Culture Break: Ravel: Bolero: Two Versions

I don't know if I've ever posted this particular flash mob before, but it's a fairly appeapling:

And of course, who could forget this one?

Culture Break: Arvo Pärt: Stabat Mater

I normally try to keep the "Culture Break" entries somewhat brief, say the length of a popular song or slightly longer. However. I found myself listening to this one and got copletely lost in it. So, I'm going to recommend that you turn off the world for half an hour or so and let the music surround you:

Culture Break: Arvo Pärt: The Deer's Cry

A bit of a break from the chaos that's ruling the news these days. I haven't listened to Pärt for a while, which is maybe a little odd, considering that one summer, in my (relative) youth, his Passio was my beach music (early in the morning, when there weren't many people around yet. At that point, it was the only work of his available in the U.S. (Strangely enough, there's not a whole lot of his music on YouTube. Go figure.)

Needless to say, I did review it, but that's one of the lost works from our horrendous move to a new host at GMR. Look for it in the next edition on November 29.

Culture Break: Eskil Romme: Forårsfred

Believe it or not, I do listen to something besides loud obnoxious rock and impenetrable contempoerary avant-garde music. I actually listen to quite a bit of Nordic traditional music. Eskil Romme is one that shows up a lot on my playlist. This is from his album Himmerlandsmelodier, which I reviewed as part of this group.

Culture Break: Penguin Cafe: 'Protection' for Erased Tapes

Penguin Cafe is the successor to Penguin Cafe Orchestra (reviews of their music are here and here. This piece was a new one for me, that I ran across quite by chance. I like it a lot:

I don't know if this has been released on an album, but you can find a review of their album A Matter of Life. . . at Green Man Review this coming Sunday.

They're worth checking out on YouTube, as well -- lots of nice stuff.

Culture Break: The Danish String Quartet: The Dromer

I don't know if I've posted this one before; it's one of my favorite cuts from their album Last Leaf, a collection of traditional tunes arranged for string quartet.

I reviewed the album here.

Culture Break: Bertrand Goldberg: Marina City

Culture is not only about music.

Marina City is one of Chicago's iconic buildings, built in the late 1950s-early 1960s. It is credited with helping to reverse the flight of residents from inner cities and is the prototype of modern mixed-use urban bhildings.

The Wikipedia article is quite informative and worth reading.

Culture Break: Students of Juillard: Bolero Juillard

From The Daily Beast:

The short film, Bolero Juilliard, may be only just shy of ten minutes, but it’s a mighty and striking work. It features Ravel’s famous piece of music—which premiered in 1928—reinterpreted by current students from the famed performing arts school’s music, dance, and drama divisions, alongside famous alumni.

Filmed via cellphones in lockdown, and then scored, directed and edited seamlessly, it re-crafts the originally purely orchestral Boléro into a piece of contemporary musical theater. A dramatized, collective diary of a day living under the pandemic, it is also a witty, moving celebration of art as a life force.

Via Joe.My.God.

Culture Break: Tummel: This Ship Is Sinking

This song popped into my head recently. It's from the album Payback Time. If the title strikes you as somewhat ominous, well, you're probably right.

At any rate, this is from a recording session, and if nothing else, these guys are having fun:

Culture Break: Linkin Park: Lost in the Echo

Another group that I happened on somehow, and became wildly enthusiastic. The did some tough stuff.

Culture Break: Joaqin Rodrigo: Concierto de Aranjuez, Adagio

I don't remember where or how I first came in contact with Rodrigo's Concierto de Aranjuez, but it's become a regular on my playlist. The Adagio is a prime example of over-the-top romanticism. I have the recording by the Romeros:

Culture Break: Kazaky: Dance and Change

Been a while since I've watched any Kazaky videos. This one seems to have all the elements:

Culture Break: Ralph Vaughan Williams: The Lark Ascending

This is probably my favorite Vaughan Williams:

Culture Break: Carl Orff: Carmina Burana (Flash Mob)

"Flashmob Oradea - Carmina Burana". Oradea is in Romania.

Culture Break: The Evolution of Dance, 1950-2019

With thanks to comments Max_1 at Joe.My.God.

Culture Break: Shaka Ponk : Palabra mi amor

With thanks to commenter jaspersdad at Joe.My.God. I had never heard of them, but here's the Wikipedia entry, if you want to learn more.

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Culture Break: Flash Mob, Beethoven's Ode to Joy

This one seems to be a favorite for flash mobs. An antidote, of sorts:

Culture Break: K. Sridhar: from Raga Keervani

We're used to hearing raga -- if we're used to hearing raga at all -- played on the sitar. Krishnamurti Sridhar does it on the sarod, which is a very different sound. I have an album of a concert he gave in Paris which, sadly, does not include this piece.

Culture Break: Kodo: Sora

I caught Kodo on their last (I think) tour. They're amazing live.

From being an ensemble that was pure drums, they've expanded into incorporation other instruments and song. Here's my take on their Chicago concert.

Culture Break: Kronos Quartet/Kimmo Pohjonen: Kalma

From their album Uniko. I have no idea where I ran across this, unless it was in the days when I was buying anything by Kronos Quartet. As I said to a friend who didn't like accordion music -- "This is not your everyday accordion music."

No, I don't know why it's in two parts on YouTube. And I think the cutie on keyboards is Samuli Kosminen, Pohjonen's collaborator in Kluster. You can find more information on the project here.