Sofia Gubaidulina was born in the Tartar Republic, USSR, in 1931 and has become one of the most important composers of the last two decades of the Soviet Union and the first decade of the Russian Republic. Of all active major composers, she has shown the most interest in using the classical accordion. This interest may have grown from her involvement in the 1970s with a group of composers interested in assembling ancient and traditional instruments and writing highly modern classical music for them. De Profundis (1978)  is the opening of the Latin translation of the 130th Psalm, rendered in English as "Out of the depths [I call to Thee, O Lord]." The music begins in the instrument's lowest register and slowly ascends to its bright top notes. Various textures are used, from a chorale idea that represents hope, to a long single-line melody suggesting prayer. Unusual techniques are also used, from glissandi, shuddering vibratos and the sighing sound of the instrument's bellows. The work was written in consultation with the player Friederich Lips, who premiered it in Moscow in 1980 [notes thanks to Joseph Stevenson @ Rovi]. Listen to a performance of Sofia Gubaidulina's De Profundis played by Joseph Purits (bayan) . . . it's one of our NEW MUSIC VIDEOS for the week.

Karen Amrhein is an award-winning member of ASCAP, a recipient of a 2005 Maryland State Arts Council Individual Artist Award, and has twice been nominated for the Pulitzer Prize. Her music has been described as "very sensitive to melody, and quite insightful as to the harmonic structure that will best support it. What results is both engaging and intriguing, as well as emotionally satisfying, not infrequently witty, and quite often uplifting - all characteristics and affects that seem regrettably rare in the work of more recent times." Listen to Karen Amrhein's choral setting of  Isaiah 40 (2007) . . . one of our PYTHEAS EARFULS for the week.

Eric Ewazen teaches theory and composition at the Juilliard School of Music in New York City. He has become one of the most popular and often performed American composers. His contributions to the percussion world are among the most musical, lyrical and demanding. His work Northern Lights was composed in 1989 and was originally conceived as a musical presentation of the Aurora Borealis, or Northern Lights. Ewazen writes that the direction of the composition changed when his mother passed away during that year. The work then took on a slightly different idea as it would also serve as homage to Ewazen's mother. It often shifts between wistful and angry, as well mysterious and reminiscent. The composer explains the he wanted to explore many of the colors available to the marimba. Watch a performance of Eric Ewazen's Northern Lights (1989) played by marimbist Matt Moore . . . it's this week BANG, CLANG and BEAT - New Music for Percussion

Dominick Argento Letters from Composers - Schumann (1968) . . . one of this week's FEATURED NEW MUSIC VIDEOS.

Sofia Gubaidulina The Deceitful Face of Hope and of Despair; Sieben Worte (Seven Words) (BIS 1449) . . . it's our FEATURED RECORDING here at Pytheas.

Bright Sheng Uncommon Sense - An Interview with Junia Doan . . . our current COMPOSER PORTRAIT.

Oyvind Torvund Krull Quest (2004) . . . this week's FROM THE PYTHEAS ARCHIVES.

Sofia Gubaidulina's Viola Concerto (1996) is the Featured New Music Video this week at Pytheas. Raymond Tuttle writes, "Gubaidulina is the greatest Russian composer at work today – the greatest since Shostakovich. Any new work from her is a major event, and the Viola Concerto is not a disappointment. The concerto's opening, with the soloist's insistence on the notes D and Eb, almost literally invokes the name of Dmitri Shostakovich, a formative influence on Gubaidulina. The violist and the orchestra share the concerto's sound-world with a string quartet, tuned a quarter-tone lower; a darker "second dimension" in the words of the composer. Here again, the violist travels between and mediates for the two ensembles. The concerto's tone is dark and oppressive, but Gubaidulina's need to communicate with her listeners is unmistakable. She demands their uttermost concentration, but those who make the effort are rewarded by being taken on an emotional journey whose aftereffects are long-lasting and deep".

Pulitzer Prize winning composer Paul Moravec has written more than a hundred orchestral, chamber, choral, lyric, film, and operatic works. His music has earned numerous other distinctions, including the Rome Prize Fellowship from the American Academy in Rome, as well as many prestigious commissions. In many ways, Moravec's work builds upon "The Great Tradition" of Western Europe, reconfiguring some of its bedrock gestures into an aesthetic that is thoroughly of our day. Dubbed a New Tonalist by critic Terry Teachout, Moravec writes with depth but does so with a light touch. He draws on craftsmanship so virtuosic it seems easy. All this adds up to a composer who is simultaneously learned and accessible, tradition-based and imaginative, profound and a heck of a lot of fun. In an era when pundits worry over the fate of the concert world as a whole, Moravec's music-and its deep-down integrity-speak of confidence and hope. Listen to Moravec talk about his life and music in this week's Composer Portrait.

This week's Pytheas Earful brings us music from Massachusetts based composer Dean Rosenthal. Featured are his Songs from the Japanese (2000) for soprano and violin.

FROM THE PYTHEAS ARCHIVES brings Julian Bream's soulful and compelling performance of Manuel de Falla's Homage: The Tomb of Debussy (1920).

Explore, Listen and Enjoy!
Vinny Fuerst