Pamela Z articles/mentions

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Pamela Z ~ 

    A Secret Code          

    Will     

mentions:        

Garden of Memory 2013       

Ghost In the House        

Kronos Quartet: Listen Local        

         

         

        

        

        

        

        

Pamela Z - 2013

photo by Styrous®

         

        

        

         

        

        

        

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Music Notes Articles

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Richard Wagner articles/mentions

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Kronos Quartet: Listen Local     
Gustav Mahler ~ Death In Venice    
     
     
     
           
     
     
     
     
     

Richard Wagner -1862

photo by Ludwig Angerer 

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Music Notes Articles
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Raymond Scott & his Electronium

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Composer, bandleader and inventor Raymond Scott was among the unheralded pioneers of contemporary experimental music.

His music is familiar to millions because Carl Stalling adapted it in over 120 classic Bugs Bunny, Porky Pig, Daffy Duck, and other Warner Bros. Looney Tunes and Merrie Melodies animated shorts.    

Of all of Scott's accomplishments, however, none was more important than the Electronium, one of the first synthesizers ever created in 1949. An "instantaneous composing machine," the Electronium generated original music via random sequences of tones, rhythms, and timbres; Scott himself denied it was a prototype synthesizer — it had no keyboard — but as one of the first machines to create music by means of artificial intelligence, its importance in pointing the way towards the electonic compositions of the future is undeniable. His other inventions included the "Karloff," an early sampler capable of recreating sounds ranging from sizzling steaks to jungle drums; the Clavinox, a keyboard Theremin complete with an electronic sub-assembly designed by a then 23-year-old Robert Moog; and the Videola, which fused together a keyboard and a TV screen to aid in composing music for films and other moving images.

Raymond Scott in his studio 

photographer unknown

Devo founding member Mark Mothersbaugh purchased Scott's only (non-functioning) Electronium in 1996, with the intention of restoring it to working order. In November 2012, the restoration team was able to get the Electronium running and producing basic sounds.        

Mark Mothersbaugh - 1996 

photographer unknown

Scott was born in Brooklyn, New York, on September 10, 1908. His real name was Harry Warnow. His brother, Mark Warnow, a conductor, violinist, and musical director for the CBS radio program Your Hit Parade, encouraged his musical career.            

He was a 1931 graduate of the Juilliard School of Music, where he studied piano, theory and composition. Scott, under his birth name, began his professional career as a pianist for the CBS Radio house band. His older (by eight years) brother Mark conducted the orchestra. Harry reportedly adopted the pseudonym "Raymond Scott" to spare his brother charges of nepotism when the orchestra began performing the pianist's idiosyncratic compositions.     

In late 1936, Scott recruited a band from among his CBS colleagues, calling it the "Raymond Scott Quintette." It was a six-piece group, but Scott thought Quintette (his spelling) sounded "crisper"; he also told a reporter that he feared "calling it a 'sextet' might get your mind off music." The original sidemen were Pete Pumiglio (clarinet); Bunny Berigan (trumpet, soon replaced by Dave Wade); Louis Shoobe (upright bass); Dave Harris (tenor sax); and Johnny Williams (father of the film composer) on drums. They made their first recordings in New York on February 20, 1937, for the Master Records label, owned by music publisher/impresario Irving Mills (who was also the manager of Duke Ellington).            

The Quintette represented Scott's attempt to revitalize Swing music through tight, busy arrangements and reduced reliance on improvisation. He called this musical style "descriptive jazz," and gave his works unusual titles like New Year's Eve in a Haunted House, Dinner Music for a Pack of Hungry Cannibals (recorded by the Kronos Quartet in 1993), and Bumpy Weather Over Newark. There is a great video of his War Dance For Wooden Indians on YouTube (link below). While popular with the public, jazz critics disdained it as novelty music. Besides being a prominent figure in recording studios and on radio and concert stages, Scott wrote and was widely interviewed about his sometimes controversial music theories for the leading music publications of the day, including Down Beat, Metronome, and Billboard.        

After serving as CBS radio music director for a number of variety programs (such as Broadway Bandbox) from 1942 to 1944, Scott left the network to pursue other projects. He composed and arranged music (with lyrics by Bernie Hanighen) for the 1946 Broadway musical, Lute Song, which was based on the 14th-century Chinese play Tale of the Pipa (Pi-Pa-Ji) by Gao Ming, and starred Mary Martin and Yul Brynner. 

Mary Martin & Yul Brynner

Lute Song publicity still

In 1950 Scott composed his first—and only known—"serious" (classical) work, entitled Suite for Violin and Piano. The five-movement suite was performed at Carnegie Hall on February 7, 1950, by violinist Arnold Eidus and pianist Carlo Bussotti (link below).         

      

By the middle of the 1960s, Scott began turning increasingly away from recording and performing to focus on writing and inventing; a 1969 musical celebrating the centennial of Kentucky Bourbon was his last orchestral work, with his remaining years spent solely on electronic composition. Among his latter-day innovations was an early programmable polyphonic sequencer, which along with the Electronium later caught the attention of Motown chief Berry Gordy Jr., who in 1971 tapped Scott to head the label's electronic music research and development team. After retiring six years later, he continued writing — his last known piece, 1986's Beautiful Little Butterfly, was created on MIDI technology.          

During the second half of the 1960s, as his work progressed, Scott became increasingly isolated and secretive about his inventions and concepts; he gave few interviews, made no public presentations, and released no records. In 1966-67, Scott (under the screen credit "Ramond Scott") composed and recorded electronic music soundtracks for some early experimental films by Muppets impresario Jim Henson.         

In 1969, Motown Records impresario Berry Gordy, tipped off about a mad musical scientist engaged in mysterious works, visited Scott at his Long Island labs to witness the Electronium in action. Impressed by the infinite possibilities, Gordy hired Scott in 1971 to serve as director of the Motown electronic music and research department in Los Angeles, a position Scott held until 1977. No Motown recordings using Scott's electronic inventions have yet been publicly identified.  

Berry Gordy in Motown studio, 1960s 

photographer unknown

Largely forgotten by the public by the 1980s, Scott suffered a major stroke in 1987 that left him unable to work or engage in conversation. He died on February 8, 1994, in North Hills, Los Angeles, California; he was 85 years old. 

His legacy underwent a revival in the early 1990s after Irwin Chusid discovered a vast collection of unreleased recordings of rehearsals and studio sessions. In 1992, the release of Reckless Nights and Turkish Twilights on Columbia produced by Irwin Chusid (with Hal Willner as executive producer) was the first major-label CD compilation of his groundbreaking 1937–39 six-man quintet. A year earlier, Irwin Chusid and Will Friedwald produced a CD of live Scott quintet broadcasts titled The Man Who Made Cartoons Swing for the Stash label. Around this time, the director of The Ren & Stimpy Show, John Kricfalusi, began hot-wiring his cartoon episodes with original Scott quintet recordings. In the late-1990s, The Beau Hunks (a Dutch ensemble originally formed to perform music created by Leroy Shield for the Laurel and Hardy movies) released two albums of Scott's sextet (a.k.a. "Quintette") repertoire, Celebration on the Planet Mars and Manhattan Minuet (both released on Basta Audio-Visuals).            

    
        
Viewfinder links:         
         
Duke Ellington   
King Crimson & "Boz" Burrell        
Kronos Quartet               
    
Net links:         
         
Raymond Scott website           
Raymond Scott blog           
Discography (LP and CD)         
NY times ~      
           Beethoven Sonata and Scott Novelty at Carnegie Hall       
Boing Boing ~ Raymond Scott: The First 100 Years          

University of Missouri ~ Raymond Scott Collection   
San Diego Reader ~    
          Carl Stalling & Raymond Scott: composers of Looney Tunes music
Weirdo Music ~ Raymond Scott: Soothing Sounds For Baby       
NY Times ~ Raymond Scott, 85, Composer For Cartoons and Stage, Dies    
        
YouTube links:         
         
Raymond Scott -       
            Twilight in Turkey   
            Cindy Electronium (1959)
            Ectoplasm (1957)
            Happy Birthday To You - 1940         
The Raymond Scott Quintette -      
            War Dance For Wooden Indians     
            Ali Baba Goes to Town - 1937   
            Suicide Cliff
            Manhattan Minuet - 1939          
Mark Mothersbaugh & Raymond Scott's Motown Electronium   
        
       
         
         
           
         
Styrous® ~ Saturday, March 24, 2018

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20,000 Vinyl LPs 126: Philip Glass ~ Mishima

Today, January 31, is the birthday of composer, Philip Glass. I remember the first piece of music of his I heard, The Photographer, an opera based on the life and homicide trial of 19th-century English photographer Eadweard Muybridge. In the first place, the Muybridge work of photographing live figures, animals, etc. in motion had intrugued me for decades and I was amazed that he could be the subject of an opera. I had to buy the album and was totally blown away. I immediately realized the Glass music was a natural and beautiful outgrowth of the work done in the mid 60's by minimalist, Terry Riley.  

Since that time, there is not a single work by Glass I have not liked. In addition to operas, symphonic and small ensemble pieces, he has written scores for many films (link below); one of them, Mishima: A Life in Four Chapters, directed by Paul Schrader, is in my opinion the greatest work he has done.  It won the "Best Artistic Contribution" Award at the 1985 Cannes Film Festival.    

Philip Glass ~ Mishima soundtrack
vinyl lp, front cover 
Artwork by Makoto Kumakura
photo of album cover by Styrous®

I had never heard of Yukio Mishima prior to the film; since then I have spent years researching his life. Released in 1985, Mishima was electifying for that time and on listening to it now, it still holds it's fascination after three decades. The multi-textured score for the film ranges from his trademark minimalist ensemble sound and cellular rhythms to an almost rock piece that features brilliant quitar work and a gorgeous violin floating over it all. Parts were performed by the Kronos quartet. It is available at the Nonesuch Store (link below).  

Sections from the soundtrack have been featured in other films and TV shows, including the piece, Mishima / Opening, which was used to score the end credits of Peter Weir's 1998 film The Truman Show in addition to an appearance on an episode of Mr. Robot. I used this theme for a fashion show I produced for Obiko in 1992 (link blow).          

Philip Glass ~ Mishima soundtrack
vinyl lp, back cover 
Artwork by Makoto Kumakura
photo of album back cover by Styrous®

Paralleling the three different visual styles of the film, Glass uses different ensembles: The black-and-white biographical flashbacks are accompanied by a string quartet, whereas the realistic footage from Mishima's last day is accompanied by a string orchestra and percussion, and the stylized scenes from his novels with a large symphonic orchestra.

It was produced by Kurt Munkacsi and distributed by WEA through the Elektra Records subsidiary label Nonesuch Records. The costumes were brilliantly designed by Eiko Ishioka.   

Philip Glass ~ Mishima soundtrack
vinyl lp, back cover detail
Artwork by Makoto Kumakura
detail photo of album back cover by Styrous®

Mishima / Opening

At less than three minutes, the opening for the film is a gem of suscinct and briliant melody! With bells, chimes and swerling strings that quickly range from quietly serene to incredibly dramatic and back again in that miniscule space of time, it is amazing and brilliant (link below).

The opening is quickly followed by a rapid, driving, aggressive sounding almost militaristic deluge of orchestral sound complete with tympani. From there it goes wild (YouTube links below).       

    

Philip Glass ~ Mishima soundtrack
vinyl lp, back cover detail
Artwork by Makoto Kumakura
detail photo of album back cover by Styrous®

Yukio Mishima (三島 由紀夫 Mishima Yukio) is the pen name of Kimitake Hiraoka (平岡 公威 Hiraoka Kimitake). He was born on January 14, 1925.               

Japanese writer Yukio Mishima lived a complex and controversial life, nearly winning a Nobel Prize for his fiction but also being deeply committed to Japan’s pre-war philosophy and government–so much so that, after a failed attempt at a military coup, he committed ritual suicide on November 25, 1970. There is a vivid depiction of the ritual actually performed by Mishima in the 1966 film he directed, Yukoku 憂国 (Patriotism) (YouTube link below).             

Philip Glass ~ Mishima soundtrack
vinyl lp, back cover detail
Artwork by Makoto Kumakura
detail photo of album back cover by Styrous®

Mishima was a Japanese author, poet, playwright, actor, film director, founder of the right-wing militia, Tatenokai, and nationalist. He is considered one of the most important Japanese authors of the 20th century. He was considered for the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1968 but the award went to his countryman Yasunari Kawabata. His works include the novels Confessions of a Mask and The Temple of the Golden Pavilion, and the autobiographical essay Sun and Steel. His avant-garde work displayed a blending of modern and traditional aesthetics that broke cultural boundaries, with a focus on sexuality, death, and political change.       

When he was in his thirties, in 1955, Mishima took up weight training and his workout regimen of three sessions per week was not disrupted for the final 15 years of his life. He was fascinated by physical beauty and rejected the aesthetics of intellectualism. He thought an ugly body was disgraceful, and seemed somewhat ashamed of the weak body of his youth. In his 1968 essay Sun and Steel, Mishima deplored the emphasis given by intellectuals to the mind over the body.There is an excellent review of the book on YouTube (link below).       

Yukio Mishima

photo from Asahi Shimbun

In his own words:

"The muscles that I thus created were at one and the same time simple existence and works of art; they even, paradoxically, possessed a certain abstract nature. Their one fatal flaw was that they were too closely involved with the life process, which decreed that they should decline and perish with the decline of life itself.”     

On November 25, 1970, he and three other members of his militia staged an attempted coup d'état when they seized control of a Japanese military base and took the commander hostage, then tried and failed to inspire a coup to restore the Emperor's pre-war powers.     

Yukio Mishima - November 25, 1970 

attempted coup d'état

photographer unknown

Dutch National Archives/CC BY-SA 3.0 NL

Mishima then committed ritual suicide by seppuku. The coup attempt became known as the "Mishima Incident".       

 

 Samurai warrior about to perform seppuku

original work by Kunikazu Utagawa

Mishima was born in the Yotsuya district of Tokyo (now part of Shinjuku). His early childhood was dominated by the presence of his grandmother, Natsuko who was a direct descendant of Tokugawa Ieyasu. Natsuko was prone to violence and morbid outbursts, which are occasionally alluded to in Mishima's works. It is to Natsu that some biographers have traced Mishima's fascination with death. She did not allow Mishima to venture into the sunlight, to engage in any kind of sport or to play with other boys; he spent much of his time alone or with female cousins and their dolls.       

Yukio Mishima

photographer unknown 

He returned to his immediate family when he was 12. His father, a man with a taste for military discipline, employed parenting tactics such as holding the young boy up to the side of a speeding train. He also raided Mishima's room for evidence of an "effeminate" interest in literature and often ripped apart the boy's manuscripts. Although his authoritarian father had forbidden him to write any further stories, Mishima continued to write every night in secret, supported and protected by his mother, who was always the first to read a new story. Mishima began to write his first stories when he was twelve.       

   

Philip Glass ~ Mishima soundtrack
vinyl lp, back cover detail
Artwork by Makoto Kumakura
detail photo of album back cover by Styrous®

Mishima wrote novels, popular serial novellas, short stories and literary essays, as well as highly acclaimed plays for the Kabuki theater and modern versions of traditional Noh drama.  

Mishima began his first novel, Tōzoku (盗賊, "Thieves"), a story about two young members of the aristocracy drawn towards suicide. It was published in 1948, placing Mishima in the ranks of the Second Generation of Postwar Writers. He followed with Confessions of a Mask, a semi-autobiographical account of a young homosexual who must hide behind a mask in order to fit into society. The novel was extremely successful and made Mishima a celebrity at the age of 24. His writing gained him international celebrity and a sizable following in Europe and the United States, as many of his most famous works were translated into English.    

Philip Glass ~ Mishima soundtrack
vinyl lp, back cover detail
Artwork by Makoto Kumakura
detail photo of album back cover by Styrous®

Mishima was an actor, and had a starring role in the 1960 Yasuzo Masumura film, Afraid to Die. He also had roles in films including Yukoku (directed by himself, 1966), Black Lizard (directed by Kinji Fukasaku, 1968) and Hitokiri (directed by Hideo Gosha, 1969). He also sang the theme song for Afraid to Die (lyrics by himself; music by Shichirō Fukazawa).

Mishima was featured as a photo model in Ba-ra-kei: Ordeal by Roses by Eikoh Hosoe, as well as in Young Samurai: Bodybuilders of Japan and Otoko: Photo Studies of the Young Japanese Male by Tamotsu Yatō. American author Donald Richie gave a short lively account of Mishima, dressed in a loincloth and armed with a sword, posing in the snow for a Tamotsu Yato photoshoot.

Yukio Mishima  

photo by Kishin Shinoyama

Mishima also became very skilled at kendo, a modern Japanese martial art, which descended from the  traditional Japanese swordsmanship (kenjutsu) and uses bamboo swords (shinai) and protective armour (bōgu).    

Philip Glass ~ Mishima soundtrack
vinyl lp, side 1
photo by Styrous®

Mishima married Yoko Sugiyama on June 11, 1958. While working on Forbidden Colors, Mishima visited gay bars in Japan. Mishima's sexual orientation was an issue that bothered his widow, and she always denied his homosexuality after his death. In 1998, the writer Jiro Fukushima published an account of his relationship with Mishima in 1951, including fifteen letters between himself and the famed novelist. Mishima's children successfully sued Fukushima for violation of his privacy and copyright. 

Philip Glass ~ Mishima soundtrack
vinyl lp label, side 1
photo by Styrous®

Much speculation has surrounded Mishima's suicide. At the time of his death he had just completed the final book in his Sea of Fertility tetralogy. He was recognized as one of the most important post-war stylists of the Japanese language.      

 

Philip Glass ~ Mishima soundtrack
vinyl lp, side 2
photo by Styrous®

The 1985 biographical film by Paul Schrader titled Mishima: A Life in Four Chapters depicts his life and work; however, it has never been given a theatrical presentation in Japan.    

The Mishima Prize was established in 1988 to honor his life and works. On July 3, 1999, "Mishima Yukio Bungaku-kan" (三島由紀夫文学館, "Mishima Yukio Literary Museum") was opened in Yamanakako.     

         

Philip Glass ~ Mishima soundtrack
vinyl lp label, side 2
photo by Styrous®

     

     

         

Tracklist:

Side 1:

A1 - Mishima / Opening - 2:46
A2 - November 25: Morning - 4:08
A3 - 1934: Grandmother & Kimitake - 3:37
A4 - Temple Of The Golden Pavilion ("Like Some Enormous Music") - 3:06
A5 - Osamu's Theme: Kyoko's House - 2:58
A6 - 1937: Saint Sebastian - 1:05
A7 - Kyoko's House ("Stage Blood Is Not Enough") - 5:00

Side 2:

B1 - November 25: Ichigaya - 2:11
B2 - 1957: Award Montage - 3:56
B3 - Runaway Horses ("Poetry Written With A Splash Of Blood") - 9:09
B4 - 1962: Body Building - 1:29
B5 - November 25: The Last Day - 1:30
B6 - F-104: Epilogue From Sun And Steel - 1:59
B7 - Mishima / Closing - 2:57

Companies, etc.

    Recorded At – Greene St. Recording
    Recorded At – The Living Room (2)
    Remixed At – The Living Room (2)
    Mastered At – Masterdisk
    Published By – Dunvagen Music Publishers, Inc.
    Produced For – Euphorbia Productions Ltd.
    Phonographic Copyright (p) – Elektra/Asylum/Nonesuch Records
    Copyright (c) – Elektra/Asylum/Nonesuch Records
    Record Company – Warner Communications Inc.
    Pressed By – Specialty Records Corporation

Credits:

    Artwork By – Makoto Kumakura
    Composed By – Philip Glass
    Conductor – Michael Riesman
    Engineer [Recording] – Dan Dryden
    Mastered By – Bill Kipper
    Mixed By [Remixed] – Dan Dryden, Kurt Munkacsi, Michael Riesman
    Producer – Kurt Munkacsi
    Strings – The Kronos Quartet*

Notes:

Recorded at Greene St. Studios NY, NY and The Living Room, Inc. NY, NY.
Remixed at The Living Room, Inc. NY, NY.
Mastered by Masterdisk NY, NY.

Includes red insert with description by the film's director, Paul Schrader, which measures 6" x 6".
Barcode and Other Identifiers

    Matrix / Runout (Side A): (Scr) 79113·A·2 1-2·5M1-3 MASTERDISK·BK
    Matrix / Runout (Side B): (Scr) 79113·B·2 1-3 MASTERDISK·BK
    Barcode: 0 7599-79113-1
    Rights Society: ASCAP
         

Philip Glass ‎– Mishima
Label: Nonesuch ‎– 9 79113-1 F, Nonesuch ‎– 79113
Series: Nonesuch Digital –
Format: Vinyl, LP, Album
Country: US
Released: 1985
Genre: Electronic, Stage & Screen
Style: Soundtrack, Modern Classical
         

       

         

Viewfinder links:          

              
Philip Glass articles/mentions         
Obiko ~ Craft of the Costume art-to-wear fashion show       

Obiko articles          

Sandra Sakata         
Tamotsu Yato ~ Young Samurai: Bodybuilders of Japan      

          

Net links:          

              

Philip Glass ~ Compositions
                     ~ Music for film          

Best Original Scores ~ Mishima (Philip Glass)         

Mishima Plot        
Mishima Cast               
NY Times ~ The Life and Death of Yukio Mishima     
The Guardian ~ Dead writer's knife is in Japan's heart             
                       ~ The school of flesh: erotic portraits of Yukio Mishima 
Yukio Mishima ~ Major works            
Encyclopedia Britannica ~ Yukio Mishima      

History.com ~ Mishima commits ritual suicide         
letterboxd ~ Mishima: A Life In Four Chapters               
DVD Journal ~ Mishima: A Life in Four Chapters      
film.avclub.com ~ Mishima: A Life In Four Chapters         
The Culture Trip ~ The Turbulent Life Of A Conflicted Martyr      

Nonesuch Store ~ Mishima - Original Music Composed By Philip Glass
           

YouTube links:          

              

Mishima - A Life in Four Chapters. Philip Glass (Soundtrack) (46 min)
Mishima: A Life in Four Chapters (1985) Movie Trailer          

Yukio Mishima Speaking In English

The Strange Case of Yukio Mishima - 1985 BBC documentary (55 min) 
Yukio Mishima And Bodybuilding (10 min.)             
Mishima: his life and literature (三島 由紀夫 aka 平岡 公威 )   
Yukio Mishima - Sun and Steel book review         
Yukoku 憂国 (Patriotism) (ritual suicide by seppuku)       
         
        
        

“The past is reinvented and becomes the future. 
But the lineage is everything.”
                           ~ Philip Glass

        

         
        

Styrous® ~ Wednesday, January 31, 2018  

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20,000 Vinyl LPs Archive  

Movie articles

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Pete Seeger articles/mentions

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Pete Seeger 1946 - 1948 

photo by Sid Grossman 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

mentions: 

Joan Baez ~ Farewell, Angelina, goodbye, Pete Seeger  reel to reel tape     

Judy Collins ~ In My Life reel to reel tape    
The Ghost Ship & Cocoanut Grove fires     

Mary Hopkin ~ Those Were the Days          
Kronos @ the Hertz ~ Happy Birthday World War I 
Leonard Nimoy ~ The Way I Feel      
Earl Robinson ~ The Lonesome Train     
         
           
                
       
         
           
      

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