Kahn Books

In this interview Hidayat Inayat-Khan and Deepack Chopra talk about Sufism. From many different angles, so interesting!

Hidayat gives a very clear introduction of what Sufism is. His approach warms the heart, based on love, harmony and beauty. This is a must for those interested in that subject. For any initiated in the Sufi Movement, SIRS or any Sufi school, he provides a beautiful Zikar sang with the melody composed by his father Hazrat Inayat Khan, the gentle Zikar as he calls it. It is beautiful and a great practice.

I really enjoy the calendar. It came promptly and was packaged nicely (so as not to bend the calendar in shipping). I am really enjoying it.
Thanks.

This calendar of painter Wolf Kahn's striking landscapes is something I am looking forward to hanging up for 2008 in my classroom. The crazy part of it (mostly due to my failure to completely read my order) is the shipping charges were as much as the calendar. Over $11.oo to ship a paper product. I have learned a lesson-not to get too excited about a product until you see how you will be gouged for shipping.

Back to the calendar, the landscapes depicted in this calendar are vibrant, exciting explosions of color. Kahn depicts nature by pushing color to an extreme. Kahn's paintings are a celebration of nature and color. This calendar would brighten up any place it hung!

Matossian's briliant exposition of Xenakis's complete works (updated in her most recent publication, October, 2005) provides the classroom a much sought after standard reference which is a classic.

Matossian knew the Xenakis family,and she gleaned considerable insights into Xenakis,the architect and composer. She traverses his life in work up to the middle Eighties,his life in Paris, the time of working for Le Corbusier.There are short yet comprehensive chapters hitting all the relavent points in his oeuvre. The early theories on stochastic music an alternative to the moribund state of serial 12-Tone thinking,also polytopes,a visual work with lasers. Xenakis had actually thought of a graphic representation utilizing lasers to beam across the earth,so if extraterrestial life exists it would have an image of us. She also discusses his theatre music,ones returning to Greece after the demise of the junta in the summer of 1974. This ended twenty years of exile,and also a Light and Sound Commission for the Shiraz Festival in Iran in August 1971, a sight on the ruins at Persepolis.. There is also a marvelous section on the theories of arborescences or "branching" ideas that Xenakis had sought parallels to the sonic world in terms of pitch-time. The profundity here is that the theories surrounding Xenakis and his music are seldom discussed in such a straightforward,lucid manner. Ususally if you read Xenakis himself,these theories are accompanied by high math items.Matossian has found a nice balance here in analysis of the music"Nomos Alpha" for violoncello" and "evryali" for piano solo,two great examples, with excerpts and the science oriented theories that acompany it that Xenakis had discovered.

I loved this book! It has simple, yet insightful interpretations of your favorite things, from the mundane (paper fasteners) to the meaty (fast-food joints :-). My daughter at college was just telling me about a game she and her friends are playing. They pick a category, e.g., kitchen utensils or desserts. Then they tell each other what they think the others would be if they were one of these items ("Mark, you're an ice-cream cake, because you're a sweet person, but only under the right conditions!"). So, I told her about this book, which I think will add a great new dimension to their game. It'll add one to yours, too!

I bought this as a present for my nephew, along with a field trip of downtown Detroit, where we spend an afternoon spotting Albert Kahn buildings. He loved it and continues to reread this book! It has the right amount of history, a good story and explains basic architectural terms.

After Alkan's death his music continued to be admired and studied by both Debussy and Ravel. But it wasn't until the first recordings of his music began to appear in the 1960's that people got a chance to really get to know the music of this most unusual composer. Alkan has been neglected for many years, and it's not always easy to reawaken the public's interest. It's not enough, unfortunately, to let the music simply speak for itself. Alkan was famously obsessive in his work. He wrote a set of 12 studies of an entire 3 movement concerto and 4 movement symphony, and he once expressed a desire, which was unfulfilled to set the entire Bible to music. Alkan was said to be extremely reclusive and eccentric. There were always lots of myths and stories about Alkan to get people more interested in his music. Alkan's death in 1888 seems to exemplify the tragedy of his life living alone, he collapsed and was trapped by a piece of falling furniture for more than 24 hours before being discovered by callers who were able to drag him free. As with most myths, the truth in Alkan's life is more interesting than the fiction. And the very stories about Alkan that were exaggerated to attract the public's attention are now forming an obstacle to the further exploration of this remarkable mind. It's now time, for Alkan's sake to dispel the myths and let people get to know the real human being behind this remarkable music. So who really was Alkan? Alkan was born in Paris in 1813. His real name was Charles Valentin Morhange but he decided to adopt his father's first name Alkan. Alkan came from a highly musical and talented family and right from a very early age he showed an amazing musical ability, entering the Paris Conservatoire when he was only 6 years old, giving his first public performance at the age of 7 and graduating with first class honours in harmony at the age of 13. By his teen years he was composing and performing music that displayed a highly original imagination and a breathtaking keyboard skill. By the 1830's Alkan was emerging as one of the virtuoso pianists of Paris. It's important to remember that Paris at this time of the 19th century, was a cultural magnet for so many European artists. included Chopin and Liszt. Alkan became a friend, and next door neighbor of Chopin. Alkan worshipped Chopin's personality and music, and no doubt Chopin's early death at the age of 39 left a big void in Alkan's life. Another composer to be highly influenced by Alkan was Debussy. Debussy came across Alkan's music as a student at the Paris Conservatoire in the 1870's and was extremely fond of Alkan's miniatures for piano. Like Chopin, Alkan composed almost exclusively for the piano. Amongst his 75 opus numbers is the Twelve Studies In All The Minor Keys, Opus 39, a work that takes over 2 hours to perform complete and which contains within it a 3 movement Concerto and a four movement Symphony, both for solo piano. But in complete contrast to this work, Alkan also wrote beautiful miniatures depicting a wide variety of moods. These are the pieces Debussy was so fond of. Listening to these pieces it's easy to hear what attracted Debussy to this music. Alkan's last years were lonely and sad. He never married and his loneliness caused him much sorrow and despair. He died alone at the age of 74. This was a wonderful book and I have read it many times. I also wanted to recommend my favorite cd of Alkan's music which is: Alkan's Etudes Op. 39 with his other piano works performed by the pianist Jack Gibbons.

The book covers all types of Alkan's output, from his piano music, organ/pedal piano, chamber music, and even Alkan's music for just 2 feet on the pedal piano. Smith offers great analyses to Alkan's greatest works. A Wonderful book!!!!

If you're a fan of Professor John Kenneth Galbraith you'll definitely want to get your hands on a copy of this. It tends to stray away from technicality, as he tends to, and focus on getting the message across.
This book is in an interview format, and is hence even easier to read.
It is exactly what is says, and is very good for an introduction to neo-classical economics, and Galbraith's view of the status-quo trends.

I'm a graduate student writing a paper on this building and it is by far the best resource. Prown acted as client for Yale and gives first hand accounts of Kahn's process as well as conversations they both had with Paul Mellon, the benefactor of both the collection and money for the building. There is another book on just this building which is mostly a waste of time, although it does give a good qoute from Mellon in the beginning. After that, it's fluff.

It is unique. For the price, it is well worth it if you are interested in the architecture of the BAC. If you want to read about Kahn's writing then get the "Essential Texts" or some other anthology. If you want a book on his architecture in general, McCarter's is acceptable with a good introduction, others I leave for other reviewers.

Was a great gift for the hot tub lover in my life!