Albumleaf 152: December 6, 2018 (Bologna)
As in “Mood Indigo” or “Parker’s Mood.” That vein kind of.
Albumleaf 151: November 19, 2018 (Bologna)
Homage to Kurtág
Recurring throughout György Kurtág’s oeuvre is an eight-note melody which has lyrics, though to my knowledge they are never actually sung: “Flowers we are, frail flowers.” Albumleaf 151 presents a variation of this melody. Notes 1-5, 10-11, and 14 are Kurtág’s. The others are mine.
Albumleaf 150: November 15, 2018 (Bologna)
Colin sings of Dido’s death.
Albumleaf 149: October 25, 2018 (Bologna)
Goe little booke: thy selfe present,
As child whose parent is unkent . . .
And asked, who thee forth did bring
A shepheards swaine saye did thee sing,
All as his straying flocke he fedde . . .
But if that any aske thy name,
Say thou wert base begot with blame:
For thy thereof thou takest shame.
And when thou art past ieopardee,
Come tell me, what was sayd of mee:
And I will send more after thee.
–The Shepheardes Calender, opening
Albumleaf 147: October 15, 2018 (Bologna)
Alas, Cuddie, your gift for poetry, given by God, we do not reward. Perhaps you should turn to singing songs of war?
Albumleaf 146: October 3, 2018 (Bologna)
A piano is pretty heavy–even for a horse!
A cowboy who plays the piano is already more promising . . . But maybe it would be good if he always carried it near him, on a horse . . . “Pianoforte Jack always travels with two horses–he on the first, the piano on the second . . . When he makes camp, he puts the piano on the ground and plays Brahms’s lullaby or the Diabelli Variations by Beethoven . . . ”
–Gianni Rodari, The Grammar of Fantasy, pp. 91-92
Albumleaf 145: September 27, 2018 (Bologna)
Cob is an ancient building material that consists of mud and straw. It’s still used today–and is even ecologically sound and inexpensive. The problem is you have to wait for one layer to dry before putting another on top. So, cob buildings take a long time to construct.
This Albumleaf was inspired by watching a documentary about Kevin McCabe.
Albumleaf 144: September 20, 2018 (Bologna)
Diggon Dauie travels to a far-off land in search of fortune, but finds instead a den of treachery and sin and loses all his sheep.
Albumleaf 143: September 11, 2018 (Bologna)
Because the world has been clamoring for more atonal miniatures, I’ve decided, after a seven-year hiatus, to return to my Little Vanishing World series. Buon ascolto!
R. David Salvage composes and performs all the music on this blog, unless otherwise indicated. SCORES to some of the music on this website are posted here. Albumleaves is also featured on the album Lock and Key (Navona 5881). Some of Salvage’s larger compositions can be found on SoundCloud. He is also the author of Getting Back to Music: A Dialogue About Music Appreciation.