{"id":151049,"date":"2026-01-10T20:20:36","date_gmt":"2026-01-11T04:20:36","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/ma.tt\/?p=151049"},"modified":"2026-01-11T06:39:42","modified_gmt":"2026-01-11T14:39:42","slug":"classical-accordian","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/ma.tt\/2026\/01\/classical-accordian\/","title":{"rendered":"Classical Accordian"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">So my new obsession is a Ukrainian-born musician, <a href=\"http:\/\/www.hrustevich.com\/en\/\">Alexander Hrustevich<\/a>, who plays a type of chromatic Russian accordion <a href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Bayan_(accordion)\">called a Bayan<\/a>. He plays incredible transcriptions of classical pieces, replicating the parts of an entire orchestra with just two hands. If you&#8217;re familiar with Vivaldi&#8217;s Four Seasons, you know the Presto for Summer is one of the most challenging parts. Listen to this, it&#8217;s just a bit under three minutes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed alignwide is-type-video is-provider-youtube wp-block-embed-youtube wp-embed-aspect-16-9 wp-has-aspect-ratio\"><div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\n<span class=\"embed-youtube\" style=\"text-align:center; display: block;\"><iframe loading=\"lazy\" class=\"youtube-player\" width=\"604\" height=\"340\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/kRWuEnjfYTE?version=3&#038;rel=1&#038;showsearch=0&#038;showinfo=1&#038;iv_load_policy=1&#038;fs=1&#038;hl=en-US&#038;autohide=2&#038;wmode=transparent\" allowfullscreen=\"true\" style=\"border:0;\" sandbox=\"allow-scripts allow-same-origin allow-popups allow-presentation allow-popups-to-escape-sandbox\"><\/iframe><\/span>\n<\/div><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=9SE222v1eyM\">Here&#8217;s the 14 minute version<\/a> which is beautiful to hear the dynamic range that&#8217;s possible. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">I&#8217;ve always loved the sound of a big pipe organ and the resonance and feel of the bayan. It is really quite remarkable, and it&#8217;s been very enjoyable having a playlist of Alexander&#8217;s music in the background as I work. This <a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=jDXkixRjYOg\">Bach-Fantasia and Fugue in G minor BWV 542 is also quite good<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">My 42<sup>nd<\/sup> birthday is tomorrow! Working on a post for y&#8217;all.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>So my new obsession is a Ukrainian-born musician, Alexander Hrustevich, who plays a type of chromatic Russian accordion called a Bayan. He plays incredible transcriptions of classical pieces, replicating the parts of an entire orchestra with just two hands. If you&#8217;re familiar with Vivaldi&#8217;s Four Seasons, you know the Presto for Summer is one of &hellip; <a href=\"https:\/\/ma.tt\/2026\/01\/classical-accordian\/\" class=\"more-link\">Continue reading <span class=\"screen-reader-text\">Classical Accordian<\/span> <span class=\"meta-nav\">&rarr;<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"video","meta":{"_crdt_document":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"fullscreen","default_image_id":54207,"font":"","enabled":true,"token":"eyJpbWciOiJodHRwczpcL1wvbWEudHRcL2ZpbGVzXC8yMDIxXC8wNVwvUGhvdG8tb24tMjAyMC0xMC0yOC1hdC0yLjA1LVBNLTEtMTAyNHg2ODIuanBnIiwidHh0IjoiQ2xhc3NpY2FsIEFjY29yZGlhbiIsInRlbXBsYXRlIjoiZnVsbHNjcmVlbiIsImZvbnQiOiIiLCJibG9nX2lkIjoxMDQ3ODY1fQ.11jM6OZmlWpQZ9OhpCo5FhRSUewCpQ7QE1_bbrxirGcMQ"},"version":2},"_wpas_customize_per_network":false},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-151049","post","type-post","status-publish","format-video","hentry","category-music","post_format-post-format-video"],"parsely":{"version":"1.1.0","canonical_url":"https:\/\/ma.tt\/2026\/01\/classical-accordian\/","smart_links":{"inbound":0,"outbound":0},"traffic_boost_suggestions_count":0,"meta":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","headline":"Classical Accordian","url":"http:\/\/ma.tt\/2026\/01\/classical-accordian\/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"http:\/\/ma.tt\/2026\/01\/classical-accordian\/"},"thumbnailUrl":"","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":""},"articleSection":"Music","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Matt"}],"creator":["Matt"],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Matt Mullenweg","logo":"http:\/\/ma.tt\/files\/2021\/05\/Photo-on-2020-10-28-at-2.05-PM-1.jpg"},"keywords":[],"dateCreated":"2026-01-11T04:20:36Z","datePublished":"2026-01-11T04:20:36Z","dateModified":"2026-01-11T14:39:42Z"},"rendered":"<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"wp-parsely-metadata\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@type\":\"NewsArticle\",\"headline\":\"Classical Accordian\",\"url\":\"http:\\\/\\\/ma.tt\\\/2026\\\/01\\\/classical-accordian\\\/\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"http:\\\/\\\/ma.tt\\\/2026\\\/01\\\/classical-accordian\\\/\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"url\":\"\"},\"articleSection\":\"Music\",\"author\":[{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"name\":\"Matt\"}],\"creator\":[\"Matt\"],\"publisher\":{\"@type\":\"Organization\",\"name\":\"Matt Mullenweg\",\"logo\":\"http:\\\/\\\/ma.tt\\\/files\\\/2021\\\/05\\\/Photo-on-2020-10-28-at-2.05-PM-1.jpg\"},\"keywords\":[],\"dateCreated\":\"2026-01-11T04:20:36Z\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-01-11T04:20:36Z\",\"dateModified\":\"2026-01-11T14:39:42Z\"}<\/script>","tracker_url":"https:\/\/cdn.parsely.com\/keys\/ma.tt\/p.js"},"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p4oB3-Dih","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":207,"url":"https:\/\/ma.tt\/2002\/10\/spaghetti-supper\/","url_meta":{"origin":151049,"position":0},"title":"Spaghetti Supper","author":"Matt","date":"October 1, 2002","format":false,"excerpt":"Every year the High School for the Performing and Visual Arts, where I studied jazz and classical saxophone for four years, puts on a fund-raising extravaganza called the \"Spaghetti Supper.\" It features performances from all of the music groups, from the orchestra to the big band. You can go enjoy\u2026","rel":"","context":"In \"General\"","block_context":{"text":"General","link":"https:\/\/ma.tt\/tag\/general\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":129636,"url":"https:\/\/ma.tt\/2024\/11\/rip-quincy-jones\/","url_meta":{"origin":151049,"position":1},"title":"RIP Quincy Jones","author":"Matt","date":"November 11, 2024","format":false,"excerpt":"Quincy Jones had such an impact on the culture that it's impossible to summarize. His discography is amazing. I feel so lucky to have met him in 2012 when I was much earlier in my career, and he didn't have any reason to give me time, but he treated everyone\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Music&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Music","link":"https:\/\/ma.tt\/category\/music\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/ma.tt\/files\/2012\/09\/MCM_4579.jpg?resize=350%2C200&quality=89&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/ma.tt\/files\/2012\/09\/MCM_4579.jpg?resize=350%2C200&quality=89&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/ma.tt\/files\/2012\/09\/MCM_4579.jpg?resize=525%2C300&quality=89&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/ma.tt\/files\/2012\/09\/MCM_4579.jpg?resize=700%2C400&quality=89&ssl=1 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/ma.tt\/files\/2012\/09\/MCM_4579.jpg?resize=1050%2C600&quality=89&ssl=1 3x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/ma.tt\/files\/2012\/09\/MCM_4579.jpg?resize=1400%2C800&quality=89&ssl=1 4x"},"classes":[]},{"id":2914,"url":"https:\/\/ma.tt\/2007\/04\/pearls-before-breakfast\/","url_meta":{"origin":151049,"position":2},"title":"Pearls Before Breakfast","author":"Matt","date":"April 9, 2007","format":false,"excerpt":"One of the world's best violinists poses as a street musician and plays a 3.5 million dollar violin in a Metro station. What happens? Probably the best article I've ever read from a newspaper. Hat tip: Paul.","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Asides&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Asides","link":"https:\/\/ma.tt\/category\/asides\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":603,"url":"https:\/\/ma.tt\/2003\/04\/next-semester\/","url_meta":{"origin":151049,"position":3},"title":"Next Semester","author":"Matt","date":"April 12, 2003","format":false,"excerpt":"I just finished registering for all my classes and I'm pretty happy with how it's turned out. I don't have an amazing Monday\u2013Thursday schedule like I did this semester, but the classes should be quite good. Here's what I ended up with: 3332: Philosophy of Language 1336: U.S. and Texas\u2026","rel":"","context":"In \"General\"","block_context":{"text":"General","link":"https:\/\/ma.tt\/tag\/general\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":44348,"url":"https:\/\/ma.tt\/2014\/11\/state-of-the-word-qa\/","url_meta":{"origin":151049,"position":4},"title":"State of the Word Q&#038;A","author":"Matt","date":"November 5, 2014","format":"video","excerpt":"In addition to the State of the Word presentation we talked about last week, there was a half hour or so of questions and answers that followed. You can also check it out on WordPress.tv, which now plays everything HD by default.","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Asides&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Asides","link":"https:\/\/ma.tt\/category\/asides\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/videos.files.wordpress.com\/WmCl2kwS\/136_scruberthumbnail_1.jpg?w=350&h=200&crop=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":44088,"url":"https:\/\/ma.tt\/2014\/09\/pound-cakegame\/","url_meta":{"origin":151049,"position":5},"title":"Pound Cake&nbsp;Game","author":"Matt","date":"September 7, 2014","format":"link","excerpt":"I bet you didn't know today that you wanted to play a game with Jay Z's head eating cupcakes while his Pound Cake verse plays in the background, but you do. Use the keyboard instead of mouse and it's way more challenging. (Also worth mentioning Childish Gambino had the best\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Asides&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Asides","link":"https:\/\/ma.tt\/category\/asides\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/ma.tt\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/151049","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/ma.tt\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/ma.tt\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ma.tt\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ma.tt\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=151049"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/ma.tt\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/151049\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":151052,"href":"https:\/\/ma.tt\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/151049\/revisions\/151052"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/ma.tt\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=151049"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ma.tt\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=151049"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ma.tt\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=151049"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}