Some good answers here. There are two answers to the question. The wrong answer (though the one I prefer) is: what are some not very minimalist pieces, which I will enjoy listening to as someone unfamiliar with the style? The answer to that includes some of my favourite 20th century pieces: Most things John Adams […]
IMO no. Part of the emotional point of the Chaconne for me is that it sounds hard to play. Keyboard versions in particular don’t register with me. (No, I haven’t heard the Busoni yet.) I’m a bit more ok with Lute/Guitar versions, they sound more idiomatic. Answered 2016-02-20 [Originally posted on http://quora.com/Does-Bachs-Chaconne-in-D-Minor-sound-better-in-other-transcriptions-than-the-original-composition-on-violin/answer/Nick-Nicholas-5]
Almost always different notes. Even Unison passages mean that different instruments play the same note in different octaves. Exceptions are so rare that this is the only one I can think of (though there are bound to be others). In Berg’s opera Wozzeck, right after Wozzeck kills Marie, Berg has an “Invention on a Single […]
So. You here yet? [EDIT: two weeks time, I see. Do please let us know how you find things!] Things to look out for: a touch of Dutch cafe , in Berwick. Outskirts of Melbourne, but they have a bunch of Dutch food and books, should you feel homesick. I may have accidentally translated Het […]
My story is common to that of many people who did a PhD out of hope and idealism, and got crushed by reality. This is not to discourage you to do linguistics as such, but to keep your eyes open. And read people like Rebecca Schuman at Slate. So. I was always interested in languages, […]
I lived in Orange County, CA, 1999–2002. Tell you what I missed. Yes, this will overlap with Vadim Berman. Food. Vadim begged not to get started, I will. Yes, it’s my fault for not cooking; I did myself permanent damage through three years of US takeout. In particular: Lamb Subtle pasta sauces Human-sized portions Coke […]
When I told a colleague years ago that I loved Columbo, his response was a snort: “Columbo. He’s all shtick.” And yes, that’s why Columbo was so successful. Not because of the innovative inverted story telling; that’s just a convention. Not because of the cleverness of the crimes: the cleverness was variable, and much of […]
My experiences when I was actually in Italy did not quite fit the stereotypes. We were embraced by the owners of a Florentine trattoria the way I would have expected in Sicily; and the Passeggiata in Desenzano del Garda was pretty much the volta I remember from my upbringing in Greece. Taormina, on the other […]
Boutros’ Nick, as the villagers called him: Ο Νικολής του Πούτρου. But in the papers of the state and church, he was set down as Nicholas Hadjimarcou. With a c and a dj, because the state was British Cyprus, which acknowledged that the Cypriots pronounces their j’s. The Greek alphabet doesn’t, so Νικόλαος Χατζημάρκου. Boutros’ […]
Brandon Li’s answer of Pharaoh is excellent, but given the Judaeo-Christian context of Pharaoh, I’d argue that a bigger villain in that culture was Judas Iscariot. Tony Wright has argued that for pre-Hitler Australian politics, but I’m sure Judas was invoked much more widely than that: From Judas to Goebbels: when political insult risks dying […]