I dont normally do Internet meme-ish things, but I kind of like this one. The idea is to fill Facebook with music, breaking the monotony of selfies and sensationalism. If you like this post, I will assign you a letter which will correspond to a musician, band, composer, or artist. Pick a one and post a song or piece on your timeline with this text. I was given R by Aaron Krister Johnson. If I chose to post a rock song, it would pretty much have to be by Rush, and thats a little bit too predictable and well-known. Instead, Ill offer Scheherazade by Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov. Scheherazade is the heroine of the story of the thousand and one nights. The story: A Persian king discovered that his wife had been unfaithful. He had her killed in anger, and each night married a new virgin, only to have her killed the next day. He had done this 1,000 times before Scheherazade, the daughter of the vizier, decided she had to stop him from continuing this atrocity. Against her fathers will, she married the king. That night, she told him a captivating story -- and ended it on a cliffhanger. The king wanted to hear the rest, but she refused, saying that she would tell him the rest on the following night. He let her live, and the pattern repeated for, yes, a thousand and one nights. Only two of these stories are captured in Rimsky-Korsakovs piece, but we probably wouldnt like it if it had 1,001 stories in it anyway. The very first bars, a shout of brass and fire, is the voice of the king. Scheherazade herself is portrayed by the solo violin (the soloist in this video is a man, dont let that confuse you); listen to her theme early on and youll hear it echoed throughout the music. R-K was an interesting dude, and worth the study. This work is one I only recently heard, or at least paid attention to -- yes, I am a Philistine -- but it has quickly become one of my favorite pieces. The themes are clear, memorable, and well-repeated without being boring. Great stuff. youtube/watch?v=17lEx0ytE_0
Posted on: Thu, 23 Oct 2014 03:33:02 +0000
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