Just a quick little post. A friend of mine asked for a piece with a ton of quotations. Here ya go:
This is John Zorn's "Roadrunner." The awesome thing about Zorn is that he does tons of crazy, wild, formidable stuff, but in a way that any open-minded individual can grasp to some degree. I personally like Guy Kluscevek's performance better, but this is pretty good. Not an easy piece.
And for those interested, the score actually has specific pieces or composers or <insert-repertoire-here-for-20-seconds> written in many places instead of music. Zorn doesn't work so much with 'notation' as he does with sound. As a result, he tends to get some biting criticism, like when Colbert did that skit about Zorn's genius grant (for Tzadik records).
"Roadrunner is one of Zorn's index card pieces. Or it at least acts like one. Compare it to this:
Some similarities, except Zorn really condenses things (although Kluscevek pulls it off even denser). Zorn has said in interviews and liner notes that he tries to emulate cartoons, and with the majority of cartoons pre-1970's, you can see where he's coming from. Even some of the cartoons of the Animation Rennaissance (Animaniacs, Ren and Stimpy, even Angry Beavers) did a lot of this quotation.
Granted, older cartoons used classical themes that well-cultured adults would immediately grasp. But that even stands today. How many times have the Animaniacs quoted Tom Lehrer? Why do children recognize the Nutcracker Suite without ever seeing the ballet? (Which, by the way, Courage the Cowardly Dog has possibly one of the best sync-ups with Tchaikovsky's Nutcracker I've seen yet).
Cartoons embody more than just humour: They embody our culture. And it's great to see art music emulating this.
Here's a tad of John Adams' "Roadrunner."
This is John Zorn's "Roadrunner." The awesome thing about Zorn is that he does tons of crazy, wild, formidable stuff, but in a way that any open-minded individual can grasp to some degree. I personally like Guy Kluscevek's performance better, but this is pretty good. Not an easy piece.
And for those interested, the score actually has specific pieces or composers or <insert-repertoire-here-for-20-seconds> written in many places instead of music. Zorn doesn't work so much with 'notation' as he does with sound. As a result, he tends to get some biting criticism, like when Colbert did that skit about Zorn's genius grant (for Tzadik records).
"Roadrunner is one of Zorn's index card pieces. Or it at least acts like one. Compare it to this:
Some similarities, except Zorn really condenses things (although Kluscevek pulls it off even denser). Zorn has said in interviews and liner notes that he tries to emulate cartoons, and with the majority of cartoons pre-1970's, you can see where he's coming from. Even some of the cartoons of the Animation Rennaissance (Animaniacs, Ren and Stimpy, even Angry Beavers) did a lot of this quotation.
Granted, older cartoons used classical themes that well-cultured adults would immediately grasp. But that even stands today. How many times have the Animaniacs quoted Tom Lehrer? Why do children recognize the Nutcracker Suite without ever seeing the ballet? (Which, by the way, Courage the Cowardly Dog has possibly one of the best sync-ups with Tchaikovsky's Nutcracker I've seen yet).
Cartoons embody more than just humour: They embody our culture. And it's great to see art music emulating this.
Here's a tad of John Adams' "Roadrunner."
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