Classical Instruments, Contemporary Sounds (Special Podcast)

Listen to rhythmic music, whether for percussion, string quartet or vocal duet for this New Sounds. Hear works from percussionist Ian David Rosenbaum, Kelly Moran, and the Jasper String Quartet, and a vocal duet from Meredith Monk and Robert Een. From the recent record, Unbound, by the Jasper String Quartet, hear a non-stop motoring work by Judd Greenstein, “Four on the Floor.” Usually the term applies to thumping dance-club bangers, but in this work, pairs of instruments work “with and against each other, until they settle their differences and combine into a shared groove,” according to the composer. Hear music with rhythmic intensity, for prepared piano, with and without electronics from Kelly Moran, and her record, Bloodroot, which is where minimalism and black metal collide. Then, listen to music from Hauschka, who layers player piano with prepared piano. Also, listen to Inuit-style breathing games from Meredith Monk and cellist/vocalist Robert Een, from her long-form work, "Facing North," inspired by the Canadian wilderness.  Then, listen to increasingly tricky and complex rhythms in a work by David Crowell for percussionist Ian David Rosenbaum. Plus, hear a work –"Redwood"- involving saxophone and interlocking guitar parts from Empyrean Atlas, the band of composer/multi-instrumentalist David Crowell. And more. 

Hear prog-marching band music from Chicago's Mucca Pazza, ambient-gothic Norwegian-Icelandic music from the duo Jo Berger Myhre & Ólafur Björn Ólafsson, jazz-tronic ambient minimalism from London's Portico Quartet, and new work from Danish experimental supergroup Girls in Airports.

Hear music that begins with classical instruments, like the string quartet, piano, or an orchestra, but which is then augmented, enhanced by electronics, percussion, or preparation. Listen to works by English violinist, pianist, and composer Poppy Ackroyd, Netherlands-based composer Peter Adriaansz, and cinematic music from the augmented string quartet amiina.

Guitarist Shane Parish, of the instrumental prog-punk band Ahleuchatistas, plays music from his solo record of “weird old Americana” live in the studio on acoustic & prepared guitar. 

“Indian music does not stop and start with Ravi Shankar.” So says tabla master Zakir Hussain, who, along with young sitar virtuoso, Niladri Kumar, joins John in the studio for a live performance. Niladri Kumar and Zakir Hussain perform a radio-friendly (short) Raga Charukeshi, for Rupak Tal (a seven beat rhythmic cycle) and Raga Bhairavi in Teental (16 beats.) 

South African guitarist Guy Buttery visits the studio to perform virtuosic feats of bending, tapping, picking, harmonics, and other techniques and textures yet to be named for guitar. Hear music from his latest record, his sixth, a self-titled wonder of collaborative tunes. Plus, music from the late Malian guitarist and griot Tiécoro Sissoko.

This episode continues the series exploring the new music of Ireland. John Schaefer sits down with Jonathan Nangle at the Contemporary Music Centre in Dublin. Nangle tells how Donnacha Dennehy influenced him to explore more experimental music, and then shares how electronics and silence factor into his compositions. Listen to how Nangle uses electronics to subtly augment conventional instrumentation on "Where distant city lights flicker on half-frozen ponds". Hear Nangle explain how his piece "Then Falls by Shadow" takes the inspiration of Irish weather to combine shuffle mode with a choral performance. Later in the hour, John Schaefer talks to David Bremner about his own compositions and playing the pipe organ at Christ Church Cathedral in Dublin. Hear Bremner's piercing organ compositions "Variations upon 'the usual reason'" and "Amhrán na Leabhar." PROGRAM #3715 New Music from Ireland: Part 3 (First aired on 4/17/2015)   ARTIST(S) RECORDING CUT(S) SOURCE Kate Ellis Jump Donnacha Dennehy: Aisling Gheal [2:09] Diatribe Records Jonathan Nangle Self-released DIY Aeolian Harp [:39] Soundcloud Jonathan Nangle new music::new Ireland 2 Where distant city lights flicker on half-frozen ponds [excerpt 1] [2:14] CMC Ireland Jonathan Nangle new music::new Ireland 2 Where distant city lights flicker on half-frozen ponds [excerpt 2] [4:47] See Above Ergodos Musicians I Call To You Jonathan Nangle: Ich ruf' zu Dir, Herr Jesu Christ  [2:22] Ergodos Records Jonathan Nangle Commissioned for Dublin SoundLab untitled (after Dan Flavin) [1:42] Soundcloud Jonathan Nangle Commisioned by David Bremner and Elizabeth Hilliard Then Falls thy Shadow [:51] Soundcloud Jonathan Nangle Contermporaty Music from Ireland, Volume Nine Our headlights blew softly into the black illuminating very little [5:21] CMC Ireland – CMC CD09 Contemporary Music Centre Jonathan Nangle & David Bremner Ergodos 2009 'Off-Grid' Festival Untitled improvisation [1:25] Soundcloud David Bremner Contemporary Music from Ireland, Volume 2 Variations upon ‘the usual reason’ [4:40] CMC Ireland David Bremner L’Air Du Temps Amhrán na Leabhar [2:49] Soundcloud

Hear electroacoustic music by Dublin-based Seán Mac Erlaine and Australian-born, London-based Leah Kardos. Plus, music from NY-based GABI, cellist Julia Kent, and Bing & Ruth.

Composer, keyboardist and bandleader, Missy Mazzoli, joins John Schaefer to introduce selections from her new recording, “Vespers for a New Dark Age.” The work, commissioned by Carnegie Hall for the 2014 Ecstatic Music Festival, is a 30-minute suite for singers, chamber ensemble and electronics, and is built around text, both spiritual and worldly, by contemporary poet Matthew Zapruder. Mazzoli wrote for the very specific voices of sopranos Martha Cluver, Melissa Hughes and alto Virginia Warnken Kelsey, who all have a lot of experience with contemporary music but also early and Baroque music. Her ensemble Victoire provides dramatic settings while drummer Glenn Kotche (perhaps best known for his work in Wilco) propels the work percussively.  Plus, hear selections from Phil Kline’s millennial mass “John the Revelator,” written for the early/new music vocal group Lionheart and the quartet ETHEL.

Listen to works that include gamelan, but take a more western approach for this New Sounds - like combining Celtic traditional music and Indonesian gamelan in music from Gamelan Son of Lion and composer/sax player and bagpiper Matthew Welch. In the music of Barbara Benary, the co-founder and guiding spirit of Gamelan Son of Lion, there is a juxtaposition of Cape Breton Celtic singing, gamelan and Benary herself on violin. Also, hear the Celtic-Balinese tapestry of Matthew Welch’s chamber rock hybrid Blarvuster with its Scottish bagpipes, Balinese gamelan, and Welch’s vocalizing in Indonesian. Plus, Lou Harrison’s "Threnody for Carlos Chavez," written for viola and gamelan ensemble, and music from NYC-based Patrick Grant, who serves his post-minimalism with a twist of Rock and Balinese gamelan. That, and more. PROGRAM #3691 Gamelan Plus (First aired on 2/3/2015)   ARTIST(S) RECORDING CUT(S) SOURCE Gamelan Son of Lion Sonogram John Morton: She (really) Had To Go [9:23] Innova 718 innova.mu Patrick Grant Patrick Grant Fields Amaze [8:35] Available at cdbaby.com Gamelan Son of Lion Sonogram Barbara Benary: Jigalullaby [8:23] Innova 718 innova.mu Matthew Welch  & Blarvuster Blarvuster Canntaireachd Masolah I [6:23] Tzadik 8077 tzadik.com Lou Harrison Drums Along The Pacific Threnody for Carlos Chavez [8:00] New Albion #122 Out of print, but available as a download via Amazon  Bill Alves (performed by Susan Jensen, violin; The HMC American Gamelan) Mystic Canyon Mystic Canyon for Violin and Gamelan [5:20] MicroFest Records Amazon