last night on abc, 20/20 had a program on 7 possible ways life on earth will end.
including the normal asteroid hit, or "yellowstone super volcano" there was one in particular that i hadn't thought of before...a black hole coming into our solar system.
the scientists say that if a wandering black hole ever comes through our area of space we will have 20 to 100 years until the end. this might be one of the craziest ways in which the earth would end.
another way that i have contemplated often is the machines. whether it's terminators, or the robots from Battlestar Galactica, or HAL from 2001: a space odyssey. a little strange, but even Kurt Vennegut predicted that way back when (sort of) in his novel Piano Player.
i haven't been up to too much lately. just reading and getting ready for school still another 25 days until that starts.
also, i have a new found respect for vampires. i just finished reading 'Salems Lot by Stephen King and scaring the hell out of myself. a very well written book. it has to do with the Dark Tower Series. now i am starting the stand (also a relation to the dark tower.)
now a question to the music geeks i like to call my blog friends...
what would be essential classical/contemporary music must-haves for a library for the person entering a life of composition?
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4 comments:
I exist, of course. And wow, I even posted 2 new updates in 24 hours!
I'm not sure what kind of contemporary music you're speaking of - but on the side of composition I would suggest the following - Jon Brion, Craig Armstrong, William Orbit. Those guys are some of my favorites!
Well, since you're someone who's wanting to enter the world of film music there are the standards of course: Rite of Spring, The Firebird, Petrushka, The Planets, Fountains of Rome, Pines of Rome, etc...
Then there are the Mahler Symphonies, Beethoven's 9th, 7th, 5th and 3rd. Once you've got a firm grip on counterpoint you can more or less skip just about everything pre-Beethoven, until then a little Bach never hurt anyone. A well rounded sampling of Copland is always good.
Let's see...I'm a particular fan of the Strauss Tone Poems. Ravel (particularly Daphnis et Chloe) and Debussy are good for color. Schoenberg's a must (so are Berg and Webern for that matter). A basic knowledge of The Ring (Wagner) never hurts. The Sibelius Symphonies (as I've recently discovered thanks to Brad) are fantastic. Then there are the living Fins like Rautavaara and Salonen.
Skip Phil Glass and go straight to Steve Reich and John Adams. Look into John Corigliano while you're at it. And absorb as much Elliot Goldenthal as possible.
Who else...? Umm...well, Ives is always interesting - kind of an outside the box thinking kind of guy. All four Brahms Symphonies and the German Requiem. Bartok is fun, particularly the String Quartets. Don't know much about the Russians myself though I do enjoy a bit of Rimsky-Korsikov. Wojeich Kilar is pretty awesome. Oh, and I almost forgot Gorecki and Penderecki. And the Vaughan-Williams Symphonies are pretty awesome too. Ooh, and Alan Hovhaness...very nice. If you're wondering where John Williams gets a lot of inspiration, check out Howard Hansen.
And, again, seeing as how you're into film music, get to know as much Williams, Goldsmith (particularly from about 1965-1980 and the 90's), and Poledouris as you can. If you're curious, go to soundtrackcollector.com and look-up Brad and mines collections (his username is Brad Fowler, mine is shehan23). That should give you some indication as to what's good to know in film music.
That's pretty much all I can think of at the moment, Brad can fill you in better on specific pieces than I can...and add some names for looking into also.
I'll have my thoughts for you soon, Reed.
Look to my coming at the first light of the fifth day, at dawn look to the east.
Rabbits!
Think about it man. Rabbits! Get them before they get your family, just like that little bird.
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