#4501, Songs and Instrumentals With Strings
Listen to songs and instrumentals built around stringed instruments, featuring a string quartet, layers of violin, cello, or bass, and viola with nyckelharpa in works by Gwen Laster and New Muse 4tet, Brazilian cellist/singer Dom La Nena, and Czech cello duo Tara Fuki.
Violinist, composer, educator, and collaborator, Gwen Laster, a native Detroiter, has played with the likes of Aretha Franklin, Anthony Braxton, Sun Ra Arkestra, Solange, J Lo and Shakira. Hear Laster's music from the recent record, Blue Lotus, by the New Muse 4tet – an improvising string quartet "founded on principals of performing 21st century works and original music as a vehicle for social activism” in a work featuring tabla player Ehren Hansen and "depicting the mood and energy of urban sounds" (Bandcamp.) There’s also recent music by Dom La Nena, (aka Brazilian cellist and singer-songwriter, Dominique Pinto) from her 2021 record Tempo, crafted with layers of her voice, her cello, and a few piano parts, where even the percussion sounds were made on the cello.
Then, listen to Finnish experimental folk music duo Akkajee as they combine nyckelharpa, viola and vocals, in a traditional song, “Mother’s Lament” from their album, 'Lastenkerääjä' ('Child Collector.') Also, hear music by the Czech duo Tara Fuki, who build their songs - sung in Polish (and not as much Czech)- around the pizzicato and legato lines of two cellos and vocal harmonies, on the band’s 20th anniversary release, Motyle ('Butterflies.') Plus, hear music for voice and layers of violins by London-based singer-songwriter and composer Douglas Dare, together with multi-instrumentalist Peter Broderick, and much more.
Music sung by Brazilian soprano Bidu Sayao rounds out the show in a historical recording of Heitor Villa-Lobos: Bachianas brasileiras No. 5, with cellist Leonard Rose and a cello octet, as conducted by the composer himself. - Caryn Havlik
Program #4501, Songs and Instrumentals With Strings (First Aired 5/26/2021)
ARTIST: Dom La Nena
WORK: Moreno [1:01]
RECORDING: Tempo
SOURCE: Six Degrees Records
INFO: domlanenamusic.bandcamp.com
ARTIST: Nick Drake
WORK: Cello Song [4:49]
RECORDING: Five Leaves Left
SOURCE: Island Records
INFO: Available at AppleMusic, Amazon.com, Spotify, YouTube Music
ARTIST: New Muse 4tet
WORK: City Echos [7:05]
RECORDING: Blue Lotus
SOURCE/INFO: gwenlastergameboard.bandcamp.com
ARTIST: Blick Bassy
WORK: Aké [4:49]
RECORDING: Akö
SOURCE: Nø Førmat!
INFO: blickbassynof.bandcamp.com/album/ako
ARTIST: Dom La Nena
WORK: Moreno [3:39]
RECORDING: Tempo
SOURCE: Six Degrees Records
INFO: domlanenamusic.bandcamp.com
ARTIST: Douglas Dare, ft. Peter Broderick
WORK: Heartstrings [4:38]
RECORDING: Heavenly Bodies
SOURCE: Erased Tapes Records
INFO: douglasdare.bandcamp.com
ARTIST: Akkajee
WORK: Äidin itku (Mother's lament) [6:44]
RECORDING: Lastenkerääjä
SOURCE: akkajee.bandcamp.com
INFO: https://eclipsemusic.lnk.to/LastenkerjAkkajee
ARTIST: Tara Fuki
WORK: Z wiatrem (With the wind) [4:38]
RECORDING: Motyle (Butterflies)
SOURCE: Indies Scope
INFO: indies.eu/us/alba/5133/motyle
ARTIST: Svjetlana Bukvich
WORK: Once You Are Not A Stranger (Reprise) [4:38]
RECORDING: Extension
SOURCE: Navona Records
INFO: navonarecords.com/catalog/nv6276
ARTIST: Eténèsh Wassié, Mathieu Sourisseau, Julie Läderach
WORK: Ambassel [4:44]
RECORDING: Yene Alem
SOURCE: Buda Musique
INFO: budamusique.com
ARTIST: Bidu Sayao, Leonard Rose, Ensemble of Eight Cellos and Double Bass; Heitor Villa‐Lobos, conductor
WORK: Heitor Villa-Lobos: Bachianas brasileiras No. 5, Movement: Aria: Cantilena [3:02]
RECORDING: Bidu Sayao: Opera Arias and Brazilian Folksongs
SOURCE: Sony Masterworks Heritage
INFO: Available at Amazon.com or Discogs.com
