A New Discovery

As we noted in this post, since its transfer to WNYC we've been forced to listen to WQXR via streaming transmission on the Web as we're now outside the reach of QXR's new and puny 600 watt signal, and that, interestingly, we've actually found ourself listening far more often to QXR's less-often-heard-, new-music-programmed sister Web stream, WQXR Q2, than to QXR itself. We must say it's something of a novel experience for us to have to look at a printed playlist to identify what's being performed, or even merely to identify the name of the composer, but that's how it's gone with us these past couple weeks since listening regularly to QXR Q2.

And what have we learned by this experience? Lots, actually, but we won't bore you with details except to note that we've discovered (that is, a discovery for us) a composer the works of whom if not his name were entirely unknown to us previously; discovered by the circumstance that every time we heard a piece that totally arrested our attention it turned out to be a work by this composer.

And the composer in question? Finland's Einojuhani Rautavaara, a composer who, for reasons which elude our current comprehension, didn't merit even passing mention in Alex Ross's fairly comprehensive, The Rest Is Noise.

Lordy! What consistently rich, evocative music comes from this man's pen. We can now see that this new discovery of ours will cost us mucho bucks in the near future; bucks which at present are in perilously short supply.

Ah well. We'll just have to abandon our daily $25/lb Norwegian smoked salmon breakfast for a few months (a practice we have no business indulging in in the first place given our parlous financial condition) to free up the required cash. Shouldn't be that difficult to manage. It's merely an unnecessary extravagance, after all. (Why does that have the ring of Famous Last Words?)