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August 2007

Piano by the Numbers

Friday, August 31, 2007

John Cage frequently used two-dimensional charts to map out sonorities in his compositional process. Tonight, we hear one of the best known results of that method, the "Concerto for Prepared Piano and Orchestra."

24:33 on WNYC2: A John Cage Festival


Double Music

Thursday, August 30, 2007

By focusing on rhythm and timbre instead of melody, John Cage could make music out of just about anything. Tonight we sample his 1941 collaboration with Lou Harrison for percussion orchestra, "Double Music."

24:33 on WNYC2: A John Cage Festival


Magic Number Four

Wednesday, August 29, 2007

Driven by a life-long fascination with the relationship between music and mathematics, John Cage often gave simple numerical titles to his works. Tonight we focus on one of his favorite numbers, in the "String Quartet in Four Parts."

24:33 on WNYC2: A John Cage Festival


Imaginary Landscapes

Tuesday, August 28, 2007

John Cage's sound experiments often centered around imaginary "Landscapes" that were fashioned by the artist in performance. Tonight we hear one of his first efforts in the genre for piano, "In a Landscape."

24:33 on WNYC2: A John Cage Festival


Living Room Music

Monday, August 27, 2007

In anticipation of the upcoming 95th birthday anniversary of musical maverick John Cage, we focus all week on various aspects of the composer's work. Tonight, vocal arts group nova performs Cage's "Living Room Music."

24:33 on WNYC2: A John Cage Festival


Sally Beamish

Sunday, August 26, 2007

Scottish-based composer Sally Beamish's early work was focused on the viola (which she plays), but eventually expanded to other genres, including chamber, vocal, choral and orchestral music. Tonight we sample her atmospheric saxophone concerto, "The Imagined Sound of Sun on Stone."


Spotlight on: Erik Friedlander

Saturday, August 25, 2007

Billboard Magazine calls Erik Friedlander "one of today's most ingenious and forward-thinking musical practitioners." The New York-based cellist and composer joins us tonight to talk about his upcoming performances and his latest CD, "Block Ice & Propane."


Shakespeare Rocks

Friday, August 24, 2007

The Bard of Avon gets a post-modern punk rock makeover in the rhythmically driven electro-acoustic hybrid "Yo Shakespeare" by Michael Gordon. We hear it tonight from one of London's top new music ensembles, Icebreaker.


Bang on a Can Meets Burma

Thursday, August 23, 2007

The intrepid new music ensemble Bang on a Can teams up with one of the legendary composer/percussionists of Southeast Asia tonight, in their cross-cultural collaboration "Bang on a Can meets Kyaw Kyaw Naing."


Symphonic Skyscrapers

Wednesday, August 22, 2007

New York may have had George Gershwin, but Chicago had its own star of symphonic jazz in John Alden Carpenter, who wrote his biggest hits around the same time "Rhapsody in Blue" was making headlines. Tonight we'll hear Carpenter's musical ode to the roaring 20s, "Skyscrapers."


In G

Tuesday, August 21, 2007

As one of the founding fathers of minimalism, Terry Riley may have found his fame writing "In C," but he's also explored a few other keys along the way. Tonight we hear an example, in the lively and lyrical "G-Song."


Sapphic Music

Monday, August 20, 2007

Even though only a small amount of her poetry has survived, Sappho's writings have been set to music since antiquity. Tonight we sample three centuries of music inspired by the Muse of Lesbos, from Baroque master John Blow to contemporary mystic John Tavener.


Steel Concerto

Sunday, August 19, 2007

Composer Sasha Matson describes himself as a musical "halfbreed," with "one foot on the mountain, and one foot in the gutter." Tonight we sample his eclectic work with his triple concerto for steel pedal guitar and strings, "Steel Chords."


Spotlight On: Garrett Fisher

Saturday, August 18, 2007

TimeOut NY calls Garrett Fisher's stage work "spare, elegant, and beautiful." Fisher joins David Garland for a conversation about his current project, "The Passion of Saint Thomas More," which is being performed in New York later this month.


Brought to You by C

Friday, August 17, 2007

C is for Cookie... and Chopin! Tonight's Evening Music is brought to you by that happiest of keys: C! Did you know that most casino slot machines play music in C major — just to put all the gamblers in a good mood? That's just one of many fun facts about the power of C!


When LA Met Salonen

Thursday, August 16, 2007

Since taking over the Los Angeles Philharmonic in 1992, Finnish composer and conductor Esa-Pekka Salonen has transformed it into a thriving and popular institution, attracting his share of Hollywood-style buzz in the process. Tonight the charismatic composer conducts homage to his adopted hometown with "LA Variations."


The Many Faces of Professor Schickele

Wednesday, August 15, 2007

Even though he's widely acknowledged as one of the great musical satirists of the 20th century, he's also established a versatile and prolific catalog of serious works. Tonight we sample music from the man behind the mask of P.D.Q. Bach, Peter Schickele.


A Mark Morris Sampler

Tuesday, August 14, 2007

Tonight we sample some of the greatest dance hits of choreographer Mark Morris, whose Mozart Dances opens tomorrow at Lincoln Center's Mostly Mozart Festival. We'll spike the evening with selections by Bob Wills and his Texas Playboys, Paul Simon, Lou Harrison, Zakir Hussain, Igor Stravinksy, and many more.


Absolute Ensemble

Monday, August 13, 2007

Fusing jazz, classical, and funk, the electro-acoustic Absolute Ensemble performs Zappa and Mingus alongside Bach and Beethoven. Tonight we feature music by American composer John Adams, as the ensemble brings their eclectic sound to bear on his 1993 Chamber Symphony.


Ray Lema

Sunday, August 12, 2007

Ray Lema was born on a train in Zaire during the 1940s — and hasn't stopped moving since. As composer, pianist, guitarist, and songwriter, Lema straddles the gulf between jazz and classical to occupy a unique place in the realm of world music.


Spotlight on: May Nasr

Saturday, August 11, 2007

May Nasr has inspired a world-wide following with her plaintive voice and meditative music. The Lebanese singer/songwriter joins David Garland in the studio to talk about her efforts in raising global awareness of the Arabian cultural heritage through song.


Stardust and Rocket Science

Friday, August 10, 2007

Their titles may seem related, but their stories are worlds apart. So are their soundtracks, for that matter. Tonight we preview music from two films opening today, Stardust and Rocket Science.

view WNYC's music playlists dating back to 2001


Vivaldi, Indonesian Style

Thursday, August 09, 2007

The father of the American gamelan movement, Lou Harrison brought together Eastern and Western music long before it was popular to do so. One of his early efforts in this area was the "Concerto in Slendro," which takes the form of a Vivaldi concerto — but uses modified Western instruments to simulate the sound of the Indonesian gamelan.


Stravinsky for Kids

Wednesday, August 08, 2007

While waiting out the first World War with his family in Switzerland, Igor Stravinsky sometimes amused himself by writing little piano duets for his children. We feature one of these four-hand pieces tonight — with each hand taking up a guitar — in Stravinsky's "Five Easy Pieces" from the Minneapolis Guitar Quartet.


Randall Woolf

Tuesday, August 07, 2007

Brooklyn-based composer Randall Woolf brings his garage rock band roots to the world of classical music, combining traditional instruments with digital elements to create a genre-bending fusion of old and new. Tonight we hear his acoustic exercise in Baroque dance music on steroids, the "Dancétudes" for solo piano.


Sonic Clouds

Monday, August 06, 2007

You can see objects in clouds, but can you hear clouds in objects—or instruments, for that matter? Composer Leo Kraft uses a flute choir to evoke the nebulous sound of clouds tonight, in his "Cloud Studies for Twelve Flutes."


Sacred Pop

Sunday, August 05, 2007

Imagine liturgical texts sung to the melody of "Hips Don't Lie," and you'll have a modern representation of the 15th-century Catholic mass. We hear an example tonight, in Guillaume Dufay's famous mass modeled after his popular love ballad, "Se la face ay pale."


Spotlight on: Geri Allen

Saturday, August 04, 2007

Pianist/composer Geri Allen's socially conscious style of jazz has taken her around the world and won many awards, including the "Nobel prize" of jazz, Denmark's Jazzpar prize. Allen joins David Garland in the studio to sample her work and talk about her current tour, which takes her to the Village Vanguard later this year.


Baroque Jazz

Friday, August 03, 2007

Jacques Loussier and his Play Bach Trio have been restyling the works of Johann Sebastian Bach for over 40 years now. We treat ourselves to a little 17th-century jazz, via one of Loussier's smooth arrangements — and compare it to the original version.


Singing Swedes

Thursday, August 02, 2007

One of the world's finest a cappella ensembles since the 1950s, the Swedish Radio Choir appears at the Lincoln Center Festival next week. We offer a preview of their remarkable sound tonight with Alfred Schnittke's "Psalms of Repentance."


Sacred Voices

Wednesday, August 01, 2007

One of the most distinctive voices to emerge from Eastern Europe in recent years is the young composer Galina Grigorjeva. Tonight we explore the sacred mysteries of the Baltic choral tradition in Grigorjeva's powerful setting of Russian Orthodox canonic texts, "On Leaving."