Lio and the Walking Dead

They're called "legacy strips." Comic strips that continue to run after their creator has retired  or died. In some cases, the creative chores are handed down to the creator's children, or even grandchildren. In others, a new team is brought in to continue the story.

I've commented on them before. Sometimes the new team revitalizes the strip, as in the case of Dick Tracy (Mike Curtis and Joe Staton the latest of several to follow Chester Gould). Often, the team just maintains the strip without introducing any new elements. In essence, keeping it on life support, like Beetle Bailey (Sons Brian and Greg Walker taking over from father Mort Walker). And sometimes -- as in the case of Peanuts -- the old strip is just rerun.

That was the point of Mark Tatulli's recent sequence with the Rerunuts. And that's definitely the point of this Lio panel (click on image to enlarge).

The Peanuts strip is dead. Yet it keeps walking around the comics page. Which makes it, in my opinion, not a legacy strip, but a zombie strip.

I'm with Tatulli on this one. Every single Peanuts daily sequence is available in multiple book collections. Charles Schultz's creation was brilliant, and it's been preserved. Peanuts won't go away -- really. Can we not get this off the comics page and make way for something new, relevant, innovative and (dare I say it) -- alive?

CCC 066 - James Whitbourn

English composer James Whitbourn is the subject of this week's Consonant Classical Challenge. Whitbourn's music is thoroughly steeped in the English choral tradition, although it's not entirely bound by it. His melodies move smoothly from note to note, supported by triadic harmonies. Passing dissonances resolve in stepwise motion -- a common trait of choral writing since the Renaissance.

But the choices Whitbourn makes about what chords to use and the structure of his compositions are entirely original. Whitbourn writes beautiful, deeply spiritual music that has a decidedly 21st Century flavor to it.

Luminosity showcases Whitbourn's mastery of choral writing. By reinterpreting standard practices, Whitbourn creates a work that's as timeless as a William Byrd mass.


Although most of Whitbourn's catalog involve the human voice, he does write for other forces. The Adagio for String Quartet is one such work. As you can hear, although the texture and timbre are different, this piece has the same warm expressiveness of Luminosity.


The Son of God Mass for choir, organ, and saxophone is Whitbourn's most-performed composition -- and no wonder. The work successfully blends sacred music tradition with fresh harmonic progressions and melodic shapes.


James Whitbourn is one of several contemporary composers creating deeply moving works that professionals (and amateurs) genuinely enjoy to perform, and audiences can respond to. Eric Whitacre (CCC 021) and John Rutter (CCC 022) are two other composers that spring to mind when I think of James Whitbourn. Although perhaps not as well-known as those other two, James Whitbourn's works can be equally rewarding to explore.

Recommended Recordings

Whitbourn: Living Voices; Son of God Mass; Requiem canticorum

James Whitbourn: Luminosity (And Other Works)

James Whitbourn: A Finer Truth

Snapshots: Peter Knell miniatures shine in new collection

Snapshots: Piano Works
Piano works of Peter Knell and Sergei Prokofiev
Markus Pawlik, piano
Sonos Luminus

This recording features two works by Peter Knell, and one by Sergei Prokofiev -- but there's a good reason for its inclusion.

The title work, Snapshots is a set of 22 short vignettes for piano. Each one is a delightful miniature. Knell has arranged them so that they form a logical progression, making Snapshots an enjoyable 20-minute listen.

Prokofiev's Visions fugitives, Op. 27 follows Snapshots on the album. This collection of 20 short piano pieces invites comparison to the miniatures of Knell's work. Prokfiev's forward-looking acerbic writing nicely complements Knell's sometimes backward-looking style, and the two works kind of meet stylistically in the middle.

Knell's Piano Sonata No. 1 rounds out the program. Although a weightier work than Snapshots, it still fits with the other two pieces. This 12-minute sonata comprises of five short movements, all under three minutes in length. This is about the same length as some of the longer sections of Snapshots and Visions fugitives. The sonata moves from one distilled emotion to the next, each movement offering a dramatic contrast to the one before.

Knell's piano writing is idiomatic and sure. Knell incorporates elements of other musical genres (like rock and soul) into his pieces, making them true works of the eclectic 21st century.

Markus Pawlik's technique is flawless. His clean articulation at times makes the music sparkle.

Zia: Del Sol String Quartet - Music of the world

Zia
Del Sol String Quartet
Sonos Luminus

The Zia Indians used a symbol for the sun that had rays going out to the four compass points. Zia gathers together music from the four corners of the globe for a truly international program of contemporary music. 

The album opens with Leyendas (Legends): An Andean Walkabout by Gabriela Lena Frank. The work is series of short sketches based on Chilean native culture. Some references are overt, such as using fourth and fifths in imitation of Andean pipes; while others are quite subtle, such as incorporating the Dies Irae into a movement depicting native professional mourners. Frank's amalgamation of traditional elements with contemporary classical tradition creates a work that sounds simultaneously exotic and familiar.

Harrison's best known for his explorations of non-Western music. His String Quartet Set, though, is based on European classical music, albeit not the kind one might expect. Harrison uses music of a medieval minnesinger, an obscure French baroque composer, and music of the Turkish court. Completed in 1979, the work sounds as fresh and modern as if it had been penned yesterday.

Spanish composer Jose Evangelista weaves 12 Spanish folk songs together in his piece Spanish Garland. This deceptively simple and attractive work presents the source material in a single movement that seamlessly glides from song to song.

Reza Vali's Nayshaborak is part of his "Calligraphy" series. It recasts the musical traditions of Vali's native Iran into Western classical forms. And quite successfully, too. The violins (to my ears) effectively emulate the Persian setar in an entrancing fashion.

Australia-based composer Elena Kats-Chermin's Fast Blue Village 2 is a sophisticated, cosmopolitan sketch of a major city. As the title suggests, there are bluesy bending of notes, coupled with the relentless drive of minimalism. Not that this is minimalist piece. The texture is quite thick and the melody churns and changes continually, capturing the high-energy of a bustling metropolis.

Although the styles on this release are wide-ranging, the Del Sol handles it all with ease. And no wonder. The quartet actively promotes contemporary music that stretches beyond the borders of this country. And they frequently work directly with the composers (as they did with some on this album). With that level of commitment, the results can't be anything other than a great performance. And in this case, a great program, too.

Villa-Lobos: War and Victory Symphonies make a compelling program

Villa-Lobos: Symphony Nos. 3 'War' & 4 'Victory'
Sao Paulo symphony Orchestra
Isaac Karabtchevsky, conductor
Naxos

This is the second installment of Villa-Lobos symphonic cycle by Karabtchevsky and the Sao Paulo Symphony Orchestra. The two symphonies on this release are the surviving parts of a triptych commissioned by the Brazilian government to celebrate the end of the First World War. Symphony No. 3 "War," and Symphony No. 4 "Victory" are on this release. Symphony No. 5 "Peace" is lost.

Completed in 1919, these symphonies play against expectations. First, the works have very little of the folk elements Villa-Lobos scores are known for. Second, although commemorating victory, the symphonies avoid bombastic and heroic gestures. And the results are two compelling and attractive works that deserve a wide audience.

Symphony No. 3 "War" has some bugle calls and an excerpt from La Marseillaise. The latter references the French battlefields where Brazilian troop fought and died. But beyond these elements there's nothing overly militaristic about the work. Instead, Villa-Lobos has written a very somber and understated symphony that captures the mood of a nation that discovered there's nothing glorious about war in the trenches. The programmatic names of the four movements frame the story the music effectively conveys; Life and Labour, Intrigues and Rumors, Suffering, and The Battle.

Symphony No. 4 "Victory" is a big, expansive work that isn't as dark as the third symphony. But this isn't a celebration as much as a reflection on the cost of victory. Villa-Lobos uses the resources of his enlarged orchestra effectively, creating broad thematic gestures that slowly unfold. Symphony No. 4 is more elegiac than triumphant.

The Sao Paulo Symphony Orchestra is well-recorded, and under Isaac Karabtchevsky's direction delivers sympathetic and committed performances. I look forward to the next installment of this cycle.