an account by KEN QUANDT

The saints have shown us many ways to live a perfect life. Yet somehow the lesson we tend to come away with is that the saints are special, rather than their lives. We know they would not have it this way, that they want us to know and to use what they have learned in our own lives rather than idolize them; and we know this because this is what their lives and actions always teach us. Therefore we need to be told their lives over and over again. Saint Francis is a perfect case. As we come to know him, we are stunned by his humility — not because we wish we were less proud, but because his humility, as it is described by the stories of his life, is so credible.
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Laurie Anderson: Walking and falling (1982)

Laurie Anderson voc and etronics (WB3674-2, Big science)

Laurie Anderson: Born, never asked (1982)

Laurie Anderson voc and etronics (WB3674-2, Big science)

Béla Bartók: Nos. 124, 146 from Mikrokosmos (1926-1939)

Béla Bartók pf (Pearl GEMM CD 9166)

Franz Liszt: Sursum corda, from Années de perlerinage, vol. 3, no. 7 (1877)

Béla Bartók, pf (Pearl GEMM CD 9166)

George Crumb: Lux aeterna (1971)

Jan DeGaetani Mz / The Penn Contemporary Players / Richard Wernick cond (Bridge 9127)

Maurice Ravel: Concerto for the left hand (1930)

Michel Béroff pf / London Symphony Orchestra / Claudio Abbado cond (Deutsche Grammophon 423 665-2)

John Dowland: Come again (1597)

Sting (Gordon Sumner) voc / Edin Karamazov lu (Deutsche Grammophon (B0007220-02, Songs from the labyrinth)

Brian Eno: 2/1 (1978)

Brian Eno etronics (Polydor AMB 001, Ambient 1: music for airports)

Jennifer Higdon: Impressions (2003)

Cypress String Quartet (Cecily Ward vn / Tom Stone vn / Ethan Filner va / Jennifer Kloetzel vc) (Naxos 8.559298)

Sergei Prokofiev: Sonata no. 3 in A minor, Op. 28 (From old notebooks, 1907-1917)

Sergei Prokofiev pf (Naxos 8.554270)

Kent Kennan: Night soliloquy (1930)

Immanuel Davis fl / Stephen Gosling pf (Overdressed Late Guy Productions OLGD-245CD)

Roger Waters: Eclipse (1973)

Pink Floyd (David Gilmour, Nick Mason, Roger Waters, Richard Wright) (Capitol SHVL 804, Dark side of the moon)

Osvaldo Golijov: Oración lucimí

Matt Haimovitz vc / John McLaughlin gtr (Oxingale 800658200728, Goulash!)

Ned Rorem: Cello concerto (2002)

Wen-Sinn Yang vc / Royal Scottish National Orchestra / José Serebrier cond (Naxos 8.559315)

Zoltán Kodály: Cello sonata, op. 4 (1910)

Elemér Lavotha vc / Kerstin Aberg pf (BIS-CD-172)

Bob Dylan: All along the watchtower (1967)

Tom Landa and the Paperboys (Red House Records 154, A nod to Bob)

an account by KEN QUANDT

Like the Grail, this is an opera that only feeds the watcher who delights in the good. As such it should be less popular than it is, but the music is so beautiful it will never disappear from the repertoire. Thus, it presents a challenge to music lovers and opera lovers: Find the good.
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Arthur Honegger: Danse de la chevre (Dance of the goat) (1921)

Laurel Zucker fl (Cantilena Records, Inflorescence – music for solo flute)

Arthur Honegger: Horace victorieux – symphonie mimeé pour orchestre (1921)

Michel Plasson cond / Orchestre du Capitole de Toulose (Deutsche Grammophone D135384)

Alfred Schnittke: String quartet no. 3 (1983)

Kronos Quartet (David Harrington vn, John Sherba vn / Hank Dutt va / Joan Jeanrenaud vc) (Nonesuch 79500-2)

Johann Sebastian Bach: Prelude and fugue no. 5 in D major BWV 874, from The well-tempered clavier, book 2 (1722)

Angela Hewitt pf (Hyperion CDS4429/4)

Laurel Zucker: Homage to Jimi Hendrix (2002)

Laurel Zucker fl (Cantilena Records, Inflorescence – music for solo flute

Maurice Ravel: À la manière de Borodine / In the style of Borodine

Soyeon Lee pf (Concert Artists Guild)

Maurice Ravel: À la manière de Chabrier / In the style of Chabrier

Soyeon Lee pf (Concert Artists Guild)

David Diamond: Elegy in memory of Maurice Ravel

Orchestra of St. Luke’s / John Adams cond (Nonesuch 979249-2)

Somei Satoh: Homa

String Ensemble Endless / Kyoko Sato sop / Toshiyuki Uzuka cond (New Albion 056)

John Zorn: Spillane: (excerpt)

John Zorn asx cl / Albert Collins voc egtr / John Lurie, Ohta Hiromi voc / David Hofstra tba db / Wayne Horvitz pf kbds / Bill Frisell, Robert Quine egtr / Bobby Previte dms perc / Ronald Shannon Jackson dms / Christian Marclay ttbls / The Kronos Quartet (David Harrington, John Sherba vn / Hank Dutt vla / Joan Jeanrenaud vc) (Elektra/Nonesuch
79172)

Somei Satoh: Toward the Night

String Ensemble Endless / Toshiyuki Uzuka cond (New Albion 056)

Claudio Monteverdi: Si dolce è l’tormento / The sweetness and the torment (1624)

Janet Baker sop / Raymond Leppard hpd / Joy Hall vc (BBC Music Magazine Vol. IV, No. 7 – 38D)

Maurice Ravel: Piano trio (1914)

Trio Fontenay (Wolf Harden pf / Michael Mücke vn / Niklas Schmidt vc) (Teldec D 134411)

Paul Hindemith: Kammermusik no. 2 for piano and orchestra, Op. 36 #1 (1924)

Sviatoslav Richter pf / Moscow Conservatory Orchestra / Yuri Nikolayevski cond (Yedang Classical Treasures 10040)

Charles Gounod: Sérénade (1857)

Janet Baker sop / Raymond Leppard pf (BBC Music Magazine V. IV, No. 7 – 38D)

Bèla Bartòk: Piano concerto no. 2

Sviatoslav Richter pf / USSR State Symphony Orchestra / Evgeny Svetlanov cond (Yedang Classical Treasures CT-10040)

Elvis Costello: Il sogno / The dream (excerpt)

London Symphony Orchestra / Michael Tilson Thomas cond (Deutsche Grammophon B0003284-02)

Elvis Costello: High fidelity (1979)

Elvis Costello and the Attractions (Columbia C2K46897, Girls, girls, girls: the songs of Elvis Costello)

an account by KEN QUANDT

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