Into the Unknown covered by Nicholas Yee

Dear Listeners, 

Happy 2024 to you, in all its weirdness. 

I’m working on NEW MUSIC and will be sharing little bits of it and my process with you as I go along. For now, I’m putting the videos on Instagram and my Facebook Page and will link to them on my blog (sorry I let that lapse, somehow I managed to forget blogging existed). Here’s the first, a snippet of a song with the working title “Supernumerary”

What else? There are a few concerts in the immediate future:

March 15 - ArtYard - Frenchtown, NJ

March 16 - Underground Arts - Philadelphia, PA

March 17 - Le Poisson Rouge - NYC, NY

March 21 - Big Ears Festival - Knoxville, TN

The show in Philadelphia is opening up for my old friends, the Sleepytime Gorilla Museum. My connections to members of that band go back 20+ years to my 964 Natoma days. I first encountered Nils Frykdahl in the previous millennium while he was playing amplified flute in the rafters of the warehouse along with Dan Rathburn making noise and sparks with an arc welder that illuminated butoh performer Shinichi Moma Koga contorting himself on a metal grate. Anyway, Sleepytime is a delightful group of very talented avant garde art rockers and this year needs more of their unfiltered catharsis. I immediately said yes when they asked if I would play for one of their East Coast dates to support their new album.

The Big Ears festival is something I’ve wanted to play at for almost a decade, so I am beyond thrilled to be added this year. I’ll be sticking around for the festival to hear as many of the other artists as possible, it’s off the hook, check it out https://bigearsfestival.org/

More concerts dates are coming in the autumn. East, west, middle, as many as I can fit in ;-)

Thank you for listening!

celloly yours, Z

Abel Selaocoe, cellist

Franck - String Quartet in D Major (1890)

It's been a long time since I updated this blog with a new post. Too long. And to be honest it's been a tough year for me personally. I've gone through different kinds of losses and had lost enthusiasm for this hobby of writing about music. Today was a pretty rough day emotionally and, if I'm allowed to use cliches, music "saved" me. At least this quartet brought me back into a music mindset, and I don't write about Franck that often here. Main reason is that, despite his esteem as a major or great composer of the later 19th century, his reputation relies on a handful of works from much later in his life. This String Quartet was his last completed work and it shows the hallmarks of his self-realized style; very lyrical and melancholic, constantly modulating and flowing through a stream of tonality. He had completed this after studying quartets by Beethoven, Schubert, and Brahms. Especially from Schubert is where we get unexpected modulations. Ironically this last work was the first to get him praise during his lifetime. And as with his other major works, the quartet is cyclical, with themes from each movement returning in the finale. And I hope this music lifts your spirits as well to end off 2023

Movements:

Poco Lento, Allegro

Scherzo: Vivace

Larghetto

Finale: Allegro molto

Julia Kent playing in Florence's Museo dell'Opera del Duomo, 2023 Photos by Eleonora Birardi

Playing Cello

sometimes I just listen to Fyodor's cello song and the flame of my passion for classical music is rekindled

“I have the same feeling when I walk in a very beautiful place that I have when I play and it goes right.” - Jacqueline Du Pré

Epik music theory assignment with doodles :3

Stranger Things Main Theme by Nicholas Yee

Just found out about this piece today and 😲😲😲😲😲😍😍😍😍

Arensky - Piano Trio no.1 in d minor, op.32 (1894)

Updating an old post on this piece

Arensky’s first piano trio is one of those overlooked treasures in music. Not only is it by a less popular name, but it’s also a chamber piece, and for some reason chamber music is overlooked in favor of big symphonies or solo piano music. Written in the 1890s, the work is very lyrical, and the instruments flow with each other in a way that feels free form. The slow movement is something special; I first heard it [the first time I even heard of this work] at a chamber music recital given by some of the musicians at my college who were playing as part of their final. It was the highlight of the evening.

Because this "hidden gem" is full of gorgeous melodies, it has gotten more popularity recently and will hopefully inspire more musicians to keep it in the standard rep.

Movements:

1. Allegro moderato

2. Scherzo - Allegro molto

3. Elegia - Adagio

4. Finale - Allegro non troppo

📺 Pastel Color Kaleidoscope Images, Emotional Healing Cello Music, Kaleidoscope Visual 4K,

Kaleidoscope art can be used to explore themes of nature, geometry, and the cosmos. The symmetrical patterns created by kaleidoscopes can be seen as a representation of the natural world. The geometric shapes used in kaleidoscope art can also be used to explore mathematical concepts. The cosmos can also be explored through kaleidoscope art, as the patterns created can be seen as a representation of the stars and galaxies.