Music, Ecology, and the Stack of the Week
Bird-Bolts and Cannon-Bullets, No. 26
Dear reader,
Thanks for all of the lovely feedback on the Bruno Walter edition of the “meet-the-artist” playlist. I’m going to do one of these once every few weeks, but I’m having trouble deciding where to go next, so please respond to the following poll:
Note to future readers: I accidentally wiped out the results of this poll when trying to change the duration. 61 people voted, and Yo-yo Ma edged out David Bowie, with Mitsuko Uchida and Igor Markevitch a good distance behind.
I’ll get to all of them eventually, but I’ll appreciate your help to sort out the order.
Yours,
John
The Rotation
It has been a couple of weeks since we overhauled the Rotation, so we are overdue for a refresh. By request, I tried to add the Rotation to YouTube as well as Apple Music and Spotify, but too many tracks were not available or were difficult to find. If you have any questions about specific recordings, I’ll try to help you find them if you don’t have access to either of these services. I think that you can listen to Spotify free with ads.
First up are four selections that my students are listening to this semester, as we explore pieces of music that evoke space and place in connection to our study of ecological criticism. (“Spaces and Places” for you,
.)
Bryden Thomson, London Symphony Orchestra: Vaughan Williams: Symphony No. 7 (“Sinfonia Antartica”)
I asked students to listen to this as they read Beowulf, which made it seem somewhat like a movie soundtrack. This is appropriate, since John Williams (no relation) certainly felt the influence of Vaughan Williams (along with RVW’s friend, Gustav Holst) when composing his great film scores (one of which is also featured in this week’s Rotation, see below).
Alberto Turco, Nova Schola Gregoriana: Adorate Deum: Gregorian Chant from the Proper of the Mass
This also accompanied our reading of Beowulf. Since this music was codified in the tenth century, it is probable that the Beowulf poet heard and/or sang this music or something very like it.
Anna Þorvaldsdóttir, Iceland Symphony Orchestra: Aeriality
Anna Þorvaldsdóttir, Iceland Symphony Orchestra: Metacosmos
In the first week of our study of the Icelandic narrative known as Egil’s Saga, we are listening to these two pieces by an active Icelandic composer. Anna Þorvaldsdóttir has been making waves in the classical music world in recent years because she sounds like no one else. Her music gives a real sense of vastness and scope, and it often evokes the landscapes of her homeland. This will not be to everyone's taste. Don't expect hummable tunes. Þorvaldsdóttir's music is more about color and atmosphere than it is about melody.
Sarah McLachlan: Fumbling Towards Ecstasy
If you don’t know this classic record, then you are in for a treat. It is likely to become an important part of your life. The opening track, “Possession,” will, as the lyrics phrase it, “take your breath away.” From that point, you will be hooked.
John Williams, Yo-yo Ma, Itzhak Perlman: Memoirs of a Geisha (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack)
I know that I saw this film, though I remember very little about it—except that the score was gorgeous. Indeed, it may be my favorite John Williams film score, though it is not one of his best known. The presence of Yo-yo Ma and Itzhak Perlman, I’m sure, have a lot to do with its beauty, along with the incorporation of traditional Japanese instruments.
Barbara Hanigan, Ludwig Orchestra: Haydn: Symphony No. 49 in F Minor (“La Passione”)
Few of Haydn’s 104 symphonies are in minor keys, but those few are all memorable, perhaps none more so than the gorgeous “La Passione,” with its massive, probing first movement, conducted magnificently here by Barbara Hannigan.
Roberto Menescal and Andy Summers (with Cris Delanno): United Kingdom of Ipanema
I recently watched a terrific interview by Rick Beato with former Police guitarist Andy Summers. If you grew up in the 80s, as I did, then The Police likely form much of the soundtrack of your youth. I vividly remember the Synchronicity tour, and I wore the grooves out on that record (though I also had to get the cassette, which had the bonus track “Murder by Numbers”). This video sent me on a deep dive into Summers’s solo and collaborative music of recent years, and this is one of the picks of the lot. He teams up here with the Brazilian composer and guitarist Roberto Menescal to perform some Brazilian standards and Menescal originals, along with some Police classics, which respond quite well to the bossa nova treatment. There is a sublime rendition of “Message in a Bottle,” which Summers says is the best song that Sting ever wrote. I don’t think he’s wrong. Perhaps my favorite opening guitar riff ever.
Here is the interview:
There are also some leftover selections from previous weeks—including HAIM, Shamie Royston, Martha Argerich playing Ravel, and more—so enjoy!
The Rotation from PCF on Apple Music
The Rotation from PCF on Spotify
The Stack of the Week
If you are curious about the world in which we live, then the Stack of the Week will interest you. It is always an event when a piece by
drops into my inbox, and I know that I will learn something. His stack is called The Garden of Forking Paths, the goal of which is “to help us understand how to navigate the garden of forking paths we find ourselves in, to better understand challenges we face and the possible futures we want.” The name comes from a Borges story, in which it serves as “a metaphor for the idea that our possible futures are made by our present decisions, which, in turn, were made by the choices of the past, forking infinitely.”Brian is a professor of global politics at University College London, but his work is accessible and blessedly jargon-free. He is interested in everything, to such an extent that I couldn’t choose just one post to highlight. Here are two that give you a sense of his range. The first explores the phenomenon of mass delusion:
And the second is all about dogs (a topic of great interest to me, as most of you know):
But really, dip in anywhere in his archive, and spend some time in Brian’s garden.
Grad-Student Post of the Week
Our featured grad-student post this week is by Dori Lumpkin, who writes Time Enough at Last. Dori is a second-year graduate student in creative writing. She is currently my graduate assistant, and in that capacity, she is working with me to launch our departmental Substack newsletter. On her own Substack this week, she explores the implications of Timothy Morton’s book The Ecological Thought and creatively considers a film, a book, and a game through Morton’s ecological lens:
That’s all for today. I hope that the altered publication schedule didn’t ruffle any feathers. (Of course, I realize that it’s likely that few of you noticed.) For the foreseeable future, there will be new posts dropping on Wednesday (the weekly essay) and Sunday (Bird-Bolts and Cannon-Bullets).
This Wednesday, I’ll be back with the final week of the Beowulf challenge. Thanks for reading, from my fancy internet typewriter to yours.
Whoops! Thanks for everyone who participated in my poll yesterday to determine the next featured artist playlist. I’m afraid I accidentally wiped out the results when trying to change the duration of the poll. So, I’m calling it now: Yo-yo Ma edges out David Bowie for the win. The poll is still there, but you may consider it dead.
My family and I made a hobby of noticing Holst quotes in John Williams soundtracks 😜