A world view was incorporated into the compositions of Somerville, Massachusetts-born Alan Hovhaness. While much of his music reflects his Armenian heritage, Hovhaness also utilized elements of Indian ragas, Japanese gugaku music and natural sounds. His mystical/contemplative gift can be heard in his lament for solo viola Chahagir (1945), which some say was the Armenian-American composer's homage to the Holocaust. Hear a performance of Hovhaness' Chahagir by violist Julia Rebekka Adler  . . . one of this week's FEATURED NEW MUSIC VIDEOS.


Hubert Culot (MusicWeb International) writes about the Chandos Records release Luigi Dallapiccola: Orchestral Works, Vol. 2, "Dallapiccola's music may not be easy but is ultimately richly rewarding on repeated hearings, especially when helped by committed and carefully prepared readings such as these. The recording and the production of this release are up to Chandos’s best standards. This is one of the finest discs to have come my way recently; and, before ending up in my list of Recordings of the Year, it will be my Record of the Month". Read the full review and hear excerpts from this recording . . . it's this week's FEATURED RECORDINGS.

Alban Berg's Four Pieces for Clarinet and Piano, op. 5 (1913) are the composer's only true miniatures. Berg's former teacher, Arnold Schoenberg, roundly criticized Berg (and possibly these particular works), attempting to discourage Berg from composing songs and small-scale works, and encouraging him toward extended instrumental composition. Critics have noted the irony in Schoenberg's attack on Berg in light of the fact that Berg's Four Pieces were strongly influenced by Schoenberg's own set of miniatures, the Six Little Piano Pieces, Op. 19 (1911). Berg's fellow Schoenberg pupil, Anton Webern, also wrote a number of miniatures, and indeed his music became best-known for its concise expressivity, its cool character, angular melodies, and pointillistic texture. In contrast, Berg's miniatures — and indeed, his music in general — are decidedly more Romantic in gesture, texture, and timbre. The Four Pieces are very brief and complex; Berg abandons motivic connections in favor of deep structural relationships beneath a perpetually moving surface. As with most of Berg's early works, there is a preponderance of quartal and whole-tone harmonies; like the String Quartet, Op. 3 (1910), the Four Pieces undergo constant changes in tempi, dynamics, and articulation according to Berg's intricate instructions (which sometimes change from beat to beat). The first and last of the Four Pieces are the longest, flanking a slow second piece and a scherzo (AllMusicGuide). Hear a performance of Berg's Four Pieces for Clarinet and Piano . . . one of this week's PYTHEAS EARFULS.

According to Steve Schwartz/ClassicalNet.com, "In the last decade of his life Ralph Vaughan Williams took to experimenting with what could well be considered "unusual" instruments; in the 7th, 8th and 9th Symphonies he included a wind machine, tuned gongs and a flugelhorn respectively. During the same period Vaughan Williams also wrote two works for soloist and orchestra, the Romance for Harmonica (1951) and the Tuba Concerto (1954), and both works emphasize the fact that Vaughan Williams was still full of musical ideas well into his eighties. Vaughan Williams seemed to have quite liked the tuba as an instrument, and often included parts for it in his orchestral works. However, in the Tuba Concerto it gets center stage, is given two cadenzas – in the first and last movements - and proves that it can hold its own as a concerto instrument". See a performance of the first movement of Tuba Concerto by the youthful Leswi Pantoja and the Teresa Carreño Youth Orchestra ... one of this week's FEATURED NEW MUSIC VIDEOS.

The conceptual and multifaceted composer Tan Dun has made an indelible mark on the world's music scene with a creative repertoire that spans the boundaries of classical, multimedia, Eastern and Western musical systems. Central to his body of work, Tan Dun has composed distinct series of works which reflect his individual compositional concepts and personal ideas - among them a series which brings his childhood memories of shamanistic ritual into symphonic performances; works which incorporate elements from the natural world; and multimedia concerti. Opera has a significant role in his creative output and of his many works for film, the score for Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon, received an Oscar for best original score. Hear Tan Dun talk about his life and music - Pytheas' current COMPOSER PORTRAIT.

William Schuman's Symphony for Strings (his Symphony No. 5) was completed on July 31, 1943, at New Rochelle, New York. The work was a Koussevitzky Foundation memorial for Natalie Koussevitzky and was premiered on November 12, 1943 by the strings of the Boston Symphony Orchestra with the dedicatee's husband, Sergei Koussevitzky conducting. The work, which clearly espresses its angst-ridden World War II era, enjoyed immediate success and has since received many performances, recordings and broadcasts. Have a listen to its first movement ... this week's PYTHEAS EARFUL.

Lousadzak (The Coming of Light) (1944) was composed during the years 1944–54, the period during which Alan Hovhaness created his greatest music. Subtitled Concerto for Piano and Strings, the work is unlike any other piano concerto in the repertoire. There is not a single chord, not a single passage of octaves in this one-movement work. The piano is employed to emulate various Armenian and Middle-Eastern instruments of the dulcimer and zither families, and the music is composed very much along the lines of what those instruments typically play, which includes striking the same key repeatedly to simulate sustained notes, and playing a melody against a drone-note, often in rapid, irregular rhythmic patterns. The strings provide a largely accompanimental backdrop like a small folk orchestra, in simple, almost improvisatory modal polyphony. The effect is truly unforgettable. The result is a highly exotic work suggesting an ancient pagan rite of unearthly, primitivistic fire and passion, as well as, at times, tender tranquility. (Walter Simmons, Fanfare) Hear and see an excerpt of this beautiful work ... this week's FROM THE PYTHEAS ARCHIVES.

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

Steve Reich's Music for 18 Musicians (1974-76) is often hailed as one his best pieces of music. Lasting over an hour, themes are built up in repetition, incorporating subtle changes along the way. It slowly and gradually evolves into a work filled with wonderfully intricate, yet simple rhythms that make the whole work a dynamic and exciting experience. A variety of instruments are used - notably clarinets and bass clarinets, metallophone, marimbas and voices. With these sounds Reich constructs beautiful sweeping chords that carry the listener effortlessly from beginning to end.

"On Sonic Encounters: The New Piano (Mode Records) - the current Pytheas Featured Recording - Margaret Leng Tan plays works for prepared piano by John Cage (the father of the prepared piano), Alan Hovhaness, George Crumb, Somei Satoh, & Ge Gan-Ru. The prepared piano was created by John Cage in the 1940's to save space and the cost of hiring multiple percussion musicians, while at the same time creating new sounds using items inserted into the piano or re-tuning the piano. In the later 20th century, some composers took up the practice to create certain tonalities or soundscapes that only the prepared piano could provide. On Sonic Encounters Alan Hovhaness and George Crumb are west meeting east; Somei Satoh and Ge Gan-Ru are east meeting west - all creating a multi-cultural modern classical expression not to be missed”. - John Dooley

Again, our COMPOSER PORTRAIT this week features George Crumb as he visits his home state of West Virginia for an interview with West Virginia Public Broadcasting.

FROM THE PYTHEAS ARCHIVES brings us back to an intense performance by Jerome Ducharme, 2004 Guitar Foundation of America winner, of the Finale from Jacques Hétu’s Suite for Guitar, op. 41 (1986).

Explore, Listen and Enjoy!
Vinny