Relevant Tones

By Access Contemporary MusicMusic Music Interviews

Relevant Tones episodes

August 10, 2013 Stravinsky and Schoenberg: 100 Years Part 3
In our final exploration of the past 100 years of musical modernism, we take a look at composers who fit in neither the uptown nor the downtown traditions of composition.
Hosted by Seth Boustead
Produced by Jesse McQuarters
Aaron Copland – Connotations

Igor Stravinsky – In memoriam Dylan Thomas

Elliott Carter – Cello Sonata

George Rochberg – String Quartet No. 3

John Cage – Music of Changes

George Crumb – Ancient Voices of Children

Ellen Taaffe Zwilich – Piano Trio No. 1

Joan Tower – Petroushskates
59 min
August 03, 2013 Stravinsky and Schoenberg: 100 Years Part 2
This week in our exploration of the past 100 years of modernism in music we take a look at the legacy of Arnold Schoenberg. The 1912 performance of Pierrot Lunaire created a model of atonality that continues to influence modern composers in the present day.
Hosted by Seth Boustead
Produced by Jesse McQuarters
Arnold Schoenberg – Pierrot Lunaire Part One
Ensemble Intercontemporain

Anton Webern – Five Movements for String Quartet, op. 5
Emerson String Quartet

Alban Berg – Violin Concerto
Anne-Sophie Mutter

Pierre Boulez – Structures Book 1

Milton Babbitt – String Quartet No. 2

Bernard Rands – Concertino

Augusta Read Thomas – In My Sky at Twilight
59 min
July 27, 2013 Stravinsky and Schoenberg: 100 Years Part 1
In this week’s program we begin a three part adventure tracing the musical influence of modernist titans Igor Stravinsky and Arnold Schoenberg from the early 1900s to the present day.

In part one we start with the first performance on the Le Sacre du Printemps, 100 years ago in 1913, and uncover the path that lead all the way to late 20th and 21st century minimalism.
Hosted by Seth Boustead
Produced by Jesse McQuarters
Igor Stravinsky – The Firebird
Igor Stravinsky – Le Sacre du Printemps
Aaron Copland – Hear Ye! Hear Ye!:Chorus Girls Third Dance Pas-de-Deux #3
Edgard Varèse – Amériques
Béla Bartók- Miraculous Mandarin
Igor Stravinsky – Pulcinella
Igor Stravinsky – Symphony in C: 3. Allegretto
Louis Andriessen – De Staat
Steve Reich – City Life
58 min
July 20, 2013 Thirsty Ear Festival
What do you get when you combine Moravian ululations, Hindustani raga rhythms, and a bass clarinetist that spent a decade in Bali studying gamelan music?

Find out as the new music supertrio Eviyan headlines WFMT’s 2nd annual Thirsty Ear Festival, bringing to audiences “the soundtrack to a 21st century global village.”

We’ll be broadcasting Relevant Tones live from 5-7 PM on July 20th at City Winery, one of Chicago’s hottest new destinations for live music, food, and libations, and you’re invited to join us there as we also feature Chicago’s own Fulcrum Point and microtonal piano ensemble UnTwelve.
Hosted by Seth Boustead
Produced by Jesse McQuarters
Engineered by Joshua Savageau
1 hr 59 min
July 13, 2013 American Composers Orchestra
Since its first performance in 1977, the American Composers Orchestra (ACO) has been the only orchestra in the world dedicated solely to commissioning and performing music written by American composers.
We spoke with new Artistic Director, Derek Bermel about his vision for the group, and took a look back at a few interesting and groundbreaking performances by this revolutionary group of performers.
Hosted by Seth Boustead
Produced by Jesse McQuarters
Margaret Brouwer – Breakdown
John Harbison – Piano Concerto
David Bowie – Heroes
Philip Glass – Symphony No. 4
Charles Norman Mason – Addition
Neil Rolnick – iFiddle Concerto
59 min
July 06, 2013 Eviyan Trio
This weekend we’re featuring the Eviyan Trio. The performers in the group are Iva Bittova, Gyan Riley and Evan Ziporyn. These three composers/musicians combine their influences from around the world to create a soundtrack for the 21st century global village.
Hosted by Seth Boustead
Produced by Jesse McQuarters
Eviyan Trio – Odd Meeting
Iva Bittova – Dos Kelbl (The Little Calf)
Terry Riley and Gyan Riley – Turning
Gyan Riley – Guitar Etude
Evan Ziporyn – Tire Fire
Eviyan Trio – Paper ConeListen– Kind of Nice
1 hr
June 22, 2013 Music Inspired by Rumi
Persian poet and mystic Jalal al-Din Rumi has had an enormous influence not only on other poets and writers but on thinkers of all kinds. We play music on today’s program by several composers inspired by this timeless poet’s work.
Hosted by Seth Boustead
Produced by Jesse McQuarters
Karol Szymanowski: Symphony No. 3, Vienna Phil/Boulez

Augusta Read Thomas: Rumi Settings, III & IV, Stephan and Julian Hersh

Eric Whitacre: “This Marriage” BYU Singers

David del Tredici: “Quietness” from Three Baritone Songs
Chris Pedro Trakas, baritone; David Del Tredici, p.

Christopher Theofanidis: The Here and Now, III & IX
Atlanta Symphony Orchestra and Chorus/Robert Spano; soloists

Christopher Theofanidis: Messages to Myself, Musica Sacra/Kent Tritle

Kamran Ince: (Gloria) Everywhere from And On Earth, Peace, Chanticleer/Joseph Jennings
59 min
May 18, 2013 Stephen Albert
Pulitzer Prize and Grammy winning composer Stephen Albert died tragically in 1992, well before his time. On the occasion of an important performance of his seminal piece To Wake the Dead in Chicago, we take a moment to celebrate his legacy and to feature a piece inspired by his music.
Hosted by Seth Boustead
Produced by Jesse McQuarters
Stephen Albert – Symphony No. 1, Movement 1
Christopher Rouse – Symphony No. 2, Movement 2
Stephen Albert – To Wake the Dead
Stephen Albert – Symphony No. 2
59 min
April 20, 2013 John Corigliano Altered States
Seth interviews John Corigliano. We will feature music from the films Altered States and Revolution as well as a piece of surprisingly stunning beauty for two pianos tuned a quarter tone apart.
Hosted by Seth Boustead
Produced by Jesse McQuarters
Altered States, Christopher Keene (conductor)
Chiaroscuro, Blair McMillen and Sachiko Kato (pianos)
Revolution, Harry Rabinowitz (conductor)
58 min
March 29, 2013 La Pasión Según San Marcos by Osvaldo Golijov
Filled with Latin rhythms and theatrical drama, Osvaldo Golijov‘s setting of the St. Mark passion is both universally appealing and intensely personal, reflecting his own influences as an Argentinean-born Jewish composer of Russian and Romanian extraction.
Hosted by Seth Boustead
Produced by Jesse McQuarters
59 min