wnyc.org / 93.9fm / am 820

From a Satie-influenced piano solo to electronics to a large jazz-based ensemble, Bach’s celebrated variations are themselves varied for this New Sounds program.  We’ll hear some varations adapted almost beyond recognition, by composers like Derek Bermel, David Del Tredici, and Uri Caine.  Listen to a version arranged by Karlheinz Essl for string trio with electronic manipulation of the instruments along with Derek Bermel's funky Kontraphunktus.

Conductor, pianist and one-liner machine Hans van Bulow called Johann Sebastian Bach's Well-Tempered Clavier the "Old Testament" of music (Ludwig van Beethoven's Piano Sonatas were the "New"). This week at 10 am (new time!) on Hammered! we explore Bach's far-reaching influence on contemporary piano music by returning to the source.

From a Satie-influenced piano solo to electronics to a large jazz-based ensemble, Bach’s celebrated variations are themselves varied for this New Sounds program.  We’ll hear some varations adapted almost beyond recognition, by composers like Derek Bermel, David Del Tredici, and Uri Caine.  Listen to a version arranged by Karlheinz Essl for string trio with electronic manipulation of the instruments along with Derek Bermel's funky Kontraphunktus. 

New music inspired by J.S. Bach is what you'll hear on this New Sounds.  Listen for "Lighthouse" from the Estonian composer, Erkki-Sven Tuur, something of a contemporary take on the baroque, commissioned by Ausbach Bach festival in 1997.  Plus there's music by Steve Martland, his work "Crossing the Border," inspired by Bach's Partita for Solo Violin.  And much more.