Filed under: Katerina
Sop,
For those of you who know, I am really into the band MUSE. When I talk about them I generally go on for a few hours with recommendations, background information, random information. Recomendation talks I imagine are the worst for the person listening on the otherside, though i’ve actually hit a good chord with the people I’ve recently talked to (namely TARA and more surprisingly my boyfriend), who actually didn’t mind me going on and on and on about which songs to listen to in what order and why on top of allll the little secrets and rarities about the band that you didn’t really need to know, but I’m probably going to tell you anyways. [decided i'd make an "essential" MUSE cd for my boyfriend thinking it would fit on one CD... so three cd's later...]
Now if you know anything about MUSE, you’ll probably know that they’re coming out with a new CD this Tuesday called The Resistance, but because as you probably guessed, I couldn’t wait… so I downloaded a leaked copy I found on it on utorrent, and all I can say it well, what i said in the title.
Upon looking for the right words to explain the cd to readers (so just you Brad), I actually found a review on Amazon that was so creepishly identical to my exact thoughts about the album that I thought I would post it here. (by R. Gill, respectively).
“
The Resistance, in two words, is: mind blowing.
It is a lot to take in at once, so I suggest listening to it a few times to take in everything, especially the three part symphony at the end of the album. Muse have changed yet again and created something amazing, and in my opinion, running for contest as their best album to date. It beats Black Holes by a big stretch, while Absolution fights with it a bit but gets tossed, and Origin of Symmetry fights with it eternally for my #1 favorite spot.
I laugh at people who can’t accept new things, and say “muse have sold out” because they don’t sound like they do on Origin of Symmetry. I’m sorry but I much prefer a band who changes and brings something new and fresh each time they release and album – and that’s exactly what Muse have done. They have grown, matured, and have shown what they can really do.
‘Uprising’ starts it all off, because of course, you need to up rise before you can resist. A dancey-hard rock take on Goldfrapp, with stomp in it. Solid track as Matt announces in an anthem-like way on how we can’t let them control us, degrade us, nor force us. ‘Resistance’ starts it all really. You get the feel and atmosphere of this album through this song, it is breath taking, ‘love is our resistance.’
‘Undisclosed Desires’ is the anti-Muse song with no piano or guitar in this track, and the drums are electronic. Think Depeche Mode with Matt soaring over this track with synths at every stop. Next, ‘United States of Eurasia’ bringing the fantasy of Europe and Asia becoming one. Slow beautiful start, explodes into a grand Arabic riff with piano and drums following right behind. Queen like explosions to pay tribute to one of their biggest influences. Ends with a beautiful piece from Chopin — which leads into ‘Guiding Light’. Stadium rock. Probably the weakest track on the album (which isn’t saying much), but still has that great Muse touch to it, while a bit repetitive and the least changing track. A good live track nonetheless.
‘Unnatural Selection’ – what can I say? The new ‘Newborn’. Brilliant organ opens this track with huge riffs left and right, a jazzy interlude breakdown, along with a heavy powerful riff at the end. Matt announces “he wants the truth!” – so much so, I’d want to give him whatever truth this man wants. ‘MK Ultra’ continues the path of riffs, starting with a spidery-synthy riff with eerie vocals. Conspiracy theories galore, look up on them! Ending riff of this song is again, a true beauty.
‘I Belong To You’ – Wow. What a surprise. This track is incredible and definitely one of my favorites from this album. It is brilliant, unique, and very funky. Cover of “Mon Coeur S’ouvre A Toi” locates itself in the track after a breakdown, in which Matt sings the cover in french. Humor is found throughout such as “you are my guiding light-ning strike.” It ends beautiful and sweet, making the pave way clear to the symphony….
‘Exogenesis’ – A work of brilliance. Parts I, II, and III. I (overture) is a great buildup and an explosion of falsetto – “who are we? where are we?”. An epic intro to and epic song, fusing classical symphony with rock elemenets such as guitar and drums. We are called out for our mistakes as humans. Part II (cross-pollination) calls out one man to defy the masses, stick up for us, and resist. It explodes into an all out rock fest in the middle, while ending in tinkly piano yet again – to lead to the conclusion.
Part 3 (redepemtion) – How beautiful. Astonishing, my eyes have gotten teary just listening to it in a room with stereo blasted, it’s very impactful. We have lost. We must learn from our mistakes, and start again while getting it right this time. Starts with excellent piano, finishing with a kind voice and again, piano fading away. A sweet ending to an incredible masterpiece album and song. A true music break.
You must listen to this album itself, especially Exogenesis, to capture it’s magic. It is a lot to take in, and I have still yet to hear it more in depth. Muse have outdone themselves again. Bravo.
10/10″
Definite tracks from the album that you should upload:
| 1. Uprising |
| 4. United States of Eurasia/Collateral Damage |
| 8. I Belong to You/Mon Cur S’Ouvre a Ta Voix |
And if you’re in hardcore classic stuff, like Brad is, I definately say that if you want to see if all this downloading is worth your time, download their symphony (YES, SYMPHONY) Exogenisis.
| 9. Exogenesis: Symphony, Pt. 1: Overture |
| 10. Exogenesis: Symphony, Pt. 2: Cross-Pollination |
| 11. Exogenesis: Symphony, Pt. 3: Redemption |
This has been another sell-out to shamelessly promote other bands from,
Yours Truly (:
Filed under: Brad
They say in a room filled with a million people…any old million from all over the world….that you’ve never met….they will know you better then you know yourself. At first glance this might seem like an odd thing to open a blog with but take some time and just ponder this very thought. Deluding yourself is a very simple task. Most people do it everyday without even realizing it. Perhaps ignorance is bliss and this delusion that alot people are living is really like an all expesnes paid trip to self esteem (or is oddly like the matrix *cue scary music*), however i think a fair amount of introspectivity is a good thing. It allows you to reflect back on yourself and see how you’ve grown or degraded from who you were. The really interesting thing about this excercise is that its different everytime you do it. You can always look back on an embarrassing moment and feel…well embarrassed by it, however you can also look back at yourself in highschool, elementary, kindergarden and just see how much you’ve grown.
I remember being in Grade 5 and sitting in class as the teacher lectured thinking “What will I be like in 10 years”. A couple weeks ago it dawned on me that it is now ten years later, an immense amount of time to me back then and the progress that I feel I have made is lightyears. It seems like an interesting anomally, the amount of progress one can make over time.
I urge everyone that reads this (so basically just you Kat) to sit down and think about where you were 10 years ago and work yourself up to where you are now. Its almost like tearing down a lego castle and putting the bricks back exactly where you pulled them from. Its a very comforting feeling to know that you are perhaps growing as a person, maturing and gaining experiences. Do you ever have those experience when you see a relative that you might not see very often or a familly friend and they say “Look how tall you are!”, but you don’t really understand what their talking about. It is this objective view that you should take with your life, just once in a while. While you might feel like you have so much more left in your life to do and experience, take solstice in that knowledge that you have already achieved so much.
Coda: I’ve never been much of a sucker for the russian modernists but take the time and listen to the first movement of Shosty 10. It is an amazing piece but its the intro that always get me with the string beginning to pound out this one rhythmic figure over and over again. It just great stuff! After that, in keeping with the spirit of the Russian Modernists, throw in a bit of Peter and the Wolf (I actually got really upset when I first listened that the duck had been eaten! )
Filed under: Brad
I have decided to name my posts based on what I am going to write about (or allude to in some discrete way). I thought it would be unique and different from all of my other posts in that….while there isn’t much of a change….so sue me. At least its better then just tilting them after the date they were written. I mean the number of creative and logistic issues that arise out of naming your blogs based on the date. Do you name them after the day you publish or the day you write them. What happens if you start writing at 11:59 pm and finish at 12:01 am; what would the date be then? What about any creative control you have for your blog. The title should be a sort of preamble to the main body that is the “blog”. Without such a primer for the reader, they go in completely unaware of what their about to embark in to reading. This is a very important stage of the blog, one that I am sure the public will resist (seeing as how I think Kat and I are the only ones that read our blog, I think it is a safe assumption that at least 50% of our readership disapproves of these changes). Market research pays.
So on to the issue at hand. Clearly as you can see it has been a long time since I last wrote on this blog (not as long as it has been for Kat but I suppose thats a moot point). It has been in fact so long that aliens managed to envade my brain and insert teenie tiny devices that served to erase (among other things) the password and username to the blog. They were tricky little buggesr and it was only through quick thinking and cleverly crafting a club out of the remains of a large stick ( a very complex task in itself) I was able to beat back this invasion and ultimately save the universe (I know i didn’t mention sooner that the aliens were seeking the destruction of the universe but I figured that went without saying). Unfortunatly before I could do anything, the aformentioned aliens had already wiped the password and username out of my already large and concentrated brain. It was a very exciting day…the movie will be put out next summer as the next big blockbuster. Patrick Dempsey is slated to play me and it will be directed by Peter Jackson.
Summer life has been quiet…..
really quiet
Sure its nice to live by yourself but once in a while it is also nice to have someone to talk to. To cover for this missing factor in my life I have simply started talking to my instruments.
Brad: I think that we should work on the Kennan final movement. I would really like to polish it down a bit..what do you think trumpet?
Trumpet:…
Brad: You’re right as usual, the first movement is really where I could be spending more time. Should we start at the beginning or just move to bar 143 where the real trouble begins?
Trumpet:…
Brad: really? do you think?
Trumpet:
Brad: I don’t really see what the philosophical teachings of Kant have to do with this piece.
Trumpet:
Coda: I realize that my posts aren’t as long or complex as Kat’s posts. Sure I might not spend as much time writing for the blog but I write WAY more then her. I have always believed the quantity will always be quality….
oh right…this is the part of the blog where I tell you what music I have been listening and recomend it highly. Well I’ve got to say I recently downloaded purchased legally the soundtrack to the shreck movies and honestly they are some really hot stuff. Sure there is some classics and such there but it is just a really fun listen!
Filed under: Katerina
Yes, i’ve chosen to now name my posts based on the day i write them on. Tragic.
Let me sum up my summer so far:
So I started the summer with a little summer to-do list that I created during finals. Every moment that I had during that period where I wasn’t focus and wanted to look forward to something i could reward myself with i wrote it down on this list. Now I won’t share everything, but here are some successes I’ve had this summer,
1. Get my G2 license by June w/ Peter’s Driving Academy. Basically the entire month of May was me taking the 6 inclasses and 10 hours in the car, I had my license by the 5th of June (:
2. Volunteer if you have free time! It looks awesome on a resume. I actually volunteered at my sister’s elementary school alongside the Music teacher there. I took some notes and such, what he did, stuff that he did that I could actually better, should the time come. And it also let me truly consider if i would want to teach at an elementary school level, and I’ve come to this conclusion through a metaphor. It’s kinda like Kingston, it’s a great place to study in for a few years however I would never ever want to actually live there. Just like teaching elementary school. I think it’s important to get the basic experience with teaching a classroom at an elementary level, but i would never want to be stuck teaching music at an elementary level. I would definately want to teach highschool, should i be given the option.
3. Buy a Camera with a decent amount of memory. Birthday present. 4.0 GB of memory (thanks to the memory card that came with my phone). I’ve definately wanted a camera for so long, just because i have so many movie ideas, and I got something even better from it. I’ve recorded a lot of goodtimes with my friends (haha even with you) in pickering/scarborough and saved them on my computer. Even now when I watch them I laugh, and feel good. Something that will be important to srsly have when I’m alone in Kingston and need the feeling of true friends around me.
4. Make an attempt to actually be more social, meaning if someone invites you to go out, YOU GO OUT. if you hear the group is gathering, YOU GATHER, CAPICE? only good things can come from this. Well… I mean, I did kinda end up finally getting a boyfriend this way…♥ (:
Some mentions that sort of happened but haven’t been completed really:
-Learn enough Italian to be able to have a basic conversation and whhhhhhy did i want to learn italian? First off, i find it’s a lot easier to learn than french. Secondly, you can’t deny that most of the musical terms in music are not italian, because most of them are. I may have not finish the whole book that i’m learning from, HOWEVER i can confidently pronounce italian words that i have never seen before. i may not know what they are exactly, but i will be able to say them without sounding like an idiot in front of my peers and colleagues.
- Learn all of the FFVII Solo Piano Collections If you have not heard any of these songs, i strongly suggest you check them out. srsly. Especially ‘Fighting’, this was the one i reeeeeally wanted to learn. Instead what i ended up doing this summer, was dropping this goal (but keeping it at tha back of my mind should i had time to practice them) and instead learning two movement’s from Beethoven’s Tempest sonata. One of which you, brad, had a chance to hear in it’s early stages. I’ve almost completely memorized the third movement, and I am working on the first (since for my jury, which i have not played yet) because i need two movements for my jury.
-Learn to play the guitar. FAIL
-… so i can learn to play the ukulele!! (which was the original intent of the guitar learning) DOUBLE FAIL
- Join a fitness club for fun. Reasons this didn’t happen: No job. am lazy. i’ve just decided i’ll wake up early and go running instead.
- Do something with my YouTube page. haha fail/win? you decide, i unno i think i’ve had some pretty good videos this summer! (mind you none of them music related… which is the ultimate fail, because that’s what my subscribers want, instead i give them stuff where nikki and i just goof off because we’re dumb like that…)
Other than that though, my days consist of me waking up.
-Studying some history (I WILL SUCCEED THIS YEAR, BECAUSE I HAVE TO DO IT FOR MY PROGRAM, AND I WILL NOT FAIL AGAIN.) I DO NOT HATE HISTORY is what i tell myself at least 10 times a day until i believe it.
-Read a book, any book. (i actually have this list of books that i’m one day hoping to complete, and there are over a hundred at least, classics and newer ones too)
-Driving to random places. Since having a car to yourself, even if it’s just to the grocery store, is so. freaken. nice.
-um i guess starting tomorrow, running in the mornings.
-practicing for 2 hours (i found the cure, i drink caffinated coffee before hand, it’s the only way i can push through so i can go out at night)
-and well, lounging around mostly. unemployement allows a person to do such things…
One of the main reasons i didn’t get a job this summer is this. I figure this is really the last summer i can afford to not have a job, after this i will need to work until forever. I remember last year when i worked at Tim Hortons at PTC I would work all day, come home exhausted, and rarely have time to do anything. I’d be frazzled, disorganized, and rarely have anything in order. Something, that is a bitch by school time. This way, i sit down and truly work out basic things, like what do i want to achieve, how will i do this, what triggers stress/pressure/anxiety/depression, how can i avoid this or cope with this during school? What are somethings that worked last year? what didn’t? how can i learn from my mistakes and do better?
Best lesson i learned this past year, which i’ll admit is a no-brainer to most, but when you’re like me, and are shy around people you respect: make an appointment with each of your professors once a week to go over class material, learn the things you have problems with, and gain confidence in your classes by working as a team with your professors.
SO VITAL, but i think this will help the most.
to be honest, i’m really not looking forward to going back to school this year, because i know that these last two years i’m going to have to work hard. I even wrote it down here:
Acknowledge that September is going to Hard. Work hard. Push Through.
I get a lot of confidence by reading these words for some reason, maybe it’ll be just the kind of thing i need.
And now for something completely different: So, normally I avoid lululemon, that clothing/apparel store that i swear every single girl owns $100 pants from? I find it has nice good quality pieces, but it is soooo expensive… But my sister loves it, so i had to tag along with her when we went to the mall. At the back of the store, normally near the changing rooms, there’s a wall dedicated to the employees… and their goals. Namely employees are encouraged to make 1, 5, and 10 year goals in relation to career, personal, and health. Once they make those goals they create a page listing those goals and posting them somewhere where they’ll be able to see them as a reminder.
Now Brad – btw if you’ve actually read this far, let me take the time to congratulate you – ACTION ITEM I think we should both make an effort to create out own Career(school)/personal/health goals. However, instead of 1,5,10 years, i think as we, as students, should make them for the next 1, 2, and 5 years. I’m planning on perhaps doing a collage or something to show mine off. When I finish it i’ll post them in my “summer 09 
” photo album on facebook, as well as framing it to hang in my room this year as a reminder. If you finish yours by the time i see you in August, i’ll post yours in the album as well. Maybe we can spread the idea around? Even if it sounds like a cheesy idea, and you’re skeptical (because you probably are, or you actually think it’s a brilliant idea) try it out anyways. If anything you’ll waste an hour of thinking, but it might be beneficial to at least have an idea you know? Lululemon also has a way to complete this project here if you’re having troubles starting…
Anyways, hope I haven’t bothered you too much. I’ll admit this post is kind of long, but it’s also been a while since i’ve posted anything, and I may as well get back into the habit now that I have time (:
Talk to you soon!
Katerina
Filed under: Brad
I have a real problem with ignorance.
Anyone that knows me can likely atest to such a fact. Stupid people, plain and simple, piss me off. Human nature is one of those funny things that is almost impossible to overcome, however I understand that people feel the need to have their opinions heard. I am in fact one of those people. The very fact that I am writing , parading my opinion, is a testamony to that. I also have no problem with people having (what I believe to be) the “wrong” idea, or an idea that might disagree with my own opinion. To be subjective is to be human. It would be the height of ignorance to assume that anyone can suddenly lift the veil of humanity from their head and see the world from a global perspective. That would be utterly impossible. My problem however lies in people that will not adapt, alter or change their opinions when cornered with new evidence or a theory that differs from their own. To these people their opinion is one of stone that is unyielding to any form of metamorphoses that it might have regulary undergone. This to me is the true cause of stupidity.
With the priviledge of having an opinion, lies the responsiblity of maintaining the upkeep of such a viewpoint. True, while many famous religions, organizations and societies are based on that very principle, this does not neccessiarily imply that they are in the right. To be stupid is not to be daft, or lack in intelligence. Some of the smartest people in the world are stupid; in fact, many of the smartest people in the world demonstrate stupidity. Socrates once said that the only true wisdom is admiting that you know nothing. Does the act of possessing intelligence null and void your opinion of the world or is it a matter of the more you learn, the further you realize you have to go?
Personally I am beginning to think that the only thing that possessing knowledge can do to you is instill a sense or feeling of superiority. It is this feeling of power that leads us to eschew others opinions and cling foolishly to beliefs and opinions that we might possess. Those that demonstrate the most intellectual potential around us are those that posses the most humility. While I understand the paradox that is created in having an opinion to this quandry however please…I invite you to give your perspective.
Filed under: Katerina
Happy Birthday Brad.
Have I told you that i’m writting my Renaissance paper on Josquin Desprez? Thought you might get a kick out that. Mind you, it’s probably it’s a small kick, but it’s really the best kinda gift I could give you today.
And besides, doesn’t a birthday greeting seem so much more significantly cooler when it’s in blog format? (Any body can do a Facebook message).
and hey! give me a call when you get a chance, haven’t talked to you in a while, and i now own a calling card. so s’all good. Wanna see how you’re doing, keep in touch, that kinda thing, i can imagine you’re getting a bit antisocial right now… why? because i am, therefore you must be. I don’t know how that logic works i’ll admit, but hey if you can tell me that your social life is predominant right now, then i’ll keep quiet.
I must admit though, your blogs have been so amazingly well this year, no seriously! I was kind of considering just packing it in and just giving you the blog. But it’s a collaborative broad (heehee) and even though my blogs just really do suck (let’s not kid ourselves), i think a once in a while blog from me wouldn’t hurt.
Do you find that the blogs have helped this year at all? I know for me, just checking in here every few days just to see if there’s anything new really does brighten my day, even if i’m not the one posting….. or did you find they were just something you felt you had to do.
Remember, I will always have your back – not literally, because i kinda prefer my back to yours (seriously, no offense), but figuratively. I promise.
I unno why i’m reminding you… i just thought if i threw some sap in there, this blog won’t be such as “oh kat talked about nothing… again” kinda blog.
honestly, nothing is going to top the sonata blog… i still haven’t finished reading it, becase it’s like a whole bunch of concentrated awesomeness in one blog- and reading the whole thing in one sitting might actually kill me.
(:
oh, and hey! what do you think about the banner? I thought you might not like it, because i have a sense for these kinds of things. but because you didn’t really bash it in any of your blogs since i changed it, i figured it was cool? right? am i too far off here?
Filed under: Brad
Ok so picture this…..
Go ahead close your eyes…
Ok I know you’re peeking…It was a stupid idea from the start, asking you to close your eyes while reading a blog….if you were/are still staring in front of the screen with your eyes closed, I certainly hope that natural selection will kick in soon.
Anyway I digress….Picture this
You’re on a boat…wind washing through your hair, so that it gets a little messy. You’re a little self conscience about you’re hair because when you get off the boat it going to look really messy….and of course you put gel in it, so its not just going to be messy immediately after you get off your craft but also for the rest of the day/week/month/year depending on the strength of your gel and thickness of your hair….
Suddenly something goes wrong with your boat…Doesn’t really matter what….You could have hit an iceberg, another ship or even a plush teddy bear…doesn’t really matter…
You’re sinking and you suddenly far off in the distance you see a desert island. Its a bit of a swim but you know you can make it. So quickly you have time to grab a CD player and you run in to the section of the ship where you are storing your entire CD collection…..Yes for some reason you are traveling on a ship to an undisclosed destination with all of your CDs in tow…just roll with it.
You stare at your cornacopia of recordings pondering;
“Which CD should I bring for my potentially long and arduous maroon on that desert island.”
This recording could potentially be the definining song of your life. It may even be the last song you listen to before you pass in to the abyss and are forgotten forever. You can only bring one out of your metaphorical millions of CDs
Which one do you bring?
Filed under: Brad
We knew that it was going to be a difficult challenge but someone had to do it. It was up to myself and my crack team to delve in to the mystery that is the Sonata. The danger and dissonance that we were throwing ourselves in front of was enough to drive the weak insane and the brave to their knees. This is our story…
Measure 0; Departure in one minute
We prepared to set out on the trip. All of us armed with rulers, and several sharp pencil we stared at the barrel of a loaded gun in quiet anticipation and dread. Besides me there were several notable musicians with me. Kat also was prepared for the journey and she nursed a quiet optimism. We didn’t know what was ahead but we were looking at the others around us with trepidation.
Measure 1; 0:00
The piece has begun and we enter the main theme with much trepidation. Of course the basic idea came along and was soon launched in to a very tight knit period form. I could hear the predictability as we crept along beat by beat, but it was futile to hope that it would last forever. Things were going relatively well at first. We were all conscious and tried to keep our wits about us. After the first contrasting idea and subsequent half cadence, we were beginning to gain confidence. Things were looking up, but we were foolish.
Expecting the authentic cadence to affirm the main key, the cadential began to go awry. Something had caused the piece to evade the cadence. It was then that we knew we had been lazy idiot. Quickly we took a couple seconds to analyze the section. Unfortunatly we broke in to a debate as to the source of the evasion. Jones, being the idiot he was believed that it was simply evaded with a vi chord and would launch back in to the cadential progression momentarily. “Nothing to worry about” he said with a laugh. I however knew that the composer had meant to trick us. He meant to fail this consequent. I wouldn’t be unprepared. After much debating several of the men follow Jones while the majority followed me. We continued on without them, but when the cadence never came, we knew they were lost. The piece continued on…oblivious to the good men it had just claimed. We continued on.
Measure 25; 1:12
The repeat of the period was as expected. The composer can evade the home key affirmation once but he won’t do it again. HE still has to comply to the laws of tonality. When it seemed like the period form was going to repeat again, I was ready for it. Quickly handling my ruler and pencil I quickly signalled to the others that the piece was going to transition to the subordinate. While they looked at me leerily, the memory of Jones and the men we lost was still fresh. They complied to follow me. We listen to the basic and contrasting ideas as they passed, but when the piece slowly began to quickly sequence they looked at me with relief.
The modulating sequence was wild. There was a flurry of activity everywhere. Everyone was confused and no one knew where the tonic was anymore. You never know how you will react in a sequence until you are thrown in one. Absolute chaos. At one point we almost got separated in a flurry of fragmentation that the composer was throwing at us, but if it weren’t for the quick thinking of Kat, many of us would have been decimated. Things were looking very bleak until one of us (I can’t remember who) called out with relief “The Dominant!! We’re standing on the Dominant!”. With a great cheer we knew we had finally arrived. While there was much rejoicing I looked at the plethora of fools cheering, this was only the exposition! We still had much further to go.
Measure 40; 1:50
The key change came as quite a shock to everyone. While at training we had all heard about the horror that is a transition, none of us had ever witnessed one; with the exception of Sam. Sam was the only seasoned veteran among us, having passed through a sonata form before. Ever since he had come out of the last one though, they say that something wasn’t right about him. That he was changed man. He seemed convinced that this was the last time he would be out in the field again. He was a good musician though.
The subordinate theme was working out all right. It was a loosely built sentence but the increased surface rhythm tipped us off to upcoming cadence. The sloppy perfect authentic was easily elided with several codetta which caught us off guard but we were able to predict the tonic prolongation. It wasn’t until the codettas began to slowly change that we knew something was up. I looked at Kat and Sam, men whom I had grown to respect, and saw fear echoed in their eyes. Slowly our tonic prolongation was breaking down motivically and there was nothing we could do to hold it together. As our codettas were slowly fragmented by the will of the codetta, we saw what was coming ahead; The tonic that we were sitting on was quickly and abruptly shifting in to the dominant of IV. We were moving in to an ECP. “DAMN!” I cursed loudly to myself. We weren’t in a subordinate theme….we were in a subordinate theme group! There was still another cadence to get through.
Quickly we ushered the men in to position for the change in formal function. We almost all made it but a couple men were going to be left behind. While we moving everyone in to the ECP, there was one young naive fellow stranded to his constantly eroding codetta. Quickly acting on impulse Sam ran and pulled the inexperienced fool off his codetta. Quickly pitching over to where Kat and I were assisting the others we saw as Sam was swallowed and subsequently drowned in the codetta as it broke down completely. The last thing we saw as he crashed down to ruin was a quiet serene smile on Sam’s face. Though he had been claimed by the sonata, he knew he was going to a better place. A place where the sonata was only a nightmare to frighten little children and every piece was a minuet and trio or small ternary. I like to think that Sam is in a better place now. The rookie stifled a sob as he watched his saviour disapear in to the form.
We finally reached the end of the ECP, ending with another elided cadence. We were ready for this one, and the codettas that followed this one we automatically represented as a closing section. We were relieved to be finished with the exposition, but we knew there was more to come. The worst and most terrifying part lay before us…The Development.
Measure 102; 3:05
The development began with a flash, but it was not the dark whirlwind of chaos we were prepared for. It seemed almost tight knit. The original basic idea was being played and seemed to be progressing as usual. that was my first rookie mistake. Only looking back on it now do I recognize it as the pre-core. I still wake up in the middle of the night, covered in sweat, as I remember the nightmare that was the core though.
Suddenly without warning something began to change, like a cloud rolling over a previously sunny and inviting sky. We all knew that we were doomed. A few of the men began to cry but I told them to smarten up and keep their wits about them. Model 1 approached silently like a trained assassin in the heart of the night. We moved to it silently, without a word though I could still here some feminine sobs coming from the men behind me. I signalled to move forward.
The first sequence of the model we were ready for. It simply went up a major 2nd. The next one too was easily predictable. Maybe the composer wasn’t as smart as he thought he was. Slowly the model was getting higher and higher. After a slight bit of confusion we began to understand that the model, the very model on which we were clinging to for dear life was being broken was being abandoned. We were about to be left without an anchor to move forward through. I looked up and grabbed the closest thing to a new model that I could find. Luck and luck only saved me at that point. The motive that I had grabbed (of which I understood retrospectively to be model 2) began to sequence. I looked around me to see if anyone had the smarts to follow me but I looked back in shock. I watched as most of the original theorists that embarked on the journey with me were swallowed up by the piece. Almost with a heart wrenching cackle of malevolence I saw the quiet despair of someone who knows that they have failed. The men could only watch me and the two others who had kept their senses and followed me. They understood their doom, their despair, their failure and would let the darkness of uncertainty slide over them.
They passed without a sound.
After seeing them eaten up as the model was abandoned with sickening passiveness, I looked around to see who I had. Kat of course was my loyal partner and would follow me in to a fugue and beyond. Surprisingly the naive theorist whom Sam had saved was also there with me. The fool, whose name was Smith, looked at me like an adolescent eyes his mother after falling off his bike for the first time. I looked forward though, not wanting to waste any time, and continued onward on this model.
When the dominant arrived, I saw a glimmer of hope. ‘Things might just work out’ I said to myself. After what seemed like ages we entered in to the recapitulation.
Measure 160; 3:45
The recapitulation began exactly like the exposition. The basic idea and contrasting idea were whizzing by, but I didn’t recognize that something was amiss until I examined the key relation. it looked like this statement of the main theme was composed on IV chord…..it took awhile to realize what that meant, but I was able to act just in time. We weren’t in the home key meaning…..WE WEREN”T OUT OF THE DEVELOPMENT. The three of us began swearing like a sailor that has just stubbed his toe. Acting quickly we glanced ahead and prepared for the coming sequence. We had gotten sloppy again, hoping so hard that we truly were out of the hell that was the development. Looking back retrospectively we had landed on the dominant of the development key, as a result we needed to retransition back in to the home key. Clearly the composer had been hoping to catch us napping and get us during the retransition. He almost got us…
Finally after the modulating retransition got us back to the main key we were ready for the dominant. While we almost got tricked, we will live to see another measure.
Measure 200; 4:01
The main key and subordinate themes passed as we expected them to. Armed with our rulers we were diligent in the marking of the main sections. Period, transition, Sentence, ECP…all passed in a haze of familiar themes and rhythms. What was the composer’s game? Did he want us to fail in our task? Fail just like the others had? Just like Sam and Jones and all of the nameless music theorist who didn’t even get far enough to hear the subordinate key? You can’t go in to the sonata without being ready…without being prepared…without accepting that you might not make it out alive. Suddenly I was snapped out of my musings by Kat as shook me awake. The closing section was ending now, simply a series of codettas. There is something comforting about sitting on the tonic chord, after you have been through the battlefield that is the development. A calm washed over us, like a light breeze after you have been sitting out in the sun all day. It was like bliss. The three of us were all shocked out of this bliss when suddenly a flat seven was introduced to the tonic chord….The bastard was averting the final cadence. I looked at Kat and my gaze was met with the same stare of despair. We were going in to overtime….We entered the coda sitting on the freshly interpreted V7 of IV.
Measure 302; 5:21
The applied chord soon moved to IV, which soon moved to the vii/V. This cadential progression continued until we began to model sequence technique. As we cycled through the circle of fifth a whirlwind of activity was happening all around me. The texture was getting more dense and the surface rhythm was picking up. In comparison to the silent and picturesque tonic prolongation we had been on not 10 seconds ago it seemed like another time. As we were going through the different key centers (C..F..Bb..Eb..), I glanced at the other two. Kat has a look of grim determination but Smith was looking eerie, almost green. He looked disoriented…confused. Like he wasn’t sure where he was going. It was then that, without warning, he missed one of the sequences.
Kat and I both made a valiant effort to catch him before he was lost in the flurry of key activity, but it was too late. He had disappeared in to the intense mess of Sturm and Drang. While it certainly gave more appreciation to the term “storm and stress”, it did nothing to ease the lump that was forming in the back of my throat. When you go through so much with select individuals you share a kinship, a bond if you will. It was hard for me to see our trio be ripped apart and take the shape of a duet. I looked over at Kat who looked like she was about to cry and feeling my cheek I certainly felt moisture rolling down my weathered face. It was all too much. You could try your hardest to outwit, outsmart and outlast the composer but in the end…it was useless…there was no point in going on.
As these thoughts were passing through my head, I realized that I had to go on. If I failed then everyone would have been lost in vain. We were so close! I could almost feel that ending cadence coming up. At this point in the piece the harmonic motion had subsided. We were beginning a long and arduous build-up. This was it.
Leading from a ii6 I knew we were on the cadential six-four when it came along. It was only when the dominant that I could feel actual butterflies in my stomach….
The final tonic arrival…the authentic cadence that we had been awaiting for so long finally washed over us like a cool refreshing waterfall. If felt like heaven and a wave of Euphoria engulfed us. This was it. We had made it through. The motivic and harmonic closure marked the end of our journey and we knew that we had somehow succeeded where so many had failed.
Things were going to be alright.
Filed under: Brad
Jazz is done…..
Last concert yesterday….
Its over…
We got through it.
Jazz band has been a slight obsession for the past week. Anyone that knows me might understand that I am a perfectionist…sure all the sloppey typos and lazy writing might not be a huge giveaway but I am what you call a “fair weather” perfectionist. Sure I am willing to make things PERFECT…but when it comes down to it just *perfect* gets the job done. Yep…I’m complicated.
Anywho I digress….Jazz Band. We were given 5 rehearsal to put a full program on. The mad scramble to get our act together was ridiculous. You know its going to be a close call when you’re still rehearsing during the dress run. While it all came together in the end I felt al little like I was in a war zone during the whole thing:
There I am…sitting in the middle of Vietnam wearing army camo, my face covered in mud and I am smoking a cigar, with plumes of smoke wafting over my head. In my hand in my trumpet getting ready to take aim and snipe the remaining notes on the page. I take a deep breath, throwing the smoldering stub of my cigar on the barren ground while I line up a particularily high note. I press the cool mouthpice to my chiseled unshaved face and go to blast the note. Instead of the beutiful note that would have clenched the piece however a whiny weak puny sound erupts from my trumpet. With that cack I have alerted the audience of my presence and they pounce….
Anyway like i said I was able to get out of there eventually. While one savage senior managed to gnaw a bit on my right leg I was able to pull her dentures right out and escape back in to the safety of the green room. My next two soloes I was very carefull to keep my harry james impression down to a minimum.
Saw Watchmen last week….meh. It followed the book really well and even had some really subtle stuff that was great to see but I was a little disapointed with some of the acting. Sure characters like Roserarch and the Comedian were done great there was still characters like the Silk Specter that brought the movie down….oh well.
Filed under: Katerina
so we started studying renaissance a little while back, and i just started doing my readings… when i type my notes i like to make them into a story so i don’t get bored outta my mind when i have to read them later, but today when i read they back i really thought they were hilarious. This is a 1/4 of one page of notes… three bullets… and look at the hilarity i produced:
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Notes on the Reading – hellz yeah
MUSC 205: Medieval and Renaissance Music
THE AGE OF THE RENAISSANCE!!! Aka. Chapter 7… for us, simple folk
keep in mind that Renaissance is more or less the time of continual and overlapping changes – renaissance wasn’t really used as a name to promote a new style/genre that suddenly emerged. It took time.. we’re talking like 200 years of time. From the mid 14th- 16th (duh… the 1350s-1500 geez)
you see, because the Renaissance was strongly built upon the Middle Ages (those snotty atonal bastards) so when we say the start of the renaissance we mean. Woah the middle ages just weren’t what they used to be anymore.
The cool thing about the Renaissance was even though people were aware that something different was happening, it was building it’s independence of the Ancient world with the revival of the life as it was known throughout the middle ages. So learning aspects, ideals and the basic values of ancient Greece + Rome. This revival, was PROBABLY why the Renaissance is actually a French word meaning Rebirrrrrrrrrrrrth (cool huh, and you thought you wouldn’t learn anything… okay so maybe you already knew that, and maybe… you know what? Shut up)
This intro thing tells me to make sure to tell you again and again that even though music saw a lot of developments throughout this time… it didn’t happen all at once. People weren’t waking up and screaming THE RENAISSANCE IS HERE! THE RENAISSANCE IS HERE! No. They were probably more cool than that. They were probably like ‘my did you hear difference in the music last night’ ‘why yes actually?! I thought i was going mad! For a moment i felt uncultured, which is impossible because i, like everyone during this time ,have class and culture growing out my butt’ ‘ha. Ha. Ha. You are a clever one. Let’s go to the window and wait for 4 hours to see if a scandal will ensue!”
That’s more or less how it probably went down…
i eventually had to stop because what started off as me adding a little humour, just got a little crazy… meaning i need to sleep… like now….
