Time

It's been longer than I intended since my last blog. A lot of water has passed under the bridge, and I will account for some of the most important things eventually.

First of all, I must mention two truly great concert experiences, both at the concert house in Malmo. First, I heard the Malmo Symphony Orchestra performing Giya Kancheli's sixth symphony. What a wonderful piece of music! Dynamic, lyrical, lamenting, powerful, arresting, breathtaking. The way Kancheli uses silence as a equal to sounding notes reminds me that silence is an absolute necessity in music. Without silence, how can there be any music?

The other concert was by the extraordinary Kronos Quartet. I have had the pleasure of hearing them twice before, both times in London. This time, they came to my home turf. A great programme: John Zorn, Charles Mingus, Pelle Gudmundsen-Holmgreen, Steve Reich and Peteris Vasks. The Zorn piece ("Cat o' Nine Tails") I've heard before on record and live, but not the other works. I was particularly eager to hear Sy Johnson's Mingus arrangement and Vasks' sixth string quartet. As it turned out, they were the highlights of the set along with Zorn and Reich ("Triple Quartet"). At least until the encores. I was surprised to see that two of the composers attending the concert - Gudmundsen-Holmgreen and Vasks. Just like Kancheli's symphony, the Vasks piece was very impressive and moving.

For the encores, Kronos chose to perform three wonderful pieces that were earthshattering in three completely different ways. The encores began with viola player Hank Dutt taking the spotlight with Ram Narayan's "Raga Mishra Bhairavi". Some amazing playing from Dutt here! Following some enthusiastic applause, the quartet returned to perform Sigur Ros' "Svefn-g-englr", a low-key piece with small gestures. But great music! For the third and final encore Kronos returned with a vengeance with their take on Jimi Hendrix' take on "The Star Spangled Banner". It was louder than anything I have ever heard at the concert house. Between gushes of feedback, frantic glissandi and chaotic variations on Hendrix' soundscapes, parts of the US national anthem could be heard.

In my forthcoming blogs: new work, book offer, december concert, international contacts, organizing, meetings, a bad person in the heating business, a great jazz concert. And then some.

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"Time" by Pink Floyd is a song that starts off in a great way with the ticking clocks, haunting guitar and the contrasting almost happy-go-lucky percussion. The verses are great too, as is the guitar solo - performed tastefully as usually by David Gilmour. The contrasting theme on the other hand has always bothered me. I have problems with major 7th chords. They are simply too cheesy to my ears. Also, Rick Wright's voice is slightly too shakey in my opinion. On the other hand, his voice suits Roger Waters' words perfectly. Tiredness, anxiety and reflections on life work well with the monotonous vocal lines performed with Wright's fragile-sounding vocal performance.


NP: Aimee Mann - The Forgotten Arm