of the reason I listen to this song. I LIKE THE CHORUS!!!!!

Women's "Locust Valley" and Coley Jones' "Drunkard's Special"

I don't know any of the words to this song. I try to sing along with it as often as possible, but if you listened to me singing along to it and then took away the recording, it would just sound like me mumbling half-ideas half-melodically. Does that make my preference for this music an ignorant one? I can say that I love it because it sounds nostalgic to me; the way the recording is fuzzy and 60s and the harmonies are subtle, but oh so satisfying! I like listening to this song during sunset, but maybe that doesn't concern you.



It's all in the voice. Coley Jones speaks so plainly and the melody is so formulaic, but it's extremely attractive. And when he interludes a few of his verses with "come here, honey," my goodness! It's haunting and peculiar, and I want to hear it over and over again. I can never remember exactly when he says it in the song, probably because I spend a majority of my time waiting to hear it, almost ignoring the rest of the music. Honestly: who needs leitmotifs when you have that?

Non-classical music... what is that?

Finding only two of my favorite songs is too maaaach! So I will go with some of my more recent finds. That doesn't mean they are new though. In fact, my first one is a classic. I found the video this summer and fell in love with it. I forced my family to listen to it all the time and now it has become sort of a family rickroll. The rest of the album is great too!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=anLfoy2XsFw

I also found the second song this summer. It has such a different feel than the rest of the album and I love the combinations of sounds. The video is very odd. That is really all I have to say about it.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vQsvZAxE9xY

For your music!

Rebecca

So this is a song that really speaks to my heart. It is very special to me and means a lot in my life. I hope that everyone who hears it can really understand the true meaning of its beauty and power. The singer is my true hero and I will always have her incredibly inspiring music on my mind. Here is the link on YouTubehttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M11SvDtPBhA

Dvorak's American String Quartet mvt. IV

In 1893 Antonin Dvorák and his family spent his summer in a small hamlet in Iowa composing, in an attempt to escape city life. It was here that he created some of his most famous works, including the American String Quartet No. 12 in F, Op. 96. The pastoral imagery of an Iowa summer evoked throughout the entirety of the quartet is reminiscent of both the natural setting of rolling fields and (particularly here in the fourth movement) the crashing and pulsing of a train tearing through the Iowa landscapes. This is one of my favorite chamber music pieces because it combines Dvorák's eastern European background with elements of American music in the late 19th century and evokes the melting pot of the industrial-revolution era United States in a beautiful synthesis of style and genre.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n415rCnniIA&feature=related

Brahms: Intermezzo in A major, op. 118 no. 2

While I've been listening to pieces like Beethoven's 3rd symphony all my life, I came across this piece for piano by Brahms somewhat recently. In fact, I heard it for the first time in music theory class my freshman year. Professor Jama Stilwell played it for us one morning and, afterwards, remarked, "Isn't that just beautiful?". The first listening certainly captured my attention, but it was the multiple listenings afterwards that drew me in. I love its subtlety. I love the way the left and right hands fall into each other and intermingle. I love its quiet beauty and contemplative nature. I love it all.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1h4Re5WBEAc

I like the version by Stephen Kovacevich best.

Mars, The Bringer of War

Mars, The Bringer of War is one of my favorite pieces of music ever written. The first time I ever listened to all of "The Planets" by Gustav Holst I was blown away by the emotions portrayed in the pieces, but Mars was the most memorable for me because of the power in invoked. The entire piece seems to build up slowly and slowly around you as it lulls you to a slumber before it knocks you off of your feet with heavy syncopation and a heavy fortissimo.

Mars is able to create a sense of raw power and anger that I have never heard a piece be able to mimic to the same results. The entirety of "Planets" has great piece after great piece, some sad and some joyful. Mars always seems to be the one that I go to first though, and will always be a favorite of mine.

Tristan Perich: Observations

Tristan Perich is one of my favorite contemporary composers and I love his piece, Observations for crotales and six-channel 1-bit sound. The first time I heard it, I had the pleasure of seeing a live performance. The stage was set up with six hanging speakers without enclosures in a semicircle and two percussionists in the middle, each with a set of crotales (high-pitched brass discs). Since the speakers were in view, I could even see each one pulsating with its individual rhythm.

The crotales and 1-bit sounds both have such a steady pulse the entire time, it is almost as if Perich is treating the crotales players as two more electronic channels instead of acoustic instruments. The repetitive nature of the piece almost puts me in a trance but the unexpected movements and note changes throughout keep me on the edge of my seat. The last note is especially shocking because after listening to repetitive high-pitched sounds for so long, I still hear them after the abrupt end.

Perich writes a lot of music for electronics and acoustic instruments, exploring the relationship between the two. some of it is even available to download for free at http://www.tristanperich.com/

Debussy: Preludes pour piano, Premiere Livre: III. . .

I first heard this piece on my living room floor. I was sprawled out on the carpet with the score, listening to a recording by Paul Jacobs. I followed the two staves of the piano as best I could, hoping to somehow obtain the true meaning of the piece by connecting the sounds to their corresponding notes, but I had no idea what I was doing. I was just listening and following contours. I didn't know what the instrument was doing, or how one would even play this piece. But I was entranced. I had never heard the piano not sound like a piano before. The colors took me out of my living room. It sounded like the wind, but there was nothing Romantic about it. There was a breeze, there was the play of tall grass, there were violent gusts. Everything was chilling and subtle and just natural. I decided then and there that I wanted to make those sounds on the piano myself. I wanted to write them too. What could be more beautiful than being able to project images and feelings to another person through music?

I immediately became obsessed with the idea of music as symbolism. Listen to these notes being played, this harmony reoccurring; it is an objective image, it represents one immovable detail in this composition and we must respect that. That obsession took off and I completely overlooked a simple detail of the score; why had Debussy placed the titles at the end of each Prelude instead of the beginning?

I used to love this piece of music because it was the wind. But now when I think about it, purely as sound, I love it even more.



. . . Le Vent dans la plaine

Beethoven Symphony No. 7 Mvt. 4

I like this piece because when I was five years old I was walking down the stairs at my mom's house and the song was playing in the background and it was the only CD we had and at first I didn't like it and I just wanted to play in the pool in the back yard, but then we played the CD every day and then I started to like it and so I would march up and down the stairs like a queen humming the melody as it would play in the background like I was royalty. Sometimes my mom would turn it off and I would cry but I would keep walking on the stairs because I could still hear the rhythm in my head then I had to start kindergarten the next day.

I like the horns!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!1111

Millennium - Orange Mighty Trio

My selection for this week's radio show is Millennium by the Orange Mighty Trio, a Minneapolis-based group featuring "a large fiddle, small fiddle, and a fiddle you play with keys attached to felted hammers." This piece is a wonderful example of their self-proclaimed "bluegrassical" style, which incorporates elements of classical technique and jazz-like improvisation. The piece can be found on the music players at the two following sites. Check it out!

http://www.orangemightytrio.com/OMT/Home.html

http://www.myspace.com/orangemightytrio

Music is Everywhere

Well, I guess it's about time for a newbie to post something.

In August of last year, David Byrne of the Talking Heads did an installation at the Roundhouse where he literally turned the building into an instrument. Hows' that for expanding horizons?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K6cvCafcPGQ

To Be Learned For Group Warmups/Bonding/Funsies

Practice your claps! We're doing this come Fall.

This is the End. My only Friend, the End.

So here we are. The end of the road. 6 of the 8 original Octave members have moved out. Julian and I are sticking around for graduation. I happen to be graduating, while Julian is staying for his brother's graduation. The previous post mentioned emotional times, but those did not really compare to the last couple days. Anna left early, without saying goodbye to the three family members that were studying in Chicago this block.

Then we proceeded to have two nights of partying without her. I have to say, I have given the neighbors and friends a lot of grief about being "groupies," but they were more than that term could ever hope to accomplish. I think the term friend doesn't really sum it up well either. Although Octave likes to think about ourselves as separate from them, maybe we could consider them as their own family, that perhaps married into Octave's (or vice versa). I'm serious, we were pretty close. That's why the goodbyes have been so hard. We have surmised that Anna may have left early to prevent tears, which seems likely, and it makes sense. Many tearful, and some not tearful (mostly the ones involving the boys, stereotypes are sometimes correct) goodbyes have taken place.

I would like to take this opportunity to thank you all, Octave and friends, for the best year of my college career, and arguably of my life to date. I might not miss you yet, but believe me I will, each and every one of you. I might not be able to visit, but I will do my best to make an appearance. I don't ever think of this as goodbye. We'll see each other again.

And to close, as the big classic rock geek of the group, some song lyrics, from the Traveling Wilburys:

Maybe somewhere down the road a ways

You'll think of me and wonder where I am these days

Maybe somewhere down the road when somebody plays

Purple Haze

Thank you all again. It's been fun.

Colin, the Soulful Saxy Man

Emotional Times Here At Octave

So we haven't updated in quite a while. I get the feeling that I'm the only one that checks this any more. That's alright though. If anybody else checks this, thank you very much.

Octave is going through some end-of-the-year emotional turmoil right now. We recently held our first annual Rite of Spring Dance Party. It was crazy and full of fake blood and sacrificial virgins (Nobody was harmed, unless you count some clothing that got horrendously stained). Three of our members, Ben, Ian, and Rebecca, are all leaving for 9th block to take a course in Chicago. Two of us, myself (Colin), and Anna are heading into the very end of our college careers. There have already been tears about the pending separation of the original Octave family. At least two of us have claimed that Octave has been the closest thing to a second family that we've had in our lives. We have something special here and we're sad to see it go.

But time moves on, and we have to as well. Next year will bring its own fun events and tearful goodbyes. This is how life works. However, we as Octave are a family, and families stay in touch.

For non-members that read this, if there are any (I don't think the groupies know this exists), we have appreciated your support throughout the year. We might have a couple more posts, but who knows. If you haven't read the article about us on the website, here's a link: http://www.cornellcollege.edu/admissions/opportune-moments/octave.shtml.

And if want to know what we look like, or why we consider ourselves to be a family, check out these group shots:

From the Top

On Wednesday, February 24th, Octave went with our students from Taylor Elementary to NPR's From the Top, Live with Host Christopher O'Riley at the Englert Theatre in Iowa City. We met at Taylor Elementary, got into two fifteen passenger vans and cruised to Iowa City for the show. Our two contacts at Matthew 25, Courtney and Gabrielle, drove the vans. The tickets were at will call and we went in to enjoy the show.

A radio show on stage in an auditorium is a rather unique performance to witness. There were microphones and cords all over the stage. A grand piano was in the back, but no other real signs that a musical performance was going to take place. They did the introduction to the show and asked for everybody to silence themselves and their electronics. Then the real show started.

A bunch of Midwest musicians played music ranging from Mozart to Shostakovich to Simon Wills. It was quite the show. It made some of our music performance majors feel a bit inadequate to be honest. And although some of our students were a bit antsy in their seats, I think they enjoyed it too. It was a good experience for everybody.

Lessons at Taylor Elementary in Cedar Rapids

One of Octave's fundamental goals is to provide musical education to the public. Every Saturday morning, we go to Taylor Elementary School in Cedar Rapids, Iowa to give lessons to interested students. Taylor Elementary was flooded out two summers ago and is still recovering. Through a music mentoring program in association with a non-profit organization called Matthew 25, Octave has been providing music lessons for students that would otherwise not be able to study music. We work with Dr. Knight, who got us started this year with workshops on harmonica and ukulele. We have students teaching violin, cello, guitar, drums, trumpet, clarinet, and saxophone.

A Collage on John Donne's Holy Sonnets

Our first idea when it came to this presentation was to focus on the intertextuality between John Donne's Holy Sonnets and music. Sonnet 14 is referenced in John Adams' opera Dr. Atomic. The opera focuses on Dr. Oppenheimer's psychological struggles with creating something as technologically magnificent, and yet as destructive as the atomic bomb. Oppenheimer's aria at the end of the first act illustrates his struggle. This is a video of that aria, as performed in Amsterdam in 2007: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uYiokai3FW4

While researching other musical connections to the Holy Sonnets, I came across a collection of pieces for piano and tenor voice by English opera composer Benjamin Britten. Further research on these selections led to an explanation on Britten's motivation for putting these sonnets to music. Brian Gooch, a professor at the University of Victoria, claims that the pieces were inspired by a trip to Germany, including concentration camps, in 1945. Using the Naxos Music Library, I found a recording of these powerful pieces. This is a link to that recording: http://cornellcollege.naxosmusiclibrary.com/catalogue/item.asp?cid=8.557201

If you are interested, please read Gooch's entire article on Britten's pieces here: http://extra.shu.ac.uk/emls/si-07/gooch.htm