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Music: Fratres by composer Arvo Pärt

tintinnabuli

Fratres means Brothers. It is a composition by the Estonian composer Arvo Pärt (b. 1935). The first time I heard this piece was very early this century. My wife and I were visiting a teacher friend of hers. This tune was playing on the stereo. I was fascinated.

Wikipedia says that Fratres exemplifies Pärt’s “tintinnabuli style of composition. It is three-part music, written in 1977, without fixed instrumentation and has been described as a ‘mesmerising set of variations on a six-bar theme combining frantic activity and sublime stillness that encapsulates Pärt’s observation that ‘the instant and eternity are struggling within us.'” Yes, “mesmerizing” is an accurate description.

Linus Åkesson writes: “The analytical meets the aesthetical as Pärt takes us on a meditative, harmonical journey, built up from a simple set of mathematical rules. Many people who listen to Fratres find it repetitive or even boring at first. After a while, though, they start to unconsciously recognize some of the patterns in the music.” I never found it boring.

The version I first heard I believe involved twelve cellos.
12 Cellists Of The Berlin Philharmonic.
Eight Cellos, Hungarian State Opera Orchestra

Then I heard this take, an adaptation for cello and electronics. It’s almost a different composition.
Hermine Horiot
Lana Trotovsek on violin

Beats Antique, Violin, and Piano – Arvo Part Remix
Sheet music, violin, and piano

It turns out that many variations of this work exist, involving combinations of strings, percussion, recorders, piano, trombone, saxophone, and guitar.
Saxophone soprano: José Pedro Gonçalinho

The composition has been used in at least a dozen films and documentaries, including There Will Be Blood, To The Wonder, and The Place Beyond the Pines.

Jazz pianist Aaron Parks incorporated elements of Fratres into his composition Harvesting Dance (2008), which has been performed by Terence Blanchard.

I love this arcane stuff

Jane Seymour turns 70

My wife had purchased a few bushels of apples over the late summer. She kept them in the basement, which tends to be cooler than the rest of the house. But by December, the last of the apples were looking wrinkled.

“They’re wisened,” I observed. This led to a conversation about why the word has a short I rather than long I sound, though it has one S rather than two. Maybe because the long I sounds more like someone who is wise? I love arcane stuff like this, items that make me ponder.

Not a new decade

My friend David and I had a nice back-and-forth about whether the decade should start with 2021 since the century began with 2001. I favored the inconsistency. After all, September is the ninth month, not the seventh.

I think he was won over by how we define people. “An individual who has been alive for two full decades is referred to as being in their 20s for the next decade of their life, from age 20 to 29.”

Census stuff

My Census buddy, also named David, and I exchange articles about the Census. Several of his finds I’ve used in various articles. I noted for him a Daily Kos report indicating that “the state-level population data from the 2020 census that is needed to determine how many congressional seats and Electoral College votes each state receives is not expected to be released until April 30, four months after the original deadline.”

Likewise, “the more granular population data needed for states to actually draw new districts won’t be released until at least after July 30, which is also a delay of at least four months from the original March 31 deadline. Consequently, these delays will create major disruptions for the upcoming 2020 round of congressional and legislative redistricting.

“New York University Law School’s Brennan Center for Justice released an in-depth report in 2020 looking at which states have deadlines that are in conflict with a potentially delayed data release schedule and what the impact of a delay may be.

“The most directly affected states are New Jersey and Virginia, which are the only two states that are set to hold legislative elections statewide in 2021 and would normally redraw all of their legislative districts this year.”

I remain a Census geek.

Music and art

My friend and FantaCo colleague Rocco tipped me off about the book Will Eisner: Champion of the Graphic Novel (2015). It has a graphic that would have been on a Kitchen Sink Chronicles if FantaCo had ever published it back in the 1980s.

I had just purchased The Beatles (The White Album) [6 CD + Blu-ray]. So I gave him the three-CD set I bought a couple of years ago but didn’t need anymore.

We got into an arcane conversation about the album Graceland by Paul Simon. I had purchased the 25th Anniversary Edition (2011) CD a few years back. It also featured the Under African Skies film on DVD. I gave my old copy of the Graceland CD to a blogger buddy who had never heard it.

But Rocco had NOT purchased it, and I knew why. It was because it did NOT include the 6-minute version of Boy in the Bubble. Rocco had purchased the 12″ from the Music Shack record store back when it came out. I tried to get a copy but it never arrived. Rocco lent me his 12″ and I recorded the song on a cassette. But we BOTH were disappointed that the song failed to show up on the anniversary edition.

NOT the third wife of Henry VIII

The performer Jane Seymour turns 70 today. I often note people who reach three score and ten in this blog. Though I’ve seen her in few guest appearances, a miniseries or two, and some infomercials I’ve come across, I really only know her from one thing. And if you know her for only one thing, it’s probably the same show: Dr. Quinn, Medicine Woman. I didn’t watch it regularly, but I didn’t turn it off when I happened across it.

Supremely sad: Mary Wilson, RIP

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The story goes that elementary school girls Mary Wilson and Florence Ballard entered a talent contest. By 1959, they became part of a group called the Primettes, along with a couple of other girls from the Detroit projects, Diane Ross and Betty McGlown. McGlown was replaced by Barbara Martin.

The group changed its name from the Primettes to the Supremes. Martin left, and they went forward as a trio. They were immediately…not very successful. A half dozen songs, none of which cracked the pop Top 40. They were the “no-hit Supremes.”

The group was offered a song the Marvelettes didn’t want, Where Did Our Love Go, written by Holland-Dozier-Holland. They were resistant to recording someone else’s rejects. It went to #1, as did several more tracks. They were the second most successful group on the singles charts in the 1960s.

And the Supremes were the epitome of style with appearances on the Ed Sullivan a dozen times, plus several other music shows. They were not just singers but role models, with their hair, makeup and outfits fastidiously tended to.

But Diana, who had changed her name at the beginning of their successful run, was now getting virtually all of the leads. Mary and Flo were doing a lot of background vocals, which got a bit boring.

By 1967, the billing changed to Diana Ross and the Supremes, to Flo’s dismay. Very long story short, Florence was replaced by Cindy Birdsong. But it was clear that Diana was considered the singular star.

Mary and Cindy didn’t even appear on seven later singles including I’m Livin’ in Shame, The Composer, and Someday We’ll Be Together, though, of course, they appeared on the live version of the latter.

Post-Ross

Jean Terrell took Diana’s slot, but Mary got more chances to sing lead. And she kept the “new” Supremes together, with a rotating cast of members, until 1977.

After a series of legal wranglings, Mary Wilson became the keeper of the Supremes’ flame, writing four books with the word “Supreme” in the title. The one in 2019 was Supreme Glamour.

In 2003, she was “named a US cultural ambassador by the State Department, touring the world and talking to young people about the dangers of HIV and AIDS…

“The family asked that friends and fans support the United Negro College Fund or the Humpty Dumpty Institute. The latter group helps in landmine clearance projects around the world. Wilson… was a spokesperson for the group.”

Some songs

Mary Wilson sang or shared the lead on these, and a few others:

1962: Baby Don’t Go (from Meet The Supremes)
1965: It Makes No Difference Now (From The Supremes Sing Country, Western, and Pop)
1966: Come and Get These Memories (from The Supremes A’ Go-Go)
1967 Falling in Love with Love (from The Supremes Sing Rodgers and Hart)
1969: Can’t Take My Eyes Off You (from Together -Diana Ross and the Supremes, and The Temptations)
1972: A Heart Like Mine (from Floy Joy)
1972: I Keep It Hid (from The Supremes, Produced and Arranged by Jimmy Webb)
1975: Early Morning Love (from The Supremes)
1975: You Turn Me Around (from The Supremes)
1976: Til The Boat Sails Away (from High Energy)

She was a March Pisces like I am, so I had a certain particular affection for her. Here’s my post from Mary’s 70th birthday in 2014, with links to more familiar Supremes fare.

1911: Discography of American Historical Recordings

not the old but the new

A friend wrote to me, and the query led to the Discography of American Historical Recordings.

“I have a bunch of Edison diamond disc records. One thing about these records is that the labels come off as they were put on with cheap glue. So I have bunches of records that have the Edison catalog number stamped onto them, but I have found no way to easily identify them. I am trying to find a searchable database of Edison records.”

But then he found, on his own, this link concerning 5,000 Edison Recordings Online. “Over the past two years, editors have added a complete discography of Thomas Edison’s disc recordings (1910-1929) to DAHR.” It is “documenting more than 14,000 recording sessions that resulted in more than 8,000 published discs. Over 5,000 of these recordings from UCSB’s collection have been digitized and are available online to scholars and the public for free.”

The public, as in YOU.

I checked the book A Century of Pop Music by Joel Whitman for songs that hit #1 in 1911. Using the Discography of American Historical Recordings basic search field, I put in the label number. No artist, song title, or even label. And I found 10 or 11 of these, not just Edison discs. I should note that searching shorter numbers provided more false hits. If the label number was 123, you’d also generate 4123, 1237, and 51236, et al.

The big hits!

Alexander’s Ragtime Band – Arthur Collins and Byron Harlan (Victor 16908), 10 weeks at #1. Some years back, I remember reading that this was one of the most significant of the early songs no longer under copyright.

Let Me Call You Sweetheart – Columbia Male Quartet (Columbia 1057), 7 weeks at #1. It’s a very familiar song, but I didn’t realize how old it was.

I’m Falling In Love With Someone – John McCormack (Victor 64174), 7 weeks at # 1.

Mother Machree – John McCormack (Victor 64181), 5 weeks at #1.

Under the Yum Yum Tree – Arthur Collins and Byron Harlan (Columbia A943), 5 weeks at #1.

Put Your Arms Around Me, Honey – Collins and Harlan (Victor 16708), 5 weeks at #1. These last two cuts are considered comedy cuts.

Come, Josephine In My Flying Machine – Ada Jones, Billy Murray, and the American Quartet (Victor 16844), 3 weeks at #1.

Mother Machree – Will Oakland (Edison Ambersol 583), 2 weeks at #1. “Victor ledgers indicate this as having been mastered but EDVR data associate no catalog number.” I couldn’t find it at DAHR, but I did retrieve it on YouTube.

I Love the Name of Mary – Will Oakland (Columbia A969,) 2 weeks at #1. Mary was, by far, the most popular name among females in the 1910s, by almost a 2:1 margin over the second place name, Helen.

Come, Josephine In My Flying Machine – Blanche Ring (Victor 60032,) 2 weeks at #1.

Down By the Old Mill Stream – Arthur C. Clough and the Brunswick Quartet, 1 week at #1. This search didn’t quite work as I planned. Columbia 1057 gave me three other songs, including Let me call you sweetheart by the Columbia Quartette. This link is to Edison 80215 from 1914.

Musician Phil Collins turns 70

That guy from the band Genesis

Among all the “cool,” snarky kids writing about the “bad” music of the 1980s, the oeuvre of Phil Collins often shows up. In The Worst Rock ‘n Roll Records of All Time (1991), Collins appears with Paul McCartney and Duran Duran as one of the worst artists. Only Billy Joel fared worse. There are lots of truly horrific artists in the decade. Yet Phil bashing became de rigeur.

More recently, there’s some nastiness in the press from his ex and her new spouse, shut down by a judge. And she may be on one of those Real Housewives show. REALLY Don’t Care.

I must admit that I was oblivious to the drummer back in the Peter Gabriel era of Genesis. It wasn’t until he became the lead singer of the band that I knew his name. While there are songs of his I wasn’t that fond of, there are a few I like, and one (the obvious, last one) I love.

That’s All – Genesis. It feels Beatlesque, which was its intent, I read.

I Wish It Would Rain Down – Phil Collins. “Phil’s immaculate vocals, Clapton’s flawless lead guitar, Pino Palladino’s legendary fretless bass, and Chester Thompson’s super tight drums.”

Land of Confusion – Genesis. Over the top political puppetry.

Follow You Follow Me – Genesis. A sweet love song.

Tonight, Tonight, Tonight – Genesis. I like the description of the video: “electronic drums and ethereal synthesizers… stir in some stark, scary lyrics about scoring dope… and—voilà!—you’ve got yourself the ’80s! Er, well…you know, one facet of the ’80s anyway.”

Jesus He Knows Me – Genesis. This hits on my fascination with songs that show religiosity in an unfavorable light.

Ignored

Another Day In Paradise – Phil Collins. Wikipedia notes that his character “observes a man crossing the street to ignore a homeless woman, and he implores listeners not to turn a blind eye to homelessness.”

Misunderstanding – Genesis. A bluesy summertime vibe.

Take Me Home – Phil Collins. Is this based on the novel One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest? Features Sting and Peter Gabriel.

Turn It On Again – Genesis. “The verse/chorus sections alternate time signatures, 6/4 to 74 (13/4), while the intro and bridge sections are in 4/4 and 5/4 (9/4).”

The Roof Is Leaking – Phil Collins. “Delta blues and country elements.”

In The Air Tonight – Phil Collins. He “wrote the song amid the grief he felt after divorcing his first wife Andrea Bertorelli in 1980. In a 2016 interview, Collins said: ‘”I wrote the lyrics spontaneously. I’m not quite sure what the song is about, but there’s a lot of anger, a lot of despair and a lot of frustration…'” Feelings I can relate to.

“While recording ‘Intruder’ for his former bandmate Peter Gabriel’s third solo album, at some point Collins started playing the drums while the reverse talkback was activated. Engineer Hugh Padgham was amazed at the sound achieved.” I love Intruder, and that album is on my desert album list.

“In 1984, the song was memorably used in a scene from the first episode of the television series Miami Vice,” which I watched. Phil Collins hit a then-president with a cease and desist order after his people played the song at one of his rallies in October 2020.