Monday, February 22, 2010

JACK Report: The New Yorker Takes Notice

If you're a subscriber to The New Yorker (and why would anyone not be?) don't miss the article on pages 78 and 79 of this week's issue by Alex Ross entitled "The Singular Iannis Xenakis." (There's no point in posting a link because you have to be a subscriber to read it.) In the course of the article Ross describes the "JACK Quartet's howlingly beautiful rendition of 'Tetras' (1983) at the Morgan Library earlier this month."

The article concludes by saying, "Xenakis once announced that he sought 'a total exaltation in which the individual mingles, losing his consciousness in a truth immediate, rare, enormous, and perfect.' If these performances didn't quite achieve that transcendent goal, they came exhilaratingly close."

As I have stated before on these pages, the importance to my son and his JACK cohorts of being noticed by media like The New Yorker goes far beyond the one million actual subscribers to the magazine and other media like The New York Times. They are cultural arbiters. When they say a group or performance is fine, other critics pick up the refrain and their opinion is amplified. Whether justified or not, that is the way the world works and it is so gratifing to see my son, the grandson of an Amishman who had never heard of The New Yorker, benefit from it.

7 comments:

Forsythia said...

I think it's just plain wonderful. I will try to listen with a more open mind. My son-in-law, who plays the string bass in the US Army Band, has given me some CDs for my birthday that are surpassingly weird.

cile said...

OK...this post surpasses awesomeness! Congratulations to the whole bunch of you!

rdl said...

Very cool!! and congrats!

PGregory Springer said...

I don't really enjoy listening to classical music as a rule, with some exceptions. I do like contemporary "new" music and am very much enjoying following the success of JACK, especially since my wife Lee takes responsibility for teaching Christopher in Sunday School back in the day.

Crockhead said...

Ah, so Lee is to blame for Chris becoming Buddhist!! I'll bet when she was supposed to be teaching him about Jesus, she was slyly subverting the curriculum by telling the little kids to just live in the moment instead of longing for the sweet bye and bye when everyone you don't like goes to hell. I had never before put two and two together. (But thanks for your kind words.)

PGregory Springer said...

I think you may be on to something there!

sculptress said...

Congratulations! Can't wait for them to come to my hometown!