The Friday Informer: I Think the Heat Is Getting To Us

The Friday Informer: I Think the Heat Is Getting To Us

Composing volcanoes, oddly musical apartments, art songs about dirty old men. Is it getting hot in here, or is it just me?

Written By

Molly Sheridan


In 2003, David Schiff called John Adams’ On the Transmigration of Souls “a turning point in Adams’s work and, I hope, in American music.” Was it? ANABlog wants to know.
  • Lucky for us, the volcano cannot apply for limited composer grants. Not sure about its Pulitzer contention, since recordings are available.
  • Beware the perils of composer tourism.
  • Also, keep an eye on the musically dangerous French.
  • You can run. You can hide. But you’re not safe until you die.
  • “I personally think that we need more songs about dirty old men and obliging young women…from our recital stages. All that Schumann/Schubert pining for the distant beloved who turns out to be dead or at any rate uncaring doesn’t really represent the age in which we live, now, does it?”
  • “But nicely, there’s no way in hell that you can possibly pay attention to it for two sides of a record. So yes, it’s very serious music.” Stephin Merritt on taking serious music seriously. [via secretsociety]
  • Prone to getting the irritating-yet-catchy tune stuck in your head? This track is the stuff of your nightmares.
  • Stalled on that opera you promised yourself you’d finish this summer? Find inspiration here. [via Fredösphere]
  • Music for One Apartment and Six Drummers. I bet this sort of thing happens in San Francisco all the time. [via felsenmusick]