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Acquisition Highlights

CD: Te Deum, Arvo Pärt
Performed by: The Tallinn Chamber Orchestra,
The Estonian Philharmonic Chamber Choir, dir: Tönu Kaljuste
ECM 1993

Arvo Pärt is the Estonian composer famous for his devotion to minimalism and vocal music evocative of monastic chant with modern orchestration, often colored with cinematic drama. Pärt’s sacred music is delivered up to the heavens in deep and resounding prayer. The choir is captured within the rich and warm walls of the Lohjan Kirkko Church, the third biggest medieval stone church in Finland. There is strong continuity in the selection of this recording of Pärt’s sacred music in that the entire disc flows from start to finish with stirring devotion.

The title work, “Te Deum (1986)” is an early Christian hymn of praise whose text here is realized by 2 choruses. The piece is built on the Pärt “tintinnabulary” style, known for how the music almost always gives the listener a constant tonic from which to build melodies and explore in depth the relationships and emotional possibility inherent in the diatonic structures of music such as major and minor tonalities. This piece is performed in just under 30 minutes, but may elicit a sense of timelessness upon the listener because of the constant appearance of the tonic and endless floating variations of melody that swirl effortlessly between strings, prepared piano and choirs. The listener will experience sudden swells and bursts of tension and euphoria expressing the drama and deep sentiments in the prayer of Pärt’s work.

This recording is a wonderful place to start on the way to knowing Arvo Pärt’s music. P25.61 te

DVD: Lullaby of Harlem, Koch Entertainment

Lullaby of Harlem is one of the treasured collections of jazz shorts. Specifically, the one-hour musical special takes you on a trip through the hottest clubs in Harlem circa the late 1930’s. Be forewarned, some of the footage appears to be more Hollywood than Harlem, BUT all of it is priceless.

You will no doubt be blown away by Whitey’s Lindy Hoppers jiving, wailing, defying gravity – all amidst the backdrop of Duke Ellington’s Orchestra circa 1940. Big Ben Webster and Snookie Young take flight on this swingin’ number.

This video also includes great vocal performances. Two vocal groups in particular, the Delta Rhythm Boys and the Mills Brothers exhibit a side of jazz not commonly revisited. The Delta Rhythm Boys have a tightly polished scat and harmony with a touch of choreography on two numbers – Ellington’s “Take the ‘A’ Train” and “Undecided.” The Mills Brothers sing “Up the Lazy River” in a Southern country jazz style.

Then there’s America’s number one song stylist, Billie Holiday singing “God Bless the Child” with Count Basie’s men. You cannot have only the divine without the ridiculous. That’s where Fats Waller and the great Louie Armstrong fit in. Another Louis…. Louis Jordon and his Tympani 5 also have a chance to act a fool with they’re hit “Let the Good Times Roll.”

Cab Calloway and the boys romp through “Hi De Ho” and Nat King Cole’s Trio plays a sweet rendition of “Errand Boy of Rhythm.” Billy Eckstine sings, Dizzy Gillespie’s Band Beeps and Bops while Ray Brown plays “the dog house.” William “Count” Basie and the Kansas City 7 play their signature feel good music.

If you want to revisit the good looks and sounds of these artists at the height of their craft, this collection is a winner. DVD – 532

Book: [Situational] Public> Público [situacional]– various authors, artists, photographers

Insite_05 is a powerhouse of San Diego/Tijuana performance art and an umbrella for one of the most exciting art scenes on the planet… ever. Am I over exaggerating? Not really. The artists and organizations involved with this movement of what may be called, “border art,” fully realize the need for this artist-dialogue in the form of public performances and installations. Although it is hard to wrap one's head around the vastness of this art movement, the book that accompanies the Insite_05 projects entitled [Situational] Public> Público [situacional] does an excellent job of opening the doors to newcomers, and delivering documentation and recognition of this organization's work.

The book is written in English with some translation in Spanish, and filled with glossy photography capturing the exhibitions. In its pages is the work of 35 performance artists/groups. The emblem of this book is the human cannonball shot over the border wall against the backdrop of the Pacific Ocean as spectators and border patrol stand by. As with the human cannonball the work is daring, thought provoking and not pretentious. Though this book is a representation of the live performances, the book is an essential product of the collective vision.

If Tijuana/San Diego border art interests you, this book is an essential documentation of just that. If you want to get acquainted with some art that will no doubt be ear marked in history as meaningful and necessary, this book is, again, worth a look. 709.2 I59 2005

Book: Museums for a New Millennium: Concepts, Projects, Buildings - various authors, photographers, illustrators * Gift of Nora Sargent

Interested in learning about the museum boom of our time? Sure, you have seen the Getty and the San Diego Museum of Contemporary Art, but would you like to get acquainted with more fine museums around the world? Published in 1999 by Prestel Publishing, Museums for a New Millennium: Concepts, Projects, Buildings is a survey through 26 marvels of museum buildings and projects of the 1990's. With almost 500 stunning color and black white images, this book does indeed reflect the highest quality museum projects of that decade. Each museum's story and design is discussed, explored and depicted through essays, photography, plans and sketches. Some of the architects and projects are:

Robert Venturi, Denise Scott Brown, Museum of Contemporary Art, San Diego
Rem Koolhaas, ZKM, Zentrum für Kunst und Medientechnologie, Karlsruhe
Ricardo Legorreta, MARCO, Museo de Arte Contemporaneo, Monterrey
Daniel Libeskind, Jüdisches Museum, Berlin
Frank O. Gehry, Guggenheim Museum, Bilbao
Renzo Piano, Fondation Beyeler, Riehen/Basel
Jacques Herzog & Pierre de Meuron, Tate Modern, London
Santiago Calatrava, Milwaukee Art Museum
Zaha Hadid, The Contemporary Arts Center, Cincinnati

An exhibit first curated by Suzanne Greub at the Arts Centre Basel, Switzerland, the book is a product as well as a springboard for scholars, writers, photographers, and lovers of top quality museum architecture to bask in this impressive collection of museums built in our time. This book was published alongside the early form of the exhibit and is a wonderful snapshot in important architecture for the architecture or museum enthusiast to enjoy.

According to Vitorio Magnago Lampugnani, author of the preface, the museum buildings "become seismographs of architectural culture." The readings on these seismographs are indeed off the charts. 727 .7 M986

All works reviewed by Nick Carvajal

Additions to the Collection

Art books
Baroque: architecture, sculpture, painting, Gift of Victor Torrente
La ciudad de Mexico, Gift of Victor Torrente
Dynasties: painting in Tudor and Jacobean England, Gift of Victor Torrente
The Parthenon and its impact in modern times, Gift of Victor Torrente
Richard Allen Morris: retrospective 1958-2004
The Thyssen-Bornemisza collection, Gift of Victor Torrente
Treasures of the Tsar, Gift of Victor Torrente
The triumph of painting: the Saatchi Gallery
Venice: art & architecture, Gift of Victor Torrente
La mini-Maria II, Miguel Berrocal
Marlene Dumas, Dominic van den Boogerd
Edward Borein, cowboy artist: the life and works of John Edward Borein, 1872-1945, Harold G. Davidson
Art nouveau, Gabriele Fahr-Becker, Gift of Victor Torrente
St. Petersburg: the hidden interiors, Katya Galitzine, Gift of Victor Torrente
Christian Berard, Boris Kochno
Contents under pressure, Fred Laughter
Blackfeet Indians, Frank Bird Linderman
Bernini and the art of architecture, Tod A. Marder, Gift of Victor Torrente
The French chateau: life, style, tradition, Christiane de Nicolay-Mazery, Gift of Victor Torrente
Fontainebleau, Jean-Marie Perouse de Montclos, Gift of Victor Torrente
Staffordshire portrait figures and allied subjects of the Victorian era, P.D. Gordon Pugh, Gift of Victor Torrente
Royal landscape: the gardens and parks of Windsor, Jane Roberts, Gift of Victor Torrente
Orangeries: palaces of glass: their history and development, Sylvia Saudan-Skira, Gift of Victor Torrente
The royal palaces of Tudor England, architecture and court life, 1460-1547, Simon Thurley, Gift of Victor Torrente
Biedermeier, Angus Wilkie, Gift of Victor Torrente

Artists’ books
Concert: Gustavo Romero Schubert Festival, Joyce Cutler Shaw, Gift of Joyce Cutler Shaw
Incantations by Mayan women, Ambar Past, Gift of Jim & Lois Lasry
Business cards, Edward Ruscha
Aliens and kitties, Bill Scanga, Gift of Stephanie Scanga
Kitties and aliens, Bill Scanga, Gift of Stephanie Scanga
The Lifehouse Method, Alex Templeton

Music books
Dizzy: John Birks Gillespie in his 75th year, Gift of Brian Takagi
From swing to soul: an illustrated history of African American popular music from 1930 to 1960, William Barlow, Gift of Brian Takagi
Blues legacies and Black feminism: Gertrude "Ma" Rainey, Bessie Smith, and Billie Holiday, Angela Y. Davis
The Rolling Stones album: thirty years of music and memorabilia, Geoffrey Giuliano, Gift of Brian Takagi
Red, hot & blue: a Smithsonian salute to the American musical, Amy Henderson, Gift of Victor Torrente
Johnny Dodds, G.E. Lambert, Gift of Brian Takagi
Oscar Peterson: the will to swing, Gene Lees, Gift of Brian Takagi
Heart & soul: a celebration of Black music style in America, 1930-1975, Bob Merlis, Gift of Brian Takagi
Ella Fitzgerald: a biography of the first lady of jazz, Stuart Nicholson, Gift of Brian Takagi
The blues: from Robert Johnson to Robert Cray, Tony Russell, Gift of Brian Takagi
The Beatles forever, Nicholas Schaffner, Gift of Brian Takagi

Music scores
Bessie Smith Songbook
Trios für Pianoforte, Violine und Violoncello op. 49 u. 66, Felix Mendelssohn, Gift of Vivian de Marco

Young People's books
Ella Fitzgerald: jazz singer supreme, Carolyn Wyman, Gift of Brian Takagi