Innuendo or Anachronism?

Strange things happen in this brief review of Sony/BMG’s re-release of Terry Riley’s premiere recording of In C (1968).

First, here’s an odd turn of phrase:

Terry Riley's In C (1964), the Magna Carta of Minimalism...

I’m not sure how to read this. In C demands the removal of all fishing weirs in England, except on the coast?

And, yet, an odder turn of phrase with an exclamation point:

A seminal release and a fun listen rolled into one!

Seminal (Oxford American Dictionaries):

1. adj. (of a work, moment, event, figure) strongly influencing later developments.
2. adj. of, relating to, or denoting semen.

Seminal in the first sense: anachronistic. Fun listen: probably not.

In C!
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Metaphoric Boos

Today’s winner of the “Failed Food Metaphors” tag comes from Burkhardt Reiter of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette with his review:

Quartet overcomes venue limitations for intimate concert

We certainly have seen some ham-fisted food metaphors in our day, but what follows just might take the cake.

If the New Hazlett Theater were a martini, it would be a very dry one.

Of course, what he’s saying is that the Theater’s acoustics were dry, meaning dull, boxy and/or non-reverberant. It also helps explain the title: it was a good show despite the hall’s dryness. Fine. No problem.

Unless you prefer your martinis dry.

But here’s where Burkhardt shakes it up, when he’s supposed to stir:

Despite the New Hazlett's acoustic drawbacks, the quartet projected a sense of intimacy in this space that a more reverberatory venue may have lacked.

A contradiction: the dryness of the theater is what made the quartet metaphorically taste sweeter! That is the opposite of a dry martini, sir. See Vermouth. FAIL.

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Unfortunately, Burkhardt doesn’t stop cooking up metaphors there.

Served as an appetizer to the rest of the concert, the quartet presented three movements from "John's Book of Alleged Dances" by John Adams...

Then,

The meat of the first half was Terry Riley's "Mythic Birds Waltz" and Wayne Peterson's "Jazz Play."

What could possibly be the dessert? I’m dying for chocolate-covered strawberries.

Sadly and wisely, the dessert is only implied. But it’s still rather disturbing, because it's what I’d expect from modernist-hater Bernard Holland, not Burkhardt Reiter and his warm review of newer pieces. It’s...

...(drumroll)...

the only romantic piece on the concert. By. Beethoven! Yeah!

Boo and FAIL.
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Composer of the Day!

Today’s composer of the day is Terry Riley. Today’s composer of the day is Terry Riley. Today’s composer of the day is Terry Riley.

(b. 1935) (b. 1935) (b. 1935)

His famous minimalist piece, In C, premiered in 1964. He worked at the experimental San Francisco Tape Music Center, with Morton Subotnick, Ramon Sender, Pauline Oliveros, and Steve Reich.

In 1970, be began to study with Pandit Pran Nath, the famed North Indian Raga Vocalist. They performed together for numerous years. He is a very spiritual man.

He is quite prolific. He has collaborated with the Kronos Quartet many, many times, resulting in 13 string quartets and other pieces.

You should check out I Like Your Eyes Liberty, a play by Michael McClure with music by Terry. It’s also a web page, in liner-note form.

You should also listen to his music. You should listen to his music. Listen to his music.
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