Music sits alongside religion as an opiate for the masses, and when music joins religion, it’s a truly powerful drug—one that scares the crap out of me sometimes.
Tag: musicians
recent kaddishim: on connection and music
Something unexpected happened a few weekends ago. I asked Mira to record the text of the Mourner’s Kaddish for me, and she did, and then everything changed. We are nearing the end of the first three months. We have almost ten months to go on this daily musical exchange, according to the Julian calendar, because this is a leap year in the Hebrew calendar, which adds not just a leap day but a whole leap month. And after what felt like a lifetime of awful recordings to both of us, we’re both starting to enjoy the music.
the problem with music: a preamble in expectation of a response
I’ve got to put my cards on the table here. Finally. I’ve let my collaborator-extraordinaire do all the music-talking, and I’ve sat in the shadows and nodded (frequently without comprehension) and watched — and mostly listened. Sometimes I’ve even heard. The fact is, I can’t believe I agreed to this contract we have at all….
gregorian chant, jesus fulfilling prophecy, and easy listening
Last Sunday’s “Kaddish” recording (kaddish_2010.12.19_veniEmmanuel) explores and tests how the nusach of “Kaddish” blends into Gregorian chant; see “a musicological view of kogan’s ‘kaddish’” and commentary passim for discussion. Historical analysis As I mentioned in the analysis, in Gregorian chant we see Catholic monks blending the Judeo- into the -Christian of the Judeo-Christian tradition. All…
a musicological view of kogan’s “kaddish”
A musicological analysis of Kogan’s “Kaddish”; looking at the composition from a music historical and theoretical point of view.
recent “kaddish” recordings
Recent recordings have included Kaddishim for Elizabeth Edwards, Mark de Lemos, human rights, lost innocence, Terry Dobson, Bob LaBrie and microtonal, jazz, and lullaby interpretations.
on emotions in performance
It’s time to make an attempt at unraveling the conundrum of emotions and musical performance.
kaddishim for preemption, el akarib, & monotony
recent kaddishim address questions of musical expression, tragic events in El Akarib, and the cold solitude of musical labor
news on our virtual, asynchronous minyan
For our purposes, the “minyan” is our community of listeners. But we’re not all Jewish. (So far we’re all adults.) We don’t gather physically but virtually, by internet. And we don’t gather at the same time, exactly—we’re asynchronous.
recent kaddishim
descriptions of kaddish recordings from 18-26 November 2010