@jonwithoutanh.bsky.social
Theatre person in the Pacific Northwest -- making stories, making do, making a life.
The oboe gets a weird rap since Prokofiev famously likened it to a duck in 1936. But it can be one of the most lyrical lovely voices, carrying above the strings and other sections to deliver a bright beauty of its own. Albinoni was the first composer to let it have its own moment.
January 18, 2026 at 5:08 AM
The oboe gets a weird rap since Prokofiev famously likened it to a duck in 1936. But it can be one of the most lyrical lovely voices, carrying above the strings and other sections to deliver a bright beauty of its own. Albinoni was the first composer to let it have its own moment.
#YearOfWonder2026, Day 17: Tomaso Albinoni's Oboe Concerto op. 9 no. 2, Adagio:
Albinoni | Oboe Concerto Op.9 No.2, Adagio
YouTube video by Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment
www.youtube.com
January 18, 2026 at 5:07 AM
#YearOfWonder2026, Day 17: Tomaso Albinoni's Oboe Concerto op. 9 no. 2, Adagio:
January 17, 2026 at 3:22 AM
I initially picked this video because Horowitz was a master. Then I looked into this particular concert. This was the first time he had played in the USSR since he left sixty years prior. He was then 81, and most of this audience had no experience of the pre-revolution Russia he was born into.
January 17, 2026 at 3:21 AM
I initially picked this video because Horowitz was a master. Then I looked into this particular concert. This was the first time he had played in the USSR since he left sixty years prior. He was then 81, and most of this audience had no experience of the pre-revolution Russia he was born into.
#YearOfWonder2026, Day 16: Alexander Scriabin's "Étude in C#m, op. 2, no. 1.
Horowitz - Scriabin: Etude for piano in C# minor, Op. 2 no. 1
YouTube video by AnatSob
www.youtube.com
January 17, 2026 at 3:19 AM
#YearOfWonder2026, Day 16: Alexander Scriabin's "Étude in C#m, op. 2, no. 1.
Reposted
We have strayed so so far from reading books for pizza
January 16, 2026 at 6:49 PM
We have strayed so so far from reading books for pizza
What strikes me is the way that when one instrument lifts, the other descends, as if they are offering each other what strength they have to extend their reach toward eternity. Partnering, supporting, then quietly finding what resolve they can in the time the movement allows.
January 16, 2026 at 2:23 AM
What strikes me is the way that when one instrument lifts, the other descends, as if they are offering each other what strength they have to extend their reach toward eternity. Partnering, supporting, then quietly finding what resolve they can in the time the movement allows.
Written by a Catholic composer in a concentration camp (yes, Catholic readers, they come for you too), in pencil on scraps, for the instruments played by fellow prisoners, it premiered on out-of-tune instruments, amid rain and snow 84 years ago today.
January 16, 2026 at 2:22 AM
Written by a Catholic composer in a concentration camp (yes, Catholic readers, they come for you too), in pencil on scraps, for the instruments played by fellow prisoners, it premiered on out-of-tune instruments, amid rain and snow 84 years ago today.
#YearOfWonder2026, Day 15: Olivier Messiaen's "Quartet for the End of Time", mov. 5 "Louange à l'éternité de Jesus"
Messiaen: Quatuor pour la fin du temps: 5 Louange à l'Eternité de Jésus
YouTube video by Lukas Huisman
www.youtube.com
January 16, 2026 at 2:22 AM
#YearOfWonder2026, Day 15: Olivier Messiaen's "Quartet for the End of Time", mov. 5 "Louange à l'éternité de Jesus"
Never go in against a Minnesotan when winter is on the line.
January 16, 2026 at 12:42 AM
Never go in against a Minnesotan when winter is on the line.
CAUTION: FALLING ICE
January 16, 2026 at 12:40 AM
CAUTION: FALLING ICE
Four years ago: "We refuse to show a card that says we're vaccinated just to go to a concert, this is America!"
Today: "If you can't prove your status to a govt joe anywhere at any time, you have to do everything they shout at you immediately or whatever happens is your own fault. This is America!"
Today: "If you can't prove your status to a govt joe anywhere at any time, you have to do everything they shout at you immediately or whatever happens is your own fault. This is America!"
January 16, 2026 at 12:38 AM
Four years ago: "We refuse to show a card that says we're vaccinated just to go to a concert, this is America!"
Today: "If you can't prove your status to a govt joe anywhere at any time, you have to do everything they shout at you immediately or whatever happens is your own fault. This is America!"
Today: "If you can't prove your status to a govt joe anywhere at any time, you have to do everything they shout at you immediately or whatever happens is your own fault. This is America!"
Reposted
every time i log on something horrible is happening but also people are trying really hard to help
January 15, 2026 at 2:53 AM
every time i log on something horrible is happening but also people are trying really hard to help
I picked this one because it wasn't one of the famous ones, the set's gorgeous, his dynamic control is excellent, and also: the idea that this guy is fully going through it while two guards just stare into the night, probably thinking about their own lives, is marginally comical.
January 15, 2026 at 1:44 AM
I picked this one because it wasn't one of the famous ones, the set's gorgeous, his dynamic control is excellent, and also: the idea that this guy is fully going through it while two guards just stare into the night, probably thinking about their own lives, is marginally comical.
I always wish opera music moved faster, but when it slows down this is what it should be, and you rarely get better than Puccini. The way he holds single pitches in the opening while the orchestra moves around him is evocative.
January 15, 2026 at 1:43 AM
I always wish opera music moved faster, but when it slows down this is what it should be, and you rarely get better than Puccini. The way he holds single pitches in the opening while the orchestra moves around him is evocative.
#YearOfWonder2026, Day 14 "E lucevan le stelle" from Puccini's Tosca
Tosca: “E lucevan le stelle”
YouTube video by Metropolitan Opera
www.youtube.com
January 15, 2026 at 1:42 AM
#YearOfWonder2026, Day 14 "E lucevan le stelle" from Puccini's Tosca
Well gosh, I can't think of any other world leaders who might benefit from NATO dissolving... surely none that would be directing this president's every move through blackmail... Nope, not one.
January 14, 2026 at 4:08 AM
Well gosh, I can't think of any other world leaders who might benefit from NATO dissolving... surely none that would be directing this president's every move through blackmail... Nope, not one.
The piano part here is played Isata Kanneh-Mason, an artist who often celebrates Clara Schumann's work in her own. It's a really lovely piece.
January 14, 2026 at 4:07 AM
The piano part here is played Isata Kanneh-Mason, an artist who often celebrates Clara Schumann's work in her own. It's a really lovely piece.
#YearOfWonder2026, Day 13: Clara Schumann's Three Romances, Op. 22, 1. Andante molto
Clara Schumann: 3 Romances, Op. 22: I. Andante molto
YouTube video by Elena Urioste - Topic
www.youtube.com
January 14, 2026 at 4:07 AM
#YearOfWonder2026, Day 13: Clara Schumann's Three Romances, Op. 22, 1. Andante molto
The intro that Ian Niederhoffer gives to this vivacious performance speaks for itself, and as always youth gives us hope for the future.
January 13, 2026 at 2:49 AM
The intro that Ian Niederhoffer gives to this vivacious performance speaks for itself, and as always youth gives us hope for the future.
#YearOfWonder2026, Day 12: Mendelssohn's Octet in Eb maj, 1st movement:
Mendelssohn: Octet, Op. 20: I. Allegro Moderato ma con fuoco
YouTube video by Heifetz International Music Institute
www.youtube.com
January 13, 2026 at 2:49 AM
#YearOfWonder2026, Day 12: Mendelssohn's Octet in Eb maj, 1st movement:
It's also interesting that Maurice Duruflé lived entirely in the 20th century, surrounded by all sorts of modernism and still this is what he chose to write.
January 12, 2026 at 2:24 AM
It's also interesting that Maurice Duruflé lived entirely in the 20th century, surrounded by all sorts of modernism and still this is what he chose to write.
"Where charity and love are, God is there." I'd really like to not feel like each day's music is so relevant to the moment we're going through, but maybe I picked the wrong year to pick up Burton-Hill's book...
January 12, 2026 at 2:24 AM
"Where charity and love are, God is there." I'd really like to not feel like each day's music is so relevant to the moment we're going through, but maybe I picked the wrong year to pick up Burton-Hill's book...
#YearOfWonder2026, Day 11: Maurice Duruflé's "Four Gregorian Chants", "Ubi caritas et amor"
Duruflé: Ubi caritas
YouTube video by KingsCollegeChoir
www.youtube.com
January 12, 2026 at 2:23 AM
#YearOfWonder2026, Day 11: Maurice Duruflé's "Four Gregorian Chants", "Ubi caritas et amor"
This feels meditative and turbulent at the same time. Like the day.
January 10, 2026 at 9:57 PM
This feels meditative and turbulent at the same time. Like the day.