Friday 16 November 2012

Commemorated through words

Not marble, nor the gilded monuments
Of princes, shall outlive this powerful rhyme;
But you shall shine more bright in these contents
Than unswept stone besmear'd with sluttish time.
When wasteful war shall statues overturn,
And broils root out the work of masonry,
Nor Mars his sword nor war's quick fire shall burn
The living record of your memory.
'Gainst death and all-oblivious enmity
Shall you pace forth; your praise shall still find room
Even in the eyes of all posterity
That wear this world out to the ending doom.
So, till the judgment that yourself arise,
You live in this, and dwell in lovers' eyes. 


Sonnet 55 by William Shakespeare

I don't make a habit of posting poetry here (perhaps I should!), but I can't think of many things as beautiful as this.

Thursday 8 November 2012

Elliott Carter (1908-2012)



This is the third string quartet by Elliott Carter, who passed away three days ago, almost at the age of 104.

It was a very well-lived life. Carter oversaw most of the twentieth century and was acquainted with the likes of Charles Ives, Igor Stravinsky and Edgard Varese to name a few. Aside from Pierre Boulez, he was quite possibly the last great modern 20th century composer to leave this world.

What I like about his music is the way the multiple layers of melodies and pitches do connect and intertwine on repeated hearings. And, unlike other composers in the 1950s (younger than himself), he sees this kind of process less as a scientific experiment than as an exercise in heightened expression.

I chose to put up his third string quartet, as it is his most assaulting and aggressive piece.