While Music From Other Minds is on vacation, we’ll be rebroadcasting some of our programs from last year.
Our next new program will be September 5 with number 151.

July 11 - #92 - Takemitsu/Messiaen
July 18 - #107 - Kagel/Holliger
July 25 - #131 - Adams/Scelsi/Feldman
August 1 - #111 - Corner/Wilson/Dahinden/Wilson/Satoh

August 8 - #123 - Kimura/León/Shapey

August 15 - #100 - Bryars/Garland/Fox/J.L.Adams

August 22 - #120 - Shapey/Tenney - ERGODICITY

August 29 - #141 - Messiaen’s Birds

This year marks the 100th anniversary of Olivier Messiaen’s birth, December 1908. So maybe it’s more like the anniversary of his conception as well.

Son of an English teacher father who translated Shakespeare, and a symbolist poet mother, Messiaen, who died in 1992, is still perhaps the most unique and exotic of 20th century composers.

There is an excellent one-page appreciation of Messiaen’s music and role in 20c music in last Sunday’s New York Times by Anthony Tommasini.

And, it looks like there will be many concerts honoring Messiaen in New York City and Europe this year. Here is a partial list of events.

One of Messiaen’s great interests was bird song. Many of his pieces feature his own transcriptions and interpretations of the songs of birds, from the ordinary to the exotic.

Messiaen: Réviel des Oiseaux (1953) (Birds’ Awakening)
Yvonne Loriod, piano; Orchestre National de France, Kent Nagano, cond
Erato 0630-12702 (1996)

Messiaen: La Fauvette des Jardins (1970) (The Garden Warbler)
Peter Hill, piano. Unicorn-Kanchana DKP 9090 (1990)
And stay tuned to Music From Other Minds for more Messiaen throughout the year.

Have a great Summer, and continue to support KALW!

This program features a choral work for July 4th, and two new recordings of exquisite music by two extraordinary women composers:

William Duckworth: War Department, from Southern Harmony (1981)
Boston Secession Choral Ensemble - Brave Records BRAV0720 (2007)
War Department
No more shall the sound of the war whoop be heard.
The ambush and slaughter no longer be feared.
The tomahawk buried, shall rest in the ground,
And peace and good will to the nations abound.

Joan Jeanrenaud: Axis, Transition, from Strange Toys - Talking House (2008)

Karen Tanaka: Frozen Horizon, Water and Stone, Invisible Curve (1998-99) - Azure Ensemble - New World 80683 (2008)

Giacinto Scelsi (1905-1988): Rotativa (1930) for two pianos and percussion. A very early work (Scelsi was 25) in the style of Antheil and Stravinsky, perhaps?
– Ars Ludi Ensemble - Stradivarius STR 33802 (2007)

Giacinto Scelsi: Chukrum (1963) for string orchestra
– Orchestra di Roma e del Lazio - Stradivarius STR 33802 (2007)

Wolfgang Rihm (1952-): Sub-Kontur (1975) for orchestra
– SWR Sinfonieorchester Baden-Baden, Ernest Bour cond
– Hänssler Classic 93-202 (2007)

A rebroadcast of a program from last year:
Re:MFOM 113 :: In 1952

John Cage: 16 dances for Soloist and Company of 3 (1951)
Ensemble Modern Ingo Metzmacher cond - BMG Music 09026-61574 (1994)

Earle Brown: December 1952 for solo piano
David Tudor recorded in 1972 rereleased on New World Records 80650 (2006)

If you’re interested in the Cage/Cunningham collaboration and the avant garde world in New York and Europe in the 1950’s and 60’s, you must read Carolyn Brown’s memoir, Chance and Circumstance. Carolyn Brown, one of the founding members of Merce Cunningham’s dance company, was married to Earle Brown during those years.
Chance and Circumstance, by Carolyn Brown.

Carl Stone: Woo Lae Oak (1981) - Unseen Worlds UW 03 (2008)

Named after a chain of Korean restaurants, and one in particular in Los Angeles, Woo Lae Oak is a continuous electronic work crafted out of loops of the sound of a rubbed string and a bottle played by blowing air over the top. Created at the studios of Cal Arts, it was released in 1982 and has been long out of print. Unseen Worlds has just reissued it, all 54 minutes, in a bright digital remaster.

Carl explains that listening to his piece is like looking at a clock — you only notice movement when you look away and then look back and notice that somethings have changed.

The composer recommends that you not play this too loud .. it should be soft and in the background.

>Carl Stone Wikipedia entry

Jorge Liderman: Barcelonazo (2003)
Eastman Musica Nova, Mark Scatterday, cond  -  Bridge 9241  (2008)

Cesar Camarero:
Finale (1992) - Alberto Rosado, piano
Chorro de luz hacia el corazon de una galaxia  (Stream of light into the heart of a galaxy)
Poema a la memoria de Exiquio Garcia Carbajo (Poem to the memory of Garcia Exiquio Carbajo)
members of the Plural Ensemble  -   Verso VRS 2016 (2004)

Keeril Makan: Washed by Fire (2007) -
Kronos Quartet - Tzadik TZ8053 In Sound (2008)   (to be released 6/24)

Malcom Goldstein: Configurations of Darkness (1995) -
Malcom Goldstein, violin with Swiss Radio ensemble - New World 80676 a sounding of sources (2008)

Morton Feldman: The Viola In My Life I-IV (1970-71)
Marek Konstantynowicz, viola; Cikada Ensemble (Oslo) (I-III);
Norwegian Radio Orchestra, Christian Eggen, cond. (IV)
ECM 1798 (2008) read the program notes

Morton Feldman: I Met Heine on Rue Fürstenberg (1971)
Ensemble Recherche; Disque Montaigne 782018 (1994)

“My music is just like Webern. Only a little bit longer.” Morton Feldman

We’re still suffering a bit of Spring Fever, so here’s a really nice program from last year:

MFOM 121:

Lou Harrison: Here is Splendor (from Four Strict Songs)
UC Santa Cruz Chamber Singers and Chamber Orchestra
Nicole Paiement, cond New World 80666

Here is Splendor — of the airplant Spanish moss asway in sun.
Here is Splendor — of the airplant, and the cobra arching his head.
Here is Splendor — of the galaxy in Andromeda.
Here is Splendor — of the galaxy, and the turquoise cloudless heaven.

John Luther Adams: for Lou Harrison (2004) (excerpt, 2nd half)
The Callithumpian Consort, Stephen Drury, conductor New World 80669

»Read the wonderful essay by Peter Garland about this work here (PDF)
»Read Alex Ross’s essay on John in the New Yorker magazine.

Eric Richards: finalbells (2004) for 16 chromatic cow bells
Alan Zimmerman. New World 80673

Taking a little break, so here’s one of my favorite recent programs again:

Hans Otte

Excerpts from Hans Otte’s Das Buch der Klänge, The Book of Sounds.
Hans Otte, piano (1983) Celestial Harmonies (reissue) 12069 (2006)

Hans Otte passed away Christmas day, 2007, at age 81.

The music of

Tania León:

Bailarin (1998) David Starobin, guitar
Axon (2002) Mari Kimura, violin and interactive computer
Arenas d’un Tiempo (1992) Speculum Musicae
Horizons (1999) NDR Sinfonie Orchester
Satiné (2000) Susan Grace, Alice Rybak, pianos

From the new release on Bridge 9231 (2008)

Tania León’s website.

We also mark the passing, at age 94, of maverick composer Henry Brant on April 26 in Santa Barbara, CA., with a very early work from 1938, his portrait of the three Marx brothers, Hommage aux Freres Marx: Chico, Groucho, and Harpo. Henry is the tin fife soloist with the Boston Musica Viva on this out-of-print Newport Classics release ND85588 from 1994.

Read the NY Times obit by Allen Kozinn, and Kyle Gann’s comments.

Henry Brant on OtherMinds.org including an interview.

Peter Adriaansz  is a young Dutch composer born in Seattle, Washington and now living in Den Haag, Netherlands. His chamber and solo pieces are widely performed in Europe and in the US

Triple Concerto (part 1) (2003) - Array Music
Serenades II-IV (2004) - Catch Electric Guitar Quartet
La Voce di Zarlino (part 1) (2006) - Compagnie Bisschof
9 through 99 (2003) - Ives Ensemble

(unreleased recordings provided by the composer)

Iannis Xenakis (1922-2001)

Oresteïa (1966-87)
Radio-France production,
Strasbourg Music Festival October 1987
Salabert/Harmonia Mundi France SCD 8906 (1990)

Voile (1995) (Veil)
Ensemble Resonanz, Johannes Kalitzke, cond.
Mode 152 (2005)

In 1966, Greek composer Iannis Xenakis was asked to write music to accompany a condensed theatrical production of Aeschylus’s ORESTEIA: the trilogy Agamemnon, The Choëphori, and The Eumenides. In 1987, Xenakis completed his Oresteia by adding another scene, Kassandra.

Xenakis, composer, architect, engineer, was born in 1922 and died in 2001. His music is quite unique, and his Oresteia extremely dramatic. Rather than aim for strict accuracy in recreating the world of ancient Greek music, Xenakis creates a totally new sound world for this tragic celebration of the birth of human justice as opposed to divine justice.

Xenakis uses the classical Greek phonetics of Aeschylus’s text to establish melodic and rhythmic basis for the music. The dramatic effect is intense.

Xenakis Website

This year marks the 100th anniversary of Olivier Messiaen’s birth, December 1908. So maybe it’s more like the anniversary of his conception as well.

Son of an English teacher father who translated Shakespeare, and a symbolist poet mother, Messiaen, who died in 1992, is still perhaps the most unique and exotic of 20th century composers.

There is an excellent one-page appreciation of Messiaen’s music and role in 20c music in last Sunday’s New York Times by Anthony Tommasini.

And, it looks like there will be many concerts honoring Messiaen in New York City and Europe this year. Here is a partial list of events.

One of Messiaen’s great interests was bird song. Many of his pieces feature his own transcriptions and interpretations of the songs of birds, from the ordinary to the exotic.

The next MFOM broadcast will feature two bird-song based pieces that are very rarely performed: Réveil des Oiseaux (Bird’s Awakening) for piano and orchestra, and La Fauvette des Jardins (The Garden Warbler) for piano solo.

Details:

Messiaen: Réviel des Oiseaux (1953) (Birds’ Awakening)
Yvonne Loriod, piano; Orchestre National de France, Kent Nagano, cond
Erato 0630-12702 (1996)

Messiaen: La Fauvette des Jardins (1970) (The Garden Warbler)
Peter Hill, piano. Unicorn-Kanchana DKP 9090 (1990)
And stay tuned to Music From Other Minds for more Messiaen throughout the year.

It’s back to the 80’s all over again:

Daniel Goode: TUNNEL-FUNNEL (1985)
The Crosstown Ensemble with Eric Grunin conducting - Tzadik TZ7029 (1998)

Steve Peters: The Webster Cycles (1981) (on a new Cold Blue release)
J.A. Deane, trombones

IMAGINING GAMELAN: CONTEMPORARY COMPOSITIONS FOR GAMELAN & GAMELAN-INSPIRED WORKS FOR WESTERN INSTRUMENTS – April in Santa Cruz

Tuesday, April 29, 2008 / 07:30 PM - 09:30 PM
Music Center Recital Hall

Event Description: Featuring pieces by visiting West Javanese composer Nano S and visiting New York composer Daniel Goode. Plus compositions by Paul Nauert, Steve Reich, John Cage, Andrew Marine, Noah Meites, and others. Performed by UCSC Gamelan program with Linda Burman-Hall and Undang Sumarna, the UCSC Percussion Ensemble directed by William Winant (in collaboration with the UCSC Contemporary Music Ensemble), and others.

Contact:
UCSC Ticket Office Phone: (831)-459-2159
Email: artsevents@ucsc.edu Web: http://www.SantaCruzTickets.com