Monday, February 04, 2013

Things I'm Listening to Lately

I caught the last few minutes of Dylan Mattingly's "Invisible Skyline" on the radio tonight. The Berkeley Symphony premiered the piece, and it was being re-broadcast on 91.7 KALW. (Funny timing; moments before, we had finished rehearsal with the Stanford Symphony).

I don't quite know how to compliment the music, but it really grabbed me. It feels like there are different parts of my brain being activated, attention being gripped and held. The music is both focused and atmospheric. I'm here and only here; yet simultaneously, I'm elsewhere, I'm away.

It explores little moments here and there. These moments carry you along, sonic gems, bright pockets of feeling and playfulness and motion. It's "new" music, but somehow it all JUST MAKES SENSE. And now I really want to hear the whole piece!

I searched on YouTube, and am currently listening to Mattingly's "A Way A Lone A Last A Loved A Long the Riverrun." It's awash with images and memories; maybe not my memories, but memories that I can imagine, floating to the surface and then drifting downstream.

To be here and not here ... the times I have been able to feel like this are when I am dancing -- waltzing, to be precise -- which is probably the best compliment I can give. It's strange, but the music generates a very similar feeling for my brain. It's something regular and synchronized, intertwined with something that feels absolutely spontaneous and open.

It's new and familiar all at once, like coming to where I know I'm supposed to be.





Interview with composer Dylan Mattingly, plus another blog interview and five facts.

Later on, I came across this Schnittke piece, played by "A Far Cry" which is an ensemble I'm a fan of!

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