Managing Editor Grant Chu Covell works in the Boston area. He once worked for a global technology company that made hardware which Xenakis and Babbitt used to good effect. He was the publisher of the brilliant but forgotten The Periodic Journal of Bibliography (1990-95), and his music reviews have appeared in EAR Magazine and InMusic. His instrumental and electroacoustic music has been performed in the U.S. and abroad, and he has shared many CDs of his music with family and friends (one piece was recorded in a refrigerator). A short article about a composition he wrote for piano and tape can be found in the Csound Magazine. Two electroacoustic works have appeared in commercial compilations: Presence III and The Door Project. A recent CD can be found here, and another is in preparation. A long departed family dog’s name was taken from a character in Wagner’s Ring.
Grant Chu Covell
Another July Ramble
Ligeti’s precisely notated miniatures, sometimes minimal, sometimes Webernian, become anchors for discoveries.
Another July Ramble
Ligeti’s precisely notated miniatures, sometimes minimal, sometimes Webernian, become anchors for discoveries.
A Grumpy Ramble
I took a spin through this release and wanted the pieces to fall into the late 1930s or maybe even the late 1960s.
A Grumpy Ramble
I took a spin through this release and wanted the pieces to fall into the late 1930s or maybe even the late 1960s.
(Dis)Arrangements 17: Brahms
In 1862 Brahms tried his hand at his own string quintet. Unsatisfied with the format, he refashioned the work for two pianos before finally transforming it into a piano quintet.
(Dis)Arrangements 17: Brahms
In 1862 Brahms tried his hand at his own string quintet. Unsatisfied with the format, he refashioned the work for two pianos before finally transforming it into a piano quintet.
(Dis)Arrangements 16: Shostakovich
With the addition of a percussion part, this is a bit more than just a piano reduction.
(Dis)Arrangements 16: Shostakovich
With the addition of a percussion part, this is a bit more than just a piano reduction.
String Theory 40: Piano Trios, String Trios
Some later day I will explain why I strongly believe that the sustaining path forward for new music is through the past, but for now, my enthusiasm for the vital and invigorating Barry will have to suffice.
String Theory 40: Piano Trios, String Trios
Some later day I will explain why I strongly believe that the sustaining path forward for new music is through the past, but for now, my enthusiasm for the vital and invigorating Barry will have to suffice.
Maestro di Suoni e Silenzi 7: A Reissue and a Revisit
Alphabetically, Nono sits between Mussorgsky and Pergolesi. There could be stranger and less compatible bookends.
Maestro di Suoni e Silenzi 7: A Reissue and a Revisit
Alphabetically, Nono sits between Mussorgsky and Pergolesi. There could be stranger and less compatible bookends.
A Listener’s Predicament (Also, A Concert Review)
While I do admire the impossible purity provided by engineered recordings, live events really are more satisfying for the combination of serendipity and determinism.
A Listener’s Predicament (Also, A Concert Review)
While I do admire the impossible purity provided by engineered recordings, live events really are more satisfying for the combination of serendipity and determinism.
Piano Factory 32.
I hear the last four sonatas as a connected sequence where Walker’s system appears to value compact expression over logic.
Piano Factory 32.
I hear the last four sonatas as a connected sequence where Walker’s system appears to value compact expression over logic.
Dvořák’s Prophecy, Shostakovich as Cure and Beethoven in Boston
Should you read one book on music this year, then this is the one.
Dvořák’s Prophecy, Shostakovich as Cure and Beethoven in Boston
Should you read one book on music this year, then this is the one.
Silvestrov in 2022 / Mostly Symphonies 42.
The thing is, we take Silvestrov’s nostalgic, weepy pieces differently now that he is an exile in Germany. I encourage a closer look at Symphony No. 5 from 1980-82.
Silvestrov in 2022 / Mostly Symphonies 42.
The thing is, we take Silvestrov’s nostalgic, weepy pieces differently now that he is an exile in Germany. I encourage a closer look at Symphony No. 5 from 1980-82.
A Ramble, Fairly Eclectic, with Turntables
Still Point was a reaction to surviving WWII in London.
A Ramble, Fairly Eclectic, with Turntables
Still Point was a reaction to surviving WWII in London.
String Theory 39.
Exceptionally fine performances of the Price quartets and quintets set a high bar for others to follow.
String Theory 39.
Exceptionally fine performances of the Price quartets and quintets set a high bar for others to follow.