#4903, The Beautiful Game
Hear contemporary works inspired by football/Fútbol (soccer, as it is known in the USA), including music by chamber music duo Ballaké Sissoko and Vincent Ségal; Rwandan band The Good Ones; English composers Michael Nyman and Jocelyn Pook, and more.
From Ballaké Sissoko, who plays the traditional kora, a lute-harp from Mali, and Vincent Ségal, the French cellist, hear a piece inspired by the soccer club on which both of their sons played. There’s also music by Spanish rapper and singer C. Tangana for the 100th anniversary of Celta Vigo FC, which leans on the folklore of Galicia, the north-western region of Spain where Vigo is located. In the song, the voices featured are those of Vigo’s Coral Casablanca choir, tambourine-wielding female vocal group Lagharteiras, and Celta supporters’ club Tropas de Breogán.
Then, a favorite of the host, English composer Joceyln Pook's "Arsenal" organizes samples of football chants – the near religious experience of fans all singing together - and then mixes them with the sound of strings. There’s aksi music from Rwanda’s The Good Ones from a Tiny Desk Home Concert, singing about soccer.
Plus, a love song to football by Berlin-based duo Ya Tosiba, and music by American composer Harold Meltzer about Lionel Messi’s ball handling, as played by GRAMMY® Award winning Ukrainian-American pianist Nadia Shpachenko. That, and more. - Caryn Havlik
Program #4903, The Beautiful Game (First aired 7/12/2024)
ARTIST: Jocelyn Pook
WORK: Arsenal – Trevor’s Conversion [1:00]
RECORDING: Portraits In Absentia
SOURCE: This performance not commercially available
INFO: https://www.wisemusicclassical.com/work/14236/Portraits-in-Absentia--Jocelyn-Pook
ARTIST: Ballaké Sissoko, Vincent Ségal
WORK: Mama F. C. [5:12]
RECORDING: Chamber Music
SOURCE: Six Degrees Records
INFO: sixdegreesrecords.com
ARTIST: C. Tangana
WORK: Oliveira Dos Cen Anos [3:34]
RECORDING: Oliveira Dos Cen Anos
SOURCE: Sony Music Entertainment
INFO: https://ctangana.com/
ARTIST: Jocelyn Pook
WORK: Arsenal – Trevor’s Conversion [5:22]
RECORDING: Portraits In Absentia
SOURCE: This performance not commercially available
INFO: https://www.wisemusicclassical.com/work/14236/Portraits-in-Absentia--Jocelyn-Pook
ARTIST: Mike Marshall
WORK: Um A Zero li [3:07]
RECORDING: Brazil Duets
SOURCE: Adventure Music
INFO: https://www.adventure-music.com
ARTIST: The Good Ones
WORK: Soccer (Summer 1988) [5:13]
RECORDING: Tiny Desk Home Concerts
SOURCE: ANTI-Records
INFO: https://thegoodones.ffm.to/soccer
ARTIST: Ya Tosiba
WORK: Futbola [5:21]
RECORDING: Love Party
SOURCE: Asphalt Tango LP-ATR 5817
INFO: asphalt-tango.de
ARTIST: Nadia Shpachenko, piano
WORK: Harold Meltzer: Dribble [3:22]
RECORDING: Private recording
SOURCE/INFO: https://nadiashpachenko.com/page/soccer-inspired-piano-works
ARTIST: Michael Nyman Band
WORK: Michael Nyman: Memorial [10:31]
RECORDING: The Cook, The Thief, His Wife And Her Lover: Music From The Motion Picture
SOURCE: Argo
INFO: Out of print | he work appears on a compilation, "Nyman / Greenaway Revisited"
