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I Still Play
''I Still Play'' is a set of variations composed in 2017 for solo piano by the American composer John Adams lasting approximately five and a half minutes. The work was composed to celebrate the retirement of Robert Hurwitz, the longtime president of Nonesuch Records. It was first performed by the pianist Jeremy Denk at the Brooklyn Academy of Music on April 1, 2017. Adams has described the sound of the piece as " Satie meets Bill Evans." The composer later explained the title of the work in an interview with ''The Mercury News'', remarking, "I'd organized a concert in obert'shonor at the Brooklyn Academy of Music and asked about 10 of the composers he'd worked with to write short pieces. I'd overheard someone talking to Bob – they said, 'I didn't know you played the piano.' And Bob said 'Yes, I still play.' So I called my piece 'I Still Play.'" Reception Reviewing the world premiere, Mark Swed of the ''Los Angeles Times'' described the piece as "impressive" and "intensely playe ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Piano
The piano is a stringed keyboard instrument in which the strings are struck by wooden hammers that are coated with a softer material (modern hammers are covered with dense wool felt; some early pianos used leather). It is played using a keyboard, which is a row of keys (small levers) that the performer presses down or strikes with the fingers and thumbs of both hands to cause the hammers to strike the strings. It was invented in Italy by Bartolomeo Cristofori around the year 1700. Description The word "piano" is a shortened form of ''pianoforte'', the Italian term for the early 1700s versions of the instrument, which in turn derives from ''clavicembalo col piano e forte'' (key cimbalom with quiet and loud)Pollens (1995, 238) and ''fortepiano''. The Italian musical terms ''piano'' and ''forte'' indicate "soft" and "loud" respectively, in this context referring to the variations in volume (i.e., loudness) produced in response to a pianist's touch or pressure on the keys: the grea ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Mark Swed
Mark Swed (born ) is an American music critic who specializes in classical music. Since 1996 he has been the chief classical music critic of the ''Los Angeles Times'' where his writings have made him a two-time finalist for the Pulitzer Prize for Criticism. Prior to his ''LA Times'' post, Swed was the chief music critic for the ''Los Angeles Herald Examiner'' and ''The Wall Street Journal'', and has contributed other writings to a variety of publications including '' The Orchestra'', an iPad application. He has a particular interest in contemporary classical music. Life and career Mark Swed was born and attended the University of California, Berkeley, receiving a Bachelor of Arts in music, and Mills College, receiving a Master of Arts. He was chief music critic at numerous newspapers, including the ''Los Angeles Herald Examiner'', ''The Wall Street Journal'' and ''7 Days''. In addition, he has written other music criticism for a variety of publications, including ''BBC Music' ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Minimalistic Compositions
Minimalism is a movement in visual arts, music, and other media that began in post–World War II Western art. Minimalism may also refer to: *Minimalism (computing), a philosophy of programming and configuring computers *Minimalism (philosophy), a theory that truth does not provide useful information beyond the proposition or sentence *Minimalism (syntax), a theory of natural language syntax developed by Noam Chomsky in the 1990s *Minimalism (technical communication), a theory of task-oriented and user-centered instruction and documentation *Minimalism (visual arts), art movement to expose the essence, essentials or identity of a subject through eliminating all non-essential forms, features or concepts *Minimalist music, a form of art music that employs limited or minimal musical materials *Judicial minimalism, a philosophy in United States constitutional law *Biblical minimalism, a movement or trend in biblical scholarship holding that the Bible is not reliable evidence for histor ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Compositions By John Adams (composer)
Composition or Compositions may refer to: Arts and literature *Composition (dance), practice and teaching of choreography *Composition (language), in literature and rhetoric, producing a work in spoken tradition and written discourse, to include visuals and digital space *Composition (music), an original piece of music and its creation *Composition (visual arts), the plan, placement or arrangement of the elements of art in a work *Composition (Peeters), ''Composition'' (Peeters), a 1921 painting by Jozef Peeters *Composition studies, the professional field of writing instruction *Compositions (album), ''Compositions'' (album), an album by Anita Baker *Digital compositing, the practice of digitally piecing together a video Computer science *Function composition (computer science), an act or mechanism to combine simple functions to build more complicated ones *Object composition, combining simpler data types into more complex data types, or function calls into calling functions Hist ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Ludwig Van Beethoven
Ludwig van Beethoven (baptised 17 December 177026 March 1827) was a German composer and pianist. Beethoven remains one of the most admired composers in the history of Western music; his works rank amongst the most performed of the classical music repertoire and span the transition from the Classical period to the Romantic era in classical music. His career has conventionally been divided into early, middle, and late periods. His early period, during which he forged his craft, is typically considered to have lasted until 1802. From 1802 to around 1812, his middle period showed an individual development from the styles of Joseph Haydn and Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, and is sometimes characterized as heroic. During this time, he began to grow increasingly deaf. In his late period, from 1812 to 1827, he extended his innovations in musical form and expression. Beethoven was born in Bonn. His musical talent was obvious at an early age. He was initially harshly and intensively tau ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Johann Sebastian Bach
Johann Sebastian Bach (28 July 1750) was a German composer and musician of the late Baroque period. He is known for his orchestral music such as the '' Brandenburg Concertos''; instrumental compositions such as the Cello Suites; keyboard works such as the ''Goldberg Variations'' and ''The Well-Tempered Clavier''; organ works such as the '' Schubler Chorales'' and the Toccata and Fugue in D minor; and vocal music such as the ''St Matthew Passion'' and the Mass in B minor. Since the 19th-century Bach revival he has been generally regarded as one of the greatest composers in the history of Western music. The Bach family already counted several composers when Johann Sebastian was born as the last child of a city musician in Eisenach. After being orphaned at the age of 10, he lived for five years with his eldest brother Johann Christoph, after which he continued his musical education in Lüneburg. From 1703 he was back in Thuringia, working as a musician for Protestant c ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Absolute Jest
''Absolute Jest'' is a concerto for string quartet and orchestra by the American composer John Adams. The work was commissioned by the San Francisco Symphony for the orchestra's centennial. Its world premiere was given at the Louise M. Davies Symphony Hall on March 15, 2012, and was performed by the St. Lawrence String Quartet and the San Francisco Symphony under the direction of Michael Tilson Thomas. Adams, John (2012)Absolute Jest for String Quartet and Orchestra Retrieved July 1, 2016. However, after the premiere Adams heavily re-wrote the beginning of the piece; this revised version of ''Absolute Jest'' was first performed in Miami Beach on December 1, 2012, by the St. Lawrence String Quartet and the New World Symphony under the composer's direction. Composition ''Absolute Jest'' is composed in a single movement and has a duration of roughly 25 minutes. The concerto incorporates the music of Ludwig van Beethoven (specifically his late string quartets, among other pieces) ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Kravis Center For The Performing Arts
The Kravis Center for the Performing Arts (often referred to as the Kravis Center) is a not-for-profit, professional performing arts center in downtown West Palm Beach, Florida. History 1978–1992 In 1978, the Palm Beach County Council of the Arts was created by Alexander W. Dreyfoos Jr. The council's goals focused on the development of local arts, and sought to create a major performing arts center following the success of the Palm Beach Playhouse. In 1986, friends of Raymond F. Kravis raised a $5 million donation in his honor, beginning construction for the eventual 1992 opening. The donation, headed by Leonard Davis and Merrill Bank, grew to $10 million before 1992, and the two remain on the center's committee. The center was built on the former site of Connie Mack Field, spring training home of the Kansas City Athletics until 1962 when it was replaced by West Palm Beach Municipal Stadium. The grand opening was held in September 1992, a gala that included performances and s ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
The Mercury News
''The Mercury News'' (formerly ''San Jose Mercury News'', often locally known as ''The Merc'') is a morning daily newspaper published in San Jose, California, in the San Francisco Bay Area. It is published by the Bay Area News Group, a subsidiary of Digital First Media. , it was the fifth largest daily newspaper in the United States, with a daily circulation of 611,194. , the paper has a circulation of 324,500 daily and 415,200 on Sundays. As of 2021, this further declined. The Bay Area News Group no longer reports its circulation, but rather "readership". For 2021, they reported a "readership" of 312,700 adults daily. First published in 1851, the ''Mercury News'' is the last remaining English-language daily newspaper covering the Santa Clara Valley. It became the ''Mercury News'' in 1983 after a series of mergers. During much of the 20th century, it was owned by Knight Ridder. Because of its location in Silicon Valley, the ''Mercury News'' has covered many of the key events in ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
John Adams (composer)
John Coolidge Adams (born February 15, 1947) is an American composer and conductor whose music is rooted in minimalism. Among the most regularly performed composers of contemporary classical music, he is particularly noted for his operas, which are often centered around recent historical events. Apart from opera, his ''oeuvre'' includes orchestral, concertante, vocal, choral, chamber, electroacoustic and piano music. Born in Worcester, Massachusetts, Adams grew up in a musical family, being regularly exposed to classical music, jazz, musical theatre and rock music. He attended Harvard University, studying with Kirchner, Sessions and Del Tredici among others. Though his earliest work was aligned with modernist music, he began to disagree with its tenets upon reading John Cage's '' Silence: Lectures and Writings''. Teaching at the San Francisco Conservatory of Music, Adams developed his own minimalist aesthetic, which was first fully realized in ''Phrygian Gates'' (1977) a ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Bill Evans
William John Evans (August 16, 1929 – September 15, 1980) was an American jazz pianist and composer who worked primarily as the leader of his trio. His use of impressionist harmony, interpretation of traditional jazz repertoire, block chords, and trademark rhythmically independent, "singing" melodic lines continues to influence jazz pianists today. Born in Plainfield, New Jersey, United States, he was classically trained at Southeastern Louisiana University and the Mannes School of Music, in New York City, where he majored in composition and received the Artist Diploma. In 1955, he moved to New York City, where he worked with bandleader and theorist George Russell. In 1958, Evans joined Miles Davis's sextet, which in 1959, then immersed in modal jazz, recorded '' Kind of Blue'', the best-selling jazz album ever. In late 1959, Evans left the Miles Davis band and began his career as a leader, with bassist Scott LaFaro and drummer Paul Motian, a group now regarded as a se ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Erik Satie
Eric Alfred Leslie Satie (, ; ; 17 May 18661 July 1925), who signed his name Erik Satie after 1884, was a French composer and pianist. He was the son of a French father and a British mother. He studied at the Paris Conservatoire, but was an undistinguished student and obtained no diploma. In the 1880s he worked as a pianist in café-cabaret in Montmartre, Paris, and began composing works, mostly for solo piano, such as his ''Gymnopédies'' and '' Gnossiennes''. He also wrote music for a Rosicrucian sect to which he was briefly attached. After a spell in which he composed little, Satie entered Paris's second music academy, the Schola Cantorum, as a mature student. His studies there were more successful than those at the Conservatoire. From about 1910 he became the focus of successive groups of young composers attracted by his unconventionality and originality. Among them were the group known as Les Six. A meeting with Jean Cocteau in 1915 led to the creation of the ballet '' Par ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
