South of The Border (Down Mexico Way) Bears Its Fruits

March 15, 2023 3:09 PM

Coming from the Louisiana Channel and the Louisiana Museum Of Modern Art (for reasons I can't quickly determine), here is Music Is a Continuum, a half-hour spent with composer Terry Riley at his home in Japan in June 2022. He talks about basically everything, and it's a fascinating glimpse into the world of one of the 20th Century's most important musical influences.
posted by hippybear (7 comments total)

This is really great - thank you!
posted by niicholas at 3:26 PM on March 15, 2023

Coming from the Louisiana Channel and the Louisiana Museum Of Modern Art (for reasons I can't quickly determine)...

I know that the Louisiana Museum has a concert hall, so it's not a complete surprise to me that their YouTube channel would feature interviews with composers and musicians. I don't know if there is any specific connection between Louisiana and Terry Riley, though.
posted by WalkingAround at 4:01 PM on March 15, 2023

Oh man, I love Terry Riley. This concert from 1977 shows off some of his virtuosity as well as the beauty in his work.

The Louisiana Museum in question is in Denmark: "Many people wonder about the name of the museum. The short explanation is this — a nobleman and his three wives. Knud W. Jensen chose to “take over” the name of the country house that he later converted to a museum. The property had been built and named in 1855 by Alexander Brun (1814-93), who was an officer and Master of the Royal Hunt and who married three women who were all named Louise."

Great find hippybear, thank you.
posted by gwint at 4:04 PM on March 15, 2023 [4 favorites]

Being from Louisiana, I started following the Louisiana Museum a while back, quickly discovering that the museum, based in Denmark, has nothing at all to do with the U.S. state. It's named for the wives of the previous owner of the property, all named Louise.
But a great piece on Riley regardless!

(^gwint^)
posted by pt68 at 4:04 PM on March 15, 2023 [3 favorites]

I admit, I thought it was odd that 1) Louisiana would have a Museum Of Modern Art, and 2) it would be somehow featuring Terry Riley. But I was just going with the flow. Thanks for the information about the institution in question.
posted by hippybear at 4:06 PM on March 15, 2023 [3 favorites]

Terry Riley seems a pretty natural choice for the channel. Which is cool.

If you ever go to Denmark, Louisiana is a great museum. I don't think there is anything else like it in the world, though many newer museums are inspired by it. It somehow manages to both show the most radical contemporary art, big old and new names and also be a very popular place for a completely unpretentious family outing for locals from both Sweden and Denmark. They do concerts, film screenings, a literature festival, architecture shows and they have great gardens and a cafeteria that is affordable and not at all posh. Their children's museum was one of the first, and for a long while it was certainly the best.

But it seems the YouTube channel has its own life, where thousands visit without the slightest clue that it has a museum attached. I use it a lot in my job, because it is consistently serious and reliable while still really good at presenting complicated things to a lay audience.
posted by mumimor at 4:27 PM on March 15, 2023 [4 favorites]

who married three women who were all named Louise

I knew three brothers who all married women named Alexandra. Which is the flip of that, I guess.

But to the point of this, thanks, this is terrific. I started listening to Riley some years back, and whenever I return to his music, recorded live or in the studio, I'm always struck by how good it is.
posted by the sobsister at 8:27 AM on March 16, 2023