Day 76 - Philip Glass - Metamorphosis Two

Listening to a Pearl Jam bootleg from Bonnaroo 2008 I was surprised by the intro music (you don’t get these when buying the official live bootlegs). Metamorphosis Two by Philip Glass. I realy like those piano pieces by Glass, his orchestral work can be overdone sometimes. So thanks to Pearl Jam I’m listening Philip Glass again.

YouTube: Metamorphosis Two, piano by Branka Parlic 2004

Day 74 - Edgard Varèse - Ionisation

Without Skyscraper no Flex-Able, without Flex-Able no Frank Zappa, without Frank Zappa no 20th century classical music. Now thats what makes Skyscraper such an influential album to me.

Frank Zappa in The Real Frank Zappa Book:

After shuffeling through the rack and finding a couple of Joe Huston records, I made my way toward the cash register and happened to glance at the LP bin. I noticed a strange-looking black-and-white album with a cover with a guy on it who had frizzy gray hair and looked like a mad scientist. I thought it was great that a mad scientist finally made a record, so I picked it up - and there it was, the record with “Ionisation” on it.

After reading that I myself had to listen to this “mad scientist”. Now twenty years later I’m still listening.

YouTube: Ionisation, German television recording

Day 34 - Alfred Schnittke - Collected Songs Where Every Verse is Filled With Grief

Collected Songs Where Every Verse Is Filled with Grief is actually the second movement from Alfred Schnittke’s Concerto for mixed choir, arranged by the Kronos Quartet for string quartet. I’ve never heard the concerto, but if that’s only half as good as this piece of string quartet music, it will be fantastic.

You Tube: the fourth and final movement from Schnittke’s Concerto for mixed choir