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First, check out my new video of the great dissonant 20th-century Hungarian composer Bela Bartok‘s early composition, Rumanian Dance #1 (1910.) It’s good for you! It’ll put hair on your chest, and you can let the music play while you consider what you want to contribute to the open thread, “within the bounds of decency and decorum” as Greg says. Or, never mind the decorum, that’s less important than the decency… [UPDATE video better mistake edited out]
Tragicly, Bartok died in New York in 1945 at the age of 64, of undiagnosed leukemia. One of his last statements was “The only thing I regret is that I’m leaving with a full suitcase” – meaning, he had a lot more ideas of compositions he wanted to write. The American composer George Gershwin, whose Rhapsody in Blue I also frequently play, died eight years earlier at the age of 39, from an undiagnosed brain tumor.
If only these great composers had had the chance to enroll in Covered California like I have, we might be enjoying a whole lot more of their music. Good news for YOU though – it’s open season from TOMORROW (Nov 15) till December 15. I signed up early this year, and ended up with AltaMed. At nearly no cost to me, they froze off all my white-person sun-spots aka “pre-cancers,” and gave me every imaginable test before throwing up their hands and giving me a clean bill of rollicking good health. Vern is indestructible! But even if I’m not, I have AltaMed, who just sent this out:
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Jeez, Pergolesi died at 26. Schubert was only 31. Mozart was 35. Purcell was 36.
If only they had health care (and clean water, and penicillin).
And Chopin 33. But I was talkin 20th century composers in America. And trying to make a segue.
I had to show off my musicology chops.
But seriously: what if Mozart had lived to be 65? Would he have out Beethoven’d Beethoven? The G Minor and Jupiter Symphonies show the way to the 1st, 2nd, and Eroica (in my humble opinion). Would he have dwindled into late-life irrelevance like Stravinsky? Makes you wonder.
Damn. Don’t listen to that Bartok youtube. I just found out there’s a mistake in the middle that I thought we cut out. I gotta redo that video…
In the face of increasing apathy / declining voter participation this past week, I found some small spot of optimism for the future when I ran across this- (95% participation reported !)
http://www.capoliticalreview.com/top-stories/thousands-boycott-colorado-standardized-tests/?utm_source=CAPoliticalReview.com&utm_campaign=cc09a7b7ec-RSS_EMAIL_CAMPAIGN&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_b855a22bd3-cc09a7b7ec-302742077
Well, FWIW. Enjoy the weekend-