Colin McPhee Nocturne (1958) . . . one of this week's FEATURED NEW MUSIC VIDEOS.
John H. Beck Overture for Percussion Ensemble (1976) . . . it's our BANG, CLANG and BEAT, our New Music for Percussion for the week.
Edgar Varèse Arcana (1925-27) . . . it's one of our PYTHEAS EARFULS for the week.
Richard Rodney Bennett Guitar Sonata (1983), mvt III – Vivo . . . this week's FROM THE PYTHEAS ARCHIVES.
Showing posts with label Varèse. Edgard. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Varèse. Edgard. Show all posts
Friday, January 6, 2012
Wednesday, May 4, 2011
"Trained as a professional flautist and leading a busy career as conductor and flautist, Katherine Hoover is also a distinguished composer with a sizeable body of works to her credit. Though she has composed much music for flute, she has also written substantial works for orchestra and chamber ensembles. I for one was particularly impressed by Katherine Hoover the composer whose music was new to me and who is a most distinguished composer with a remarkable orchestral flair, who has obviously things to say and who knows how to say them in the best possible way" (Hubert Culot/MusicWeb International). Watch a performance of Katherine Hoover's Thin Ice (2009) with pianist Mirian Conti . . . one of this week's FEATURED NEW MUSIC VIDEOS.
John Luther Adams is a composer whose music embodies the landscapes of Alaska, his home since 1978. Like many composers of his generation, Adams did not grow up immersed in scored music. He began playing music as a teenager, as a drummer in rock bands. Through his experience in rock bands, friends introduced him to the music of Frank Zappa. Through the liner notes of a Zappa album, he discovered Edgard Varèse. Similarly, Varèse's liner notes brought him to John Cage. But it was not until Adams discovered Morton Feldman that he found his calling. After graduating from Cal Arts, Adams began work in environmental protection. This work first brought him to Alaska in 1975. His deep love for the location led to his permanent migration there in 1978. It continues to be the driving force in his music to this day. Adams' musical work spans many genres and media. He has composed for television, film, children's theater, voice, acoustic instruments, orchestra, and electronics. Adams himself says: "My music has always been profoundly influenced by the natural world and a strong sense of place. Through sustained listening to the subtle resonances of the northern soundscape, I hope to explore the territory of 'sonic geography' - that region between place and culture . . . between environment and imagination". Watch a performance of John Luther Adams' Sauyatugvik - The Time of Drumming (1996) with the Mark Pekarsky Percussion Ensemble . . . it's this week's FEATURED NEW MUSIC FOR PERCUSSION.
William Zagorski (Fanfare Magazine) writes: "Karen Amrhein's collection of works on MMC Records showcases a young and still evolving composer with a strong musical profile and an abiding respect for, and mastery of, techniques of the past. She is a striking miniaturist and a superb contrapuntalist, but one who exploits that often dour and forbidding device in the most ingratiating of ways. Her aphoristic music is enlivened by an attractive sense of whimsy and delight at being alive, and listening to it in chronological sequence, I have the sense of a composer who is not merely developing at a fast pace, but doing so explosively." The Baltimore based Amrhein has twice been nominated for the Pulitzer Prize, and she has written for orchestra, soloists with orchestra, chorus, chamber ensembles, voice and instrumental soloists. Listen to the final movement from Amrhein's Sonata for Trumpet and Piano (1996) . . . one of this week's PYTHEAS EARFULS.
Lou Harrison for fifty years was in the vanguard of American composers. An innovator of musical composition and performance that transcends cultural boundaries, Harrison's highly acclaimed work juxtaposes and synthesizes musical dialects from virtually every corner of the world. Growing up in the culturally diverse San Francisco Bay Area, Harrison was influenced by Cantonese Opera, Gregorian chants and the music of California's Spanish and Mexican cultures. He also developed an interest in Indonesian Gamelan music through early recordings. His early compositions included a large body of percussion music, combining Western, Asian, African and Latin American rhythmic influences with homemade "junk" instruments. During this period, Harrison worked closely with John Cage and began studies in Los Angeles with Arnold Schoenberg. A move to New York in the mid-1940's brought Harrison to the Herald Tribune as music critic. Here he helped to bring wider attention to the work of Charles Ives, and is considered largely responsible for Ives' receiving the Pulitzer Prize. The young composer and critic also embarked on a study of early European music during this period. In the late forties, Harrison taught at the legendary Black Mountain College. By the early fifties, he moved back to California, where he lived till his death in 2003. Over the decades he maintained an interest in dance, theater and the craft of instrument building and was an accomplished puppeteer who wrote written musical for puppet theater. Harrison traveled extensively, adding to the global resonance his artistry, performing and studying with the musical masters of varied cultures, and presenting his work to enthusiastic audiences everywhere. Watch a performance of the Round from Harrison's Serenade for Guitar (1978) with guitarist Joshua Bornfield . . . this week's FROM THE PYTHEAS ARCHIVES.
John Luther Adams is a composer whose music embodies the landscapes of Alaska, his home since 1978. Like many composers of his generation, Adams did not grow up immersed in scored music. He began playing music as a teenager, as a drummer in rock bands. Through his experience in rock bands, friends introduced him to the music of Frank Zappa. Through the liner notes of a Zappa album, he discovered Edgard Varèse. Similarly, Varèse's liner notes brought him to John Cage. But it was not until Adams discovered Morton Feldman that he found his calling. After graduating from Cal Arts, Adams began work in environmental protection. This work first brought him to Alaska in 1975. His deep love for the location led to his permanent migration there in 1978. It continues to be the driving force in his music to this day. Adams' musical work spans many genres and media. He has composed for television, film, children's theater, voice, acoustic instruments, orchestra, and electronics. Adams himself says: "My music has always been profoundly influenced by the natural world and a strong sense of place. Through sustained listening to the subtle resonances of the northern soundscape, I hope to explore the territory of 'sonic geography' - that region between place and culture . . . between environment and imagination". Watch a performance of John Luther Adams' Sauyatugvik - The Time of Drumming (1996) with the Mark Pekarsky Percussion Ensemble . . . it's this week's FEATURED NEW MUSIC FOR PERCUSSION.
William Zagorski (Fanfare Magazine) writes: "Karen Amrhein's collection of works on MMC Records showcases a young and still evolving composer with a strong musical profile and an abiding respect for, and mastery of, techniques of the past. She is a striking miniaturist and a superb contrapuntalist, but one who exploits that often dour and forbidding device in the most ingratiating of ways. Her aphoristic music is enlivened by an attractive sense of whimsy and delight at being alive, and listening to it in chronological sequence, I have the sense of a composer who is not merely developing at a fast pace, but doing so explosively." The Baltimore based Amrhein has twice been nominated for the Pulitzer Prize, and she has written for orchestra, soloists with orchestra, chorus, chamber ensembles, voice and instrumental soloists. Listen to the final movement from Amrhein's Sonata for Trumpet and Piano (1996) . . . one of this week's PYTHEAS EARFULS.
Lou Harrison for fifty years was in the vanguard of American composers. An innovator of musical composition and performance that transcends cultural boundaries, Harrison's highly acclaimed work juxtaposes and synthesizes musical dialects from virtually every corner of the world. Growing up in the culturally diverse San Francisco Bay Area, Harrison was influenced by Cantonese Opera, Gregorian chants and the music of California's Spanish and Mexican cultures. He also developed an interest in Indonesian Gamelan music through early recordings. His early compositions included a large body of percussion music, combining Western, Asian, African and Latin American rhythmic influences with homemade "junk" instruments. During this period, Harrison worked closely with John Cage and began studies in Los Angeles with Arnold Schoenberg. A move to New York in the mid-1940's brought Harrison to the Herald Tribune as music critic. Here he helped to bring wider attention to the work of Charles Ives, and is considered largely responsible for Ives' receiving the Pulitzer Prize. The young composer and critic also embarked on a study of early European music during this period. In the late forties, Harrison taught at the legendary Black Mountain College. By the early fifties, he moved back to California, where he lived till his death in 2003. Over the decades he maintained an interest in dance, theater and the craft of instrument building and was an accomplished puppeteer who wrote written musical for puppet theater. Harrison traveled extensively, adding to the global resonance his artistry, performing and studying with the musical masters of varied cultures, and presenting his work to enthusiastic audiences everywhere. Watch a performance of the Round from Harrison's Serenade for Guitar (1978) with guitarist Joshua Bornfield . . . this week's FROM THE PYTHEAS ARCHIVES.
Saturday, October 9, 2010
Osvaldo Golijov is known for his musical hybridity in combining the traditions of classical chamber, Jewish liturgical, and klezmer music with hints of the tango of Astor Piazzolla in his compositions. He is the recipient of a MacArthur "Genius Grant" Fellowship, the Vilcek Prize, and the recording of his opera "Ainadamar" was awarded two Grammy Awards in 2006: Best Opera Recording, and Best Contemporary Composition. His piece for solo cello Omaramoor (1991) is described by Richard Buell (The Boston Globe) as "a kind of quest piece - the solo cello wanders toward some tantalizingly withheld realization - the near-statement, the composer tells us, of a song made famous by the Argentine tango specialist Carlos Gandel". Watch a performance of Omaramoor by cellist Amy Sue Barston . . . one of this week's FEATURED NEW MUSIC VIDEOS.
Richard Addinsell was a British composer most famous for his composition "Warsaw Concerto", which was written originally for the little-seen 1941 film "Dangerous Moonlight". Over the course of his career he composed scores for over 40 films, including "Blithe Spirit" (1945), "Under Capricorn" (1949) [with director Alfred Hitchcock], and "Scrooge" (A Christmas Carol) (1951), as well as music for Broadway musical plays and revues, orchestra and popular songs, especially in collaboration with Joyce Grenfell. Hear his moody and brooding score for director George Cukor's Gaslight (1944) . . . it's our current PYTHEAS SIGHTING.
Richard Maxfield was a composer of instrumental, electro-acoustic, and electronic music. Born in Seattle, he most likely taught the first University-level course in electronic music in America at the New School for Social Research. His electronic piece Amazing Grace (1960) mixes tape loops from two sources which are played back at various speeds, causing the fragments to overlap in complex ways, predating both Terry Riley’s and Steve Reich’s tape-loop pieces. "Amazing Grace" even uses a tape of a preacher, as Steve Reich's did in his famous "It's Gonna Rain" (1965); the results are at least equal to Reich's! Maxfield's pieces represent the state of new music just before minimalism was born. Sit back and listen to Richard Maxfield's Amazing Grace . . . it's one of our PYTHEAS EARFULS this week.
Edgard Varese's Ionisation (1931) is credited with being the first Western work written for percussion alone, having no basis in traditional concepts of melody and harmony. As such, the implications of the work (from the standpoint of when the piece was written) questioned the meaning of the word music, as it was understood in the Western world. Viewed historically, it is actually a return to a very ancient Eastern tradition of percussion music, particularly in the aspect of timbre. Eastern concepts of sound and Western formal concepts of structure and logic merge, resulting in a musical entity which is universal (from "Tater Z the Anti-G and DJ Hunsmire's Musical Studies Index"). Watch a classic performance of Varèse's Ionisation by the Ensemble InterContemporain with Pierre Boulez conducting . . . this week's FROM THE PYTHEAS ARCHIVES.
Explore, Listen and Enjoy!
Vinny Fuerst
Pytheas Center for Contemporary Music
Richard Addinsell was a British composer most famous for his composition "Warsaw Concerto", which was written originally for the little-seen 1941 film "Dangerous Moonlight". Over the course of his career he composed scores for over 40 films, including "Blithe Spirit" (1945), "Under Capricorn" (1949) [with director Alfred Hitchcock], and "Scrooge" (A Christmas Carol) (1951), as well as music for Broadway musical plays and revues, orchestra and popular songs, especially in collaboration with Joyce Grenfell. Hear his moody and brooding score for director George Cukor's Gaslight (1944) . . . it's our current PYTHEAS SIGHTING.
Richard Maxfield was a composer of instrumental, electro-acoustic, and electronic music. Born in Seattle, he most likely taught the first University-level course in electronic music in America at the New School for Social Research. His electronic piece Amazing Grace (1960) mixes tape loops from two sources which are played back at various speeds, causing the fragments to overlap in complex ways, predating both Terry Riley’s and Steve Reich’s tape-loop pieces. "Amazing Grace" even uses a tape of a preacher, as Steve Reich's did in his famous "It's Gonna Rain" (1965); the results are at least equal to Reich's! Maxfield's pieces represent the state of new music just before minimalism was born. Sit back and listen to Richard Maxfield's Amazing Grace . . . it's one of our PYTHEAS EARFULS this week.
Edgard Varese's Ionisation (1931) is credited with being the first Western work written for percussion alone, having no basis in traditional concepts of melody and harmony. As such, the implications of the work (from the standpoint of when the piece was written) questioned the meaning of the word music, as it was understood in the Western world. Viewed historically, it is actually a return to a very ancient Eastern tradition of percussion music, particularly in the aspect of timbre. Eastern concepts of sound and Western formal concepts of structure and logic merge, resulting in a musical entity which is universal (from "Tater Z the Anti-G and DJ Hunsmire's Musical Studies Index"). Watch a classic performance of Varèse's Ionisation by the Ensemble InterContemporain with Pierre Boulez conducting . . . this week's FROM THE PYTHEAS ARCHIVES.
Explore, Listen and Enjoy!
Vinny Fuerst
Pytheas Center for Contemporary Music
Monday, August 16, 2010
"The mesmerizing two-part Offrandes (1921) is possibly the most direct statement Edgard Varèse ever made of his tormented inner world. It's that tremor of personal pain, pulsating through all the vividly colored din, that Stravinsky was reacting to when he said that the first harp attack in part two nearly gave him a heart attack. He called it 'the most extraordinary noise in all of Varèse' (All Music Guide)." Watch a performance of this contemporary music classic by soprano Anna Steiger and the Ensemble Intercontemporain, with Pierre Boulez conducting . . . one of this week's FEATURED NEW MUSIC VIDEOS.
According to composer Alejandro Viñao, "For some years I have listened to the Pakistani singer Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan. He was perhaps the greatest exponent of Qawwali, the music of the sufi mystics. This music in general, and Ali Khan’s singing in particular, are characterised by remarkable rhythmic and melismatic subtlety. The Kahn Variations (2001) are a set of 8 rhythmic variations based on a traditional theme from Qawwali music as sang by Ali Kahn. The basic pulse and ‘feel’ of the music has lingered in my mind ever since I first heard a recording of it in the early 1990’s. I developed each of the 8 variations - which are played as a continuous piece - exploring a different rhythmic and melodic aspect of the original theme. However, from the harmonic point of view the piece is rather static, respecting the lack or harmony - in the western sense - of the original traditional theme. As I look at the score now, I can recognize a range of influences from Conlon Nancarrow, tango music, and my own previous pieces for marimba. All these influences have one thing in common: the articulation of pulse, or multiple simultaneous pulses to create a dramatic musical discourse." Watch a performance of the Kahn Variations by Colin Bunnell . . . our second FEATURED NEW MUSIC VIDEOS.
Karlheinz Stockhausen emerged early on as one of the most influential and unique voices in the post-WWII European musical avant-garde and his prominence continued throughout the rest of the 20th century and into the 21stt. Combining a keen sensitivity to the acoustical realities and possibilities of sound, rigorous and sophisticated compositional methods expanded from integral serialism, innovative theatricality, and a penchant for the mystical, Stockhausen remains one of the most innovative musical personalities to span the turn of this century. Hear Stockhausen talk about his music in an interview with Lawrence Pollard . . . our PYTHEAS COMPOSER PORTRAIT.
Pulitzer Prize winning composer Paul Moravec wrote his Mortal Flesh (2008) for the recorder quartet Quartet New Generation (QNG). Impressed by all the recorder sizes the QNG members play, Moravec composed Mortal Flesh so that 20 instruments are employed, moving from the largest and lowest-sounding to the smallest and highest-sounding, and requiring very quick and tricky instrument changes. It's a terrific piece, well thought out for recorders, and at once serious and witty. Watch a performance of Mortal Flesh by Quartet New Generation . . . this week's FROM THE PYTHEAS ARCHIVES.
Explore, Listen and Enjoy!
Vinny Fuerst
Pytheas Center for Contemporary Music
According to composer Alejandro Viñao, "For some years I have listened to the Pakistani singer Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan. He was perhaps the greatest exponent of Qawwali, the music of the sufi mystics. This music in general, and Ali Khan’s singing in particular, are characterised by remarkable rhythmic and melismatic subtlety. The Kahn Variations (2001) are a set of 8 rhythmic variations based on a traditional theme from Qawwali music as sang by Ali Kahn. The basic pulse and ‘feel’ of the music has lingered in my mind ever since I first heard a recording of it in the early 1990’s. I developed each of the 8 variations - which are played as a continuous piece - exploring a different rhythmic and melodic aspect of the original theme. However, from the harmonic point of view the piece is rather static, respecting the lack or harmony - in the western sense - of the original traditional theme. As I look at the score now, I can recognize a range of influences from Conlon Nancarrow, tango music, and my own previous pieces for marimba. All these influences have one thing in common: the articulation of pulse, or multiple simultaneous pulses to create a dramatic musical discourse." Watch a performance of the Kahn Variations by Colin Bunnell . . . our second FEATURED NEW MUSIC VIDEOS.
Karlheinz Stockhausen emerged early on as one of the most influential and unique voices in the post-WWII European musical avant-garde and his prominence continued throughout the rest of the 20th century and into the 21stt. Combining a keen sensitivity to the acoustical realities and possibilities of sound, rigorous and sophisticated compositional methods expanded from integral serialism, innovative theatricality, and a penchant for the mystical, Stockhausen remains one of the most innovative musical personalities to span the turn of this century. Hear Stockhausen talk about his music in an interview with Lawrence Pollard . . . our PYTHEAS COMPOSER PORTRAIT.
Pulitzer Prize winning composer Paul Moravec wrote his Mortal Flesh (2008) for the recorder quartet Quartet New Generation (QNG). Impressed by all the recorder sizes the QNG members play, Moravec composed Mortal Flesh so that 20 instruments are employed, moving from the largest and lowest-sounding to the smallest and highest-sounding, and requiring very quick and tricky instrument changes. It's a terrific piece, well thought out for recorders, and at once serious and witty. Watch a performance of Mortal Flesh by Quartet New Generation . . . this week's FROM THE PYTHEAS ARCHIVES.
Explore, Listen and Enjoy!
Vinny Fuerst
Pytheas Center for Contemporary Music
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