Mark Likes Music

I got a couple of responses to my last post about creepy songs --thanks Robyn, Kappy--that both added this to the list:

On the Huffington Post this morning, Alida Nugent gives her list of songs that have left her thoroughly creeped out : I have now changed my definition of love. After hearing these songs, Love, to me, is clowns at the circus, that weird guy who owned an emu farm and antique shops. In some cases, the lyrics make you shudder, but in others, it's about the context: Chris Brown's horrible misogynistic rage issues ruin "Forever"; the video does in Lionel Ritchie's "Hello." I've got my own list . What about you? Any songs that make you want to take a shower--or call the police?

Jennifer Higdon, who won a Pulitzer this year for her Violin Concerto, wants orchestras to program more new music --because it sells: The only orchestra concerts I've attended lately that have been sold out have had new works on them (and yes, I go to concerts without new music). I've also been to concerts where half the audience walks out with the composer in the audience right before the world premiere of his big new piece.

In a recent blog post, Eva Yaa Asantewaa knocks   The New York Times 's A. O. Scott for his solipsistic  approach to movie criticism. She quotes him: I have to say that the goal of criticism has never been to control or reflect the public taste--neither is possible--but rather the simpler (but also infinitely difficult) work of analyzing and evaluating works of art as honestly and independently as possible. There's a frightening decadence running through a lot of mainstream cultural criticism these days, including  music  and dance . (If you click through, you'll see it comes mostly from one particular outlet.)

You can't even begin to imagine my surprise when I found out that this was the website of the guy who wrote  The Most Amazing Press Release Ever: Today's  Seth Godin's blog post (one of them, anyway; it gets to be a little much sometimes) warned of raising expectations only to dash them on the rocks of mediocrity. Going from that irreverent press release from PitchPoint to its website homepage is a case study in this particular way to fail. It's confusing too. What am I going to get if I hire this publicist, I wonder. Am I getting the sarcastic, brazen PitchPoint--the 483 Words of Pure Awesomeness--or am I getting the run-of-the-mill "one stop shop for all your marketing and creative needs." It's hard to tell.

Here's the video from Vanessa's concert with Aron Zelkowicz and Sally Koo at the Trinity Church on Wall Street: The show was great, the church was beautiful, and the staff was really welcoming and helpful. If you have some time, you should go to one of their Concerts at One . And come by the Third Street Music School Settlement in Manhattan on January 28; Vanessa and Aron are playing a concert at 7:30 PM. Since they don't get paid for this, bring a hat and pass it for them. For those of you who don't know, "Vanessa" is Vanessa Fadial. She's my wife. And an amazing pianist as well. Just ask our neighbors. All six floors of them.

Yes, yes they are. If only I had seen this at Naxos. 

Most people who know anything about Erich Korngold know that he was a film composer. Some might also place him as the  fin-de-siecle Viennese wunderkind that put the fear of God into Strauss . My first contact with Korngold came as a graduate student, when I heard Gil Shaham's recording of his violin concerto . What struck me about the music--particularly the first movement--was that it had nothing superfluous. It was perfect, polished, and immediately satisfying. Before Shaham, Heifetz owned Korngold's concerto. Since Shaham, a lot of violinists have taken up the piece in concert and on record, including Hilary Hahn, James Ehnes, and Philippe Quint. Philippe recorded it for Naxos.  My  friend Raymond Bisha  produced a podcast on Korngold for Naxos, which you can listen to on the Arkivmusic website. If we waste our time on that musical painter of light Rachmaninov, we can do worse than to pay some attention to Korngold as well. Renee Fleming is singin...

There are so many reasons to cancel your subscription to The New York Times . Alastair Macaulay is one . This might be another . Maybe it's Tommasini's condescending tone ("I don't do rankings"), or his ignorance of th e music media that exists all around him (which contributes to the condescension), or his cloying set-up (that whole thing about the high-school student), but today's how-to-make-a-top-ten-composers-list-if-you-really-want-to article annoyed me. One of the goals of this article (I guess; it's hard to say what's going on) is to question assumptions about the canon. As an alternative, I suggest Benjamin Carlson's series on the Atlantic's web site, published last  spring . Carlson can come off as a little didactic, but his list of instructions on how to listen to classical music  can be helpful. For people new to Bach, Beethoven, and the boys, it provides a firm launch pad; for more experienced listeners, the list helps focus...

Toot, Whistle, Plunk, Boom -- the hippest music appreciation class ever--won the Academy Award for best short animated film in 1954; it was up against this: There was some crazy stuff going on in the 1950s. Don't let anyone tell you different.

The people over at Open Culture are at it again. Today, t hey posted this Disney film from 1953, Toot, Whistle, Plunk, Boom . It's Disney, it's from the '50s, but it's definitely not square. This is about 100 times more awesome than anything Leonard Bernstein did . Seeing this, having  They Might Be Giants is doing on Disney's music label with songs about  science makes so much more sense. I still can't explain Billy Ray Cyru s, though.

Last Friday, the musicians of the Louisville Orchestra got smaller paycheques than usual , but considering their employer is in Chapter 11 and was threatening to liquidate, it was probably good they got something. According to one report , they only got 20% of their weekly salary; they were to have gotten the remainder yesterday. In addition, the orchestra found the funds to put on their pops concert on Saturday . Meanwhile in the blogosphere, some less-than-sympathetic online commenters to news reports about the Louisville Orchestra has prompted responses from both Tim Smith and Drew McManus .

I'll admit it: I never learned the periodic table. I probably never will. But if you're up for it, here are some songs to help you out. 1. They Might Be Giants, "Meet the Elements"  My children listen to this pretty much non-stop. 2. Tom Lehrer, "The Elements"  It's the song that defines the genre. 3. "Periodic Table of Rock"  Isn't this the guy from the first Freecreditreport.com band ? 4. The "Learn the Periodic Table Song"  If you like Billy Joel, this one's for you. 5. Peter Weartherall, "The Periodic Table Song"  Who knew that chemistry would be such fodder for children's singers?