The twelve-tone technique6 March 2010
We had a general view on atonal music in a previous post. This week let’s get to the heart of the matter by focusing on the twelve-tone technique. Unavoidable revolution of the twentieth century, the technique known as twelve-tone was imaginated by Schoenberg. Yes, him again, and it makes sense as we learnt he tried to get as far away as possible from tonality. And what is the most basic characteristic of a key? The hierarchy of sounds, I mean that certain notes of the scale are more important than others, they have what is called a “function”, and these fonction are polarizing our ears.
What will 2010 be like?13 January 2010
At the start of this year, I tried to think about the directions my writings could take for 2010. It is thus self-evident that this blog will still be about piano and music, but I would like to give a new impetus and provide more didactic content. Let’s see what will 2010 be like.
French classical pianist Genevieve Joy has died2 December 2009
Genevieve Joy died Friday night in her sleep at the age of 90 years old. Key figure in contemporary music, she had played a major role in the spread of contemporary piano repertoire, creating works of her husband, Henri Dutilleux to whom my thoughts are, but also other leading composers like Pierre Boulez and Andre Jolivet. She has highlighted in her work the composers much more than herself.
Ligeti – poème symphonique for 100 metronomes17 April 2009
Today, I propose you to watch and listen to Ligeti’s poème symphonique for 100 metronomes. Enjoy!
Many thanks to Ionarts for the transcription into English:
Sur Incises20 March 2009
I have often talked here about the illustrious French composer Pierre Boulez, but without really going into details. So, today I’m sharing with you my favorite work by Boulez: Sur Incises for 3 pianos, 3 harps, 3 percussionists.
Happy birthday to Henri Dutilleux23 January 2009
Born on January 22, Henri Dutilleux celebrated his 93 years birthday yesterday. Henri Dutilleux’s work has a particular resonance for me, I just couldn’t pass by the Maestro’s birthday. I was introduced to his music very early on and I immediately liked it very much: Métaboles, Timbre, espace et mouvements, L’arbre des songes, Shadows of [...]
Happy birthday Mister Lachenmann!28 November 2008
Yesterday, 27th of november, was the birthday of the German composer Helmut Lachenmann, born in 1935. Luigi Nono’s disciple, he is considered as a major composer of our time and as the most representative of the “klangkomposition”.
John Cage’s Water Walk14 November 2008
Today, a video of a great American composer, who already left us for 16 years. This document dates from January 1960 and shows us John Cage playing his Water Walk during the TV show “I’ve got a secret”.
At this time, John Cage was an extremely controversial character in the music world and taught experimental composition [...]
Documents about Contemporary Music25 April 2008
I would like to share with you two links in French, sorry. While having a look on the archives of INA, I discovered a series of interviews called “Musique Mémoires”.
There are fascinating conversations with leading figures of contemporary music, such as Claude Ballif, François Bayle, Marius Constant, Antoine Duhamel, Michel Fano, Claude Helffer, Betsy Jolas, [...]
Death of Karlheinz Stockhausen12 December 2007
Deeply shocked by the German composer’s death on Wednesday, I think there’s no need to revisit the extraordinary career of one of the most important personality of the music scene after World War II.
To learn more about him, please go to www.stockhausen.org