The Piano Guys, Continued

If my previous post made you hungry, I hope you went and fixed yourself some excellent food. If it made you want to go listen to some excellent music, I wonder what kind you chose?

As for me, I’ve been listening to some absolutely INCREDIBLE music, namely works by Debussy, Stravinsky, Schoenberg, Webern, Berg, Bartok, Ives, Copland, Shostakovich, Hindemith, Messiaen, and Cowell. If you haven’t listened to anything of theirs, go now. Twelve- tone is absolutely the coolest thing that ever happened to music. (Thank you Schoenberg.) Have you heard of synesthesia? It’s when a person actually sees a different and specific color for each note he hears. Messiaen had it. Do you know Shostakovich’s history? I just did a big presentation on him for my class, and I have learned his life and music are immensely interesting and intriguing. I recommend an in-depth study of his life, and the lives of as many composers as you can possibly find time for.

This music that I’ve been studying is not your standard classical music. In fact, some of it may even offend the ears and possibly bring tears/ death wishes. But it remains extraordinarily revolutionary by way of musical progression (exploration-/ development-wise), and can strike chords that Classical (as in music from around 1750-1820) music just can’t. (Pun intended.)

Should contemporary music be studied? Absolutely. Should it be played? Oh yes. And then, the history behind it… Music history is fascinating! Music continues to evolve, and we learn more and more with each new discovery (like Bartok’s Hungarian rhythms, for example), while still building on giants such as Bach, Mozart, and Beethoven. It’s awesome. That’s all I can say.

But do you know what else is awesome? When a pianist and a cellist get together and say, “Hey, let’s go to Hawaii. Then let’s drive up to the North Shore of Oahu, and bring our piano and cello to the beach, and play and record a song!” This is the product of that:

Pounders Beach, ladies and gentlemen…