Tuesday, March 31, 2009

Music sketch

A playful drawing from Vermeer's time by Leonart Bramer.












(That must be a cat on the lower left, but it does look a bit like a seal).

Musicians in an Interior (detail)
Leonaert Bramer
c. 1660, 37.2 x 46.3 cm., Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam

From this website, which has some wonderful samples to listen to of music played on instruments of the same era.

5 comments:

  1. Around 1591 Shakespeare writes Romeo and Juliet (the play.)

    In 1621 Alessandro Piccinini (1566–c.1638)writes "Chiaccona in partite variate" for archlute. http://www.essentialvermeer.com/music/mp3music/music_chiaccona.mp3

    I now know what Leonaert Bramer was listening to.

    In 1980 Mark Knopfler writes Romeo and Juliet.
    Hmmm....I wonder what Mark was listening to?

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  2. I love it. Most intriguing...

    I have no idea what Mark Knopfler might have been listening to, but I can't help wondering now what John Cage was listening to when he wrote his 4′33″

    Did you hear that conceptual artist, Jonathon Keats, has created a silent ringtone by the same name?

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  3. That was my preferred ringtone for awhile, but I kept missing calls. I do however enjoy my Keats "universe kit." How could I resist after reading this interview excerpt.

    "It was a product of my anxiety," admits Mr. Keats. "I'd recently had a couple museum shows, yet I was feeling that no matter what I made, it was hardly comparable to the creation of the cosmos. And though no one talks about it, the same issue faced Picasso, Monet, even Michelangelo. The Big Bang has artists beat."

    http://www.technovelgy.com/ct/Science-Fiction-News.asp?NewsNum=1972

    Oh, did you listen to this?
    http://www.essentialvermeer.com/music/mp3music/music_chiaccona.mp3
    And then listen to Romeo and Juliet (dire straits)
    Sound familiar?

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  4. Well for sheer concept, execution, content and well, pizzazz, yup, the Big Bang pretty much does it for all time. Dang.

    Yah, that silent ringtone has it's downside. Interesting that Keats made perfect silence, but Cage meant for there to be some noise - that was the piece. I think Keats may have missed the point. Or furthered it in another direction.

    Wow. Okay, now I get it on the source! Always did like Dire Straits.

    Let's not go into Jethro Tull and their Renaissance roots, though, it's a slippery slope...

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  5. Aqualu.....oh....ok...

    ReplyDelete