#baroque-music

#baroque-music

When wonderful scores of music have been rediscovered after being forgotten for 350 years, it's akin to finding doubloons that were lost at the bottom of the ocean in a shipwreck. Yet the result of musical rediscovery is much better than finding long-lost gold, because musical treasures can be shared with a world of listeners.

Last night, while the home team lost the big game on TVs at a local dive bar, my noisy rock band opened for a cham­ber pop ensem­ble. Elec­tric gui­tars and feed­back gave way to clas­si­cal acoustics, vio­lin, piano, accor­dion, and even a saw. It was an inter­est­ing cul­tur­al jux­ta­po­si­tion in an evening of cul­tur­al jux­ta­po­si­tions. The sports and music did­n't gel, but an odd sym­me­try emerged from the two bands' con­trast­ing styles, to a degree.

A mysterious baroque music faded in on darkness at Northwest Portland's When the lights rose, dancer and choreographer BodyVox Dance Center. Carlyn Hudson lay on her back downstage right, donning a sheer, bulbous, chiffon top, complete with a stand-up frill collar. As she began to move, three dancers joined her, one by one. They switched places, following one another's staccato movements, until all stood regally on stage.