History is a strong force, but when we’re able to suspend its effects, even temporarily, some amazing things can happen. Is it really worth it to grapple with the burdens of the past?
What’s it like to launch a career with Philip Glass, John Adams, and Björk cheering you on? Nico Muhly is a composer on fire.
Brovold gets a lot of mileage from a simple collection of instruments—guitar, bass, drums, violin, and a few saxophones—in crafting a hypnotic blend of droning jazz-rock. But for this title track, he adds tympani, which combined with the repeated rhythmic figures on electric guitar and violin to create the feel of a curtain-raising overture. Instead… Read more »
It may be the Information Age, but maybe we need those magic ruby slippers to see that the real creative wealth may be in our own backyards.
Feeling a severe lack of music performed solely on electric bass in your life? Worry not! California’s intrepid new music label, New Albion, comes to the rescue with Jeffrey Roden’s Seeds of Happiness. The stripped-down aesthetic consists of simple melodies with straightforward accompaniment captured with a pristine approach to the recording process. Hey, it helps… Read more »
Sometimes extraneous noise, while hindering the ability to listen with undivided attention to the actual performance, is part of what makes concerts in alternative spaces exciting, socially-engaging events.
New Millennium Ensemble Although the eight members of the Common Sense Composers’ Collective are spread all over the country, they mostly share a similar post-minimalist compositional aesthetic. And their shared sensibility has made the previous collective discs remarkably consistent for multiple-composer recordings. But on first listen, the omnivorous post-modernism of Ed Harsh (who also serves… Read more »
Why do so few composers go to the players who premiered their pieces to get their honest feedback about what worked and what didn’t in the music?
The Los Angeles Times will give you the play-by-play if you missed out on the dispersement of the little gold men last night, but here’s the 10-second recap on the music side.
Whenever composer Dennis Kam hears the old saying “it takes two to tango,” he must be thinking to himself: Sure, but three would make things a little more interesting. Take his composition Trio. At any moment the piece feels capable of breaking into a soft-shoe routine. The Ibis Camerata delivers a buoyant performance that really… Read more »
We’re not just faking it.
This piece brilliantly integrates a cello soloist into a big-band sound. It was written in tribute to a former member of the band who passed away, and a wide range of emotion—anger, agitation, surprise—can be heard in cellist Matt Haimovitz’s playing. The turbulent instrumentation invites full-throttle wailing from all sections of the band, and a… Read more »
Resume obesity is rampant among young composers. How far are you stretching the truth?
Steve Evans, vocals; Jake Vinsel, bass; Noritaka Tanaka, drums; Leandro Lopez Varady, piano According to the booklet notes on his new 2-CD set, jazz vocalist Steve Evans originally intended to release a live recording of his quartet, but “technical difficulties” intervened. So instead he imposed strict restrictions on his studio process in the hopes of… Read more »
Lessons and trends gleaned from the 2007 Midwest Composers’ Symposium.
I don’t have The Answer. But I have had many of the problems, and I am discovering ways—through experimentation and desperation—to navigate through many of these challenges more effectively.
Peggy Pearson, oboe; Jo-Ann Sternberg, clarinet; Metamorphosen Chamber Orchestra; Scott Yoo, conductor I’m not a concerto fan. It all boils down to this: the huge chasm separating the sense of intimacy inherent to chamber music from the power monolithic sound that only the orchestra can produce. When I listen to a concerto, this gap is… Read more »
The attention of an audience should be of paramount importance for any music.
John Kennedy, Jack Beeson, Tania León, and Lee Hoiby share their memories of Gian Carlo Menotti (1911-2007).
At a time when there are more female role models, mentors, and opportunities, the number of women entering composition looks as if it is drying up.
William Kopecky, electric bass; Dan Maske, keyboards; Angela Schmidt, cello; Craig Walkner, drums Although all of the tracks on this second CD of the primal Milwaukee-based post-prog outfit Far Corner are credited to keyboardist Dan Maske, the opening “Inhuman” is a group improvisation that shows off the chops of all four members of the group,… Read more »
If we take a look in the mirror, we’d realize that we’re pointing at ourselves—and we’re looking fine.
What do you get when you cross Scottish indie rockers Mogwai with the Kronos Quartet? I’ll give you a hint: It’s languid, laidback, and darkly evocative, veiled with pathos but featuring the occasional turn-on-a-dime energetic outbursts while somehow still being restrained by its own melancholy. It’s Clint Mansell’s soundtrack for Darren Aronofsky’s latest flick, The… Read more »
However well-intentioned all those classical music marketing mavens may be, the fact is you can’t fool people into the concert hall by simply dressing up the surface. Classical music isn’t for the masses anymore; it’s for us geeks!
