For those of you in Maine this weekend, here's a heads-up about a wonderful chance to hear one of the string quartets of world renowned Australian composer Peter Sculthorpe, who turned 81 this past April. Maine's DaPonte String Quartet will be performing Sculthorpe's String Quartet No. 8 (1969), along with quartets by Haydn and Beethoven at the Second Congregational Church, Newcastle (Friday, Dec 3, 7:30 pm), St. Mary's Church, Falmouth (Saturday, Dec 4, 7:30 pm), and the United Methodist Church, Brunswick (Sunday, Dec 5, 3:00 pm). For more information, check out the DSQ website . And for more information on Peter Sculthorpe, head over to the Pytheas Center's Peter Sculthorpe Composer Page.

Although it is one of the most significant concertante works for cello and orchestra to have appeared during the second part of the 20th century, the words "cello concerto" do not appear anywhere on the score of Tout un monde lointain ... (A whole remote world ...), a work composed in 1970 by French composer Henri Dutilleux. The title of the work is taken from Baudelaire's poem La chevelure, from which the individual titles of the five movements are also taken. These (Enigma, Gaze, Surges, Mirrors, and Hymn) suggest something of the atmosphere of the whole, but are not to be interpreted too literally. Structurally, the work is extremely complex. The opening movement sets out a basic dialogue between solo cello and orchestra, wide-ranging in tempo and registral effects, but with no sense of resolution between the protagonists. The music is cast as a set of variations on the 12-note theme heard at the outset and cross-referenced in each of the successive movements. The second and fourth sections are slow moving, while the third has the function of a scherzo, with solo writing of enormous technical difficulty. The final movement (Hymn) is in the form of a vibrant Allegro, though the enigmatic overall feel of the work is still evident here (- from the All Music Guide). Watch a fabulous performance of Dutilleux's "Tout un monde lointain . . ." by cellist Xavier Phillips and Orchestre de la Suisse Romande, conducted by Marek Janowski . . . one of this week's FEATURED NEW MUSIC VIDEOS.

Voices from the Archives is a BBC website providing free access to audio interviews with authors, artists, actors, architects, broadcasters, cartoonists, composers, dancers, filmmakers, musicians, painters, philosophers, photographers, playwrights, poets, political activists, religious thinkers, scientists, sculptors, sports, writers. Among the composer interviews available in the BBC Audio Archive are ones with Elizabeth Maconchy, André Previn, Michael Tippett, Ralph Vaughan Williams and Aaron Copland. This week to Aaron Copland talk about his life and music, all thanks to BBC Four . . . and our COMPOSER PORTRAIT for the week.

Violinist Hilary Hahn and composer Jennifer Higdon shared a love of 20th century music history when Higdon was Hahn's professor at the Curtis Institute of Music in Philadelphia. "Good teaching is actually a partnership," Hahn says. Flash forward 15 years, and this student-teacher relationship has been transformed into a partnership with colleagues at the top of their field. Higdon won the 2010 Pulitzer Prize in Music for a concerto she composed especially for Hahn, who has released 11 solo albums and played more than 1,300 concerts the world over. Jeffrey Brown talked with the women at the Curtis Institute of Music recently about their collaboration and the process behind it. See the full interview with Higdon, Hahn and The PBS NewsHour's Jeffery Brown . . . our FEATURED THOUGHT this week.

David Patrick Stearns of the Philadelphia Inquirer called Kile Smith’s Vespers "breathtaking" and "ecstatically beautiful," adding that "few have Smith’s lyrical immediacy and ability to find great musical variety while maintaining an overall coherent personality." Kile Smith’s frequently performed music has been praised by audiences and critics for its emotional power, direct appeal, and strong voice. Listen to his As Kingfishers Catch Fire (2000) from the collection Poems of Gerard Manley Hopkins . . . this week's FROM THE PYTHEAS ARCHIVES.

Explore, Listen and Enjoy!
Vinny Fuerst
Pytheas Center for Contemporary Music