SKU: HL.49047037
ISBN 9781705182024. UPC: 842819116998. 9.0x12.0x0.123 inches.
My father, Y. “Raghu†Raghunathan, came from India to the U.S. in 1963, followed soon after by my mother Sita. Dad enjoyed a substantial career as a pharmaceutical chemist, but he drew satisfaction from a simple life among family and friends, never allowing professional demands to overshadow his devotion to loved ones. Modest, compassionate, and ardently egalitarian, he was careful not to take anything too seriously, especially himself. He embraced his own ordinariness because it connected him to everyone else; it made him no better or worse than his neighbor, no more or less deserving of friendship or kindness than any of his fellow human beings. He showed us how to live with dignity, compassion, grace, and boundless love. His last piece of advice to me: “Go slow.†Several weeks after his passing, I happened upon a recording of Shostakovich’s 24 Preludes and Fugues, opus 87. I couldn’t understand why at the time, but the sixteenth prelude and fugue took hold of me and would not let go. I completely immersed myself in that piece for ten days, until it became a mystical conduit for something else: in this semi-trance state I produced a prelude and fugue of my own, in prayer (orison) and in praise (upastuti). It shadows Shostakovich’s form, but it somehow expresses my father’s unhurried, loving spirit. I’ve come to believe that he sent me this piece as a blessing. I hope you feel his presence in it as I do. Vijay Iyer.
SKU: BT.EMBZ8162
English-German.
Though he grew up in Vienna and Paris and spoke German as his native language, Ferenc Liszt's Hungarian patriotism was aroused by a natural disaster. ''Oh my wild and distant country! Your cry of pain has brought me back to you. I bow my head, ashamed that I have forgotten you for so long,'' he reacted to the news of the 1838 Danube floods that demolished much of Pest, and he announced a charity concert for the benefit of the victims. When he visited Hungary the following year, he was embraced by his compatriots with an unexpected enthusiasm that defied all description. This highly emotional encounter set his entire career onto a new track Hungarian motifs began to appear inhis music. This marked the beginning of the genesis of his 19 Hungarian Rhapsodies that spanned many decades. The opening theme of Hungarian Rhapsody No. 2, a piece that has acquired extraordinary popularity, was written down by Liszt in his sketchbook in 1847 in Ia i, Romania. The piece was published in 1851, later with separate cadenzas and ad-libitum variants added for two of Liszt s pupils. This revised (2020) edition, based on the New Liszt Edition, is distinguished by the inclusion of these, as well as a preface summarizing the latest findings of research, facsimile reproductions, and critical notes.
