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Sort Of Away For Labor Day

September 2nd, 2007 Posted in classical music, mp3, shostakovich

Wow, I’m completely, totally dead in the legs. Me and my girlfriend climbed up Snowy Mountain in the Adirondacks this morning. Since graduate students are obliged not to believe in the holiday nature of Labor day, we decided to scoot off just for one night. That was last night. Now my legs are aching and I am very much looking forward to sleeping in a real bed which does not spontaneously deflate at three in the morning.

And more importantly, I get to satisfy another desire. All the way back, past the scenic overlooks and plethoras (yeah plural, each town had their own personal plethora) of yard sales the last two Shostakovich Op. 127 Alex Blok songs were in my head. They’re so mournfully, beautifully, ominous. Sort of like the threat of the huge numbers of experiments and data analysis I need to have done yesterday looming over the horizon of the mountains. A dark dream weighs down upon my breast indeed…

Oh how sombre we are tonight.

The last few dissonant notes on the piano at the end of “music” are amazing. Have a listen to the last minute and a half or so below:

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