I've just discovered that Naxos Records has put all 5000 of their CD's online for subscriber listening. That is for $19.95 or E19.95, one can listen to a 20K (they claim FM radio quality) stream of any of their tracks. Naxos Subscriptions
Its great seeing classical CD labels understanding the potential for on-demand music, even if it is without downloading. Of course one could always TotalRecord the stream. But that would be in violation of federal copyright law and no beepSNORT reader would ever do that!
I was surprised to see how many downloads I'd been getting as a result of creating a few Webjay playlists. Robert Gable had pointed them out to me in response to a previous beepSNORT article about online stream aggregation.
So, I've decided to attempt to keep the playlist fresh and add artists and tracks newly pointed to at NetNewMusic.
Enjoy! No promises about freshness... In this playlist, I add and Eric Lyon track I heard premiered at the OughtOne Festival, and two new additions to the NetNewMusic listings, Le Quan Ninh and a live recording of Helmut Lachenmann's "allegro sostenuto" (1988) [geoffrey gartner (cello), christopher jones (piano), matt ingalls (clarinet)].
Something struck me recently on reading Tommasini's review of a recent Lee Hyla CD, in particular, this paragraph:
THE composer Lee Hyla has a rigorous conservatory training and a formidable musical intellect. Yet he has been as excited by the gritty power and raw surface energy of avant-garde jazz, rock and punk as by the brainy modern music of Elliott Carter and Stefan Wolpe. This merging of styles has tagged him as a kind of downtown renegade in some establishment quarters. Though Mr. Hyla, 51, has been commissioned by prestigious chamber ensembles, including the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center, he has evidently scared away the major orchestras.
First of all, there is an assumption, that composers today, known and well known are being considered for orchestra performances because they are good composers and compose well and if a composer does not receive orchestral performances this may imply some type of 'popular aesthetic intimidation' or 'stylistic impropriety.'
One would think, with the dearth of activity in the US orchestral arena, the demise of the American Composer's Orchestra (it's coming very soon) and the constancy of the composers receiving commissions, that critics would be more open to the idea that perhaps, the system is cracked. Perhaps Mr. Hyla does not receive orchestral performances because nobody can receive orchestral performances, except for the same 5 names. Uh... namely... John Adams, John Adams, John Adams and uh... another gentleman.... John Adams!
Jokes aside, recent performances in NYC gave 3 composers the majority of performances, and almost all are dead. Ives, Copland and Adams. Over and over and over... Ives, Copland and Adams. Frankly, I'm sick of the lot. There has to be something better out there!