Hong Kong's Cantopop has been given a new boost of creativity by singers who aren't afraid to get political Like many Hong Kongers I grew up singing along to syrupy Cantopop ballads, both loving and hating their catchy and often bizarre lyrics. "I know I'm someone impossible to please I was just lucky to experience a moment of love at all Looking back, taking an honest look at myself Am I really s

思えば、薬師丸ひろ子という女優にとって、シンガーとしてのキャリアはとても幸せだったのではないだろうか。1978年に映画『野性の証明』で高倉健との共演でスクリーン・デビューを果たし、1981年に公開された主演作『セーラー服と機関銃』で大ブレイク。この時、初めて歌に挑戦した主題歌が大ヒットし、歌手という大きな肩書が加わる。以来、主演作と主題歌を同時に連続してヒットさせていくのだ。 彼女が幸せだった理由のひとつに、楽曲のクオリティの高さが挙げられる。「セーラー服と機関銃」は来生えつこ＆来生たかおが楽曲提供。続く「探偵物語」は大瀧詠一、「メイン・テーマ」は南佳孝、「Woman "Wの悲劇"より」は呉田軽穂（松任谷由実）、そして作詞はいずれも松本隆という布陣だ。他のアイドルや女優と比較しても、ここまで一流のスタッフを起用し、そのレベルにしっかりと応えられたという例はほとんどない。演技力同様に歌唱力も

Ukraine's Jamala has won this year's Eurovision Song Contest, held in Stockholm, Sweden. The country scored 534 points with its song 1944, about the deportation of Crimean Tatars under Josef Stalin. Australia finished second with 511 points, while Russia - which was the favourite going into the competition - was third with 491 points. Joe and Jake, who represented the UK with their song You're Not

Prince released his first album in 1978 and went on to sell more than 100 million records - here are some of Prince's greatest hits The hugely popular, acclaimed and influential musician Prince has died at his home in Minnesota at the age of 57. Police were summoned to his Paisley Park estate early on Thursday and found his body in a lift. An investigation has been opened. Prince became a global s

‘When you are very young, you don’t have limits. But as you get older, you start to balance things’... Gustavo Dudamel conducts the Los Angeles Philharmonic Orchestra. Photograph: Tristram Kenton/The Guardian ‘When you are very young, you don’t have limits. But as you get older, you start to balance things’... Gustavo Dudamel conducts the Los Angeles Philharmonic Orchestra. Photograph: Tristram Ke

実は、ナチュラルホルンというのは古楽器の一種です。しかし、古楽器とはいえど歴史は長く、つい最近まで使われていました。時代でいうとシューマンの頃でしょうか、その頃になってようやく今のホルンのような複雑な構造をしたホルンが普及します。つまり、シューマンより前に生まれた作曲家、モーツァルトやハイドン、ベートーヴェンなどは、このナチュラルホルンを想定してコンチェルトやシンフォニーを書いていました。

Harnoncourt was a cellist for 17 years with the Vienna Symphony Orchestra before he began conducting Harnoncourt's work was considered ground-breaking as he sought to interpret music as faithfully to the original as possible, while his ensemble was at the forefront in its use of period instruments. He was famed for his concern for historical detail and considered his conducting as alive and romant

George Gershwin, whose well-known composition “An American in Paris” has a French taxi horn effect that may have been misinterpreted for decades.Credit...Evening Standard/Getty Images It is one of the most famous pieces of American music — but for 70 years orchestras may have been playing one of its best-known effects wrong. The work is George Gershwin’s jaunty, jazzy symphonic poem “An American i

German musicologist and composer Timo Jouko Herrmann explains its significance to classical music A piece of Mozart music considered lost for more than 200 years has been performed for the first time since being rediscovered. It was co-written by him and Antonio Salieri, usually considered a rival, as well as an unknown composer, Cornetti. The four-minute cantata was found in the archives of the C

Whether to enliven a commute, relax in the evening or drown out the buzz of a neighbor’s recreational drone, Americans listen to music nearly four hours a day. In international surveys, people consistently rank music as one of life’s supreme sources of pleasure and emotional power. We marry to music, graduate to music, mourn to music. Every culture ever studied has been found to make music, and am

Singer David Bowie, one of the most influential musicians of his era, has died of cancer at the age of 69. A statement was issued, external on his social media accounts, saying he "died peacefully, surrounded by his family" after an "18-month battle with cancer". Tributes have been paid from around the world to the "extraordinary artist" whose last album was released days ago. Sir Paul McCartney d

French composer and conductor Pierre Boulez has died at the age of 90. His family said the world-renowned musician died on Tuesday at his home in Baden-Baden, Germany. "For all those who met him and were able to appreciate his creative energy, his artistic vigour... will remain alive and strong," they said. As well as being a world-famous composer and conductor he was a prolific writer and spearhe

In the summer of 1942, Leningrad was starving. It had been under siege and bombardment by German forces for nearly a year. And yet an orchestra managed to perform a new symphony by the composer Dmitri Shostakovich, and broadcast it across the city. When conductor Karl Eliasberg received instructions to rehearse Shostakovich's Seventh Symphony he had a problem. After a performance the previous Dece

『江南スタイル』の大ヒットが私に何をもたらしたか PSYが語るスターとの共演と一発屋問題 "Gangnam Style" Singer PSY Visits Harvard 2012年に『江南スタイル（GANGNAM STYLE）』で大ヒットを飛ばした歌手・PSY氏が2013年にハーバード大学でのスピーチに登壇。自身が初めてアメリカに渡った頃のエピソードや、『江南スタイル』が出来るまで、そしてYouTubeで20億再生を達成した脅威のブレイクをきっかけにしたセレブとの共演などについて語りました。韓国にいるPSY氏のもとに、突然ジャスティン・ビーバーのマネージャーのスクーター・ブラウン氏から電話がかかってきたときは、耳を疑ったそうです。さらに、「一発屋」と呼ばれないために考えに考え抜いてリリースした『Gentleman』制作秘話なども語られます。 江南スタイルのPSYがハーバード大でスピーチ

町山智浩さんがTBSラジオ『たまむすび』の中でフランス、パリで起きた同時多発テロについてトーク。コンサート会場を襲撃されたバンド、イーグルス・オブ・デスメタルや、アメリカ国内の反応などについて話していました。 （町山智浩）ということでですね、今日はちょっと予定を変更して、パリの同時多発テロのことについてお話したいんですけど。まあ、どういうことが起こっているか？はだいたいみなさんご存知だと思うんで。まあ、80人以上が射殺されたコンサートホールでコンサートをやっていたアメリカのバンドについて、お話したいんですよ。 （赤江珠緒）ああー。はい。 （町山智浩）いったい何なんだろう？って。バンド名がですね、イーグルス・オブ・デスメタル（Eagles Of Death Metal）っていうバンド名なんですね。イーグルス・オブ・デスメタル。で、デスメタルっていうとみなさん、まあ知ってますよね？ある程度、ど

For many years, the Taliban banned music and the education of girls in Afghanistan - and although many women still find themselves restricted, one 17-year-old has become the country's first female conductor. Kabul is a noisy place with helicopters, sirens, and heavy traffic. But walking into a building in one of the city's quieter neighbourhoods, I'm welcomed by quite a different sound. Boys and g

法案可決後のデモの様子。 https://vine.co/v/eUUhe1gilOP 非常に残念だ。 SEALDsの最大の功績は、これまでのデモの単調なリズムを一新し、より高度で複雑な、知的なビートに変えたことだ。（主張内容に新規性はほとんどない） しかしすでに劣化が始まっている。嘆かわしい。 ５月の時点での「安倍は辞めろ」コールは16ビートであり、メロディー（シュプレヒコール部分をそう呼ぶことにする）は１６分の裏拍を使用した複雑なものだった。しかし、それがいまやほとんどのメロディーはアクセントが拍の頭のみに限定された単調なリズムに堕してしまった。「安倍は辞めろ」も単に３拍子の頭打ちのみになっている。（上記リンク） より詳細に見てみよう。 まずは５月の時点でのビートがいかに高度であったかを説明しなければいけない。 （比較をするには、それ以前のリズムがいかに単調であったかの説明も必要だがダル