On Demand
Evening Music Archive
October 2007
Spooky Musical Treats
Wednesday, October 31, 2007
We set a Halloween mood in our first hour, with selections ranging from Henry Cowell's "The Banshee" to Bernard Hermann's famous "Psycho" soundtrack.
The Madness of Meredith Monk
Tuesday, October 30, 2007
Meredith Monk's vocalizations range from the mad to the sublime, conjuring up subliminal worlds of abstraction that speak directly to the subconscious mind. In our featured piece, Monk channels her inner child with an excerpt from the album Dolmen Music, entitled "The Tale."
Stravinsky on Ice
Monday, October 29, 2007
Written in 1980, Joan Tower's "Petroushskates" is both an homage to Stravinsky's early ballet "Petroushka" and the intricate flow of figure skating. More than 20 years later, new music sextet eighth blackbird created a new version of Tower's shimmering ensemble work for their CD release thirteen ways.
Valentin Silvestrov
Sunday, October 28, 2007
Ukrainian composer Valentin Silvestrov has made his mark bridging the gap between romantic tonality and avant-garde modernism. An icon in the former Soviet Union, Silvestrov has been gaining increased prominence in the West.
Ear to Ear: Ezequiel Viñao
Saturday, October 27, 2007
Ezequiel Viñao writes densely-layered, evocative music that speaks to the distant past through a modern soundscape. The Argentine-American composer shares samples of his work and lends insight into his highly personal tonal language.
Scarlatti Remixed
Friday, October 26, 2007
The music of Domenico Scarlatti (1685-1757) has been transcribed, remixed, covered and sampled countless numbers of times in modern music (and by modern performers). We hear several examples, as we mark the 322nd anniversary of the composer's birth.
Artificial Nature
Thursday, October 25, 2007
Cindy Cox mixes innovations in acoustic technology with poetic allusion to create a "post-tonal" musical language. The composer examines the artificial underpinnings of nature with her interactive electronic work, "Nature is."
The Unprepared Piano
Wednesday, October 24, 2007
One of John Cage's most notorious contributions to the musical avant-guarde was the "prepared piano" — wherein he altered the instrument by placing objects between the strings. At the other end of the spectrum lay his many deceptively simple works for conventional piano, one of which we feature tonight.
Philip Glass Up Close
Tuesday, October 23, 2007
Photorealist Chuck Close has been making portraits of Philip Glass since the late 60s, when they became friends while struggling to establish themselves in New York. We sample one of Glass's own tributes to Close featured on the 2006 album Up Close, which was originally created to accompany one of the artist's exhibitions at the Metropolitan Museum.
Urban Affair
Monday, October 22, 2007
A fixture on the Boston new music scene for nearly twenty years, Welsh-born composer Andy Vores has forged his own style out of a myriad of influences, including minimalism, pop, jazz, and impressionism. In tonight's featured work, Vores charts the course of a modern-day romance in his chamber ballad, "Urban Affair."
Bach to Bach
Sunday, October 21, 2007
British-Canadian pianist Angela Hewitt has become renowned for her interpretations of Johann Sebastian Bach, being hailed by the Guardian as "the preeminent Bach pianist of our time." Hewitt recently finished recording the complete keyboard works of Bach for the Hyperion label, a process spanning more than a decade and 14 discs.
Ear to Ear: Cyro Baptista
Saturday, October 20, 2007
Since arriving in the U.S. in 1980 from his native country Brazil, Cyro Baptista has emerged as one of the premier percussionists in the country. He brings samples of his work to the studio and talks about his upcoming performances at the Henry Street Settlement with avant-guard composer John Zorn.
Ingram Marshall
Friday, October 19, 2007
Tonight we feature music by Ingram Marshall, whose musical roots lie in the electronic music revolution of the 1960s and '70s. Equally influenced by the gamelan music of Java and Bali, Marshall's aesthetic evokes a sense of dreaminess — while remaining aware of the emotional responses to rhythmic complexity.
Dead Elvis
Thursday, October 18, 2007
Imagine a Stravinsky-esque version of "It's Now or Never" cross-pollinated with a bossa-nova version of the centuries old "Dies Irae" melody, and you'll have an idea of tonight's featured piece: Michael Daugherty's miniature requiem for an American icon, "Dead Elvis."
Sir Colin Davis and the LSO at Avery Fisher Hall
Wednesday, October 17, 2007
The world-renowned London Symphony Orchestra returns to Lincoln Center, as Sir Colin Davis celebrates his 80th birthday with an all-Mozart program. Co-hosted by WNYC's John Schaefer and American Public Media's Brian Newhouse, the concert features pianist Imogen Cooper in Mozart's Piano Concerto No. 27, and Mozart's final work, the Requiem Mass in D Minor, featuring the London Symphony Chorus and soloists. Supported by AIG.
Night of the Flying Horses
Tuesday, October 16, 2007
In her film The Man Who Cried, Sally Potter portrayed the fateful love of a young Jewish woman for a wild Gypsy horse rider. Composer Osvaldo Golijov worked the theme he wrote for that film into an exploration of both cultures, in "Night of the Flying Horses."
The (Unintentional) Poetry of Donald Rumsfeld
Monday, October 15, 2007
Phil Kline isn't the only person to see artistic value in Donald Rumsfeld's public statements; Hart Seely collected an entire book of Rumsfeld "poetry," which was later set to music. Kline's haunting version, however, more closely tracks the abstract nature of the former defense secretary's words, in the "Three Rumsfeld Songs."
Ear to Ear: Haleh Abghari
Saturday, October 13, 2007
A native of Iran who makes her home in New York City, Haleh Abghari has brought new music to life throughout the U.S., Canada and Europe. The singer/activist brings samples of her work and talks with David Garland about her efforts to engage the community in socially relevant issues through performance art.
Moondog Rising
Friday, October 12, 2007
Blinded in an accident at age 16, Louis Hardin was homeless for more than 30 years, busking (often in a horned Viking helmet) on the corner of 53rd Street and 6th Avenue in Manhattan. Better known under his "stage" name, Moondog, Hardin found inspiration in the music of the Renaissance and Native America, leaving behind a number of quirky compositions that influenced a huge cross-section of contemporary artists.
Founding Father of Minimalism
Thursday, October 11, 2007
Terry Riley is often called one of the "founding fathers" of minimalism. Working with classical Indian musicians, Beat poets, and all manner of contemporary composers, Riley has created a body of work that not only defines the genre, but transcends it as well.
Thelonious Monk
Wednesday, October 10, 2007
Thelonious Monk changed the course of American popular music with his inventive melodies, harmonies, and singular two-handed piano playing style. We mark the 90th anniversary of this modern jazz genius's birth with selections including "Monk's Point" and "Crepiscule with Nellie."
Lollapalooza
Tuesday, October 09, 2007
Composer John Adams has written a significant amount of work in honor of his friends and colleagues. Tonight we feature his 40th birthday present to conductor Sir Simon Rattle, "Lollapalooza."
Rockwell Matters
Monday, October 08, 2007
We feature the first in a monthly series of radio blogs from New York culture critic John Rockwell, as he talks about the new American opera "Margaret Garner," by Richard Danielpour and Toni Morrison.
Ear to Ear: Iva Bittová
Saturday, October 06, 2007
Born in Moravia, Iva Bittová is an avant-garde violinist, performance artist, and composer who started out as an actress in Czech feature films. Fresh off her performances at Joe's Pub and Union Hall in Brooklyn, Bittová joins David Garland to share her music and talk about her highly prolific — and unusual — career.
Ambassadors of Sound
Friday, October 05, 2007
Over the last 20 years, the Minneapolis Guitar Quartet has not only re-imagined the classics, but commissioned new works from more than 20 composers (one of whom dubbed them the "ambassadors of sound"). We feature two such pieces tonight, from their album of contemporary world music, Over Land and Sea.
Voices of Light
Thursday, October 04, 2007
Critics use phrases like "hauntingly beautiful," "incredible," and "spectacular" to describe composer Richard Einhorn's music. Tonight we sample his lushly scored oratorio "Voices of Light," written as a modern-day score for the 1928 classic silent film "The Passion of Joan of Arc."
Old and Lost Rivers
Wednesday, October 03, 2007
Tobias Picker's music ranges from the densely chromatic to the lushly romantic. We hear an example of the latter, in his orchestral tone poem that evokes the winding bayous of Texas, "Old and Lost Rivers."
Naive and Sentimental Music
Tuesday, October 02, 2007
John Adams is well acquainted with the creative dichotomy inherent in being a composer who also conducts. Adams explores the subject in his "Naive and Sentimental Music," dedicated to another famous composer/conductor, Esa-Pekka Salonen.
The Misadventures of Soup
Monday, October 01, 2007
Marc Mellits' smart, catchy chamber music challenges the ear and tickles the funny bone at the same time. His reputation as a "witty post-minimalist" is on full display in tonight's featured piece, "The Misadventures of Soup."
Music Playlists
View WNYC's music playlists dating back to 2001 (full playlists are generally posted the day after broadcast). For playlist inquiries, please contact Listener Services via email or at 646-829-4000.
More
Festivals and Specials
Listen on demand to our online archive of music festivals and specials, where you'll find a treasure-trove of stimulating conversations, opinions, reflections, and of course, great music!
More
Ear to Ear
Ear to Ear takes innovative musicians off the New York stages and into the studio for relaxed, insightful conversation, as they share their personal recordings with host David Garland.
More
