New Music reBlog

September 02, 2010

Coming Next :: Los Angeles (the symphony)

Coming up on our next Music From Other Minds broadcast on Friday, Richard Friedman returns for another season of new and unusual music, starting with

Arvo Pärt: Symphony #4 “Los Angeles” (2008)…
the world premiere recording of this composer’s first major orchestral work in over 30 years

and

Ann Southam: In the Measure of Time (1988)…
for two pianos

Originally posted by rchrd from Music From Other Minds, ReBlogged by newmusicrebloggers on Sep 2, 2010 at 11:12 PM | Comments (0)

A history of teen idols - Newsweek

A history of teen idols
Newsweek
(Not for nothing was “Queens Get the Money,” the opening track on Nas's last solo record, driven by a hypnotic piano riff right out of Steve Reich's ...

Originally from lutoslawski OR xenakis OR boulez OR Dutilleux OR ligeti OR "elliott carter" OR stockhausen OR "steve reich" OR "tristan murail" AND music - Google News, ReBlogged by newmusicrebloggers on Sep 2, 2010 at 11:12 PM | Comments (0)

Cool and calmly composed: Nico Muhly, changing the face of classical music - National

Cool and calmly composed: Nico Muhly, changing the face of classical music
National
Influences from the minimalists – Steve Reich and Glass are particular favourites – are overt, but the conceptual elements are counterbalanced by his ...

Stockhausen: Mantra - The Guardian

The Guardian

Stockhausen: Mantra
The Guardian
... was a watershed in Stockhausen's development. Composed in 1970, it was the work that not only signalled his return to composing fully notated music ...

Ars Nova Copenhagen/Hillier - The Guardian

Ars Nova Copenhagen/Hillier
The Guardian
... New World theme – but it also showcased the vocal ensemble's talent for contemporary music. Works by classic American minimalists Steve Reich, ...

Classical Music/Opera Listings - New York Times

Classical Music/Opera Listings
New York Times
... Xenakis and Jeff Lederer. A few of the composers — Mr. Schlefer, Mr. Chiu and Mr. Lederer (with his Sunwatcher Quartet) — will perform their own music. ...

Writing as if Composing

Run-on and runaway sentences; hanging sentence fragments; needling repetition; odd punctuation; obscurities and neologisms; abrupt shifts of register, both up and down; anacoluthons; non-sequitors; too much stuffed away between ellipses, brackets, braces, or parentheses (when not hidden in footnotes below); seemingly arbitrary settings of text in italic or boldface character; metaphors mixed and mashed; knowingly faulty logic; opinions presented as facts; abused rhetoric (all 38 of Schopenhauer's Arts of Being Right on display and then-some)... Guilty as charged! All I can ask is that you, dear reader, bear with me even if these aspects of Renewable Music's house style book grate like so many fingernails on blackboards or even more ants in a bento box on a Saturday picnic turned to thunder, lightning, rain, gentle rain, then too much rain... The idea — and there really is one, here — is that the webblog is still a new media, one which has not yet found its extents and limits as a form of prose (or not-prose), and that it is not yet immune to the methods of an experimental composer, thus the breathless and short-of-breath and stuttered lines, the sudden interjections, jarring accents, and ragged articulations, and all those sounds, those troubled, troubling, consoling, caring, sweet, everyday, exotic, exhalted sounds... What could be better than to aspire to a condition of music? My fault, my failure then, may not be the experimenting but rather the stubborn fact of not having experimented enough.

[Except, of course, for careless errors in spelling, grammar, or typos. The fault, there, belongs to the damn computer.]

Originally from Renewable Music, ReBlogged by newmusicrebloggers on Sep 2, 2010 at 08:11 PM | Comments (0)

Detroit, Detroit

As Drew McManus rolls out his Venture platform today (or rather the movie for it), this spoof of orchestra consultants couldn’t come at a better time:

No offense intended towards Drew. Venture very may well be the greatest thing since the Model T, but for an orchestra struggling to make it through the season, it’s probably not going to do much good at this point. Many non-profits struggle with the same ‘magic bullet’ desperation strategy, and plenty of for-profit businesses have put all their chips on one last bet to save the company. So, it’s not like this is exactly a unique phenomenon. What is striking about it, though, is how often it happens in the orchestral world.

Reading the Detroit musicians’ site is pretty fascinating. They make the mistake of leading with the argument that reduced pay will move them out of the mythical ‘Top Ten’. That’s a farcical argument predicated on a ranking of wages in the industry, not artistic quality. The fact that the rest of their case is so strong makes their decision to make the Top Ten canard their first talking point even more befuddling.

Their next talking point highlights one of the major strengths of their case: their willingness to accept salary cuts. They have proven that they are willing to be part of a solution. However, they manage to fumble the ball by demanding that salary cuts always be tied to a recovery:

Numerous times in past decades, Detroit and Michigan’s economy was such that severe cutbacks in salary and benefits had to be accepted by the staff and musicians. In every instance that such requests were made to the musicians, they understood the problems and agreed to those concessions. In those instances, they recognized that if such concessions were not lifted at some point the orchestra would be unable to retain and attract the kinds of musicians who make up the heart and soul of the DSO’s greatness. Thus, on each occasion, the concessions were followed by a “recovery” in the final year giving the musicians the light at the end of the tunnel to which they could pin their hopes of retaining their status among the top ten.

re economic crisis of the state and the city, they are once again being asked to take severe cuts upwards of 28% in salary, drastic cuts in their health insurance, elimination of contributions to their retirement benefits, and a detrimental reduction in the number of musicians. And, once again, the musicians have offered to accept millions of dollars of concessions in order to help the DSO to survive this recession.

Nevertheless, management is unwilling to agree to any restoration of wages and benefits, even two or three years from now, that might even come close to enabling the DSO to regain its status. In fact, management’s demands make permanent the DSO’s fall out of the top ten American symphony orchestras. If the musicians are forced to accept such a permanent fall of the orchestra, out of the top ten, many of their players will audition for and win jobs in other top ten orchestras, and those young people seeking a career in a great orchestra will look elsewhere.

I couldn’t find any statement on their site where the Detroit musicians seemed to recognize that a recovery to the top of the wage scale might not be possible. They seem to dismiss out of hand the notion that the orchestra simply cannot afford to pay salaries above $80,000. While on the one hand, they are admirably ready to accept cuts to that level and below in the short term, they insist that pay needs to return there as quickly as possible.

Meanwhile, the rest of their sprawling site (turn off the autoplaying music, please!) goes into fairly sickening details of financial mismanagement. That’s where the bulk of their case lies:

1. The DSO hasn’t turned a profit in a decade!
2. They’ve gone from 25,000 donors to 5,000 over the last two decades.
3. Management problems were identified in 2006. A plan to fix them was formalized in 2008. Nothing has happened.
4. This same management raised $60 million for a new hall, put it in the bank, and borrowed the money for construction, gambling that they could beat the interest rates on the loan through clever investing.
5. The loan is now sucking $3 million a year from the endowment, and the DSO is on the brink of foreclosure on a property they could have bought and paid for in cash.

e Executive Director of the DSO is pulling in $378,704 per year (That’s 5 musician’s salaries at the levels he’s proposing, in case you’re wondering).

This list of woes is where the musicians’ case finally gains traction. They have been miserably served by their bosses, and now that everyone is in radical restructuring mode, they should dump the risible Top Ten argument and fight tooth and nail for real reforms.

At the top of their list should be an overhaul of the management. They should make sure that compensation is tied to performance. They’d get fired if they performed poorly. Why shouldn’t the CEO and his team? They should also make sure they are getting more leverage on the board in exchange for their pay cuts.

It’s heartening to see that they have authorized a strike. Hopefully, if it comes to that, they’ll reprioritize their talking points.

Originally posted by jodru from ANABlog, ReBlogged by newmusicrebloggers on Sep 2, 2010 at 06:10 PM | Comments (0)

American Men: Drum's Not Dead (Just a Bit Queasy) - The Skinny

The Skinny

American Men: Drum's Not Dead (Just a Bit Queasy)
The Skinny
“But I see it more as laser, glassy synth music – futuristic sonically and visually. “We're all into very different things but come together over 90s ...

BBC Beyoncé update

Tim Rutherford-Johnson has a piece in the Guardian on Mark-Anthony Turnage's Beyoncé escapade. It was, of course, intentional: Turnage's son Milo loves dancing to "Single Ladies."

Originally from Alex Ross: The Rest Is Noise, ReBlogged by newmusicrebloggers on Sep 2, 2010 at 02:12 PM | Comments (0)

Ars Nova Copenhagen, Queen's Hall - Herald Scotland

Ars Nova Copenhagen, Queen's Hall
Herald Scotland
... to register as significant on any modern music seismograph. And the whole Mass would have been more effective in a bigger acoustic anyway. Steve Reich's ...

Fall Arts: Classical Music - Artvoice

Fall Arts: Classical Music
Artvoice
2; Beethoven's Quartet in C Sharp Minor, Op. 131, and György Ligeti's Quartet No.1 (“Metamorphoses Nocturnes”). The BCMS also sponsors three “Gift to the ...

Fall guys - Bay Area Reporter

Bay Area Reporter

Fall guys
Bay Area Reporter
He also performs to perfection "To Bob Atel of Paris" by the late great jazz artist Jaki Byard , and works by composers Conlon Nancarrow and Leonard ...

and more »

Originally from "wolfgang rihm" OR "joan tower" OR "conlon nancarrow" OR "scelsi" OR "sciarrino" AND music - Google News, ReBlogged by newmusicrebloggers on Sep 2, 2010 at 08:10 AM | Comments (0)

Coming attractions: A short list of the campus's enticing fall events - Canada Views

Coming attractions: A short list of the campus's enticing fall events
Canada Views
Renowned for its performances of music from Haydn to Lutoslawski, Ensemble Zellig makes its US debut with Cal Performances. The program includes premieres ...

Melawat Malaysia

Georgia Hesse and Russell Johnson - Melawat Malaysia cassette released in 1985This cassette is narrated by notable travel writer Georgia Hesse and producer and radio and TV host Russell Johnson. Melawat (Malay word for "visit") Malaysia is the second in a series of electronic travel guides produced by Travelmedia. All of the sounds and music were recorded in Malaysia. I am still trying to find

Originally from A Closet of Curiosities, ReBlogged by newmusicrebloggers on Sep 2, 2010 at 05:12 AM | Comments (0)

Live Music Roundup - September 2, 2010 - Tweed Shire Echo Community News

Live Music Roundup - September 2, 2010
Tweed Shire Echo Community News
2.30pm Camerata of St John's and Tatiana Kolesova, piano, performs works by Vivaldi, Mozart, Grieg, Lutoslawski, Sculthorpe, Mendelssohn. ...

African Tribal Music & Dances

various artists compilation - African Tribal Music & Dances *special thanks to KL from NYC for thisCD released in 1993The material on this CD are from LP releases Music of the Malinke/Music of the Baoule on Esoteric Records [CPT-529] (tracks 1-13) and Sonar Senghor and His Troupe - African Tribal Music and Dances on Olympic Records [OL-6121, released in 1976) (tracks 14-22, these tracks are only

Originally from A Closet of Curiosities, ReBlogged by newmusicrebloggers on Sep 2, 2010 at 02:11 AM | Comments (0)

September 01, 2010

Deutsche Grammophon & Decca Celebrate Mahler's Birthday with The People's Edition - Broadway World

Deutsche Grammophon & Decca Celebrate Mahler's Birthday with The People's Edition
Broadway World
Pierre Boulez and The Cleveland Orchestra turn their attention to Mahler with a new recording of Des Knaben Wunderhorn and the Adagio from the Tenth ...

Book Review: The Music Instinct by Philip Ball - California Literary Review

California Literary Review

Book Review: The Music Instinct by Philip Ball
California Literary Review
On just one page, in the chapter dealing with rhythm, he weaves relevant examples ranging from Gyorgy Ligeti's composition used in the film 2001: A Space ...

Konzert am 26. September im Perzina-Saal der Stadtbibliothek - Schwerin-News

Konzert am 26. September im Perzina-Saal der Stadtbibliothek
Schwerin-News
So bezeichnete die „Welt“ eine Aufführung des Trios als „unwiderstehlich“, der Komponist Wolfgang Rihm schrieb in einem Brief an das Trio: “So interpretiert ...

Originally from "wolfgang rihm" OR "joan tower" OR "conlon nancarrow" OR "scelsi" OR "sciarrino" AND music - Google News, ReBlogged by newmusicrebloggers on Sep 1, 2010 at 11:10 PM | Comments (0)

Classical music should drop its silly conventions

'Young people don't like concert halls... and wouldn't normally go to one except for amplified music. There is a big divide between amplified and non-amplified music... The future must bring things which are considered blasphemous like amplifying classical music in an atmosphere where people can come and go and even talk perhaps.. and certainly leave in the middle of a movement if they feel like it. Nobody should be deprived of classical music, least of all by silly conventions.'

That is Jonathan Harvey talking about the future of classical music in an exclusive interview being broadcast and webcast on Future Radio on Sunday Sept 4. Which is the day after the composer's choral work Dum transisset sabbatum is being performed at a BBC Prom.

Jonathan Harvey is seen above talking to me at his home in Sussex during the recording. In the interview he talks about musicians he has known including Benjamin Britten, Hans Keller, Karlheinz Stockhausen, Milton Babbitt and Pierre Boulez. He also discusses his deep interest in mystical religions and the musical topics range from the future of classical music to serialism and spectralism. The interview concludes with Jonathan Harvey giving an invaluable introduction to his new composition for large orchestra and electronics, Speakings, and this is followed by a complete recorded performance of the work.

There is some priceless material in the interview so it is being made available in several formats. The broadcast version is being aired on FM locally in Norwich, England and worldwide via the internet at 3.00pm UK time this Sunday Sept 5, with a repeat for North American listeners at 1.00am the following morning, i.e. the night of Sept 5-6. (Time zone convertor here.) This broadcast will be a 28 minute edited interview ending with Jonathan Harvey introducing a full performance of Speakings which lasts for another 28 minutes.

Because some content has been edited out to achieve the broadcast timing, the on-demand streamed version, which will be available here after the broadcast, will contain the complete interview unedited. This runs for 55 minutes plus the performance of Speakings. The full length interview will also be available on my iTunes podcast site, but less the performance of Speakings as I do not have a music royalty license.

Below is some background to the interview. On An Overgrown Path is now taking a break to allow my laptop to cool down, so there may be a delay in moderating comments and replying to emails. While I am away do support other music blogs here and here.

* The interview with Jonathan Harvey was recorded using the Zoom H2 recorder I am seen holding in the upper photo. Sound quality recording in MP3 format at 320kbp is excellent, but inevitably these recorders do pick up some handling noise. Expert editing was by volunteer editor Tim Wilds in the Future Radio studios using Adobe Audition software. (Good luck at Goldsmiths College Tim!) Silly conventions were ignored in the final edit, so the performance of Speakings starts under Jonathan Harvey's voice and ends under mine. This is because the opening and closing bars are extremely quiet and without the overlap it sounded as though the broadcast had broken down. (Yes, I know.)

** My thanks go to Jonathan Harvey for making time available before a demanding trip to Japan, and to John Cronin who helped set it up. The interview could not have happened without the tireless support of Future Radio; if you appreciate their backing please send them a message saying so. All my work for the station is done on a pro bono basis. The recording of Speakings is on a new Aeon CD of Jonathan Harvey's music recorded by the BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra conducted by Ilan Volkov.

Also available on Twitter and Facebook. Photos are (c) On An Overgrown Path 2010. The Aeon CD Speakings was supplied as a requested review sample. Report broken links, missing images and errors to - overgrownpath at hotmail dot co dot uk

Originally from On An Overgrown Path, ReBlogged by newmusicrebloggers on Sep 1, 2010 at 08:12 PM | Comments (0)

Let there be Haas

Sylvain Cambreling / Klangforum Wien; Kairos 1233. The fiercely original Austrian composer Georg Friedrich Haas is at the center of a late-summer festival entitled Moving Sounds 2010, which unfolds over the next few days at the Austrian Cultural Forum, the...

Originally from Alex Ross: The Rest Is Noise, ReBlogged by newmusicrebloggers on Sep 1, 2010 at 08:12 PM | Comments (0)

Interview with Richard Ayres

Richard Ayres

Since 1989, British composer Richard Ayres (born 1965) has lived and worked in the Netherlands. He currently teaches composition at the Royal Conservatoire in Den Haag: an institution where he did his graduate studies with Louis Andriessen. His compositional style reveals a profusion of influences, from Ives and Kagel to Ades and Janacek. Above all one notices his interest in dense counterpoint, frequently deployed in multi-layered structures; as well as a concomitant flair for testing the limits of playability, often with an eye towards cultivating a “melancholically humorous” ambience.

One of his favorite mediums is the “noncerto:” a composition for soloist and orchestra in which the soloist isn’t a heroic individual who overawes both orchestra and audience. Instead, the soloist’s role is quite the opposite: a Beckettian antihero: frequently asked to explore the barely possible or, indeed, the impossible. There are antecedents for the noncerto – notably in works by Carter, Feldman, and Kagel. By turning the concerto paradigm on its head, Ayres creates an affecting exploration of the individual who feels inarticulate: out of step with society. Doing so while creating compelling music (that attracts non-soloists) is no mean feat! But Ayres’ noncertos are becoming increasingly in demand.

This year he’s received a great deal of buzz in Europe. His new CD for the NMC imprint, Noncertos and Others, has received accolades from many corners, including critical praise from venues not ordinarily known to be sanguine about contemporary classical music. Perhaps the disc’s biggest coup to date is landing the coveted “Editor’s Choice” distinction from Gramophone magazine.

Despite the plaudits overseas, Ayres isn’t a household name yet here in the United States. Indeed, during the course of our wide-ranging discussion, he mentioned having not yet been programmed by an orchestra the United States. One hopes that this oversight is quickly remedied!

Christian Carey: How did you come up with the idea of the ‘noncerto?‘ Who first performed one of your noncertos? Have soloists been receptive to the idea of this type of piece?

Richard Ayres: I saw a program on the TV that was about a trombonist with some sort of Alzheimer’s disease. He was holding an electric razor and thought it was a trombone. He became very upset when he couldn’t work out how to play it. This broke my heart, and I wanted to write a little piece out of sympathy or as a tribute to this guy. This piece became the first noncerto for small ensemble and alto trombone. The Schoenberg Ensemble from Amsterdam commissioned it. I became attracted by the idea of outcast against the crowd, and four more noncerti followed.

Soloists need a melancholic sense of humor (humor not comedy), and an amazing technique to play these pieces. In spite of being underdogs, the solo parts are obviously virtuosic. I like to think that anyone that is attracted to the melancholia of Charlie Chaplin, or the excess of Terry Gilliam would like to play my noncerti. This is certainly just vanity.

CC: Each time I listen to No. 37B for Orchestra, I’m struck by what I hear as a kinship with the music of American composer Charles Ives: the overlapping of orchestral lines in a sort of collage, the frequent shifts of focus, and the wondrously pungent dissonances. Of course, I might just be listening through my own set of repertoire filters, but I wondered- is Ives at all influential on the music you’re composing?

RA: Oh yes! I heard Ives’ 4th symphony when I was a student and this gave me permission to write “far too many notes” sections in my pieces, and generally to roam around musical history. Actually these seemingly complex textures are rarely more than five musical lines…any more than 4 musical lines seems to be heard as a texture. I’m glad I listened in that particular counterpoint class!

CC: Who are some other touchstone composers you might point to?

RA: Oh, far too many to mention. I devour all music. Contemporary music loves range from Jerry Hunt right through to Tom Ades. I listen to loads of folk and rock music, just about anything. If I had to pick out some especially important classical composers then, apart from Ives, the music of Janacek, Sibelius, Beethoven, Mozart, Purcell, Rameau, Verdi, Strauss has been a massive influence on my composition.

I am just as, if not more, influenced by film. Fellini, Guy Madden, Terry Gilliam, and the great Charlie Chaplin have all played a part in shaping my creative taste.

CC: Would you tell us a bit about your numbering system for pieces?

RA: Three reasons for the numbers: I don’t have a lot of imagination for titles, and the ones I have made up were pretty awful; I find it easier to remember which piece is which (although this is no longer true. As I get older and the number of pieces increases, I find I can’t remember which is which); I forget now which painter said “a title is as important as a color in a painting”. Was this Jasper Johns? Whoever it was, I agree entirely. A title determines, or colors the listeners perception of a piece of music. I don’t want to pollute a listener’s experience unless it is absolutely necessary. At the moment I am playing with a juxtaposing literary and musical narrative, and am writing extremely long movement titles that are very evocative, and either concur with, or contradict how we experience the music’s emotional world.

CC: Noncertos and Others (NMC) has gotten a terrific reception, both in Europe and the US. Has this been a surprise, albeit a pleasant one?

RA: I wish I could be cool and knowing and say that it was what I had expected. I can’t, and I am extremely surprised. When I opened my copy of Gramophone magazine and saw my CD was editor’s choice I immediately ran to buy a copy to send to my mother. I’m very happy.

CC: For those whose introduction to your work comes via this CD, where would you send them next to learn more about your oeuvre?

RA: That is a bit of a problem as this is the only commercial recording, and so far my music has been played all over Europe but not in the states. I’ve never been there either, but I will get there one day!

__________________

Originally posted by Christian Carey from Sequenza21/, ReBlogged by newmusicrebloggers on Sep 1, 2010 at 08:10 PM | Comments (0)

440-30=12?

By now, you’ve surely heard about Project 440 at Orpheus/WQXR, and the next round of cuts will take the composers to just a dozen (to be announced September 9th on WQXR). So I thought it would be interesting to talk to the remaining 30 before the cut about this process.

Q: “You all have probably been involved in a group lesson or masterclass at some point – some sort of public forum – with a teacher, composer or perhaps an ensemble and conductor. Project 440, however, involves not only a selection committee, but comments on the internet. How do you view the critiques and praise, both positive and negative – and how does it differ from a masterclass/learning situation?”
A’s:
David T. Little:
As always, comments on one’s music should be understood for what they are: opinions. While a composer certainly can (and should) learn something by considering other people’s thoughts on their work–especially, say, in the case of a master class–they ultimately, for better or worse, answer only to themselves. When the time comes to sit down to write, I try put all of this aside and just create the best and most honest music possible.

Zibuokle Martinaityte:
Orpheus Project 440 offers young composers three main ingredients, which solidify the recipe of becoming a successful composer in the world and make it complete: exposure, the opinion of a larger audience and the critical judgment of a highly competent selection committee. The integration of these three things distinguishes it from other projects and learning environments such as master classes or public forums for composers. These usually incorporate one or two of the above-mentioned components, but have a non-worldly aspect used for isolated learning where only professionals of the field contribute their qualified opinions or honest advice. This is very useful for analysis and explanations of complex music and perhaps even improving compositional skills, but has little to do with the important relationship of composer to audience.
Due to its presence on the Internet, Project 440 is a unique and useful “reality check” with listeners who are in fact the audience whether one realizes it or not. This framework creates more vulnerability for the composer who becomes completely exposed to others not only through the sounds they create which would be typical for a composer, but also through the verbal interpretations of the listener. People have the freedom to speak candidly about the music and regardless of how we feel, it is posted and available for others to read. Furthermore, it is going to influence other listeners as well. It is my first time participating in a web-based public project and I’ve been very curious and stimulated by reading all the comments. Both positive and negative feedback is equally valuable for me, giving me a glimpse of what the listener is actually experiencing when encountering my music.

Chen Yao:
I am open to different critiques and praise, as these comments are based on the listeners’ different listening experiences on my music. I can tell that the critiques and praise I have received for my Glowing Autumn come from the listeners who are from all kinds of backgrounds. They take my music to various perspectives and levels. I deeply appreciate their individual thoughts and comments. I am very happy that my music can offer the listeners a little sound pleasure as well as an angle by which they can get to see and think what today’s young composers are creating.
It definitely differs from what you can hear and learn from a masterclass. The internet offers a no-personal interaction inviting listeners from a broader level of society, and mostly the comments you receive on line present a wide range of aesthetic levels and unfold what your music means to others. A masterclass provides a situation in which a composer can share his/her music ideas with other professional and experienced colleagues, and often the comments you receive at a masterclass deal with the composers’ understandings of what music composition is, and what might improve your composition.

Clint Needham:
I applaud the idea and effort behind Project 440 and I am honored to be selected to the next round of the competition. However, the major issue is that most comments for each composer come from friends of the composer (myself included). In an open forum where anyone can comment there is really no way of being “fair” and totally objective. That being said, I am fine with the way things are being run and I am happy the final decision comes from the committee. I would also add that I don’t think most of us would get such glowing reviews (or overly harsh ones) in a room where people, who were asked to be objective, spoke to us directly.

Christopher Lee:
I view comments I receive from the Internet not at all like those I would get at a masterclass, or even from a newspaper review, though that’s closer. Comments from online listeners represent feedback one would get from a concert audience, made up of people with very diverse backgrounds and degrees of experience with music. As such, I think this is important feedback to have, and represents “the last stop” our music makes on its journey into the world, but I would expect composers to take the same attitude towards it as they do to reviews: some will care, and others will not. This seems to be an interesting new direction for the reception of concert music however, and puts the music back into the public arena in a way reminiscent of the 1930’s and early 40’s with Copland and other populist composers.

Alex Mincek:
The comments have been fun and interesting to read. However, because many of the people who have commented perhaps feel as though they are in some way directly voting, there has been some amusing hyperbole. This project has been a unique experience and so I don’t really find it has much in common with a masterclass situation. While it is certainly informative to hear feedback, I don’t think the dynamic between myself and an anonymous commenter has much in common with any teacher/student relationship I have encountered. I think the project has more in common with a post-concert situation, where, after hearing my work people sometimes share their reactions and opinions without necessarily intending to be pedagogical in any way.

Devin Farney:
Project 440 offers composers a relatively unique opportunity to receive honest feedback for their work. While certainly not the case for all comments posted, many seem to be uninfluenced by personal opinions of the composer or the composer’s type of music. Such unfiltered opinions are seemingly hard to come by, especially in a world where we are all taught to “play nice” with each other. This being said, I am in a rather unique (and perhaps unfortunate, depending on which way you look at it) position in this competition – being the only composer whose work has received no comments (as was pointed out in the following article: http://www.capitalnewyork.com/article/culture/2010/08/272722/orpheus-crowdsources-composers-political-scholars-approve). So accordingly I have no point of reference for personal reaction.

Daniel Wohl:
I enjoy the anonymous critiques. I’m always amazed at how entertaining and candid comments are on public online forums. In this instance some reviews are written by friends who are being generous and showing support for your work, but others come from people who want to state an opinion about your music, even discuss it’s merit, either because they disliked it or because it resonated with them in some way. It’s interesting to start a discussion where everyone feels safe to genuinely express themselves . In a typical masterclass setting, you often get a very diplomatic response to what you present, and it’s refreshing to get a completely frank opinion whether it’s positive or negative feedback.

Jonathan Russell:
The biggest difference is the anonymity of the comments in Project 440. Whereas in a masterclass or other learning situation, I would know the person giving comments and have some sense of their background, interests, and tastes, in the Project 440 comments I don’t know anything about the people commenting. On the one hand, this can make the comments seem somewhat less salient – negative comments are easier to brush off, but positive comments also don’t seem quite as meaningful, since I don’t know the backgrounds of the commenters. On the other hand, it can be very revealing – and intimidating – to be evaluated by the “masses” rather than a “master.” In a masterclass, the person commenting is an expert coming from a world that you know and are familiar with. With Project 440, on the other hand, you’re explicitly opening yourself up to popular opinion, something composers of concert music don’t often have to do. For a composer like myself, who aspires to speak to a much wider audience than the new music specialists who often hear my music, it feels like a true test of whether I am accomplishing what I hope to in my music, whether I am, in fact, able to reach a wide and diverse audience. In this sense, the reaction my music gets in the Project 440 comments is of far more import than the opinion of a single expert at a masterclass.

Yotam Haber:
Ultimately, I write my music hoping that others will find something individually meaningful while listening. But the word ‘others’ doesn’t necessarily mean a group of cognoscenti-composers, performers, or musicologists. Receiving praise (or criticism) from those who hold doctorates in music can be helpful, but is sometimes tempered by politesse and a collegiate cordiality. What often gives me the most food-for-thought is speaking with non-musicians. Once we get the I-don’t-know-anything-about-music nonsense out of the way, people speak from the gut, recounting their first impressions, how it made them feel, of what it reminded them, where they were thrilled, where they were lost, or where they fell asleep. In other words, I feel lucky to have this opportunity: a public internet-based forum that truly involves listeners, both professionals and amateurs, anonymous or not, could possibly bring a fresh, open, unabashed discourse on new music.

Aaron Grad:
I have really enjoyed following the comments on my Project 440 page. I am not sure how much of a parallel I see to a master class or school environment; it feels closer to the performance experience of sharing and connecting through music. Probably half of my comments are from people I know, and most of the rest are from people they know (I must say I actively encouraged visits to the page), so the comments have helped me check in with whether the music is communicating what I hoped it would, both to musicians and to non-musicians. I feel encouraged when I see adjectives such as “fresh” and “delicate” and “playful.” They confirm that my intentions came through.

Benjamin Ellin:
I think when one opens up to the world of public opinion, which can be both random and of extreme temperament, you have to accept the inevitable. I don’t think it’s wise to take anything personally but you should weigh up any comments that you read objectively and be honest about whether or not they ring true. After that you can choose whether to take them on board or to ignore them – which I always find hard to do. Through all this you have to be honest to yourself and remember who and where you are. With a teacher or a mentor I think you yourself place a great trust in their hands; ie, you want them to be as honest as possible about your work as you are searching for your own path and you are inviting them to be a crucial part of that process. To be honest though, you can learn about yourself and your work in any situation, and sometimes the most unlikely circumstance can lead to a real clearing of thoughts. It all depends on whether you can genuinely receive honest critique and not let positive feedback become too absorbing.

I’ll pose another question to the final twelve before the four winners are announced. What would you want to know?

Originally posted by John Clare from Sequenza21/, ReBlogged by newmusicrebloggers on Sep 1, 2010 at 08:10 PM | Comments (0)

Dave Koz Joins Daniel Pearl World Music Days Honorary Committee - PR Newswire (press release)

Dave Koz Joins Daniel Pearl World Music Days Honorary Committee
PR Newswire (press release)
Music has a way of stirring the soul in ways that words can't...so it's not surprising, yet still so inspiring, to see Daniel's message of love and ...

and more »

Fanphony

Sound Clip: Fanphony by Mike Rooke

Recording of the Magnetic Flux disturbance around a game console.

More on this artist

Originally posted by Margaret from Sound is Art, ReBlogged by newmusicrebloggers on Sep 1, 2010 at 05:12 PM | Comments (0)

Imani Winds: Terra Incognita

Hearing the five members of Imani Winds talk about their history together and what keeps them going is like walking in on a great party. Read the interview...

Originally from NewMusicBox, ReBlogged by newmusicrebloggers on Sep 1, 2010 at 05:12 PM | Comments (0)

Analyzing the A-Ha!

By Colin Holter
If you don't buy the notion that a divine wind is blowing into you (which I don't), I guess it's a question for the cognitive scientists; all that's left for us to figure out is how to achieve these moments as regularly as we can.

Originally from NewMusicBox, ReBlogged by newmusicrebloggers on Sep 1, 2010 at 05:12 PM | Comments (0)

Movies go to the Opera

Poul Ruders has composed an opera based on Lars von Trier’s 2000 film Dancer in the Dark. The work will be premiered by the Royal Danish Opera next week (on 9/5). You can check out a teaser video below.

Dancer in the Dark is one of several recent operas based on films; but there are countless films yet to be adapted for the operatic stage. Which films would you like to see re-imagined as an opera?

Originally posted by Christian Carey from Sequenza21/, ReBlogged by newmusicrebloggers on Sep 1, 2010 at 05:10 AM | Comments (0)

iDrink @ iTunes

Nico Muhly is set to appear at the Santa Monica Apple Store on the Third Street Promenade Wednesday, September 8th to mark two new releases from Decca. “A Good Understanding” will be released exclusively on iTunes on September 7, with physical copies available on September 21 alongside “I Drink the Air Before Me”.

Composer Nico Muhly

Muhly along with Los Angeles Master Chorale conductor Grant Gershon will take part in a Q&A session – where Muhly will demonstrate how he creates his compositions with GarageBand on his MacBook Pro. The talk will end with a performance by members of the Los Angeles Master Chorale featuring two works from “A Good Understanding” and two related works, “Like as the Hart” and “Wayfaring Stranger”.
John Clare spoke with Muhly about the works and event: mp3 file
Nico Muhly and Los Angeles Master Chorale conductor Grant Gershon appear at the Santa Monica Apple Store on Wednesday, September 8, 7:00 p.m.
Bonus – listen to the rest of the conversation as Muhly interviews Clare: mp3 file

Originally posted by John Clare from Sequenza21/, ReBlogged by newmusicrebloggers on Sep 1, 2010 at 05:10 AM | Comments (0)

Notes and queries - The Guardian

The Guardian

Notes and queries
The Guardian
Classic FM and Pierre Boulez are both ends of the spectrum and whether the old radical likes it or not, he is still in the classical tradition. ...

Hammered ring

Did Mark-Antony Turnage have a bit of fun with Hammered Out, his recent Proms commission? Tim Rutherford-Johnson, of The Rambler, drew attention to the fact that the opening minutes of the work bear an uncannily close resemblance to Beyoncé's "Single...

Originally from Alex Ross: The Rest Is Noise, ReBlogged by newmusicrebloggers on Sep 1, 2010 at 02:11 AM | Comments (0)

Show 021

*note: from now on the Sunday/Monday WVVY broadcast will be the same program as the previous Wednesday's WRIU program except where noted.

The following playlist aired 8/25 on WRIU & 8/29&30 on WVVY

hour 1
Asphalt Orchestra ~ Zomby Woof ~ comp. by Frank Zappa
Gabriel Prokofiev ~ Hip-Hop Remix of 1st Movement of G. Prokofiev's String Quartet #1
So Percussion & Matmos ~ Shard
Timothy Andres ~ Paraphrase on a Theme of Brian Eno
John Luther Adams ~ The Circle of Suns And Moons
György Ligeti ~ Melodien
William Brittelle ~ The Color Of Rain

hour 2 on WRIU 8/25
Tristan Perich ~ 1-bit Symphony
Bang on a Can All-Stars ~ 1/1 from Brian Eno's Music For Airports
Eve Beglarian ~ Landscaping For Privacy

hour 2 WVVY 8/29&30
Ricardo Romaneiro ~ : Synthetic Mosaic :
Nico Muhly ~ Clear Music

hour 3
Daniel Bjarnason ~ Processions

WVVY only
Louis Andriessen ~ Symfonie Voor Losse Snare

Originally from Music For Internets, ReBlogged by newmusicrebloggers on Sep 1, 2010 at 02:11 AM | Comments (0)

August 31, 2010

Album review: Portico Quartet's 'Isla' - Los Angeles Times (blog)

Album review: Portico Quartet's 'Isla'
Los Angeles Times (blog)
... electronic-feeling sonic backdrop, Portico Quartet's bewitching mix can sound like a noirish jungle cruise scored by Wayne Shorter and Steve Reich. ...

Meet The Composer Awards $245,000 for the Creation of 19 New Works

Meet The Composer has awarded $245,000 to 32 organizations to commission 19 new works via the 2010 Commissioning Music/USA program.

Originally from NewMusicBox, ReBlogged by newmusicrebloggers on Aug 31, 2010 at 11:11 PM | Comments (0)

Outdoor Music

By Nora Kroll-Rosenbaum
The end of summer is always filled with aching tastes for crisp fall air and a sweet nostalgia for apricots past. People have drastically different relationships with summer music—specifically outdoor summer music. I think people dig this kind of musical experience for three reasons...

Originally from NewMusicBox, ReBlogged by newmusicrebloggers on Aug 31, 2010 at 11:11 PM | Comments (0)

Sounds Heard: Lisa Bielawa—In Medias Res

For three years beginning with the 2006-7 season, composer Lisa Bielawa served as the BMOP resident composer, and her BMOP/sound CD In Medias Res draws a map through her time working with the musicians of this group.

Originally from NewMusicBox, ReBlogged by newmusicrebloggers on Aug 31, 2010 at 11:11 PM | Comments (0)

Dog Days

By David Smooke
I imagine that, if the procaninic and felinophilic composers began comparing musical styles, we quickly would find ourselves in the midst of an apocalyptic battle that would make the uptown/downtown tension of the 1960s and '70s seem quaint by comparison.

Originally from NewMusicBox, ReBlogged by newmusicrebloggers on Aug 31, 2010 at 11:11 PM | Comments (0)

Meredith Monk: * * * * Concertgebouw Orchestra: * * * * * - Telegraph.co.uk

Meredith Monk: * * * * Concertgebouw Orchestra: * * * * *
Telegraph.co.uk
This is just the kind of glittery modernist programme that Pierre Boulez has made his own, and these performances had all his clarity and sense of unerring ...

Visual and Performing Arts - Monroe News Star

Visual and Performing Arts
Monroe News Star
Daniel Sumner, the ULM Division of Music's music education specialist, is also an accomplished Jazz guitarist. Having just recently performed with the ...

Pushing the classical music envelope

'In his short life and his art, the French Canadian composer Claude Vivier was a man diving, often recklessly, into the ultimate…. And from the edge of experience, he began to bring back, in the years leading up to his death in 1983, a new sound.' – Paul Griffiths, The New York Times

I recently asked Who is pushing the classical envelope? My header photo shows a little-known figure who certainly pushed the classical music envelope and in the process created a new sound world that is ripe for rediscovery.

Claude Vivier, was born to unknown parents in Montreal in 1948. After adoption his education prepare him for the priesthood until he was expelled from his seminary for "immature behaviour". But his religious training had awakened another vocation and he went on to study music, first in Montreal and then in Europe where his teachers included Karlheinz Stockhausen. In 1976 Vivier visited Japan, Bali and other Eastern countries and their musical traditions influenced his composing style. He wrote his first opera Kopernikus, which he described as "a ritual opera of death" in Canada in 1980. After this he came under the influence of the French spectralist composers whose computer techniques have been developed more recently by Jonathan Harvey.

In 1982 Claude Vivier moved to Paris. The biography on his publisher's website says "Vivier was open about his homosexuality" and on the night of March 8 1983 he was murdered by a male prostitute he had met in a bar earlier that evening. His last work, the unfinished Glaubst du an die Unsterblichkeit der Seele for voices, narrator, two synthesizers, three percussionists and electronics, is notorious for containing a prophecy of his death.

Although Vivier's music is influenced by the French spectralists it is a mistake to categorise him into a particular stylistic school. His composing style is unique and identifying him with the esoteric and electronic world of the spectralists may be one explanation for the puzzling neglect of his music. The introductory quote from Paul Griffiths is very revealing. Paul writes that Vivier "began to bring back... a new sound". At first "to bring back" something "new" sounds contradictory. But it is a perfect description of Vivier's special sound world which explores the edge of experience while still sounding disconcertingly familiar.

The CD seen below provides an excellent introduction to Claude Vivier's music. It is recorded by the Radio Symphony Orchestra of the WDR (West German Radio) conducted by Peter Rundel and percussionist Christian Dierstein for the Kairos label* and captures three of Vivier's later non-electronic compositions. It is a measure of the neglect of his music that these are the first recordings of two of the works. Orion from 1979 is the only work by Vivier to have been performed at the BBC Proms, it was given its UK premiere during last season by the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra conducted by Charles Dutoit. It is also the first of Vivier's works to use the layered overtones associated with the spectralist school.

The second work by Claude Vivier on the disc is Siddhartha for orchestra in eight groups. This is inspired by Hermann Hesse's Buddhist novella of the same title and hints at other Teutonic influences in its German title Siddhartha, für Orchester in acht Gruppen. Composed in 1976 to a Canadian Broadcasting Corporation commission, Siddhartha is considered by some to be Vivier's finest composition. Which makes its virtual absence from the performed repertoire and CD catalogue a complete mystery. The third work on the CD, Cinq chansons pour percussion, is exactly what the title says, five orchestral 'songs' (in the Asian meaning of the word) for percussion. This late work should be in the repertoire alongside the 20th century percussion masterpieces of Steve Reich, Edgard Varèse, John Cage, Karlheinz Stockhausen, Carlos Chavez and Lou Harrison.

In a nicely considered response to my post on pushing the classical music envelope Antoine Leboyer reminded us the priority was 'art not enjoyment'. Claude Vivier lived his all too brief life to the full. But he did not seek approval, and that is the drug that is today sapping the life force out of classical music. Instead he applied his energies to creating a new sound while staying true to his art. For tangible evidence look no further than the excellent Kairos CD from Peter Rundel, Christian Dierstein and the Radio Symphony Orchestra of the WDR.

'The only people for me are the mad ones, the ones who are mad to live, mad to talk, mad to be saved, desirous of everything at the same time, the ones who never yawn or say a commonplace thing, but burn, burn, burn, like fabulous yellow roman candles exploding like spiders across the stars and in the middle you see the blue centerlight pop and everybody goes "Awww!' - Jack Kerouac 'On the road'.

* The innovative and independent Kairos label also brought us Kurtág's Ghosts.

Also available via Facebook and Twitter. Header photo of Claude Vivier is credited to La Ligue canadienne des compositeurs and was taken at their meeting in Windsor in 1981. The Kairos CD of Claude Vivier's music was bought at retail. Any copyrighted material on these pages is included as "fair use", for the purpose of study, review or critical analysis only, and will be removed at the request of copyright owner(s). Report broken links, missing images and errors to - overgrownpath at hotmail dot co dot uk

Originally from On An Overgrown Path, ReBlogged by newmusicrebloggers on Aug 31, 2010 at 05:12 PM | Comments (0)

Robyn Covers Björk's "Hyperballad" - Technorati (blog)

Robyn Covers Björk's "Hyperballad"
Technorati (blog)
Past laureates include Paul McCartney, Dizzy Gillespie, Bob Dylan, Keith Jarrett, Led Zeppelin, and Steve Reich. At the ceremony, Swedish pop star Robyn ...

and more »

Arts in Autumn, Classical Music: Nagano prepared to take on big names - Montreal Gazette

Arts in Autumn, Classical Music: Nagano prepared to take on big names
Montreal Gazette
Anne-Sophie Mutter is the soloist in scores by Henri Dutilleux and Sofia Gubaidulina, two 20th-century major-leaguers. More Mahler symphonies are heard from ...

The Great Debate - WNYC (blog)

The Great Debate
WNYC (blog)
Plus, the answer went on, the Stones' music was harder rocking, louder, and “openly druggier,” a phrase I have never forgotten. Yes! ...

and more »

The Girl Wonder?

Miss Mussel has a piece in the LA Times today on 10-year old singer Jackie Evancho, who is a semi-finalist on America’s Got Talent.

The most curious part of the whole story for at this point is the change in her sound from the first AGT audition tape to her appearance on the show three weeks ago.

Singers – help a bivalve out here. What’s going on and why would you change a perfectly lovely treble into a faux-grown up soprano?

Exhibit A – audition tape – date unknown although she’s probably 9

Exhibit B – first AGT appearance on 10th August 2010 (start at about 1:35)

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Originally posted by Miss Mussel from The Omniscient Mussel on Classical Music & Culture, ReBlogged by newmusicrebloggers on Aug 31, 2010 at 05:12 PM | Comments (0)

Taruskin Distilled

The grim history of the twentieth century - something Brahms or Franck could never have foreseen, to say nothing of Matthew Arnold or Charles O'Connell - played its part as well both in discrediting the idea of redemptive culture and in undermining the authority of its adherents. The literary critic George Steiner, one such adherent, after a lifetime devoted (in his words) to "the worship - the word is hardly exaggerated - of the classic," and to the propagation of the faith, found himself baffled by the example of the culture-loving Germans of the mid-twentieth century, "who sang Schubert in the evening and tortured in the morning." "I'm going to the end of my life," he confessed unhappily, "haunted more and more by the question, 'Why did the humanities not humanize?' I don't have an answer." But that is because the question - being the product of Arnoldian art religion - turned out to be wrong. It is all too obvious by now that teaching people that their love of Schubert makes them better people teaches them little more than self-regard. There are better reasons to cherish art.

- Richard Taruskin, Music in the Nineteenth Century, p. 783

Originally from PostClassic, ReBlogged by newmusicrebloggers on Aug 31, 2010 at 05:10 PM | Comments (0)

Taruskin Distilled

The grim history of the twentieth century - something Brahms or Franck could never have foreseen, to say nothing of Matthew Arnold or Charles O'Connell - played its part as well both in discrediting the idea of redemptive culture and in undermining the authority of its adherents. The literary critic George Steiner, one such adherent, after a lifetime devoted (in his words) to "the worship - the word is hardly exaggerated - of the classic," and to the propagation of the faith, found himself baffled by the example of the culture-loving Germans of the mid-twentieth century, "who sang Schubert in the evening and tortured in the morning." "I'm going to the end of my life," he confessed unhappily, "haunted more and more by the question, 'Why did the humanities not humanize?' I don't have an answer." But that is because the question - being the product of Arnoldian art religion - turned out to be wrong. It is all too obvious by now that teaching people that their love of Schubert makes them better people teaches them little more than self-regard. There are better reasons to cherish art.

- Richard Taruskin, Music in the Nineteenth Century, p. 783

Originally from PostClassic, ReBlogged by newmusicrebloggers on Aug 31, 2010 at 05:10 PM | Comments (0)

Russian journey for BBC National Orchestra of Wales' new season - BBC - Wales - Welsh Music (blog)

BBC - Wales - Welsh Music (blog)

Russian journey for BBC National Orchestra of Wales' new season
BBC - Wales - Welsh Music (blog)
The new season of 12 concerts at St David's Hall has "a theme of myth and story-telling, using the power of music to bring legends to life with the thrill ...

Ruffling purists' expectations - Tonight

Ruffling purists' expectations
Tonight
Masilo's approach is less reverent than the Mohiniyattam conception in terms of the music (Tchaikovsky mingles with Rene Avenant, Steve Reich, Arvo Part and ...

and more »

The Barenboim marathon, Part II - Buenos Aires Herald

Buenos Aires Herald

The Barenboim marathon, Part II
Buenos Aires Herald
Following his incredible marathon, Daniel Barenboim conducted Beethoven's Choral Symphony at the Colón, and as a special feat, premiered Pierre Boulez ...

First string - Ha'aretz

Ha'aretz

First string
Ha'aretz
For me, Boulez is no less interesting than Bach. To play them gives me the same pleasure. In general, I'm very interested in contemporary music. ...

Essentials

Music for Saxophone and Piano by Rueff, Anderson, Heiden, Davis, Feld

Kenneth Fischer, saxophone
Martha Thomas, piano

Aca Digital Recording

Surprising to think at this late date that the saxophone should still be looking for respectability as a solo classical instrument, at least in some circles. You would certainly have gotten an argument on that score from the late Kenneth Fischer (d. December 9, 2009) whose masterful, virtuosic performances on the present program make the strongest possible case for the instrument. Together with his frequent recital partner Martha Thomas, Fischer gives a veritable clinic in the extraordinary things that all his saxophones – alto, soprano, and Eb – can be made to do.

Chanson et Passepied by French composer Jeanine Rueff (b.1922) leads off the program in fine style with its charming, arching melody that is re-cast in dance time in the second half by changing the meter and tempo. It’s followed by the two Sonatas for Alto Saxophone and Piano by Tommy Joe Anderson (b.1947), both characterized by pithy expression and a wise economy of means. No. 1 is basically a serial composition based on the hexachord Eb-G-E-A-D-Bb. My favorite section of this rhythmically alert piece is the third, marked “Fast, with a jazzy feeling.” Sonata No. 2 is marked by confrontation between the two instruments, in which sax and piano react to each other’s points of contention, with some scope allowed for controlled aleatoric measures. (If you think I’m going to define “aleatoric,” you’re nuts: look it up!)

The oldest work on the program, and the one that most consistently has the “feel” of a modern classic, is the 1937 Sonata for Alto Saxophone and Piano by Bernhard Heiden (1910-2000). The composer studied with Paul Hindemith, and this was one of his first compositions after leaving Germany. The jaunty, bluesy mood of this music reminds us what a hotbed Berlin was for creative modernism in all the arts just prior to the rise of the Third Reich. Highly melodic and flavorfully dissonant, with its remote tone centers and richly chromatic melodies, this engaging work has a nice swing to it that Fischer and Thomas never fail to communicate.

I’m not nearly as fond of Declaration for Soprano Saxophone and Piano by William Davis (b.1948) with its strangulated sounds resulting from such compositional techniques as timbre alternation on a single note, quarter notes, and, especially, saxophone multiphonics. The latter can be very hard to listen to, particularly in the repeated references to the motif BACH (that is, Bb-A-C-B) that, in the context, sound more satirical than reverential. (Come to think of it, J.S. Bach, who was known in his day for his hot temper, once challenged a bassoonist to a swordfight for playing his instrument like a “nanny goat.” One shudders to think what he might have done to Davis, were he still living!) At least we can say that Fischer’s technique here is really impressive, and Thomas has some fine moments with inside-the-piano multiphonics. Still, one has to wonder what Davis had in mind with this 15-minute rhapsody in a single movement.

I’ve never warmed up to the music of Czech composer Jindrich Feld (1925-2007) whose unique way with 12-tone composition, used here in a non-conventional way that eschews the use of strict tone rows, other listeners have found engaging. His Élégie for Soprano Saxophone and Piano struck me, on the contrary, as rather hesitant in its terse expression. Still, I found four of six works on this program to be attractive and engaging, at least as Kenneth Fischer and Martha Thomas present them. At the end of the day, that’s not a bad average.

Originally posted by Phil Muse from CD Reviews, ReBlogged by newmusicrebloggers on Aug 31, 2010 at 02:11 AM | Comments (0)

New Music reBlog

September 02, 2010

Coming Next :: Los Angeles (the symphony)

A history of teen idols - Newsweek

Cool and calmly composed: Nico Muhly, changing the face of classical music - National

Stockhausen: Mantra - The Guardian

Ars Nova Copenhagen/Hillier - The Guardian

Classical Music/Opera Listings - New York Times

Writing as if Composing

Detroit, Detroit

American Men: Drum's Not Dead (Just a Bit Queasy) - The Skinny

BBC Beyoncé update

Ars Nova Copenhagen, Queen's Hall - Herald Scotland

Fall Arts: Classical Music - Artvoice

Fall guys - Bay Area Reporter

Coming attractions: A short list of the campus's enticing fall events - Canada Views

Melawat Malaysia

Live Music Roundup - September 2, 2010 - Tweed Shire Echo Community News

African Tribal Music & Dances

September 01, 2010

Deutsche Grammophon & Decca Celebrate Mahler's Birthday with The People's Edition - Broadway World

Book Review: The Music Instinct by Philip Ball - California Literary Review

Konzert am 26. September im Perzina-Saal der Stadtbibliothek - Schwerin-News

Classical music should drop its silly conventions

Let there be Haas

Interview with Richard Ayres

440-30=12?

Dave Koz Joins Daniel Pearl World Music Days Honorary Committee - PR Newswire (press release)

Fanphony

Imani Winds: Terra Incognita

Analyzing the A-Ha!

Movies go to the Opera

iDrink @ iTunes

Notes and queries - The Guardian

Hammered ring

Show 021

August 31, 2010

Album review: Portico Quartet's 'Isla' - Los Angeles Times (blog)

Meet The Composer Awards $245,000 for the Creation of 19 New Works

Outdoor Music

Sounds Heard: Lisa Bielawa—In Medias Res

Dog Days

Meredith Monk: * * * * Concertgebouw Orchestra: * * * * * - Telegraph.co.uk

Visual and Performing Arts - Monroe News Star

Pushing the classical music envelope

Robyn Covers Björk's "Hyperballad" - Technorati (blog)

Arts in Autumn, Classical Music: Nagano prepared to take on big names - Montreal Gazette

The Great Debate - WNYC (blog)

The Girl Wonder?

Taruskin Distilled

Taruskin Distilled

Russian journey for BBC National Orchestra of Wales' new season - BBC - Wales - Welsh Music (blog)

Ruffling purists' expectations - Tonight

The Barenboim marathon, Part II - Buenos Aires Herald

First string - Ha'aretz

Essentials

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