Another Return

I'm back. Better than ever. And I have a bit of reverie--for the work of Peter Greenaway. I write because of a nice piece in the Times about his show at the Venice Biennale, which made me think of my happy accident a few years back of being in Amsterdam, in the Rijkmuseum, and stumbling upon his Nightwatching, which was utterly fantastic. His work has drawn a lot of ire over the years (once I recall a roomful of older composers giggling at me when I said I was a fan, in that "doesn't-HE-have-a-lot-to-learn-about-the-world" way, or the lobby of a cinema some years ago featuring very pretentious man discussing loudly how pretentious Mr. Greenaway was) but it is work to which I always return. Basically I think he might be the smartest man on the planet. To say I love most of his films (the day Prospero's Books or Drowning by Numbers finally become available on DVD will be expensive but wonderful) is an understatement. To me these films define what art can and even should do, a touchstone: they have unparalleled depth, seek to explore, go beyond their medium while not expecting to be noteworthy simply because they go beyond their medium, and are as learned and seeking as any work out there. And I love his themes, which include conspiracies (from the water tower to the deaths of composers by mysterious means), the body, sex, death, writing, blood, art, beauty and vomit--to him, there is little difference between these things. His operas with Andriessen are divine and strange (maybe Rosaand Writing to Vermeer will come to DVD on that same glorious day).

I am being general, because I've just not the weeks it would take to be specific.

To return to Nightwatching, it was an amazing "show" wherein the famous painting by Rembrandt was suspended in the middle of the room. The lights dimmed, and for twenty minutes an audio track played which told the story of this great work through illuminating certain bits of it from the front and from behind, turning a staid and unmovable image into a vivid storyboard (about, yes, a conspiracy contained within the work). It was breathtaking--and oddly unfilmable. (Which leads me to the point that Greenaway is always referred to as a filmmaker and yet he's not made a picture in years, focusing instead on installations like these). From what the article seems to say, the show at the Biennale sounds like this experience writ large. Alas, I'll not be there--unless a generous reader would like to fund my expedition!

Needless to say, it's nice to be back.

Allow Me to be the Last

...to congratulate Steve Reich on a long-overdue Pulitzer Prize. And I am also happy to hear that Harold Meltzer was a runner-up.

Grammar

I hate to go all Jay Leno, but I have to gawk at the mixed meaning behind this headline (found on Google News):

Iran, in gesture to US, promises help on drugs

I mean, really, think about it...

Music = Brain

Every so often a study gets released explaining how music has a positive effect on one's mind, especially the complexities of classical music. It makes you smarter, better at math, and some say younger. Its hard to disagree, and it is even harder to disagree with the sprit of these undertakings because, well, since math is the smartest way to be smart in our No Child Left Behind culture because it is the most quickly quantifiable, music must therefore be good for US because it is good for that.

So today in the Times there is an appropriately skeptical piece by Matthew Gurewitsch about prescription music, music written specifically to have a desired effect on a specific brain. Its even handed, well written, and takes on this odd little practice with the right kind of attitude: that of the objective journalist. It ought to be read.

What I found most intriguing--and I mean that last word in its fullest spy-thriller resonance--is the presence of the guardedly anonymous composer in the mix. You go for your study, someone writes you a piece to suit your specific mental needs (apparently we all need Glass or Riley redux?) but the hand is silent; we are never to know. This strikes me as the oddest notion of this entire questionable (but not necessarily wrong) practice: there's someone, or a team of someones, who are writing music to have an effect on your brain and their name(s) is (are) a well-kept secret.

Of course, being a composer myself, I begin to wonder who it might b, which of my colleagues has landed the no-doubt lucrative dayjob of writing music to put troubled minds be at ease? And why, I wonder, is the whole practice intentionally shrouded in a veil of mystery? Do these composers feel they are doing the wrong thing? (They are not.) Do they fear the repercussions of the world knowing that they--gasp--might need to supplement their income? Or is this whole practice a little questionable, and when later it becomes known do these composers want not to be associated with it? I think that alone would be such a distraction, for me, from any possible efficacy of this study.

I say, if you're going to do it, do it: cop to it, and let us know how it works and why. There is nothing to be ashamed of, no need to hide. Hell, I think it would make an interesting companion piece in the Times to send a music journalist to accomplish a piece of derring-do and smoke out just who is behind this particular curtain. Music Therapy's Greatest Composers UNMASKED. Composers working in an underground laboratory somewhere to make the world a better place are revealed for what they are, dramatically and on television. I'd watch it.

Shining Brow Release

On March 18, this is where I will be. This piece--the seminal work of an amazingly gifted composer (and I am proud to say, friend)--will be available, finally, on a CD (insert usual praise to Naxos, who just sees to it that important things don't go unreleased) and is deserving of a big loud fete for the launch. Make your reservations early. See you there.

Glorious Mayhem

This Wednesday night, February 11, at 10pm I will be a gleeful participant in the first installment of John Wesley Harding's CABINET OF WONDERS at (where else?) Le Poisson Rouge. This week's lineup is certainly star-studded, including Rick Moody, Jonathan Ames, Eugene Mirman, Ambrosia Parsley, Carla Rhodes, and P.T. Walkley. I'll join JWH onstage to play a few tunes with him at the piano--he's a thoroughly amazing singer-songwriter who is not to be missed. Le Poisson Rouge is located at 158 Bleeker St. You may purchase tickets here.

The other CABINET OF WONDERS shows will be on March 11 and April 15, the latter featuring music composed by me, a piece JWH and I are writing together called Music Doesn't Want Me. Details on that to come, but do save those dates if you are interested. As you'll see below, those shows will also be very special and packed full of amazing people -- you can see all of the specifics for the shows below my signature. I am honored to be part of them.

I will also join Wes to perform on Friday, February 20 on WXPN's Free Noon at World Cafe Live in Philadelphia. Again, details below.

And I am sure I'll be sending out another email alert as some other things get closer, but below is a taste of a few things happening this Spring:

April 30
The PEN World Voices Festival Presents Collaborations/Elaborations, a concert of my music focusing on my work with writers. Joining me onstage will be authors Rick Moody, Wesley Stace (a.k.a. John Wesley Harding) and Mark Z. Danielewski. Performing will be Michael Zegarski, Amy Van Roekel, Jessica Miller-Rauch and Michael Morcotte, and Jody Redhage, with pianists Simone Dinnerstein, Blair McMillen and Charity Wicks. More on this to come, but look forward to world premieres, New York premieres, and very cool readings.

May 21
The always amazing pianist Blair McMillen will play my short but densely packed piece A Dirty Little Secret at the Greenwich Music House as part of the Keys to the Future festival.

May 30
At the Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C., the world premiere of my oratorio Revolutions of Ruin, performed by the Congressional Chorus joined by the Great Noise Ensemble. The piece is a setting of texts by Mark Z. Danielewski, Rick Moody, Michael Chabon and Tara Bray Smith, for chorus, chamber orchestra and soloists.

Hope to see you at some or all of these concerts!


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ON JOHN WESLEY HARDING

Happy New Year Friends... we're a month into 2009 and really gearing up for a great year.

Before we launch into the news, let's back up just a bit to late 2008. Those of you who have placed orders for Who Was Changed and Who Was Dead cd and/or the t-shirts, dvds, signed print) should have those in hand. If you haven't had a chance to place your order, you can visit www.johnwesleyharding.com and see what's in the store. Order the new cd online and you will be send a free download code so you may begin listening right away. That will be followed up with a copy of the cd and bonus disc. Add-on the other goodies and we'll send those right along.

February 11 - Rick Moody (writer and member of duo "Authros" with JWH) Jonathan Ames (writer) Eugene Mirman (comedian) Shivaree (Ambrosia Parsley - wonderful singer) Carla Rhodes (ventriloquist) P.T.Walkley (musician you're going to love)

March 11 - Colson Whitehead (writer) Colum McCann (writer) Josh Ritter (musician, most recently heard with JWH at The Union Hall) Rosanne Cash (musician) Errollyn Wallen (composer, presenting US premiere of "From Eleanor to Sweet William") Eugene Mirman (comedian)

April 15 - Graham Parker (musician) Daniel Wallace (writer, last seen with JWH doing magic tricks in Chapel Hill) Dan John Miller (actor/musician - once of Goober and The Peas!) Sam Lipsyte (writer) Eugene Mirman (comedian) Daniel Felsenfeld (composer)

But these shows are too much to confine them to NYC. The West Coast is calling, the East Coast is begging. So, alright, if JWH must hit the road, he's taking Eugene Mirman with him and there will be other special guests along the way. The dates outside of New York for "Wes and Eugene's Cabinet of Wonders" are:

March 26 - The Brattle Theater, Cambridge MA (to be confirmed)
April 1 - Tractor Tavern, Seattle WA
April 2 - Mississippi Studios, Portland OR
April 4 - Largo, Los Angeles CA
April 5 - The Independent, San Francisco CA

More dates will be announced as they are confirmed.They will be posted on www.myspace.com/wesleystace.

In the meantime, JWH, in the company of Rick Moody, will be on Soundcheck on WNYC at 2:00 PM Eastern Time next Monday, February 9, performing songs from his new album, and talking about the Cabinet of Wonders:http://www.WNCY.org/shows/soundcheck/. That evening, he and Eugene Mirman will be on The Joey Reynolds Show, doing much the same, at midnight: http://www.wor710.com/.

And on Friday February 20, JWH will be playing live at WXPN's Free at Noon at World Cafe Live in Philadelphia, sharing the bill with M. Ward. That's free. For more information: www.xpn.org/concerts-events/free-at-noon.

Keep an eye on MySpace and the JWH Messageboard for news as it happens!

Today

I am enjoying reading the fact that, according to many (and especially to Mr Don McClean once upon a time), "the music" died half a century ago on this very day. Long live the music, I suppose.