Mostly Music
quarta-feira, outubro 12
terça-feira, setembro 23
HELLO AGAIN
This post is for my Manoela, who complained about my disappearance...
She is right, I have been absent from Mostly Music, as well as from my friend´s mailboxes. I am trying to write as much as I can - but only chapters for my doctoral dissertation. By the time the day ends, I am so sick of sitting in front of my computer that all I want is to watch some silly TV show.
But since my sweetie Ma is visiting the blog, she deserves a special kiss. Here, Ma, this is for you: KISS!
terça-feira, agosto 19
Roubado do Centro de Estudo em Filosofia Americana:
A filosofia perde Michael Wrigley
O professor inglês amável, educado e inteligente das áreas da filosofia da mente e da lógica, radicado no Brasil, faleceu esta semana. Há uma década no Brasil, Michael Wrigley não foi aproveitado pelo nosso país como deveria ter sido. Agora é tarde. Não há mais como faze-lo.
Michael escreveu pouco, e o que sabia sobre Ramsey, Wittgenstein e Davidson nem sempre nos foi passado, uma vez que ainda engatinhamos em estudos desses autores e, talvez, por isso mesmo, não pudemos lhe oferecer o público que ele merecia.
Mas o fato do Brasil estar aquém de Michael Wrigley, nunca fez dele alguém que se achasse melhor que os outros. Solícito com os colegas, Michel dava informações preciosas a cada conversa, sem nunca pensar em receber qualquer coisa em troca. Atencioso com os alunos, Michael recebeu alguns dos meus orientandos, que não tinham formação filosófica, com muito carinho. Encaminhou mais que correta e frutiferamente os que já sabiam algo de filosofia. Ensinou o básico para quem precisava do básico. Falou coisas mais complexas quando, em círculos restritos, podia ser devidamente compreendido. Assim foi quando de suas participações nas reuniões da ANPOF e quando assumiu, junto com Martha Christina Martins, a coordenação do grupo de estudos em Wittgenstein na USP, a convite do professor João Virgílio, ex-orientando do professor Luís Henrique Lopes, todos eles conhecedores profundos da obra de Wittgenstein. Tal grupo vem publicando os “Cadernos Wittgenstein”, e certamente não existiria mais se não fosse pelo período em que Michael, gratuitamente e sem qualquer vínculo oficial, se deslocou de Campinas até São Paulo quase que semanalmente para fazer sobreviver o círculo de estudos, uma vez que tanto João Virgílio quanto Luís Henrique se encontravam fora do país ou com serviços para além da conta.
Michael estava há um ano preparando um livro introdutório, a meu pedido, sobre filosofia da mente. A obra ficou inacabada. Mas as idéias ali contidas mostram a genialidade de alguém que, antes de tudo, fazia da filosofia algo simples, por mais complexa que ela fosse – como de fato é.
Conhecedor profundo das teses centrais de Donald Davidson, de quem foi aluno, Michael foi um dos principais revisores do livro do professor Simon Evnine, Donald Davidson, um dos principais estudos introdutórios ao pensamento do filósofo norte-americano, na chamada “segunda fase” de sua obra. Por isso, quisera eu trazer Michael Wrigley, de toda maneira, para o GT-Pragmatismo da ANPOF. Todavia, Michael era ocupado demais, pois não priorizava demandas, atendia a todos como se não fosse o cérebro internacional e brilhante que era. Não deixava de tomar uma cerveja com os amigos. Não deixava de se engalfinhar nos problemas de lógica que seus estudos em Ramsey demandavam. Era mentalmente sagaz, corajoso, audacioso mesmo. Ao mesmo tempo, solitário. Sabia que estava sozinho. Poderia não ter ficado só, pois qualquer universidade no exterior o teria acolhido com honras. Mas ficou no Brasil. Algo nos trópicos o atraía. Talvez a idéia de que pudesse ser feliz a despeito de se estar no Terceiro Mundo – uma idéia que deveria fazer todo professor de filosofia tentar ser mais democrático sem que isso venha a significar aceitar que teses de mestrados e doutorados possam ser textos ridículos, como em geral vemos por aí. Michael ensinou lógica e tolerância, rigor com alegria. Importância sem pedantismo. É preciso mais?
Paulo Ghiraldelli Jr., Jardim Acapulco, 13 de agosto de 2003.
domingo, agosto 17
LUNCH
Hermano and I just came back from Meg´s house, where we ate a fabulous lunch made by Selma. Piemontese rice, shrimp, vegetables, a luscious salad... and a HUGE chocolate cake. Somebody must have told them that I like chocolate.
We got out of there full of presents: shoes, more chocolate... I am getting very spoiled, indeed.
sexta-feira, agosto 15
SAUDADES
Tom has complained about my disappearance: hey Laura, where are you?
Mea Culpa, I have been away from Mostly Music, and lots has happened since the last time I wrote. We had a wonderful concert series in SP, (with the participation of many friends, including Tom, Laurie Heimes, Bruno Procopio and all the boys from Camerata Quantz) and we have also been playing all around Rio.
Almost every week now we have had a musical soirée. We are now incorporating another cello (Luciano) and a new soprano (Paloma). Next sunday we will have a new harpsichordist (Clara) and a new lute player (André). So we are slowly becoming a large group...
In the meantime, as you know, Michael died. He was a wonderful friend, and I miss him enormously already. Today I found out that he left a note in his computer, leaving me his collection of Cds and music-related books. I guess I will just have to build a new CD shelf.... He also left me some money (I don´t know how much exactly). His brother Richard called me today, and I was paralyzed upon hearing his voice - just like Michael´s! he seems to be equally sweet and direct. It felt so weird to be getting in touch with his "other" life, and only after his death. Poor Richard, lost in an unknown universe, burying his brother amongst people he never even met, not understanding what people say to him....
This whole situation left me strangely affected; sad, and moved and loved. But mainly, sad. It will be fabulous to get all these new musical guests, all these sounds chosen by my friend. But I can´t quite reconcile myself to the idea that he won´t be around for us to discuss each interpretation, as we so often did.
I don´t believe in God and Heaven. But if I did, I would be wishing that the angels play beautiful music just for you, Michael.
PS: BTW, if you see Mark, send him my love.
sábado, agosto 9
segunda-feira, junho 16
J. S. BACH Golberg Variations, BWV 988. Jean Louis Steuerman (pn). ACTES SUD AT 34112 (73:29)
Black background, focus on a few piano keys, white and mustard lettering: the cover is simple, tasteful, sober and discreet. Much the same can be said about the performance. The very first musical phrase reveals qualities that shine through the whole CD: a tender serenity, a noble touch, a controlled flexibility. Being a rather radical partisan of period instruments, my first choice of keyboard for Bach would never be the piano. And yet I have to confess that this recording kept my attention up to the very last note, and made me wish for more.
The Goldberg Variations is considered one of Bach’s “difficult” works. Partly due to its length, it is very rarely played in public and remains an intimate piece, a musician’s delight, the kind of music one plays for oneself. Perhaps exactly because of that, it exerts a special fascination for keyboard players, as a technical challenge to be overcome, but much more as an experience that will deepen their emotional grasp. Steuerman himself, in the CD’s liner notes, declares “I had a sense that this music would change the world for me, with the promise of an exhilarating experience if only I could learn its complex score”.
And learn it he did. His playing demonstrates a long-cherished intimacy with every single turn of phrase. The melancholic theme is enunciated straightforwardly, trills calmly performed, not as a nervous ornamental frill, but rather as a means to caress a specific note. This very direct yet gentle style creates a marvelous effect, a feeling of tranquil acceptance, of being aware of the inevitability of sorrow. After that, each Variation stands out for its particular character, unfailingly perceived and masterfully brought to life.
There is a fabulous array of emotional shades here: unwavering energy, pleading cries, unrestrained joy, light insouciance, courageous despair. As in a kaleidoscope, these different colored fragments are re-combined with every new movement. When at last the theme reappears, it sounds almost exhausted after so many adventures, sadly distraught and quiet. And yet, behind the slower tempo and quieter dynamics, one senses a tinge of triumphant pride. Steuerman manages to guide us through this maze of musical intentions without ever sounding limp or rushed - reflective moods are pensive but never dead, and fast passages sound like fluid cascades of notes, lines always clear, perpetually disentangling themselves, never blurring the main idea.
If at first I might have wished for a more extravagant conception, one with broader gestures or a freer rhythmic drive, ultimately I was entirely convinced by this very elegant and accomplished performance. Finally, it would be unfair not to praise the exceedingly careful production, apparent not only in the beautifully designed booklet with poetic texts, but also in the very fine sound engineering that registers the subtlest changes in dynamic and timbre. This is a CD that I will enjoy for many years to come.
segunda-feira, maio 19
I have yet to see any problem, however complicated, which, when you looked
at it in the right way, did not become still more complicated.
--Poul Anderson
segunda-feira, abril 28
It's alive!
Meninos, dito e feito: o problema é que vcs bateram com a cabeça no teto. Apaguem uns posts antigos e mandem bala, ou criem um outro blog e redirecionem para lá. Beijos!domingo, abril 13
WAS IT GOOD FOR YOU?
Electronic musicians Aaron Funk (aka Venetian Snares) and Rachael Kozak (aka Hecate) are due to release an album made entirely from the sounds of sex, captured direct to MiniDisc while the lovers toured Belgium.
Returning home, they crafted these sighs and squelches into Nymphomatriarch's eponymous debut of lascivious electronica. Studio alchemy mutated their breathing and moaning into choirs and strings while "punishment" became percussion. "I remember thinking, 'That slap will make a good snare drum'," says Funk.
Nymphomatriarch aren't alone in their use of sex as a sound source. Vague Terrain Recordings - aka Drew Daniel and MC Schmidt - recently released A Viable Alternative To Actual Sexual Contact, a collection of music used to soundtrack gay pornography that was moulded entirely from "on set dialogue and audio".
