Relevant Tones

Ground breakers, virtuosos, and commissioners of many of the world’s twentieth and twenty-first century string quartet masterpieces, the   influence of the Kronos Quartet cannot be underestimated.  We’ll feature a sampling of their luminous output over the years.

Hosted by Seth Boustead

John Geist: Dark Razz

Aleksandra Vrebalov: …hold me, neighbor, in this storm (excerpt)

Harry Partch: U.S. Highball, “Did I ever ride freight trains- huh!”  & “Leaving Little America, Wyo-ma”

Pēteris Vasks: String Quartet No. 4, II, Elegy

John Zorn: Forbidden Fruit (excerpt)

Steve Reich: Triple Quartet, II

Dmitri Yanov-Yanovsky: Lachrimosa

Television: Marquee Moon (excerpt)

Pulitzer Prize-winning composer Michael Colgrass has had a varied career as jazz drummer, freelance percussionist and composer of adizzying array of works in every conceivable genre.

Hosted by Seth Boustead

Michael Colgrass: Winds of Nagual

Michael Colgrass: Arctic Dreams

The twentieth century saw an interesting movement as composers banded together in collectives to help promote each other’s work. The  movement  has only gotten stronger in the twenty-first century with the rise of entrepreneurialism in classical music.

We’ll feature the music of  several composer collectives and take a close look at their inner  workings.

Hosted by Seth Boustead

Greg Simon: Blood on the Curb

Timothy Edwards: The Conjecture

Belinda Reynolds: coming around?

Eric Wubbels: Shiverer

David Gordon: The Alchemist and the Cat-flap

Christopher Cerrone: Still Life with Arms Extended

Carolyn Yarnell: Lapis Lazuli

Much like the novel, people are always pronouncing the symphony to be a dead form.  And yet, composers continue to write symphonies at an   incredible pace.  We’ll feature music by composers around the world who are adding to the symphonic canon.

Hosted by Seth Boustead

Erkki Sven-Tüür: Symphony 3

Poul Ruders: Symphony No. 3, Dream Catcher

Throughout history, composers who have been known for championing a particular musical style have shocked their fans by radically and suddenly changing their aesthetic.  Why does this happen, and who’s changing their style in the modern era?

Hosted by Seth Boustead

George Rochberg: String Quartet No. 3 (excerpt)

George Rochberg: Bagatelle No. 3, con brio

Krzysztof Penderecki: Threnody for the Victims of Hiroshima (excerpt)

Krzysztof Penderecki: Symphony No. 8 (excerpt)

David del Tredeci: I Hear an Army (excerpt)

David del Tredeci: Final Alice (excerpt)

Arvo Pärt: Nekrolog (excerpt)

Arvo Pärt: Cantus in Memory of Benjamin Britten

John Adams: Short Ride in a Fast Machine

John Adams: Harmonielehre, Part II (excerpt)

Lois V. Vierk: Timberline (excerpt)

We all know the Pastoral Symphony of Beethoven,  Mendelssohn’s  Hebrides Overture inspired by Fingal’s Cave, and the  music by Vaughan Williams inspired by the English countryside.  But in  the modern era,  the urban environment is inspiring many composers to  capture its sounds in music.

Hosted by Seth Boustead

David Sampson: Chicago Moves, IV, Lake Shore Drive (excerpt)

Bernard Hoffer: Road Rage

David DeVasto: II. Sudden and VI. London, 1665 fr. Winter Seven

Chiayu: Urban Sketches

Joseph Kokkyar: Brady Street fr. Streets and Bridges

Patricia Morehead: Cityscape

Derek Bermel: Mulatash Stomp

Michael Torke: South Beach, Midnight fr. Miami Grands

Diane Jones: Street Song

John Adams: The City and Its Double fr. City Noir (excerpt)

Critic Kyle Gann says “Singleton’s music is soulful, with an understated simplicity that I particularly prize. Despite the studied economy of his means and the set character of his images, the music is never cold … nor abstract. It glows with warmth.”

Hosted by Seth Boustead

Alvin Singleton: Jasper Drag (excerpt)

Singleton: After Fallen Crumbs

Singleton: Argoru Va

Singleton: Sweet Charlottle

Singleton: In My Own Skin (excerpt)

Where would Gustav Mahler be without the incredible support of  Leonard Bernstein?  Bach without the support of Mendelssohn?

Being championed by a famous performer or conductor is an incredible leg up to the career of many composers.  Who are the modern day composer   champions, and whose work are they promoting?

Hosted by Seth Boustead

James Newton Howard: 133… At Least

Norbert Moret: En Rêve, I

Thea Musgrave: Concerto for Clarinet and Orchestra (excerpt)

John Psathas: Matre’s Dance

Sofia Gubaidulina: Offertorium (excerpt)

David Rakowski: Etude, Book 2 No. 14, Martler

In recent years composers have become interested in the fact that the   performers can do things on stage other than just play their   instrument: stomp their feet, clap, play simple percussion, and even   sing.  We’ll feature a variety of pieces from composers who ask   musicians (who are not trained singers) to vocalize and supplement their   playing.

Hosted by Seth Boustead

Leonard Bernstein: “Mambo” fr. West Side Story

Frederic Rzewski: De Profundis, section 1 & 2

Valentin Silvestrov: Drama Sonate for Violin and Piano

Tom Johnson: Counting Duets

Joseph Hallman: imagined landscapes: six Lovecraftian elsewheres

Martin Bresnick: Willie’s Way (excerpt)

Huang Ruo: Drama Theater No. 4, To the 4 Corners, Scene II (excerpt)

Steve Reich: Clapping Music (excerpt)

Stunningly versatile pianist Jenny Lin has recorded with jazz   musicians, rockers, contemporary composers and everyone in between.    Equally comfortable playing Shostakovich on the same concert as giving a   world premiere, Lin is a vital talent that is taking concert halls by  storm.

Hosted by Seth Boustead

George Gershwin: I Got Rhythm (excerpt)

Arthur Kampela: Nosturnos (excerpt)

Valentine Silvestrov: Sonata for Violin and Piano, Post Scriptum (excerpt)

Elliot Sharp: Suberrebus (excerpt)

David Wolfson: Sonata for Cello and Piano, IV

Claude Vivier: Shiraz

William Bolcolm: Dream Shadows from Three Ghost Rags