Jacaranda Media

08/14/2026

FIRE IN THE HOLE—There’s a Leo in the Room

The ultimate Leo, Karlheinz Stockhausen’s face appears on the Sgt. Pepper’s album in the top row, 5th from the left, between the foul-mouthed comedian and provocateur Lenny Bruce and W.C. Fields, a serious boundary pusher in his own comedic way. He was the only composer to appear in this crowd of imaginary fans and friends of the “Lonely Hearts Club Band”.

The final track of The Beatles 1966 Revolver album includes tape loops thanks to the fiery atom-splitting composer. Paul McCartney and John Lennon were entranced by his overdubbed mix using a 12-year-old boy’s voice, sine waves, white noise, and musique concrete—extremely painstaking razor blade manipulation of audio tape sources in the spirit of surrealist collages. The careers of Miles Davis and Frank Zappa were also changed by hearing the LP. Just 13 minutes long, Gesang der Jünglinge is electronic music’s first masterpiece.

Read Here:

Karlheinz Stockhausen embraced astrology & found a crossover audience (thanks, Beatles!)

08/06/2026

July ’26 Diary 250: Protest, Shame, & Meditation

The American Revolution was as much a civil war as it was a war of independence. The hard times were as intense as they ever would be in the USA—despite the current estimate of as many as 850,000 casualties by the effective end of the Civil War in 1870. We start this diary with self-taught Stephen Foster (July 4, 1826-January 1864), the well-named young “father of American music”. Not only was he born on the 4th of July, but his moon was also in Cancer! Jesse Welles, the “Tik Tok Woody Guthrie”, is a Scorpio with a razor-sharp tongue and the passion to speak his mind uncovering hidden realities. He picks up Foster’s narrative thread. “Slavery”, perhaps Welles’ most powerful indictment, reveals Alabama’s slave labor economy embedded in an entirely corrupt prison system masked by Governor Kay Ivey, aka “MeMaw”, (see The Alabama Solution on HBO)—alongside a global corporate culture of enslavement. Playlist contributors include the most daring rugged individualists of American piano writing—John Cage, Henry Cowell, Frederic Rzewski & John Adams—alongside the extraordinary violin artistry of Randal Goosby & cello wizardry of Matt Haimovitz. Surrounded by cool waves of sound, floats the late Eva Cassidy’s deeply felt and uniquely successful interpretation of “Imagine.” Brian Keene’s haunting orchestral music for the incomparable PBS series “New York” adds depth. For me, Stravinsky’s 1966 “Requiem Canticles”, his last major work, was written for the fallen in the Vietnam War. He died in 1971. Stravinsky’s haunting woodwind interlude recalls his earlier masterpieces for winds. Here it serves as a prelude to “Rothko Chapel”, a 1971 capstone by Morton Feldman who turned 100 this year. Written to honor his friend the painter Mark Rothko, this lightly scored choral music was premiered in the meditative non-denominational home of his 14 monumental paintings in Houston, Texas. Outside is a pond reflecting “Broken Obelisk”, a sculptural tribute to Reverend Martin Luther King by Barnett Newman. I hope you will find Feldman’s 26 minutes of serenity helpful in processing the hard times—such as they are—that so many face today.

Click to Listen: https://open.spotify.com/playlist/0MF7DdfSTynGiwaZnRpD9h?si=wBhJIeydTVajoDzXFhQouA

Playlist · Patrick · 33 items

07/17/2026

MOON CRAB CANCER: Balancing feelings with boldly intricate forms

Yes, astrology applies to nations—and the USA is in every way a 250-year-old Moon Child! I address this lightly in the Drag Zodiac, a page available only to subscribers. This month’s edition of AstroMusic will favor music over astrology. It doubles as program notes for ALTITUDE—a new release from Jacaranda Live Recordings, that features these great living Cancerians—best friends Magnus Lindberg & Esa-Pekka Salonen who were born 3 days apart in the final week of June—two crabs in a Finnish bucket called Helsinki.

Click to Read:

Altitude: Music of Magnus Lindberg, Kaija Saariaho, and Esa-Pekka Salonen

07/03/2026

THE GREAT AMERICAN SYMPHONY Vol. IV

Road-testing this playlist, and the 3 before it, helped me to know these 16 symphonies so well, with your feedback, that one symphony could be declared our nation’s pinnacle achievement in that European form—first successfully adopted in 1840 by Gottschalk & premiered in Havana! Our 250th birthday jamboree may have been bungled in Washington DC, and it’s spirit mostly lost in the headlines, but this music is worth our time & appreciation now. Some of you asked about the absence of Copland’s Third, Harris’s Third, & Bernstein’s “Age of Anxiety”. Copland was not a symphonist, and his collection of patriotic tone poems didn’t make the cut. Harris’s structural weaknesses are ultimately unlistenable. Bernstein’s hybrid piano concerto/symphony was undercut by this medium. All recordings on Spotify break the composer’s intended continuous flow with annoying track pauses. Sadly, “Age of Anxiety” didn’t pass the road test. Its haunting eloquence is very worthwhile. Many other notable symphonies were eliminated because they were unrecognizably American. I have selected the thirteen most striking movements to make a sonic stairway lasting 180 minutes. Honorable mention goes to Still’s first movement of the “Afro-American.” This newly discovered vintage recording & conductor were a revelation. First runner-up is Thompson’s “Hymn Tune” symphony, called “strong as hell” at its premiere for reasons that can’t be argued—its 100% American! Second runner-up is the ruggedly enduring American neoclassicism of Schuman’s Third. It delivers thrilling impacts every time. Third runner-up is Adams’ Harmonielehre for the ultra-American last movement based on his crazy dream set in San Francisco’s bay. The late MTT’s recording of the Ives Fourth Symphony may be this quintessentially American conductor’s finest achievement. Ives’s improbable assembly of four radically different movements played by multiple orchestras, organ, and chorus, is the ultimate statement of the composer’s reconciliation of Transcendentalism with the violence hard-wired in us by the American Revolution, and the break-the-mold crazy quilt modernity that makes America unique.

https://open.spotify.com/playlist/1Hi8YTS45WxFuXhRmLydJm?si=aaf967cf00b54714

Playlist · Patrick · 18 items

07/02/2026

June Substack ~ Shadow Twins: the Gemini Genie in a Bottle

My hope is that every installment of AstroMusic emphasizes the uniqueness of each person’s astrology, while contemplating the eternal archetypes that shift, shuffle, and come to bare—using composers and their music to sort these ideas out. Enigmatic composer Gyorgy Ligeti’s story illustrates the point and purpose of such exploration, as does the many-splendored public career of Igor Stravinsky—and the world’s most famous un-musical Gemini displaying his “big three” for all to see.

Igor Stravinsky, Gyorgy Ligeti & Donald Trump—profiles in audacity, duality & cringe

06/18/2026

ALTITUDE Available Now!

After its successful Ojai Music Festival launch, we are thrilled to make available to you our newest album ALTITUDE: Music of Saariaho, Lindberg & Salonen as a CD with download included, or download only. Once more, the album’s stunning cover art is by acclaimed artist and internationally renowned architect Scott Johnson—our close friend and longstanding supporter. Opening soon is the 37-story glass tower Johnson Fain-designed Century City Center, headquarters for Creative Artists Agency. This building has been awarded the highest possible rating for sustainability, environmental efficiency, and resource conservation. Scott’s artwork is praised for his ability to translate complex structural concepts into stunning visual media. Reviewers have admired his bold lines, confident use of mixed media, strong colors, and subtle variations within a cohesive system to evoke deep spatial dreams. As such, the music of Jacaranda Live Recordings resonates with these qualities—and we are proud of this partnership.

Click to Purchase: https://jacarandaliverecordings.bandcamp.com/album/altitude

06/04/2026

JACARANDA LIVE RECORDINGS IS BACK!

Thursday, June 11, 2026, Jacaranda Media’s new album “ALTITUDE: Music of Saariaho, Lindberg & Salonen” officially launches with the beginning of the Ojai Music Festival. Join us Saturday 3pm at the rustic Ojai Arts Center to hear music samples, meet the artists, and purchase a CD for autographs. The digital download code is included.

Recorded live at Jacaranda’s former home First Presbyterian Church of Santa Monica, October 29, 2016, “Five Images of Sappho” was supervised by Esa-Pekka Salonen who attended the concert with the late Frank Gehry. The composer writes, “Sappho reveals to us secrets of the female soul like nobody else. There is no subject more interesting.” Lyris Quartet gave the Los Angeles premiere of “Terra Memoria” by Kaija Saariaho, for whom it now serves as a memorial tribute. The composer wrote “I love the richness and sensitivity of the string sound. I feel when writing for a string quartet that I’m entering into the intimate core of musical communication.” Magnus Lindberg’s “Jubilees” celebrated the 75th birthday of Pierre Boulez, a Diamond Jubilee, and the so-called Millennium, or Great Jubilee in 2000. Pianist Gloria Cheng gave the LA premiere of these six virtuosic miniatures for Piano Spheres in 2002. Upon listening to this recording, she marveled at the music’s astonishing construction and expressivity. This Jacaranda Live Recordings album was made possible through the generous help of Frank Gruber & Janet Levin, Raulee Marcus, and Abby Sher.

“ALTITUDE” will be available for purchase for $15 at the Ojai Music Festival store June 11-14.

06/01/2026

THE GREAT AMERICAN SYMPHONY Vol III:
Piston, Gottschalk, Still, Schuman, Carter & Ives

Vote for the Great American Symphony using the link below. TGAS must act as a mural of American life—capturing emotions, manners, & cultures to embody essential complexities of national identity. Establishing his career, Walter Piston’s 2nd Symphony was not awarded the Pulitzer Prize, but he claimed it twice for terrific less-deserving symphonies. Its National Symphony premiere won NY Music Critic’s Circle Award. Bernstein conducted its soulful adagio for Piston’s memorial in 1976. America’s first symphony is the unlikely 2-movement “Night in the Tropics” by Louis Moreau Gottschalk premiered in Havana, Cuba. A 650-piece orchestra included 100 percussion players with local tumba francesa drummers for its infectious groove in 1860! The much smaller US premiere was in 1955. Esteem for William Grant Still’s Afro-American Symphony is steadily rising since 2020 & the “musical justice” movement celebrating its ingenious fusion of blues & symphonic form. Premiered by Rochester Phil in 1931, Still’s was the most often performed American symphony before 1950. Relative obscurity followed. Karl Krueger conducted it as early as 1938 & recorded it here in 1965. William Schuman got the first Pulitzer Prize for music, but again not for his career-making 3rd Symphony. In four sections, the 2-movement symphony is resolutely neo-classical (Passacaglia, Fugue, Chorale & Toccata) but influenced by the most modern sonorities of the day, including jazz. Commissioner, dedicatee, & conductor of the premiere Serge Koussevitzky led Boston to massive acclaim in 1941. Elliott Carter distilled his spikey colorful style for Pierre Boulez, who commissioned/conducted the NY Phil in 1978. The visually engaging Symphony for Three Orchestras, received great critical acclaim despite a challenged audience. Ives Fourth (19xx-xx)is unique among all symphonies for its unusual form, choral singing of American hymns, collage techniques & transcendental technical demands requiring 3 conductors for its posthumous premiere in 1965. Vol III is dedicated to the late great Michael Tilson Thomas, who led its first & last works.

Listen Here: https://open.spotify.com/playlist/33OccvYDDko153ERQrbEAO?si=9eeabbba890947b5

Vote Here: https://forms.gle/f3CT6eCGXmsAnH4P6

Playlist · Patrick · 16 items

05/22/2026

May Substack - Ta**us: Far From the China Shop

Following the Aries declaration “I AM!” in April, Ta**us asserts “i feel” with grounded humility and stubborn authority. The primary domains of the bull are eating, sleeping, and making love. One must add singing because Ta**us rules the throat. Food chatter is a recurring theme and is especially apt this month as I talk about musical comfort food and the robust appetites of Ta**us—with Gabriel Fauré in the foreground surrounded by an interesting cast of supporting actors.

Click to Read:

Gabriel Fauré with guest Mark Alan Hilt; plus—the warhorse is a bull

05/01/2026

May Playlist – THE GREAT AMERICAN SYMPHONY Vol II:
Fine, Price, Hovhaness, Korngold & Stravinsky

Inching toward the USA Semisesquicentennial, I’m obsessed with The Great American Symphony. Am I alone? Vote using the link below. TGAS must act as a canvas of American life—capturing emotions, manners, & cultures; must embody essential complexities of national identity. Irving Fine was America’s most promising symphonist when he conducted Boston Symphony’s premiere of his only symphony & later that summer at Tanglewood, 11 days before dying from cancer in 1962. Symphony moves from cold war light & shadows, with a dry hint of Soviet spy craft, to embrace a bigger b***d neo-classic model that effectively integrates 12-tone techniques to gain rigor & intensity. Now almost forgotten, it was hailed as Fine’s masterpiece. This Florence Price album won Philadelphia Orchestra their only Grammy in 2022. While following the Dvorak model, Price’s Third Symphony is her most mature and authentically African American work with a rousing 3rd movement “Juba.” Commissioned by the WPA Federal Music Project, the work was premiered in Detroit by the WPA Symphony in 1940 & forgotten. The uneven excess of Alan Hovhaness’ output (67 symphonies!) may have undermined his reputation, but Symphony No. 2 “Mysterious Mountain” (alluding to Armenia’s Mount Ararat) remains movingly powerful for its blend of drive & spiritual serenity. Premiered in 1955 at a time of extreme anti-romanticism, it was televised nationwide with Leopold Stokowski leading Houston. Fritz Reiner & Chicago recorded it in 1958 gaining chart-topping popularity. Premiered by the Vienna Symphony in 1954, Erich Korngold’s ambitious post WWII symphony cobbled together Hollywood film music with Austrian structural integrity. Stravinsky’s 1946 “War Symphony” established the 3-movement form as rigorously American while also recycling music for film projects and ending with a high-energy chord often associated with “V” for victory. He conducted the NY Phil at Carnegie Hall. Both were initially panned by the press—Korngold as “too old-fashioned” & Stravinsky as “too modern.” Now they are regarded as quintessential California symphonies.

Click to Listen: https://open.spotify.com/playlist/09QkmKJl0VuWSQdPKvGH3K?si=bd623e6c93e94b5b

Vote: https://forms.gle/k3ymW2c4wb68ueyR7

Rank the symphonies included in UltraEclectic's The Great American Symphony Vol. II below from 1 (Favorite) to 5 (Least Favorite). You may write in your favorite Great American Symphony in the response below.