bearded

[kalimac]

1. Much commemoration of the centenary of the birth of Frank Sinatra. Since he's long gone now, I hope I won't be treading on any corns by saying that I never cared for his music. I can recognize that he was exceedingly skillful and talented at what he was trying to do; it's just that what he was trying to do is of no interest to me. I like the

Comments

[steepholm]

With you on the crooning style. There's something incredibly self-satisfied about it which is off-putting even when the lyrics aren't also self-satisfied (which with Sinatra they often were).

[kalimac]

Particularly offensive, as far as lyrics go, is "My Way" (ironically, distinctly one of the best tunes Sinatra did). How is that, taken as an abstract goal and divorced from the specific content of what one's way is, an admirable thing? Hitler could have sung this in his bunker with complete sincerity.

[steepholm]

It's a great tune - but in my head I hear it in counterpoint with Bowie's "Life on Mars".

I'm not fond of "Start spreading the news - I'm leaving today", either. Get over yourself, Frank!

[anonymous]

I had to laugh at your inability to forgive Craft, but it probably won't surprise you to hear that Threni is one of my three favorite Stravinsky pieces. Like Les Noces, which is modal, and Symphony of Psalms, which is neoclassical/tonal, Threni, which is atonal, sounds unmistakably like Stravinsky. (I also of course greatly respect Rite of Spring and like very much his last major-atonal-composition Requiem Canticles.)

I know Varèse much less well than I should; I have Chailly's complete set, but I should listen to the Craft set (which I think I used to own) also.

Don Keller

[kalimac]

Which proves that "sounding unmistakably like Stravinsky" isn't enough.

Actually, by that time a whole raft of composers sounded unmistakably like Stravinsky.

[athenais]

I like Sinatra's early singing style a lot. But then, I grew up around parents who liked his music and my mom always had a soft spot for him, being of an age to crush on him in the 40s before he transitioned from smooth pop star to adulthood + martinis = regrets.