Elliott Carter turns 102 today! He was at Miller Theatre this past Monday night at the all Pierre Boulez concert put on by the Talea Ensemble. This was the last of many concerts celebrating Boulez’s 85th birthday (which occurred back in March). The group played the US premiere of the latest version of Dérive 2: a work composed in 1988 to celebrate Carter’s 80th birthday. 22 years later, Boulez, now 85 himself, has expanded the piece to well over double its original length! As Raymond Bisha wrote on the Naxos Blog, Elliott Carter is planning to spend his 102nd birthday
Read moreWho says Barber cornered the market on Adagios?
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Birthdays, CDs, Choral Music, Composers, Contemporary Classical, File Under?, Los Angeles, Minimalism
Arvo Pärt: Symphony No. 4 Los Angeles Philharmonic, Esa Pekka Salonen conductor Estonian Philharmonic Chamber Choir, Tõnu Kaljuste conductor Symphony No. 4 “Los Angeles” (2008) Fragments from Kanon Pokajanen (1997) ECM New Series 2160 Estonian composer Arvo Pärt turned 75 yesterday. His record label ECM Records is celebrating his three-quarters of a century with two new recordings. Pärt’s 4th Symphony is a long-anticipated follow-up to his 3rd – which was written back in 1971! In the interim, the composer has moved from a modernist style to an idiosyncratic version of minimalism; one the composer calls the “tintinnabuli” style of composition.
Read moreIgor Stravinsky’s birthday is today. Check out this recording of Stravinsky’s own Greeting Prelude, which was played on the occasion of Louis Andriessen’s 70th birthday by Reinbert de Leeuw and the Radio Philharmonic.
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Birthdays, Chamber Music, Composers, Concerts, Contemporary Classical, Music Events, Portland, Seattle
This year marks the 25th anniversary of the Washington Composers Forum. Like any of these ventures, they’ve had some busy and some moribund periods. But more than most and especially through the last decade, the WCF has been a pretty consistent force, beacon and shelter for composers of all stripes (as I can personally attest to from my own long sojourn in the Seattle area). They’ve been great about getting the word on opportunities out to their members, sponsoring commissions, readings and concerts, and their Composer Spotlight series (a different composer holds court each month, sharing whatever they think is
Read moreHelmut Lachenmann, 75 years old this year. How does the news strike us? If a composer in Europe, a better than 60%-70% chance that this is an important milestone. If a composer in America, less than 40%-30% chance of the same reaction. As a mainstream American classical concert-goer, the number is probably closer to 10% or less. In the last couple decades, the influence of Lachenmann upon all kinds of composers has been immense, as have been the names of Franco Donatoni, Brian Ferneyhough, Beat Furrer, Gerard Grisey,Tristan Murail, Wolfgang Rihm, Kaija Saariaho… Yet the other thing they all share
Read more“I was meant to be a composer and will be I’m sure. Don’t ask me to try to forget this unpleasant thing and go play football – please.” – by Samuel Barber For some, he’s a guilty pleasure; especially when one reads comments by the big guns (notably Copland) who condemn him with faint praise. But for those of us who want to sing and compose, Sam’s always an inspiration. Here’s his elegant recording of his own “Dover Beach,” for baritone and string quartet. [youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SjPtPmshqIA[/youtube]
Read moreTo paraphrase a comment I spotted once on Myspace, “We would have got you a card or something but we spent all of our money on booze, speed, and hookers”… So let’s just do with this shout-out to NewMusicBox, the American Music Center, the whole unsung crew and of course the one-and-only Frank J. Oteri, for seeing this most vital and consistently important modern classical site through its first decade. Before appearing May 1st, 1999 there had never, ever been such a resource for living composers, performers and their music-hungry audience. Ten years on, there’s still no equal. It’s our
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