I'm gonna share with you some Youtube clips that I find interesting. A big part of them will probably be music related as it is what I'm using Youtube for most of the time. It's not likely that you will like every of them but let's see if we have something in common!
"Playing For Change is a multimedia movement created to inspire, connect, and bring peace to the world through music."
Their version of Stand by Me is awesome!
As a comparison, here is a version sung by John Lennon. It's the first version I heard of this song and initially I thought it was written by Lennon, but no.
So here is the original version, albeit a bit too sweet to my taste.
Lyrics
When the night has come
And the land is dark
And the moon is the only light we'll see
No I won't be afraid, no I won't be afraid
Just as long as you stand, stand by me
And darlin', darlin', stand by me, oh now now stand by me
Stand by me, stand by me
If the sky that we look upon
Should tumble and fall
And the mountains should crumble to the sea
I won't cry, I won't cry, no I won't shed a tear
Just as long as you stand, stand by me
And darlin', darlin', stand by me, oh stand by me
Stand by me, stand by me, stand by me-e, yeah
Whenever you're in trouble won't you stand by me,
Oh now now stand by me
Oh stand by me, stand by me, stand by me
Darlin', darlin', stand by me, stand by me
Oh stand by me, stand by me, stand by me
If bitterness enriches the flavor, then I'm all for it!
Take Stand By Me as an example, the Lennon version is more spicy than the original one. And the Playing for Changes version even goes a step further by creating a fusion of several different styles. The end result is a very dynamic, entertaining and touching song.
I heard a sad news this week that one of the most important figures in classical music, especially early music performance practice, Christopher Hogwood, passed away. He is among those that pioneered in the Historically Informed Practice and have made great contributions to the revival of baroque music. Together with Frans Brueggen who died just a month earlier and Gustav Leonhardt, two years ago, I feel that I'm just waiting for the obituaries of those maestros (or maestri?) who have fundamentally shaped my music taste in the past 15 years.
There are a few very interesting (to an classical music lover) lectures given by Christopher Hogwood available on Youtube. For example the following one, which explores some interesting aspects in music composition during the Baroque and Classical eras.
The main music pieces covered in this lecture are: For unto us a child is born, a chorus in Handel's most famous oratorio Messiah, in comparison with the original piece it derived from, No, di voi non vo’ fidarmi, an Italian cantata by Handel as well
Albinoni's most famous, though fake, Adagio in G Minor, in comparison with one of his authentic Adagio movement in one of his oboe concertos (or concerti?), which I like much much more
Several different approaches to complete Mozart's unfinished Requiem.
I believe most of the recordings in the lecture were conducted by Christopher Hogwood himself.
Serin 发表于 28-9-2014 18:22
I heard a sad news this week that one of the most important figures in classical music, especially e ...
Wow, I feel I am running out of breath, but I am trying to catch up, even though I know nothing about those music!
I will get on with the clip knowing it will be extremely hard to get my head around. But, I am determined to put myself up for it, because I realize that is one of the ways I can reach out for your music world!
One interesting part in Hogwood's lecturing is the mentioning of "For Unto Us A Child Is Born", the chorus by Handel, as an example of how composers copied and reused original music by others or by themselves and how this affected the relationship between the music and the text. Here is the complete video of the chorus directed by Hogwood himself.
Hogwood mildly criticized the weak link between the music and the text of the piece. Baroque music works, especially those composed by the top-rated composers, undoubtedly including Handel, are supposed to present a very strong link between the music and the text. This is a practice, as known as seconda pratica, promoted by the first prominent Baroque composer Claudio Monteverdi: The music should always be composed to serve the text, in other words, to paint the word. Word painting had been there long before Baroque era and even found its way in some of the modern music, but it is the Baroque period that the musicians were making the best effort in realizing this idea. Interestingly enough, the Wikipedia page of word painting also cites a tenor aria, "Every valley shall be exalted", in Handel's Messiah as an excellent example.
Back to "For Unto Us A Child Is Born" though, as Hogwood said, the music should logically accentuate word like us, child or born, rather than for, in this case. The reason behind is that the music was not an original piece. Handel recycled the music of his early Italian cantata starting with "No, di voi non vo'fidarmi"(No, I do not want to trust you). As we can see, No here is a very strong word in expressing the emotion and deserves every right to be outlined, as how the original music does to it. When the same music was reused in Messiah, the link between the words and the music is much weaker, although the music still rightfully conveys a joyful atmosphere, as in its original Italian setting.
This reminds me a similar example in one of Bach's most famous works, so my next post will focus on that.
My colleagues told me this morning that I've just missed a "bloody good performance" of Dire Straits last night even though there was only one original member for the show. The tickets are not cheap but I'm sure they found the experience far more rewarding.
Dire Straits is a band that I like very much. It was 20 years ago that I first encountered theirs songs but some of them are so unique that they just engraved into my memory since the first listening.
Sultans of Swing - a live version with the heat that cannot be found in studio version
You get a shiver in the dark
It's raining in the park but meantime
South of the river you stop and you hold everything
A band is blowing Dixie double four time
You feel alright when you hear that music ring
Well, now you step inside but you don't see too many faces
Coming in out of rain to hear the jazz go down
Competition in other places
Oh, but the horns, they're blowing that sound
Way on down south, way on down south London town
You check out Guitar George he knows all the chords
Mind he's strictly rhythm he doesn't want to make it cry or sing
Left-handed old guitar is all he can afford
When he gets up under the lights to play his thing
And Harry doesn't mind if he doesn't make the scene
He's got a daytime job, he's doing alright
He can play the honky tonk like anything
Saving it up for Friday night
With the Sultans, with the Sultans of Swing
And a crowd of young boys, they're fooling around in the corner
Drunk and dressed in their best brown baggies and their platform soles
They don't give a damn about any trumpet playing band
It ain't what they call rock and roll
And the Sultans, yeah, the Sultans, they play Creole, Creole
And then the man, he steps right up to the microphone
And says at last just as the time bell rings
"Goodnight, now it's time to go home."
And he makes it fast with one more thing,
"We are the Sultans, we are the Sultans of Swing."
Your Latest trick - the delicate studio version with the unforgettable saxophone
All the late night bargains have been struck
Between the satin beaus and their belles
And prehistoric garbage trucks
Have the city to themselves
Echoes roars dinosaurs
They're all doing the monster mash
And most of the taxis and the whores
Are only taking calls for cash
I don't know how it happened
It all took place so quick
But all I can do is hand it to you
And your latest trick
My door was standing open
Security was laid back and lax
But it was only my heart got broken
You must have had a pass key made out of wax
You played robbery with insolence
And I played the blues in twelve bars down Lover's Lane
And you never did have the inteligence to use
The twelve keys hanging off my chain
I don't know how it happened
It all took place so quick
But all I can do is hand it to you
And your latest trick
Now it's past last call for alcohol
Past recall has been here and gone
The landlord finally paid us all
The satin jazzmen have put away their horns
And we're standing outside of this wonderland
Looking so bereaved and so bereft
Like a Bowery bum when he finally understands
The bottle's empty and there's nothing left
I don't know how it happened
It was faster than the eye could flick
But not all I can do is hand it to you
And your latest trick
Private Investigations - more like a poem with mesmerising music setting
It's a mystery to me - the game commences
for the usual fee - plus expenses
confidential information - contained in a diary
this is my investigation - not a public inquiry
I go checking out the reports - digging up the dirt
you get to meet all sorts in this line of work
treachery and treason - there's always an excuse for it
and when I find the reason I still can't get used to it
And what have you got at the end of the day?
what have you got to take away?
a bottle of whisky and a new set of lies
blinds on the windows and a pain behind the eyes
Scarred for life - no compensation
private investigations
Serin 发表于 5-10-2014 21:44
One interesting part in Hogwood's lecturing is the mentioning of "For Unto Us A Child Is Born", the ...
Looking forward to more of your post! I will definitely take myself through every single piece of music you upload here, because I trust your judgement.
I will try my best to talk to them, hopefully, they would start talking back to me shortly!
It's certainly a digress from my other posts in this topic and it has to be shared. I saw part of this show on ABC 2 on Saturday night and it was so hilarious that I regretted not watching it from the beginning. Fortunately ABC iview has it available till 1 Nov. I reckon without subtitle, I wouldn't be able to appreciate every joke in the show, especially when Danny Bhoy has a certain Scottish-Indian accent, and he tried to mimic many other different accents, as always expected during a talk show.
I heard this song this morning in my work place and it again brought huge nostalgic feeling to me. I couldn't help humming it along the whole morning. It is such a beautiful song that every time I hear it it always stings my eye. The song is very Bob Dylan but it is actually the most famous song by Billy Joel.
It's nine o'clock on a Saturday
The regular crowd shuffles in
There's an old man sitting next to me
Making love to his tonic and gin
He says, "Son can you play me a memory
I'm not really sure how it goes
But it's sad and it's sweet
And I knew it complete
When I wore a younger man's clothes."
Sing us a song you're the piano man
Sing us a song tonight
Well we're all in the mood for a melody
And you've got us feeling alright
Now John at the bar is a friend of mine
He gets me my drinks for free
And he's quick with a joke or to light up your smoke
But there's someplace that he'd rather be
He says, "Bill, I believe this is killing me."
As a smile ran away from his face
"Well, I'm sure that I could be a movie star
If I could get out of this place."
Now Paul is a real estate novelist
Who never had time for a wife
And he's talking with Davy, who's still in the Navy
And probably will be for life
And the waitress is practicing politics
As the businessmen slowly get stoned
Yes they're sharing a drink they call loneliness
But it's better than drinking alone
Sing us a song you're the piano man
Sing us a song tonight
Well we're all in the mood for a melody
And you've got us feeling alright
It's a pretty good crowd for a Saturday
And the manager gives me a smile
'Cause he knows that it's me they've been coming to see
To forget about life for a while
And the piano it sounds like a carnival
And the microphone smells like a beer
And they sit at the bar and put bread in my jar
And say, "Man what are you doing here?"
Sing us a song you're the piano man
Sing us a song tonight
Well we're all in the mood for a melody
And you've got us feeling alright
发表于 19-9-2014 22:58:02
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发表于 21-9-2014 17:21:23
发表于 21-9-2014 19:06:42
