Really useless links

And else ?

Listening to music might be a good option.

  • Every now and then I like to listen to Käthe Busch, oops Kate Bush I mean. I like "Red Shoes" particularly – according to Sounds one of the most underrated CDs of the 1990's. A few days ago her new CD came out: "Aerial" – a great work !
  • Friends from Hannover brought along some wonderful French folk music: Pascal Comelade l'Argot du Bruit. Okay, people taking "French" or "folk music" too literally may raise an eyebrow – or two . . . Currently, this CD is among my favorite ones.
  • Lately, I have been enjoying early electronic popmusic from Germany. Kraftwerk is probably well known to most of you, in particular because of "Autobahn", which contains among other the song with the same name, and also the very beautiful "Kometenmelodie 1". I like their first work, simply "Kraftwerk", about as well. It contain e.g. "Ruckzuck" and "Vom Himmel Hoch".
  • Recently, I rediscovered Tangerine Dream. I recommend most "Ricochet" and "Stratosfear" from the moderately early Virgin years and the slightly younger "Le Parc".
  • Klaus Schulze was a member of Tangerine Dream in their very early years. However, he is much better known from his solo carriere. More later . . .
  • January 19, 2008: Janis Joplin could have gone into retirement . . .
  • Very recently, I had the pleasure to be present at the July 9, 2006 opening night of the Tanglewood Festival of the Boston Symphony Orchestra. The evening consisted of Arnold Schönberg's "Chamber Symphony No. 1, Op. 9b" (very good) and Beethoven's "Symphony No. 9" (except for the soloists very good, too); James Levine was directing the orchestra with great pleasure. One week later, Schönberg's "Gurrelieder" were performed. This is also one of the very early and very romantic pieces of Schönberg and one of the pieces James Levine likes most. Unfortunately, I have not been there . . .
  • Among my favorite pieces is the SONATE pour violon et violoncelle by Maurice Ravel, from 1921/22. It is featured in the film Un coeur en hiver (A Heart in Winter) by Caude Sautet among other violin pieces by Ravel. The magificent Emanuelle Béart acted as violinist.
  • Pierrot Lunaire by Arnold Schönberg, composed in 1912, is a bit tougher to listen to. It is based on three times seven poems by Albert Girauds poem with the same title (1884), in E. Hartmann's German translation from 1892. This chamber music piece is from Schönberg's so called free atonal period, and it is very expressive. This piece and the previously mentioned one by Ravel are among my first expieriences of 20th century clöassical music. During my last three years in school we had the fortune of a very enthusiatic music teacher who aroused our interest in music of the 20th century.
  • Alban Berg's Violin Concerto (To the Memory of an Angel) from 1935 is more accessible in terms of listening to. It is dedicated to Manon Gropius, daughter of Alma Mahler-Werfel and Walter Gropius, who had died at the age of 18 early 1935. In addition, the concerto is a kind of requiem for Alban Berg because he died soon after the completion of the work late 1935. This piece is my favorite violin concerto ! Very beautiful indeed, in spite of the sadness in the piece.

Enjoying arts is another one.

  • Really useless informationen on one of my favorite artists, Kurt Schwitters, (in English) can be found here. Kurt Schwitters.Org – a neat idea ! And a very beautiful and interesting page (in German) ! In addition, artnews.de offers some information in German and quite a few links related to Kurtchen. However, this page has been updated quite a while ago . . .
    Two exhibitions had their openings in Basel, Switzerland, just a few days ago (May 1, 2004), and both will run until August 22.
    On my way from Zürich to Cologne, I was able to see the exhibition in the Kunstmuseum Basel. It is an exhibition on Kurt Schwitters and Hans Arp, who is also known as Jean Arp – pointing out how much these great artists have influenced each other.
    Unfortunately, I did not have enough time to see the exhibition in the Museum Tinguely too. Supposedly, an English version will be available soon . . .) I assume it is also a very interesting exhibition !

How about going on a trip ?

  • Sometimes I dream of being very far away.

    Planet of . . .

    From David Thomas and Two Pale Boys' CD: "Erewhon"
    In Texas there is a bayou.
    Cross the bayou there is a highway.
    Down the highway there is a town called
    Houston.
    On the highway there is a Dairy Freeze Whip stand.
    Standing in line at that Dairy Freeze Whip stand
    I heard a voice behind me say,
    "Somewhere past Mars there's a planet of fools."
    I didn't look around. But I thought about me & you.
    And I'd wondered where you were and what you were doing.
    And I thought that at NASA, just down the road,
    they're always building rockets that need a new place to go,
    and can't I go home now ?
    Dedicated to Ed and the other guys at JPL.
  • But it does not have to be all that far ! Vancouver at night is very beautiful. And it is not all that bad closer to day-time.
  • If you are willing to leave suburbia, there is so much to see and to do in Cologne . . . But in the vicinity of Cologne there are many interesting areas, too, e.g. the Neander valley, located between Düsseldorf and Wuppertal. It is a very pleasant area for taking a walk. In the Neanderthal Museum You can find information on the early humans named after this region.
  • The Eifel, a part of Germany with many dormant vulcanos – well-suited for walking and hiking. Besides many nice and interesting villages and towns You can visit the famous Effelsberg 100m radio telescope.