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Surprising classical music stories, every week. Explore the complete archives here. For access to all 513 articles, subscribe now.
A guide to livestream concerts during the coronavirus outbreak.
Here’s our preliminary list of freely available performances that can be heard (and seen) online, including live concerts to virtual audiences and shows from institutional archives. We’ll keep adding to this list, and we invite institutions and fans to send us new links as they come in.
In case you missed it
How two amateurs created the world’s most important resource on the French composer.
Video of the Week
The Complete 555 Domenico Scarlatti Harpsichord Sonatas
A person who attempts to listen to all of Scarlatti’s 550 harpsichord sonatas may come to feel that they all eventually become indistinguishable. Enter the glorious literalism of the internet: here is each piece played at the same time, in the version of Scott Ross, resulting in a texture that commenters compare to Penderecki, Messiaen, Ligeti, Merzbow, and Metal Machine Music. Allow us one more analogy: this is the musical version of Soylent, compressing a composer’s life work into an oddly compelling beige/gray smoothie sludge.
Audio of the Week
“Losing Touch,” by Edmund Campion
“Losing Touch,” by the American composer Edmund Campion, a student of Gérard Grisey, has something of his mentor’s pristine microtonal rigor, combined with the West Coast influences of Harry Partch. Performed on vibraphone here by Fernando Rocha.
vanmagazine
VAN Magazine
2 days ago
Arthur Kampela on Krzysztof Penderecki's First String Quartet:
"It can be seen as a never-ending machine; it doesn’t 'conclude,' but rather simply dissolves."
RIP.Krzysztof Penderecki "String Quartet No. 1" LaSalle Quartet ... See MoreSee Less
Video
VAN Magazine
4 days ago
He likes to tell a story about submitting a piece with a single chord that lasted over 30 seconds. The teacher told him, “This is like watching paint dry.” Unfamiliar with the idiom, he took it as a compliment.
A profile of Cenk Ergün. ... See MoreSee Less
The Sound Just After • VAN Magazine
van-us.atavist.com
A profile of Cenk Ergün.VAN Magazine
7 days ago
Fair practices even in normal times 💪💪 ... See MoreSee Less
Photo
VAN Magazine
2 weeks ago
It can be more intense, more intimate, to play for a stream than for a live audience. ... See MoreSee Less
Electronic Intimacy • VAN Magazine
van-us.atavist.com
What it’s like playing for a stream in an empty Miller Theatre.@vanmusicmag
Tweets
30.03.2020 • 02:44
RT @Sammy_Sussman:BREAKING: The University of Texas at Austin's investigation into Dan Welcher has concluded that "there was suffici… https://t.co/IS3GOAWcif29.03.2020 • 07:19
RT @NewFocusLabel:great profile of Cenk Ergun and his recent release with @jackquartet from Jeff Arlo Brown in @vanmusicmag "music of… https://t.co/viGWI7i8D829.03.2020 • 10:11
Arthur Kampela on Krzysztof Penderecki's First String Quartet: "It can be seen as a never-ending machine; it doesn… https://t.co/SaQS4HbZnQ27.03.2020 • 03:13
RT @fernandochavese:'Sonare' suena exactamente como mi cerebro estos días; 'Celare' como quisiera que sonara / A profile of Cenk Ergün. https://t.co/ZW3mx79Zb026.03.2020 • 04:43
RT @glendasplenda:My profile of the brilliant Cenk Ergün, with big thanks to Jay of @jackquartet and @AlanPierson: https://t.co/eeALaAtwhFFollow @vanmusicmag