wnyc.org / 93.9fm / am 820

Evening Music

Thursday, August 30, 2007
  • cymbals

    Double Music

    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

John Cage and Lou Harrison's "Double Music"

Cage and Harrison used fairly traditional percussion instruments for this work, with the exception of brakedrums (an "instrument" that both composers were especially fond of). Using a predetermined number of measures and a mathematical "road map" as their guide, Harrison and Cage wrote their parts independently, with Cage writing the parts for players 1 and 3, and Harrison writing the parts for players 2 and 4.

buy Double Music at amazon.com

Robert Spano

Robert Spano

Conductor Robert Spano weighs in on how John Cage rescued the compositional process from hyper-intellectualism — and restored a sense of joy and wonder to music-making.

John Cage Festival

The Other MusiCircuses

Join us for 24:33, as WNYC's weekend overnight host Helga Davis guides us through 24 hours and 33 minutes of John Cage's recorded music, plus rare archival audio of interviews and live performances.

back to 24:33 — Listen on Demand
The Playful and Playable Cage: A WNYC Festival

John Cage Festival

The Voice of John Cage

Join us for 24:33, as WNYC's weekend overnight host Helga Davis guides us through 24 hours and 33 minutes of John Cage's recorded music, plus rare archival audio of interviews and live performances.

back to 24:33 — Listen on Demand
The Playful and Playable Cage: A WNYC Festival

John Cage Festival

Playful Moments of Collage and Caprice

Join us for 24:33, as WNYC's weekend overnight host Helga Davis guides us through 24 hours and 33 minutes of John Cage's recorded music, plus rare archival audio of interviews and live performances.

back to 24:33 — Listen on Demand
The Playful and Playable Cage: A WNYC Festival

John Cage Festival

In Search of Lost Sounds: John Cage Remembered

Join us for 24:33, as WNYC's weekend overnight host Helga Davis guides us through 24 hours and 33 minutes of John Cage's recorded music, plus rare archival audio of interviews and live performances.

back to 24:33 — Listen on Demand
The Playful and Playable Cage: A WNYC Festival

John Cage Festival

The Final Performance

Join us for 24:33, as WNYC's weekend overnight host Helga Davis guides us through 24 hours and 33 minutes of John Cage's recorded music, plus rare archival audio of interviews and live performances.

back to 24:33 — Listen on Demand
The Playful and Playable Cage: A WNYC Festival

John Cage Festival

Cage Clipped: The Many Faces of the Class Clown and Great Patriarch

Join us for 24:33, as WNYC's weekend overnight host Helga Davis guides us through 24 hours and 33 minutes of John Cage's recorded music, plus rare archival audio of interviews and live performances.

back to 24:33 — Listen on Demand
The Playful and Playable Cage: A WNYC Festival

Leave a Comment

Please stay on topic, be civil, and be brief.
Email addresses are never displayed, but they are required to confirm your comments. Names are displayed with all comments. WNYC reserves the right to edit any comments posted on this site. Please read the WNYC.org Comment Guidelines before posting.

Your comment


* required
The information entered into this form will not be used to send unsolicited email and will not be sold to a third party.
 

69th American Music Festival: American Blend

May 21-22, at 7pm; May 23-24 at 8pm; May 25-27 at 7pm

Hosts Terrance McKnight and David Garland will curate and host a weeklong festival with special guests and rare recordings, concluding with live performances in WNYC's Jerome L. Greene Performance Space by Dafnis Prieto, Paola Prestini, Ezequiel Vinao and Yungchen Lhamo May 27.

globalFEST 2009

Listen on Demand

On January 11th, WNYC and NPR Music presented a live webcast of globalFEST 2009, the annual showcase that provides a "sneak peek" of global musicians on the verge of international fame.

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.

Deerhoof/Metropolis Ensemble

Live Webcast

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.