"Across his diverse and successful career, Jacques Ibert kept his distance from the many "isms" of the twentieth century, insisting that "all systems are valid, provided one derives music from them." His Flute Concerto, written for Marcel Moyse and premiered in 1934, is one of the classics of its genre, and in it Ibert demonstrates that his idea of "music" is not as easily "derived" as he seems to suggest. The work is a masterful blend of the new and old, exploring the full range of flute technique without indulging in virtuosity for its own sake. Ibert also takes advantage of new compositional possibilities and his exquisite sense for orchestral color, but, again, without indulging in excess, exercising a typically French restraint within delicately balanced forms and textures. Throughout, Ibert creates a nuanced balance between orchestral and virtuosic brilliance." [Raymond Knapp/Santa Monica Symphony] Watch a performance of the final movement of Ibert's Flute Concerto (1934) performed by flutist Jiro Yoshioka . . . one of this week's FEATURED NEW MUSIC VIDEOS.
According to clarinetist/composer Kinan Azmeh, "The current unrest in the seat of the world’s oldest civilization inspired us to explore the most ancient epic we have in writing today. The Epic of Gilgamesh is a lush story, rich in meaning, in romance, and in humor. Visual artist Kevork Mourad and I have chosen to explore this epic through the art forms of music and painting, using them in tandem as vehicles for story telling. With original composition on the clarinet, (with the use of Max/Msp software as a compositional extension,) inspiring and working off the visual artist’s projected illustration, the world’s oldest known epic will be brought to life in the present: through new musical forms and means, and through a new form of visual art exploring the permanence of lines on paper in the impermanence of projection". Watch an excerpt from The Gilgamesh Project (2006) . . . the second one of this week's FEATURED NEW MUSIC VIDEOS.
This week the music of Marilyn Shrude, William Albright and Burton Beerman is presented in our FEATURED RECORDING Shadows and Dawning (Albany Records 526). Fanfare Magazine writes, "The disc turns out to be a quite a winner ... with the Beerman work followed by two saxophone pieces by Marilyn Shrude. Her Shadows and Dawning (1982) for saxophone and piano is a one-movement chamber poem depicting the gradual transformation of nature's darkness into light - nighttime to dawning. Moods of mystery and modernistic performance techniques are used: multiphonics, timbral trills, and the like. Eventually the piano begins passagework reminiscent of shimmering - the first traces of light are apparent; the saxophone trills excitedly and the picture is complete". Read more about this disc and hear excerpts from it . . . it's this week's FEATURED RECORDING.
Maurice Ravel saw his Piano Concerto in G (1931) as being in the spirit of Mozart and Saint-Saëns, light and brilliant, in contrast to those heavier classical concerti which he felt were written "against" rather than "for" the piano. Ravel wrote, "The music of a concerto, in my opinion, should be light and bright and does not seek depth or dramatic effects". Watch a beautiful performance of the first movement of Ravel's Piano Concerto in G performed by pianist Martha Argerich . . . this week's FROM THE PYTHEAS ARCHIVES.
Explore, Listen and Enjoy!
Vinny Fuerst
Pytheas Center for Contemporary Music
Wednesday, July 14, 2010
Tuesday, July 6, 2010
Delia Derbyshire was a music-maker ahead of her time. She went to Cambridge, getting degrees in both Mathematics and Music. After being turned down for a position at Decca Records because they did not employ women in their recording studios, she eventually landed a position at another studio in London — Boosey & Hawkes music publishers. Derbyshire's move in 1960 to the BBC as a trainee studio manager signaled the beginning of a fruitful partnership with the organization. It was at the BBC that she was given the space and freedom she needed to experiment with sound — creating moods and soundscapes through strictly electronic means. It wasn't long before she'd recorded Ron Grainer's famous theme to the BBC series Doctor Who. On first hearing Derbyshire's version Grainer was tickled pink: "Did I really write this?" he asked. "Most of it," replied Derbyshire. So began, what some call, the "Golden Age" of the BBC's Radiophonic Workshop. A complete list of Derbyshire's works has yet to be compiled, but among other things she managed to do were: Special works and soundtracks for the Brighton Festival and the City of London Festival; Yoko Ono's "Wrapping Event" of the lions at Trafalgar Square; music for the award winning film Circle of Light, and Peter Hall's film Work is a 4 Letter Word; the White Noise LP An Electric Storm; and special sound and music for plays at the RSC Stratford, Greenwich Theatre, Hampstead Theatre and the Chalk Farm Roundhouse. Late in the 1970s, Derbyshire backed away from electronic music after feeling disillusioned at the direction it was heading in. It wasn't until the mid 1990s that she noticed a change in the genre and joined back in. Shortly before she died in 2001, she wrote: "Working with people like Sonic Boom on pure electronic music has re-invigorated me. He is from a later generation but has always had an affinity with the music of the 60s. One of our first points of contact — the visionary work of Peter Zinovieff, has touched us both, and has been an inspiration. Now without the constraints of doing "applied music", my mind can fly free and pick-up where I left off". Hear Derbyshire's Sea, from "Four Inventions for Radio" (1964), a work she made in collaboration with poet and dramatist Barry Bermange . . . one of this week's FEATURED NEW MUSIC VIDEOS.
Joan Tower is one of the most prominent American composers to emerge in the latter part of the twentieth century. She initially made her mark as a pianist, but began composing in the 1960s. In 1969 she helped found the New York-based Da Capo Chamber Players and served as the group's pianist. Tower wrote a number of successful works for the Da Capo Players over the years, and the group received several awards, including a 1973 Naumberg Award. From 1985-88 she was composer-in-residence with St. Louis Symphony Orchestra. Beginning with the 1999-2000 season, Tower launched a three-year stint as composer-in-residence with the Orchestra of St. Luke's. In 2005 she accepted a commission for a work, Made in America, to be played by 65 community orchestras spread across all 50 American states. The piece was played by all the orchestras in their 2005-2006 seasons, and its recording by Leonard Slatkin and the Nashville Symphony won three 2008 Grammy awards, in the fields of Best Classical Album, Best Orchestral Performance, and Best Classical Contemporary Composition. Her early music incorporated serial techniques, but in the 1970s, she turned to a more approachable style, writing works with more lyrical melodies, powerful rhythmic drive, and masterfully conceived instrumentation; the rhythmic character of her 1993 ballet Stepping Stones has been compared to that of Stravinsky's Rite of Spring. In 1990 she became the first woman to win the highly prestigious Grawemeyer Prize. Hear Joan Tower talk about her life and music . . . our Pytheas COMPOSER PORTRAIT this week.
According to Graham Greene, Jean-Luc Godard's short film Je Vous Salue, Sarajevo (Hail, Sarajevo) (1993) is "a two-minute rumination on the once volatile situation during the period of the Bosnian War, presented in the form of a photo-montage with accompanying text. In the film, Godard takes a single photograph and shows us a series of close-up segments that conspire to abstract the overall meaning of the picture, turning the individual elements into mere symbols that are there to be deciphered". Adding to the impact of the film is the music of Arvo Pärt. Watch Je Vous Salue, Sarajevo . . . this week's PYTHEAS SIGHTING.
Elliott Carter writes about his Cello Sonata from 1948 . . . "The Cello Sonata was extremely modern at that time. I could not get it published. And cellist Bernard Greenhouse and his pianist played the first performance at Town Hall, and they were covered with sweat. It was so upsetting and so disturbing — we had hardly anybody in the audience. If they heard what I write now, they would run out of the hall screaming, I suppose." Watch a performance of the 4th movement of Carter's Cello Sonata . . . this week's FROM THE PYTHEAS ARCHIVES.
Explore, Listen and Enjoy!
Vinny Fuerst
Pytheas Center for Contemporary Music
Joan Tower is one of the most prominent American composers to emerge in the latter part of the twentieth century. She initially made her mark as a pianist, but began composing in the 1960s. In 1969 she helped found the New York-based Da Capo Chamber Players and served as the group's pianist. Tower wrote a number of successful works for the Da Capo Players over the years, and the group received several awards, including a 1973 Naumberg Award. From 1985-88 she was composer-in-residence with St. Louis Symphony Orchestra. Beginning with the 1999-2000 season, Tower launched a three-year stint as composer-in-residence with the Orchestra of St. Luke's. In 2005 she accepted a commission for a work, Made in America, to be played by 65 community orchestras spread across all 50 American states. The piece was played by all the orchestras in their 2005-2006 seasons, and its recording by Leonard Slatkin and the Nashville Symphony won three 2008 Grammy awards, in the fields of Best Classical Album, Best Orchestral Performance, and Best Classical Contemporary Composition. Her early music incorporated serial techniques, but in the 1970s, she turned to a more approachable style, writing works with more lyrical melodies, powerful rhythmic drive, and masterfully conceived instrumentation; the rhythmic character of her 1993 ballet Stepping Stones has been compared to that of Stravinsky's Rite of Spring. In 1990 she became the first woman to win the highly prestigious Grawemeyer Prize. Hear Joan Tower talk about her life and music . . . our Pytheas COMPOSER PORTRAIT this week.
According to Graham Greene, Jean-Luc Godard's short film Je Vous Salue, Sarajevo (Hail, Sarajevo) (1993) is "a two-minute rumination on the once volatile situation during the period of the Bosnian War, presented in the form of a photo-montage with accompanying text. In the film, Godard takes a single photograph and shows us a series of close-up segments that conspire to abstract the overall meaning of the picture, turning the individual elements into mere symbols that are there to be deciphered". Adding to the impact of the film is the music of Arvo Pärt. Watch Je Vous Salue, Sarajevo . . . this week's PYTHEAS SIGHTING.
Elliott Carter writes about his Cello Sonata from 1948 . . . "The Cello Sonata was extremely modern at that time. I could not get it published. And cellist Bernard Greenhouse and his pianist played the first performance at Town Hall, and they were covered with sweat. It was so upsetting and so disturbing — we had hardly anybody in the audience. If they heard what I write now, they would run out of the hall screaming, I suppose." Watch a performance of the 4th movement of Carter's Cello Sonata . . . this week's FROM THE PYTHEAS ARCHIVES.
Explore, Listen and Enjoy!
Vinny Fuerst
Pytheas Center for Contemporary Music
Friday, July 2, 2010
The All Music Guide writes about Ástor Piazzolla's 6 Études tanguistiques . . . "These six tango etudes are a highly original blending of the classical concert etude and Piazzolla's "new tango" music. They present the player with technical challenges pertaining to given aspect of flute playing, yet are effective concert works. Although the tango rhythm is never very far away in this set, much of the interest of the music lies in how Piazzolla finds new textures and playing techniques for the solo flute. They were composed in 1987 and belong to a group of works from Piazzolla's later career in which he returned to "classical" specification of the musical moment while by no means abandoning his connection to the tango". Watch a performance of Tango Etudes 1 & 3 by flutist Claudio Barile . . . one of this week's FEATURED NEW MUSIC VIDEOS.
Bohuslav Martinů managed to become not only the greatest Czech composer of his generation, but a major international figure, known especially for his concerti and chamber music. The rhythmic vitality and pronounced lyricism of his music recall the styles of both Dvorak and Stravinsky. Martinů began as a follower of Debussy, but after moving to Paris he became part of the avant-garde there. He experimented with jazz, a Bartok-like rhapsodic style, and neoclassic fun-and-games in the manner of Les Six. He came increasingly under the influence of Stravinsky, but unlike many others, moved more and more towards his Czech roots and folk influences via a neoclassic musical view. During World War II, Martinů fled to the United States, and thereafter, his work opened up emotionally, without losing its considerable craft. He became a major 20th-century symphonist, writing six symphonies, as well as contributing major vocal works for the operatic stage, and cantatas for chorus and orchestra. Hear him talk about his life and his music . . . our Pytheas COMPOSER PORTRAIT.
New Adventures in Sound Art (NAISA) is a non-profit organization, based in Toronto, that produces performances and installations spanning the entire spectrum of electroacoustic and experimental sound art. Included in its productions are: Deep Wireless, Sound Travels, Arts Birthday and SOUNDplay. The objectives of New Adventures in Sound Art are to foster awareness and understanding locally, as well as nationally and internationally, in the cultural vitality of experimental sound art in its myriad forms of expression. This objective is achieved through the exploration of new sound technologies in conjunction with the creation of cultural events and artifacts. Check them out! They're this week's FEATURED NEW MUSIC WEBSITE.
Bohuslav Martinů managed to become not only the greatest Czech composer of his generation, but a major international figure, known especially for his concerti and chamber music. The rhythmic vitality and pronounced lyricism of his music recall the styles of both Dvorak and Stravinsky. Martinů began as a follower of Debussy, but after moving to Paris he became part of the avant-garde there. He experimented with jazz, a Bartok-like rhapsodic style, and neoclassic fun-and-games in the manner of Les Six. He came increasingly under the influence of Stravinsky, but unlike many others, moved more and more towards his Czech roots and folk influences via a neoclassic musical view. During World War II, Martinů fled to the United States, and thereafter, his work opened up emotionally, without losing its considerable craft. He became a major 20th-century symphonist, writing six symphonies, as well as contributing major vocal works for the operatic stage, and cantatas for chorus and orchestra. Hear him talk about his life and his music . . . our Pytheas COMPOSER PORTRAIT.
New Adventures in Sound Art (NAISA) is a non-profit organization, based in Toronto, that produces performances and installations spanning the entire spectrum of electroacoustic and experimental sound art. Included in its productions are: Deep Wireless, Sound Travels, Arts Birthday and SOUNDplay. The objectives of New Adventures in Sound Art are to foster awareness and understanding locally, as well as nationally and internationally, in the cultural vitality of experimental sound art in its myriad forms of expression. This objective is achieved through the exploration of new sound technologies in conjunction with the creation of cultural events and artifacts. Check them out! They're this week's FEATURED NEW MUSIC WEBSITE.
Wednesday, June 30, 2010
Luciano Berio's work is characterized above all by his love of the theatrical, his fascination with the voice, and his constant willingness to engage with music of the past as well as of the present. Drawing on a range of influences that reaches from the poetry of Dante to the politics of Martin Luther King, and from the operas of Monteverdi to the sounds of modern jazz, his output has embraced all the major musical developments of its time, including electronic music, music theatre, and works using quotation and collage - hence one critic's description of him as an "omnivore". (The Rough Guide to Classical Music). See an example of Berio's omnivorous theatrical output in La vera storia (1981), prima parte . . . one of this week's FEATURED NEW MUSIC VIDEOS.
According to John Murphy at Bardolatry, "Harold Bloom called Macbeth Shakespeare’s most “expressionistic” play. It is only appropriate, then, that America’s most Expressionistic filmmaker, Orson Welles, settled on “The Scottish Play” as his first foray into Bard adaptation. Macbeth (1948) was an appropriate choice for the auteur, considering some kind of curse had apparently befallen the once wined-and-dined star of theatre, radio, and film. The film was produced on the relative cheap (about $500,000), filmed at a breakneck pace (about twenty days), and the result is a haggard, stylized tone poem. This is Shakespeare as lurid film noir. The messy quality somehow makes it more compelling, mostly because Welles’ unsurpassed visual imagination compensates for the low-end production values. See Welles' messy yet brilliant vision - with music by Jacques Ibert . . . it's this week's PYTHEAS SIGHTING.
Jacques Hétu's work, said the conductor Jacques Lacombe, "always bears a very personal signature". Singling out "his lyricism, his harmonic language, his sense of structure, the clarity of his orchestration", Lacombe describes Hétu as "a real musician who knew how to write for musicians, without laying traps for them – not that his music doesn't present challenges or difficulties for its performers. But ... he always wrote well for the orchestra and that is doubtless one of the reasons that orchestral musicians take so much pleasure in playing his music and that he is one of the Québecois and Canadian musicians most performed both at home and internationally." Hear a performance of Hétu's final work, the Symphony No. 5, "Liberté" (2009) . . . one of our PYTHEAS EARFULS.
"Gwyneth Walker work is characterized by a tremendous energy and a strong sense of humor. Even in her most calm and serene pieces, there is a constant undercurrent of energy -- a lifeblood that ties the music together. Many personal stylistic traits appear throughout her work including elements that have often been classified as characteristic of "American music" (including the strong rhythmic sense, open sonorities, and influences of rock, jazz, blues, and American folk music). She is strongly in the American tradition of composers such as Aaron Copland and Leonard Bernstein -- but is a slave to no compositional school or prescribed style. Her music is recognizably her own and thoroughly original" (Carson P. Cooman). Watch a performance of Walker's Don't Step On My Toes (1993) . . . this week's FROM THE PYTHEAS ARCHIVES.
According to John Murphy at Bardolatry, "Harold Bloom called Macbeth Shakespeare’s most “expressionistic” play. It is only appropriate, then, that America’s most Expressionistic filmmaker, Orson Welles, settled on “The Scottish Play” as his first foray into Bard adaptation. Macbeth (1948) was an appropriate choice for the auteur, considering some kind of curse had apparently befallen the once wined-and-dined star of theatre, radio, and film. The film was produced on the relative cheap (about $500,000), filmed at a breakneck pace (about twenty days), and the result is a haggard, stylized tone poem. This is Shakespeare as lurid film noir. The messy quality somehow makes it more compelling, mostly because Welles’ unsurpassed visual imagination compensates for the low-end production values. See Welles' messy yet brilliant vision - with music by Jacques Ibert . . . it's this week's PYTHEAS SIGHTING.
Jacques Hétu's work, said the conductor Jacques Lacombe, "always bears a very personal signature". Singling out "his lyricism, his harmonic language, his sense of structure, the clarity of his orchestration", Lacombe describes Hétu as "a real musician who knew how to write for musicians, without laying traps for them – not that his music doesn't present challenges or difficulties for its performers. But ... he always wrote well for the orchestra and that is doubtless one of the reasons that orchestral musicians take so much pleasure in playing his music and that he is one of the Québecois and Canadian musicians most performed both at home and internationally." Hear a performance of Hétu's final work, the Symphony No. 5, "Liberté" (2009) . . . one of our PYTHEAS EARFULS.
"Gwyneth Walker work is characterized by a tremendous energy and a strong sense of humor. Even in her most calm and serene pieces, there is a constant undercurrent of energy -- a lifeblood that ties the music together. Many personal stylistic traits appear throughout her work including elements that have often been classified as characteristic of "American music" (including the strong rhythmic sense, open sonorities, and influences of rock, jazz, blues, and American folk music). She is strongly in the American tradition of composers such as Aaron Copland and Leonard Bernstein -- but is a slave to no compositional school or prescribed style. Her music is recognizably her own and thoroughly original" (Carson P. Cooman). Watch a performance of Walker's Don't Step On My Toes (1993) . . . this week's FROM THE PYTHEAS ARCHIVES.
Thursday, June 24, 2010
Heralded as “A Composer to Watch” by the New York Times, Kenji Bunch has quickly emerged as one of the most prominent American composers of his generation, appealing to audiences and performers alike with a distinctive, vibrant voice in contemporary American music. As one of only three composers selected nationwide to inaugurate the Meet the Composer Magnum Opus Project, Bunch wrote his Symphony No. 1: Lichtenstein Triptych (2004), which was premiered to critical acclaim by the Bay area symphonies of Santa Rosa, Marin, and Oakland. Watch a performance of Kenji Bunch's Suite for Viola and Piano (1999) performed by violist Barbara Sudweeks and pianist Steve Harlos . . . one of this week's FEATURED NEW MUSIC.
Virgil Thomson was the original multi-faceted elder statesman of American composers, as well as an esteemed music critic. He was particularly famous for his two operas in collaboration with Gertrude Stein, Four Saints in Three Acts (1928) and its sequel, The Mother of Us All (1947), about Susan B. Anthony, which together became a landmark of American musical theater. He was also among the first major American composers to write music for films. Among his most famous scores are the Louisiana Story (1948), for which he won the Pulitzer Prize, and The Plough That Broke the Plains (1936). He also presided over the American musical scene from 1940 to 1954 as the insightful, uninhibited music critic for the New York Herald Tribune. This week at Pytheas we feature Virgil Thomson in two areas. Listen to him discuss his life and music in a fascinating interview with Charles Amirkhanian - our Pytheas COMPOSER PORTRAIT. Then, read about and listen to excerpts from the Albany Records disc Heaven Is Music, featuring choral works by Virgil Thomson - this week's FEATURED RECORDING.
Tilo Medek was born into a family of musicians and grew up in Thuringia, a region of central Germany with a rich musical culture. He studied violin and piano from the age of ten and had an early exposure to contemporary music when he attended the Darmstadt summer school in 1957, participating in classes given by Karlheinz Stockhausen and Luigi Nono among others. Medek’s output encompasses works of almost every genre. His interest in the voice is reflected in a wide range of choral music and song cycles, while his instrumental works stretch from solo and chamber pieces to concertos for almost all of the standard concert instruments as well as more unusual offerings such as timpani and marimba, in addition to over thirty orchestral pieces and three ballets. Watch a performance of Medek's Abfahrt einer Dampflokomotive (Departure of a Steam Locomotive) by the Blow Up Flute Ensemble . . . this week's FROM THE PYTHEAS ARCHIVES.
Explore, Listen and Enjoy!
Vinny Fuerst
Pytheas Center for Contemporary Music
Virgil Thomson was the original multi-faceted elder statesman of American composers, as well as an esteemed music critic. He was particularly famous for his two operas in collaboration with Gertrude Stein, Four Saints in Three Acts (1928) and its sequel, The Mother of Us All (1947), about Susan B. Anthony, which together became a landmark of American musical theater. He was also among the first major American composers to write music for films. Among his most famous scores are the Louisiana Story (1948), for which he won the Pulitzer Prize, and The Plough That Broke the Plains (1936). He also presided over the American musical scene from 1940 to 1954 as the insightful, uninhibited music critic for the New York Herald Tribune. This week at Pytheas we feature Virgil Thomson in two areas. Listen to him discuss his life and music in a fascinating interview with Charles Amirkhanian - our Pytheas COMPOSER PORTRAIT. Then, read about and listen to excerpts from the Albany Records disc Heaven Is Music, featuring choral works by Virgil Thomson - this week's FEATURED RECORDING.
Tilo Medek was born into a family of musicians and grew up in Thuringia, a region of central Germany with a rich musical culture. He studied violin and piano from the age of ten and had an early exposure to contemporary music when he attended the Darmstadt summer school in 1957, participating in classes given by Karlheinz Stockhausen and Luigi Nono among others. Medek’s output encompasses works of almost every genre. His interest in the voice is reflected in a wide range of choral music and song cycles, while his instrumental works stretch from solo and chamber pieces to concertos for almost all of the standard concert instruments as well as more unusual offerings such as timpani and marimba, in addition to over thirty orchestral pieces and three ballets. Watch a performance of Medek's Abfahrt einer Dampflokomotive (Departure of a Steam Locomotive) by the Blow Up Flute Ensemble . . . this week's FROM THE PYTHEAS ARCHIVES.
Explore, Listen and Enjoy!
Vinny Fuerst
Pytheas Center for Contemporary Music
Tuesday, June 8, 2010
Michael Nyman's score for the Peter Greenaway film Drowning By Numbers (1988), is, at the film director's specific request, based entirely on themes taken from the slow movement of Mozart's Sinfonia Concertante in E flat Major. Bars 58-61 of Mozart's work are heard in their original form immediately after each of the film's "drownings". Nyman was alerted to the potential of this piece by Greenaway in the late 1970s and had previously used it as material for part of the score for Greenaway's The Falls, The Masterwork Award Winning Fish-Knife and Tristram Shandy. The The Trysting Fields section of Drowning By Numbers contains the most complicated use of Mozart's music: every appoggiatura [a melodically important ornamental note, sounded on the beat, and preceding a main note] from the movement, and no other material from the piece, is used. Watch a performance of The Trysting Fields by The Michael Nyman Band . . . one of this week's FEATURED NEW MUSIC VIDEOS.
One of the most poignant themes of the "Coming of Age" film is First Love . . . usually bittersweet, wrapped in soft-focus nostalgia, and accompanied by string-drenched music. But Elia Kazan's Splendor in the Grass (1961), made at a time when both films and society were undergoing profound changes, is darker. It deals realistically, even shockingly, with the agony of first love, and the forces that drive lovers apart. Bud and Deanie are high school sweethearts in 1920's Kansas, who are finding it increasingly difficult to resist their sexual urges. Deanie's puritanical mother warns her that "nice girls don't" . . . so Deanie doesn't. Bud's nouveau-riche father urges him to find a not-so-nice girl to take care of those urges. The consequences are disastrous. With composer David Amram's modern (and often dissonant) music, and Richard Sylbert's stark, striking production design adding atmosphere, Splendor in the Grass is the antithesis of sentimental. (Margarita Landazuri @ Turner Classic Movies). Watch the opening of Splendor in the Grass with David Amram's film score . . . our current PYTHEAS SIGHTING.
Canadian composer and pianist Heather Schmidt is recognized as one of the most talented, exciting and versatile musicians of her generation, bringing a contemporary freshness to the illustrious composer-performer tradition of the past. She has received international acclaim through performances, broadcasts, commissions and awards both in North America and abroad. Hear a performance of Schmidt Solus (1996), for piano solo, performed by the composer . . . one of this week's PYTHEAS EARFULS.
Béla Bartók is recognized as one of the most important composers of the 20th century. His style grew out of romanticism and nationalism to embrace new currents heard in the music of Debussy. Inspired by Hungarian traditional songs and dances (he collected some 10,000 songs from Hungary, Romania, Central Europe, Turkey, and North Africa), he incorporated folk modes and irregular rhythmic patterns into his highly original scores. The year 1926 brought a sudden rush of works designed for Bartók, himself, to play in concert. These include the Piano Concerto No. 1, the suite Out of Doors and the Piano Sonata. These exploit the piano as a percussion instrument, using its resonances, as well as its xylophonic hardness, in ways never utilized before. Watch a thrilling performance of the first movement of Bartók's Piano Sonata (1926) by pianist Lang Lang . . . this week's FROM THE PYTHEAS ARCHIVES.
One of the most poignant themes of the "Coming of Age" film is First Love . . . usually bittersweet, wrapped in soft-focus nostalgia, and accompanied by string-drenched music. But Elia Kazan's Splendor in the Grass (1961), made at a time when both films and society were undergoing profound changes, is darker. It deals realistically, even shockingly, with the agony of first love, and the forces that drive lovers apart. Bud and Deanie are high school sweethearts in 1920's Kansas, who are finding it increasingly difficult to resist their sexual urges. Deanie's puritanical mother warns her that "nice girls don't" . . . so Deanie doesn't. Bud's nouveau-riche father urges him to find a not-so-nice girl to take care of those urges. The consequences are disastrous. With composer David Amram's modern (and often dissonant) music, and Richard Sylbert's stark, striking production design adding atmosphere, Splendor in the Grass is the antithesis of sentimental. (Margarita Landazuri @ Turner Classic Movies). Watch the opening of Splendor in the Grass with David Amram's film score . . . our current PYTHEAS SIGHTING.
Canadian composer and pianist Heather Schmidt is recognized as one of the most talented, exciting and versatile musicians of her generation, bringing a contemporary freshness to the illustrious composer-performer tradition of the past. She has received international acclaim through performances, broadcasts, commissions and awards both in North America and abroad. Hear a performance of Schmidt Solus (1996), for piano solo, performed by the composer . . . one of this week's PYTHEAS EARFULS.
Béla Bartók is recognized as one of the most important composers of the 20th century. His style grew out of romanticism and nationalism to embrace new currents heard in the music of Debussy. Inspired by Hungarian traditional songs and dances (he collected some 10,000 songs from Hungary, Romania, Central Europe, Turkey, and North Africa), he incorporated folk modes and irregular rhythmic patterns into his highly original scores. The year 1926 brought a sudden rush of works designed for Bartók, himself, to play in concert. These include the Piano Concerto No. 1, the suite Out of Doors and the Piano Sonata. These exploit the piano as a percussion instrument, using its resonances, as well as its xylophonic hardness, in ways never utilized before. Watch a thrilling performance of the first movement of Bartók's Piano Sonata (1926) by pianist Lang Lang . . . this week's FROM THE PYTHEAS ARCHIVES.
Thursday, June 3, 2010
"In George Crumb's Solo Cello Sonata (1955) we have a good example of a work by an American composer living in freer political and stylistic circumstances than some of his European counterparts of the time, but still facing essentially the same problems of his age: the search for an individual response to the musical revolutions of the first half of the 20th century. Written during the time when Crumb was a graduate student in Berlin, the three-movement Sonata also owes a certain amount to Bartók. An opening Fantasia, making expressive use of pizzicato, is followed by a Tema pastorale con variazioni, in which a highly chromatic theme is put through its paces in three variations and a coda. The final movement is a Toccata which, after a short slow introduction, makes much use of dynamic and timbral contrasts" (Keith Potter). Watch a performance by cellist Umberto Clerici . . . one of this week's FEATURED NEW MUSIC VIDEOS.
According to Roger Knox (The WholeNote), "Percussionique (Albany Records), a disc of percussion music by American-born Canadian composer Michael S. Horwood, should attract both new music aficionados and others interested in revitalizing listening experiences. Superbly performed by the Toronto Percussion Ensemble and guests, it is beautifully recorded and presented by Albany Records. The “spine” of this chronologically presented oeuvre is a series of Pieces Percussioniques dating from 1964 to 2008. Spanning numerous and varied contemporary compositional practices, a consistent voice still emerges, refined yet playful. A percussionist himself, Horwood writes idiomatically throughout. Intricate divisions of the beat layered variously between instruments give an effect of luxuriant flourishing, without cluttering the texture. In a noisy world we forget to listen truly: try letting Percussionique’s sound world beguile you!" Check all this out, and more . . . at our current FEATURED RECORDING.
Michael Colgrass' The Schubert Birds was commissioned by the National Arts Orchestra in 1989, and is loosely based on an obscure Waltz by Franz Schubert. According to Marvin Dickau, "I am a staunch lover of contemporary music, particularly by Canadian composers. I found The Schubert Birds to be most interesting; full of mood changes, complex melodies and rhythms, along with lush chords. There is always an overtone of dissonance, sometimes more pronounced, sometimes less. From an almost ethereal start, the composition moves through many simulated bird calls interwoven with atonal melodies in fourths and fifths, all supported by the mellow lower strings. Each section has moments of prominence – wonderful mallet work from percussion, full bodied strings and tightly woven woodwinds and reeds". Hear a performance of The Schubert Birds thanks to Arts Alive and NACmusicbox . . . one of this week's PYTHEAS EARFULS.
Lou Harrison's Canticle No. 3 (1942), written in San Francisco, is one of a series of Canticles for percussion "in the ecstatic manner". Of the work, the composer wrote, "It was written at a time I was most interested in Indian and Mexican music and is composed out of a very few rhythmic and melodic germs, developed in larger sections, by continuity, overlaps, and the usual augmentation and diminution." The revised version was first performed at the University of Illinois in 1952. An All Music Guide review explores the piece vividly . . . “The ocarina, a torpedo-shaped terra cotta flute, has a pure, primeval tone that, combined with percussion, gives this score a hauntingly primitive, ritualistic feel. The five percussionists haul out tam-tam, xylophone, snare drums, bass drums, wood blocks, temple blocks, tom-toms, and maracas, as well as such exotica as teponaztli, sistrums, brake drums (both muted and suspended), metal pipes, elephant bells, cowbells, and water-buffalo bells. Amid all this -- which Harrison exploits for timbral richness, not loudness -- the guitar struggles to make an impact of its own, remaining absent or in the background until taking a slightly more prominent role at the end. The work falls into three large sections. In the first, the ocarina plays a little pentatonic dance, then retreats for what amounts to an extended percussion cadenza arising from the rhythm of the ocarina tune. The ocarina returns for the second part, now playing a very slow melody of short, repeated phrases deeply indebted to Native American music. Percussion instruments give the melody a shimmering halo, but again the ocarina disappears during a fast-tempo, gradually expanding percussion crescendo distantly based on the rhythm and pitches of the opening tune. Just as this section climaxes in a series of widely spaced crashes, the ocarina and guitar take advantage of a moment of silence to bring back the pentatonic tune from the beginning, the quiet percussion accompaniment now more threatening than before. Yet instead of exploding in a final percussive outburst, the music very gradually slows and fades away, leaving nothing but a slowly throbbing bass drum." Watch a performance of Lou Harrison's Canticle No. 3 (1942) by The YouTube Symphony Orchestra with conductor Michael Tilson Thomas . . . it's this week's FROM THE PYTHEAS ARCHIVES.
According to Roger Knox (The WholeNote), "Percussionique (Albany Records), a disc of percussion music by American-born Canadian composer Michael S. Horwood, should attract both new music aficionados and others interested in revitalizing listening experiences. Superbly performed by the Toronto Percussion Ensemble and guests, it is beautifully recorded and presented by Albany Records. The “spine” of this chronologically presented oeuvre is a series of Pieces Percussioniques dating from 1964 to 2008. Spanning numerous and varied contemporary compositional practices, a consistent voice still emerges, refined yet playful. A percussionist himself, Horwood writes idiomatically throughout. Intricate divisions of the beat layered variously between instruments give an effect of luxuriant flourishing, without cluttering the texture. In a noisy world we forget to listen truly: try letting Percussionique’s sound world beguile you!" Check all this out, and more . . . at our current FEATURED RECORDING.
Michael Colgrass' The Schubert Birds was commissioned by the National Arts Orchestra in 1989, and is loosely based on an obscure Waltz by Franz Schubert. According to Marvin Dickau, "I am a staunch lover of contemporary music, particularly by Canadian composers. I found The Schubert Birds to be most interesting; full of mood changes, complex melodies and rhythms, along with lush chords. There is always an overtone of dissonance, sometimes more pronounced, sometimes less. From an almost ethereal start, the composition moves through many simulated bird calls interwoven with atonal melodies in fourths and fifths, all supported by the mellow lower strings. Each section has moments of prominence – wonderful mallet work from percussion, full bodied strings and tightly woven woodwinds and reeds". Hear a performance of The Schubert Birds thanks to Arts Alive and NACmusicbox . . . one of this week's PYTHEAS EARFULS.
Lou Harrison's Canticle No. 3 (1942), written in San Francisco, is one of a series of Canticles for percussion "in the ecstatic manner". Of the work, the composer wrote, "It was written at a time I was most interested in Indian and Mexican music and is composed out of a very few rhythmic and melodic germs, developed in larger sections, by continuity, overlaps, and the usual augmentation and diminution." The revised version was first performed at the University of Illinois in 1952. An All Music Guide review explores the piece vividly . . . “The ocarina, a torpedo-shaped terra cotta flute, has a pure, primeval tone that, combined with percussion, gives this score a hauntingly primitive, ritualistic feel. The five percussionists haul out tam-tam, xylophone, snare drums, bass drums, wood blocks, temple blocks, tom-toms, and maracas, as well as such exotica as teponaztli, sistrums, brake drums (both muted and suspended), metal pipes, elephant bells, cowbells, and water-buffalo bells. Amid all this -- which Harrison exploits for timbral richness, not loudness -- the guitar struggles to make an impact of its own, remaining absent or in the background until taking a slightly more prominent role at the end. The work falls into three large sections. In the first, the ocarina plays a little pentatonic dance, then retreats for what amounts to an extended percussion cadenza arising from the rhythm of the ocarina tune. The ocarina returns for the second part, now playing a very slow melody of short, repeated phrases deeply indebted to Native American music. Percussion instruments give the melody a shimmering halo, but again the ocarina disappears during a fast-tempo, gradually expanding percussion crescendo distantly based on the rhythm and pitches of the opening tune. Just as this section climaxes in a series of widely spaced crashes, the ocarina and guitar take advantage of a moment of silence to bring back the pentatonic tune from the beginning, the quiet percussion accompaniment now more threatening than before. Yet instead of exploding in a final percussive outburst, the music very gradually slows and fades away, leaving nothing but a slowly throbbing bass drum." Watch a performance of Lou Harrison's Canticle No. 3 (1942) by The YouTube Symphony Orchestra with conductor Michael Tilson Thomas . . . it's this week's FROM THE PYTHEAS ARCHIVES.
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