Today is day 14 of the Blogging from A to Z April Challenge in which I attempt to blog every day (excepting Sundays) throughout the month of April. For this challenge, I am curating a collection of “classical” music pieces, which are lesser known or by lesser known composers (to me at least).
Today’s composer is Sarah Nemtsov (b.1980 ).
Nemtsove is a German composer whose work I find very much in the line of the avant-garde artists of the 60s and 70s, who were kind of lost after Schoenberg, Weber and Webern destroyed melody and harmony and tonality. Today’s piece I found at least listenable. It’s funny. Tonight I watched a film about Ginger Baker, the jazz-rock drummer who spent two years with Cream the first supergroup from 1966-1968. I’ve always loved drumming and rhythm, African especially. So it was quite pleasing to see how much Baker was influence by African Watutsi drummers and went off to Nigeria for 6 years to learn and live with the great Fela. Unfortunately his teacher, Phil Seaman, when he introduced Baker to African drumming also introduced him to heroin, and his addiction and intense life style has taken him from one country to another, from millionaire to pauper, gasping from emphysema. But, for God’s sake he’s still got amazing rhythm and this summer will be in Washington, DC with his trio.
So since today’s piece is mostly on a type of drum, I thought it fitting.
Kurt Nemes' Classical Music Almanac 