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Evening Music

Tuesday, May 01, 2007
  • Tristan Mysteries

    The Sonic Mystery

    Tristan und Isolde is essentially the longest unresolved chord in history (all five hours of it). In this episode of The Tristan Mysteries, Amy O'Leary takes us on a magical mystery tour of Wagner's expansive musical language—and shows us how a few simple measures of music affected entire generations of composers. Also, composer Jed Distler joins George Preston in the studio for an expansive survey of Tristan's musical legacy.

    Contributors to The Sonic Mystery include:

    • Danny Felsenfeld, Composer & Critic
    • Andy Laster, Composer & Jazz Saxophonist
    • Bill Viola, Video Artist, The Tristan Project
    • Sean McCaul, Vibraphonist and Marimba Player
    • Jaime Fatas, Saxophonist

    Executive Producer, The Tristan Mysteries: Limor Tomer
    Producer/Host, The Sonic Mystery: Amy O'Leary
    Producer/Host, Tristan's Legacy: George Preston
    Web Producer, The Tristan Mysteries: Brad Cresswell

    The Tristan Mysteries is supported, in part, by a grant from The Corporation for Public Broadcasting.

The Sonic Mystery

Listen on Demand
What's that famous "Tristan Chord" all about, anyways? We hear from composer Danny Felsenfeld, who takes a look under the hood to reveal the power, beauty and "game" of Wagner's astonishing music—and illustrates how those few simple notes have become part of the musical collective unconscious.

Radiohead - Kid A

Wagner's Progeny

Listen on Demand
Jed Distler is a groundbreaking advocate for contemporary music as artistic director of ComposersCollaborative inc. The acclaimed composer/pianist joins George Preston in the studio to dust Wagner's fingerprints from the musical map—and show us how Tristan und Isolde is still leaving its mark nearly 150 years later.

Wagner's Progeny - Part Two

Listen on demand to the second half of George Preston's Evening Music interview with composer/pianist Jed Distler.

Bill Viola

Web Exclusive: Bill Viola

Listen to the extended version of our interview with Bill Viola, video artist for The Tristan Project, and Adam Weinberg, Director of the Whitney Museum. Part of The Tristan Mysteries on WNYC.

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The Mostly Mozart Festival on WNYC

Listen on Demand

This year's annual Mostly Mozart Festival at Lincoln Center is rife with sounds stretching the spectrum of Requiems, Metamorphoses, and Passions — including the American premiere of composer-in-residence Kaija Saariaho's tale of the sufferings of French mystic Simone Weil, who died of starvation in protest to the Nazi occupation of Paris in 1943.

Deerhoof/Metropolis Ensemble Live Webcast

Evening Music

WNYC and NPR Music team up to bring you this live webcast from the Prospect Park Bandshell, which pairs indie rock sensation Deerhoof with the progressive Metropolis Ensemble. Presented by Celebrate Brooklyn! and Wordless Music, and hosted by David Garland, the program features an ambitious re-imagining of Igor Stravinsky's Rite of Spring, The Rite: Remixed.

Related Links:
Video: Deerhoof fans perform leaked track for WNYC
View photos from the concert
Deerhoof on Spinning on Air (March 18, 2007)
NPR Music
Metropolis Ensemble
Deerhoof
Celebrate Brooklyn!
Wordless Music
Listen on Demand to more Wordless Music Concerts

Wordless Music

Concerts on Demand

WNYC presents web-exclusive concerts from the Wordless Music Series, hosted by Radio Lab's Jad Abumrad. Devoted to the desegregation of musical boundaries, Wordless Music pairs rock and electronic musicians with more traditional chamber and new music performers, to create an entirely new concert experience.

2008 American Music Festival

Listen on Demand

Hosts Terrance McKnight and David Garland curate the 68th annual American Music Festival, featuring "America's Classical Music." Guests include LD Brown a.k.a. Grey Reverend; acclaimed jazz pianist Jason Moran; composer and musicologist Gunther Schuller; culture critic John Rockwell; new music guru John Zorn, and Pulitzer prize-winning composer William Bolcom.