On Demand
Evening Music Archive
February 2008
The Composer of Seville
Friday, February 29, 2008
Born on this date in 1792, opera composer Gioacchino Rossini more or less retired at age 32 after achieving fame and fortune with works like "The Barber of Seville." In the grand Rossini tradition of self-borrowing and re-arranging, we present several differently constructed versions of Figaro's famous aria, "Largo al Factotum."
Fanfare for the Uncommon Woman
Thursday, February 28, 2008
American composer Joan Tower has written a series of these fanfares, modeled after Copland's "Fanfare for the Common Man." Using the same instrumentation as Copland, Tower has dedicated these works to "women who take risks and who are adventurous."
Browse Joan Tower CDs at Amazon.com
American Berserk
Wednesday, February 27, 2008
Taking his cue from author Philip Roth, composer John Adams hints at the darker, manic edge of American life in his virtuoso work for piano, American Berserk. Adams characterizes the work as follows: "Influences of American jazz and bop playing mixed with impressions of Conlon Nancarrow's disjunct rhythmic world dominate the writing of this short, manic, bipolar scherzo."
Browse John Adams CDs at Amazon.com
Download at I-Tunes
The New York Philharmonic in North Korea
Tuesday, February 26, 2008
The New York Philharmonic, riding a controversial wave of reaction to their show of cultural diplomacy, performed an historic concert in the East Pyongyang Grand Theater. Our own John Schaefer was there, and hosts the event for WNYC.
March of the Internauts
Monday, February 25, 2008
The armies of hyper-specialized bloggers and critics storm the well-trodden beaches of print-based commentators such as John Rockwell. Also, music from Margaret Bonds, Evan Ziporyn, and a work set to the words of the late Harlem poet Sekou Sundiata.
Sacred Sundays: Paradiso
Sunday, February 24, 2008
Inspired by the third and final book from Dante's Divine Comedy,"Paradiso" depicts the spiritual journey of Dante and his beloved, Beatrice — as filtered through the imagination of Dutch composer Jacob TV and the media-saturated American cultural landscape. From the Apollo astronauts to boisterous televangelists (and the drug-infused musings of trumpeter Chet Baker), many characters inhabit this ultra-tonal, multimedia work meant to dispense with doom and damnation — and to embrace the beauty of our shared suffering.
Join host David Garland each Sunday at 8pm (through Easter Sunday) for WNYC's exclusive series Sacred Sundays, featuring sacred music from around the world that challenges assumptions about how spirituality can be defined within cultures both familiar and foreign.
Discovering Messiaen
Saturday, February 23, 2008
Tomorrow, Carnegie Hall celebrates the centennial year of Olivier Messiaen's birth with a "Discovery Day" of performances, talks, and film. We offer our own tribute to the iconic French composer, with excerpts from his "Turangalila" Symphony and other works.
Browse Olivier Messiaen CDs at Amazon.com
Download at I-Tunes
The Harmonicist's Advocate
Friday, February 22, 2008
Tommy Reilly learned to play the harmonica in a prisoner of war camp during WWII by imitating the phrasing and interpretation of violinist Jascha Heifetz. After the war he spent 55 years advancing the cause of the harmonica on the concert stage, inspiring dozens of works from important composers. We hear Reilly in several works, including a harmonica suite with orchestra written by his frequent accompanist, James Moody.
Browse Tommy Reilly CDs at Amazon.com
Download at I-Tunes
The Songs of Saint Mirabai
Thursday, February 21, 2008
Rebellious to the end, the 16th century Hindu mystical poetess Mirabai refused to submit to a customary death on her husband's funeral pyre. Instead, she left her family behind, wrote poems to Krishna, and sang and danced them in the streets. We hear composer John Harbison's setting of some of those poems in the "Mirabai Songs," as featured on Dawn Upshaw's album Knoxville: Summer of 1915.
Browse John Harbison CDs at Amazon.com
Download at I-Tunes
America's Favorite String Band
Wednesday, February 20, 2008
Musically omnivorous, the string quartet known as Ethel incorporates rock, blues, classical, jazz and other popular genres to stunning effect, earning it the title of "America's favorite string band." We sample two of their albums from the Cantaloupe label, Light (2006), and the group's eponymous release from 2003.
Browse Ethel CDs at Amazon.com
Download at I-Tunes
Related Audio: Ethel performs live on Soundcheck (September 13, 2006)
Nagoya Marimbas
Tuesday, February 19, 2008
We feature Steve Reich's "Nagoya Marimbas" from the album City Life, a work which takes its name from the Japanese city where it was premiered in 1994. In this mind-bending percussion duet, Reich looks back to his early years of "phase music" — wherein both performers play the same thing, but out of sync with each other.
Browse Steve Reich CDs at Amazon.com
Download at I-Tunes
Culture Megastores
Monday, February 18, 2008
Culture critic John Rockwell marvels over the wonders of Berlin's megastore dedicated to culture, Dussmann's. Also, music by Philip Glass, George Gershwin and Dave Brubeck.
Beckett à la Glass
Sunday, February 17, 2008
By the time Philip Glass wrote his second string quartet in 1984, he hadn't ventured into the medium for nearly 20 years. Drawn back to the intimacy of a quartet to accompany a staged version of Samuel Beckett's prose poem "Company," Glass wove his music neatly into the silences between scenes, creating a stand-alone commentary on the nature of solitude itself.
Browse Philip Glass CDs at Amazon.com
Download at I-Tunes
Corigliano@70
Saturday, February 16, 2008
Composer John Corigliano turns 70 today; we mark the occasion with a sampling of his works, including "Gazebo Dances," an idyllic suite inspired by old-fashioned outdoor concerts in small town America. Also, classical and popular hits from another composer born on this date (albeit just over a hundred years ago), Alec Wilder.
Browse John Corigliano CDs at Amazon.com
Download at I-Tunes
Related Audio: John Corigliano talks about his career on Soundcheck (January 30, 2008)
Quiet City
Friday, February 15, 2008
Originally written for a play that never made it to Broadway, Aaron Copland's "Quiet City" casts a trumpet soloist in the part of observer over a large (and deceptively serene) metropolis at night. Also on tonight's plate: works by Henry Cowell, J.S. Bach, and chamber music by Boston-based composer Tison Street.
If Music be the Food of Love
Thursday, February 14, 2008
Spend your Valentine's Day evening with David Garland, WNYC's cartographer of the heart, as he spins some of his favorite love-tunes: from the Renaissance to Radiohead, Neruda and MC Solaar.
Synthetic Waltzes
Wednesday, February 13, 2008
Long before he was a leading music critic and the dean of American composers, Virgil Thomson lived the Bohemian life in Paris, running in circles with the likes of James Joyce, Jean Cocteau, and Gertrude Stein. We hear an early work from those years that mischievously turns the conventions of grand society on its head, the Synthetic Waltzes.
Browse Virgil Thomson CDs at Amazon.com
Download at I-Tunes
Light is Calling
Tuesday, February 12, 2008
Born in Miami and raised by Eastern European Jews in the jungles of Nicaragua, composer Michael Gordon knows all about crossing cultural boundaries. We sample a track from Gordon's album of string textures and rock rhythms, Light is Calling. Also, music from Czech avant-garde violinist, singer and composer Iva Bittová's 2005 collaboration with the Bang on a Can All-Stars, Elida.
Browse Michael Gordon CDs at Amazon.com
Download at I-Tunes
Acoustics and Repercussions
Monday, February 11, 2008
Culture critic John Rockwell gets jolted out of his seat when, during a recent trip to Berlin, he's confronted by the additional musical beauty that can be made through proper acoustical construction. Also, music from Yungchen Lhamo, one of The New Americans on WNYC.
In Praise of Horses
Sunday, February 10, 2008
Largely unchanged since the days of Genghis Kahn, the Mongolian horse remains an integral part of East-Central Asian culture. We hear some traditional songs that sing the praises of this prized animal, and then move south for some traditional music out of Vietnam, dating from the 17th century.
The Art of the Rag
Friday, February 08, 2008
Taking his cue from Johann Sebastian Bach, composer/mandolinist Neil Gladd wrote "The Ragtime Offering" for piano in 1980, combining the themes and harmonies of Bach with the style of Scott Joplin. We hear Gladd's arrangement for mandolin ensemble, which also includes two more Bachian works: "The Goldberg Rag," and "The Art of the Rag."
Browse Neil Gladd CDs at Amazon.com
Download at I-Tunes
Lunar New Year
Thursday, February 07, 2008
The New Moon Rises Festival kicks off today on WNYC2, and we provide a small sampling of works, including a performance by the Hubei Song and Dance Ensemble of the People's Republic of China. Also, music by Chinese-born composer Min Xiao-Fen, recently interviewed for The New Americans series on WNYC.
Composers Making Sense
Wednesday, February 06, 2008
Taking its cue from the catch-phrase "If you don't like the news, go out and make some of your own," the Common Sense Composers Collective brings together a diverse group of young composers to create contrasting works that center around a common theme. We hear a sample from their latest CD release, TIC, with Randall Woolf's high class pop-infused chamber piece, "Alternative Music."
More at the CSCC website
The Grateful Dead
Monday, February 04, 2008
Culture critic John Rockwell ponders the ambient soundscapes of Brian Eno and John Cage. Also, selections from Jonny Greenwood's There Will Be Blood soundtrack, and an album from American Baroque, The Shock of the Old.
Private Dances
Sunday, February 03, 2008
Author, critic, and professor Kyle Gann's musical tastes run far and wide; as a composer he's written microtonal and electronic works that take their cue from rebels like Harry Partch and Conlon Nancarrow. We sample some blues-infused tracks from a Gann CD released last year, Private Dances.
Browse Kyle Gann CDs at Amazon.com
Download at I-Tunes
Ear to Ear: Taoufiq Ben Amor
Saturday, February 02, 2008
Tunisian-born vocalist, percussionist and oud Player Taoufiq Ben Amor is a strong presence on the local Arab music scene, performing both classical/folk and hip-hip/jazz-infused Arabian music with his New York City-based bands Ayyoub and Tarab. We hear samples of his work (and their accompanying stories) as he joins David Garland in the studio.
Jigs, Rags, and Blues
Friday, February 01, 2008
We do a little dance step through history, from a 17th-century jig through the ragtime of Scott Joplin, to the blues of Finnish composer Uuno Klami. Also, another in our series of New Americans portraits, featuring Chinese-born composer Huang Ruo.
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Ear to Ear
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