700 Years Of New Music We start from the Medieval carols from England, those are 14th and 15th centuries. We also have Renaissance music from the 15th and 16th centuries. Then we sing some pieces, actually, from the 19th century and 20th century, America. And then from the 21st century. That’s baritone Christopher Dylan Herbert, talking… Read More
Music For Writers: Seeing Through Philip Glass
‘The Trouble With My Career’ Once when I interviewed Philip Glass, he told me: The trouble with my career is I’m finally doing what I want to do. And the reason it’s a problem is that I’m doing it all day long and don’t have time to do anything else. And maybe the most remarkable thing… Read More
Music For Writers: Something Of Jeffrey Zeigler’s Life
‘A Scary Move, A Necessary Move’ “When it was announced that I was leaving Kronos,” says cellist Jeffrey Zeigler, “half the people I spoke to said, ‘Wow, you’re really brave.’ And the other half said, ‘Wow, you’re really crazy.’” If anything, Zeigler’s bravery arrives with a bravura that can make you crazy: Something of Life is… Read More
Music For Writers: In Not-So-Dire ‘s_traits’
‘A Sentence Swimming In Uncertainty’ A generous and “generative” heart beats at the conceptual center of composer John Supko and media artist Bill Seaman’ssweetly addictive new release, s_traits, on the Cotton Goods label. The work is among the most writerly studies yet in our series on contemporary composition for authors. The work stands, almost imperceptibly, on a vast… Read More
Music For Writers: Agata Zubel ‘On Both Sides’
‘The Most Beautiful Place Where The Two Professions Meet’ In earlier #MusicForWriters columns here, I’ve mentioned how many of our contemporary composers are also performers. Caleb Burhans, a composer and multi-instrumentalist, is one. His Excelsior is one of the works in our series. As the notes from Kairos Music on Agata Zubel’s new release, however, point out, the… Read More
Music for Writers: Krakauer The Klezmer On 'Isaac The Blind'
Boys Who Have Seen Stonehenge Klezmer struck me as the voice of my grandmother in music. So even though I consider myself to be an atheist, I’m deeply culturally plugged in as a Jew. For me the “spiritual” aspect is a sense of this deep cultural connection that goes back thousands of years, and a sense… Read More
Music for Writers: JACK Quartet + Four áltaVoz Composers
‘The Ride Of Our Repertoire’ “What was that term you used? ‘Screechy?’” John Pickford Richards is laughing at me as he takes a question about how reachy — “not at all screechy, John,” I assure him — some of the music on the JACK Quartet’s new album may be for these artists. As personable a… Read More