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Bach and Chomsky:a no longer valid titleThis term I took phonetics, and learned about the acoustic analysis applying to speech sound and musical sound, which makes me realize that Chomskian approach isn't indeed the only legitimate method in linguistics, and in musical analysis likewise. Empirical methods can be very productive; but it is on a different level than other methods, for instance, the analysis of the neutral existence of the sound object, namely, the acoustic analysis.Or the cognitive musicology in SEM.Anyway, I'm glad I broadened my vision. Zehetmair Quartet PROGRAM
Hindemith — Quartet No. 4, Op. 22 Schumann — Quartet in A minor, Op. 41, No. 1
------------------------------------------------ Recently I've had chances attend several live concerts, which made me thinking. First I listened to the live broadcast of the season premiere of Pittsburgh Symphony, which features a guest pianist playing the Tchaikowsky piano concerto in b-flat minor. Then a concert at New York Lincoln Center for the performing arts, a young American pianist playing Beethoven piano concerto no.2 in B-flat major with the New York Philharmonic. Then this Wed the Zehetmair quartet at Carnegie Music Hall of Pittsburgh. Plus I attended the Annual International Jazz Seminar at Pitt, features a presentation/performance by renowned guitarist Yotam Siberstein and bassist Abraham Laborial, a favorite of the jazz seminar. At first three concerts, including the world-class performance of New York Philharmonic, I felt somehow disappointed. Pittsburgh Symphony is among the best in America; but the pianist isn't exactly performing his best.The same with the pianist of Beethoven concerto.And the conductor of that concert of NY Philharmonic was not Lorin Maazel, but the music director of the Los Angeles Opera. I guess their collaboration, along with the too-young spirit and speed of the pianist, was not exactly satisfying. However the concert at Pittsburgh was fascinating, and strictly world class. I was having doubt of whether it's because I have used to the recording too long that I cannot stand for any imperfect live performance? But the string quartet proved me wrong.Their performance is just as perfect as their recording. First a quartet by Mozart, very smooth. Then a Hindemith work, which is fairly chromatic in harmonic experimentation, and I actually fell asleep. Then its "authoritative" interpretation of Schumann, I felt that their capacity of bring only four tiny string instrument to a level that is comparable to a small string ensemble or orchestra is amazing. This is the pure beauty of the string quartet, which is I believe to be the most pure musical form that explores only musical possibilities in terms of pitch, rhythm, harmony, counterpoint, instead of the rich contrast of tone color.
PAPRIKAPAPRIKA--Playing with Dream and Reality. A Must See of Japanese animation director, Satoshi Kon.（今敏） AOL news:OCEAN EXISTED 2 BILLION YEARS AGO ON MARS(June 14) - Since 1991, planetary scientists have floated the idea that Mars once harbored vast oceans that covered roughly one-third of the planet. Two long shore-like lips of rock in the planet's northern hemisphere were thought to be the best evidence, but experts argued that they were too "hilly" to describe the smooth edges of ancient oceans.
The view just changed dramatically with a surprisingly simple breakthrough.
The once-flat shorelines were disfigured by a massive toppling over of the planet, scientists announced today. The warping of the Martian rock has hidden clear evidence of the oceans, which in any case have been gone for at least 2 billion years.
"This really confirms that there was an ocean on Mars," said Mark Richards, a planetary scientist at the University of California at Berkeley and co-author of the study, which is detailed in the June 14 issue of the journal Nature.
Two major shorelines exist on Mars, each thousands of miles long--one remaining from the older Arabia Ocean, and another from the younger Deuteronilus Ocean, said study co-author Taylor Perron of UC Berkeley.
Somewhere along the way to toppling over 50 degrees to the north, Mars probably lost some of its water, leaving the Deuteronilus Ocean's shoreline exposed. "The volume of water was too large to simply evaporate into space, so we think there is still some subterranean reservoirs on Mars," Perron said.
The remaining sea would have been located in the same lowland plain as the Arabia Ocean, but almost 40 degrees to the north.
As a planet spins, the heaviest things tend to shift towards the equator, where they are most stable. Earth, too, has a bulge at its equator. The volcanic Tharsis region of Mars, a vast raised area along Mars' equator, is evidence for how this works.
"This is the reason why this discovery packs extra punch," Perron said. More than a billion years ago, he explained, something happened in the way mass was distributed on Mars to cause the imbalanced portion to shift toward the equator-and allow the vast shores of the Martian oceans to warp.
"We found evidence of the path the shift would have to have occurred, and it matches with the deformation of the shorelines," Perron said.
Near the equator, the surface of a planet stays in a relatively flattened bulge under the pressure of centripetal forces. But outside of the equator, the rock behaves elastically and often bunches up, like the surface of a deflating balloon. Perron and his team reasoned that the oceanic shorelines were once near the equator, but warped into hilly up-and-down elevations of rock as they move towards the north with the tilting planet.
"On planets like Mars and Earth that have an outer shell ... that behaves elastically, the solid surface will deform," Richards said.
By calculating the deformation, which occurs in a predictable way, the planetary research team found the ridges had to have once been flat, like ocean shorelines.
"This is a beautiful result that Taylor [Perron] got," Richards said. "The mere fact that you can explain a good fraction of the information about the shorelines with such a simple model is just amazing. It's something I never would have guessed at the outset." Perron and his colleagues aren't certain what caused the toppling of the planet, but they think forces beneath the surface are to blame. "There could have been a massive change in the distribution of mantle," Perron said, "which would have caused the planet to shift into its current position."
IS PITTSBURGH GOOD OR BAD?CITY--PITTSBURGH A year in Pittsburgh:at first we don't think it's a nice city to live.Then we went to California and thinK Pittsburgh is the worst city to live.Then we went to New York and thinK Pittsburgh is a really nice and quiet city to live.What do you think? The truth is,Pittsburgh has a lovely fall and summer,but the winter is really hard,and the spring?We don't see any.But we've really become to appreciate the quietness,polite people here.Real nice universities,and NICE to go to them. Now,after traveling to the South Hills Village by light rail,we think this is a moderatly nice place to live and to shop,not the best,but good balanced.City,living,and nature.AFTER ALL It IS rated as the top ten best cities to live in North America.I doubt that.But not that much. Foundation of LanguageA new book by Ray Jackendoff, the influential linguist at Tufts University, a student of Chomsky at MIT. Jackendoff has been collaborated with music scholars to conduct research on music syntax and music cognition. Recently he has been back to linguistics, and he has developed new ways of linguistic studies, stopped applying Chomskian linguistics. Professor Chia-hui Huang of University of Pittsburgh told me about him, which made me wondering, when do we know a methodology produces the perfect understanding of language? Maybe never. Let us remember this dayWhen all university communities unite to mourn those innocent dead souls.
University of Pittsburgh Chancellor Mark A. Nordenberg has sent the following message to members of the University community: Tragedy struck—suddenly, sadly, and senselessly—at Virginia Tech yesterday. Under any circumstances, such a substantial loss of life would trigger feelings of disbelief and deep sorrow. These events, though, have brought an even more intense form of pain to many of us, as they have to others. After all, most of those killed were young people actively engaged in the process of building the foundation for lives that they had every reason to believe would be rich and full—and of more normal length. Then, without warning, their lives were taken from them, and they were taken in the middle of a campus, a place that should reflect the best of human nature and not its worst. It was their own desire to help nurture a positive campus culture that led our student leaders to craft the Pitt Promise, a vow now taken by incoming freshmen at our opening convocation each year. The statement introducing that pledge declares that our institutional commitment “to the advancement of learning and service to society” is “best accomplished in an atmosphere of mutual respect and civility, self-restraint, concern for others, and academic integrity.” Even more directly relevant is the first passage of the Pitt Promise, committing our students to “the concept of a civil community which abhors violence.” Obviously, no such expression of collective aspiration could have protected his victims from the attacks of the Virginia Tech gunman. However, a shared commitment to civility and nonviolence can help set a community tone consistent with the values we seek to advance in our own University—respect for others and reverence for life, among them. Reflecting on those values at a time like this one underscores the depth of the Virginia Tech tragedy. It also can remind us of the one thing that, more than anything else, makes universities so special—the vibrancy of the people with whom we share our campus home. Today, we mainly mourn the loss of so many precious lives at Virginia Tech. However, this also may be an especially appropriate moment for us to recommit to each other, as well as to the values that are our bond. As we move forward together, then, let me extend my best wishes for your health, your happiness, and your success. Let me also extend my thanks to each of you. By your presence and through your work, you have helped make the University of Pittsburgh an even more special place. Death Toll in Virginia Tech Rampage at 33BLACKSBURG, Va.
(April 16) - A gunman opened fire in a Virginia Tech dorm and then, two
hours later, in a classroom across campus Monday, killing at least 32
people in the deadliest shooting rampage in U.S. history, government
officials told The Associated Press. The gunman was killed, bringing
the death toll to 33. See website of Virginia Tech for detail. Noh & Irish danceThe experience of encountering something face to face is so impressive compared to the indirect means.Recently two performances I encountered opened two gates of my mind, like nothing else before. Watch, listen, and cry.
Noh Theater: What has shaped Japanese to produce such shocking musical style?
Events: Noh Theater workshop in Stephen Memoriam, University of Pittsburgh.
Actors, rather than musicians, are the center of the stage. Unlike Chinese operas or other Japanese theater arts such as Kabuki, music comes second here. The actors are trained with strict body movement, and are armed with somehow scary masks. There are four musicians sitting at the very back of the stage: one Japanese flute, three with different hand or shoulder drums. Apparently the flute is the only instrument here to produce tonal music, as opposed to drums and vocal shouting of other male musicians. Shouting, with all the energy and spirit, is apparently quite essential to this endeavor. There are supposably some kind of forms to their mainly-shouting music, which I call it very "shocking " music.
What's shocking about Noh music? I think the most obvious is the fact that its a unique combination of sports and music. Note that there is no DANCE here. The sport here is shouting. Shouting is generally absent from most musical cultures around the world, I'd say. This very laborious job of shouting here is very exhaustive, thus generally only strong male could participate in here. Now don't think the flute player is relaxing. No! S/he blows the air into the hole of the flute very very hard. It's a female in what I saw, but mostly this position is occupied by male too. Aside from this, the tone s/he produced is really weird. It almost sounds like what I randomly produced on my 8-dollar little Indonesian flute.The scale must be very different from most other music. Plus it's really high-pitched. The whole music is full of strength and masculinity. (To be continued) |
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Thomas Zehetmair,
one of the most significant violinists of his generation and one of the
most acclaimed Schumann interpreters in the world, leads his
exceptional quartet through three eras in German music: the classical
optimism of Mozart, the romantic passion of Schumann, and the daring modernism of Hindemith.
Playing from memory, the Zehetmair successfully integrates aspects of
solo playing into ensemble works, giving them an utterly unique quartet
sound.|
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