Yes, you read that right. 2007 brings the fiftieth anniversary of Jean Sibelius’ death, and his tone poem Finlandia was written as a protest against Russian influence in Finland at the end of the 19th century. Joan Baez sung her own a cappella version on Michael Moore’s 2004 Slacker’s Uprising Tour, and in anticipation of the composer’s anniversary year On An Overgrown Path has the full story and an audio file in Sibelius – his genius remains unrecognised.
You wouldn’t know it from the freakish weather (60 degrees today) here in the Center of the Universe but it’s Christmas time and that means it’s time for Phil Kline to lead a massive chorus of boomboxes through the streets of Greenwich Village in the 15th annual holiday presentation of his legendary UNSILENT NIGHT.
The fun starts this Saturday, December 16 at 7:00 pm, at the arch in Washington Square Park. You know the drill: Kline puts the different parts of his composition on cassettes, and distributes them to those who show up at Washington Square. At the given signal, everyone simultaneously pressses PLAY. When the cassettes start rolling, “they blossom into a marvelously crafted symphony” (Time Out New York) and the crowd begins to snake eastward, following a pre-determined route until the piece ends in Tompkins Square Park less than an hour and a mile later.
Since its debut in 1992, UNSILENT NIGHT has become a cult holiday tradition in NY and around the world, drawing crowds of up to 1,500 participants. This year will see (actually some of them have already happened) repeat presentations in San Francisco, Philadelphia, San Diego, Vancouver BC, Middlesbrough (England), and Sydney, Australia, as well as the first ever performances in Los Angeles, Santa Barbara, Baltimore, Charleston, Rochester, Asheville, Milledgeville (Georgia), Banff (Alberta, Canada), and the Yukon Territory. This past February, a new version of UNSILENT NIGHT was presented at the Winter Olympics in Turin, Italy, as part of a sound art festival in the Alps.
You’re strongly encouraged to bring your own boomboxes, for which Kline will provide tapes. Which raises an interesting question: where do you find boomboxes these days. Haven’t they gone the way of the 8-track?
Yeah, so get with it Phil. Let’s have the silent UNSILENT NIGHT with a bunch of people wandering around the Village with their ears stuffed with iPod ear thingies. Positively Fourth Street Cageian.
Our friend Brian Sacawa led the first-ever Baltimore version of UNSILENT NIGHT on Friday night and has video to prove it.
It’s that time of the year again, folks, when composers around the world turn their attention to Los Angeles, with bated breath, waiting to hear who is, in fact, the greatest composer in America and the world this year. Who has advanced the art, who has raised the human spirit, who has earned his (yes, pretty much always, it’s his) place in musical history.
That’s right, it’s Grammy time.
And the nominees for “Best Classical Contemporary Composition” [sic] are:
Boston Concerto
Elliott Carter (Oliver Knussen)
Track from: The Music Of Elliott Carter, Vol. Seven
[Bridge Records, Inc.]
Golijov: Ainadamar: Fountain Of Tears
Osvaldo Golijov (Robert Spano)
[Deutsche Grammophon]
The Here And Now
Christopher Theofanidis (Robert Spano)
Track from: Del Tredici: Paul Revere’s Ride; Theofanidis: The Here And Now; Bernstein: Lamentation
[Telarc]
Paul Revere’s Ride
David Del Tredici (Robert Spano)
Track from: Del Tredici: Paul Revere’s Ride; Theofanidis: The Here And Now; Bernstein: Lamentation
[Telarc]
A Scotch Bestiary
James MacMillan (James MacMillan)
Track from: MacMillan: A Scotch Bestiary, Piano Concerto No. 2
[Chandos]
Place your bets.
Benjamin Britten, composer, pianist, conductor, pacifist, humanitarian, and visionary, died on December 4th 1976. The thirtieth anniversary of his death is being celebrated with the remarkable story of how he left not just a legacy of 20th century masterpieces, but also a remarkable music vision which is about to be realised after three decades. Take An Overgrown Path to Britten celebrated with new music campus.
Martin Bresnick turned 60 last month and he’s celebrating the event with two events at Zankel Hall this week. One piece will be on the Bang on the Can All-Stars program on Tuesday night and, on Saturday, the Yale School of Music will devote an entire evening to Bresnick’s music, including choral songs, a concerto for two marimbas, and a multimedia piece for solo pianist.
Steve Smith has a splendid profile of Bresnick in the Sunday New York Times which acknowledges the perhaps unfortunate fact that Bresnick is best-known for being the teacher of other composers who are more famous than he is. On the other hand, it’s hard to feel too bad for a guy who is the coordinator of the composition department at Yale, where he has taught since 1976.
I can’t recall ever hearing any of Bresnick music (an oversight I hope to correct on Tuesday night) but I suspect many of you have and perhaps some of you have even been his students. What do you think about him as a composer and as a teacher?
There are three anniversaries today of important events connected by a fascinating thread. November 22nd is remembered by many for the assassination of John F Kennedy in Dallas in 1963, while on a happier note Benjamin Britten was born in Lowestoft on this day in 1913, and quite appropriately today is also the name day of Saint Cecilia, the patron saint of musicians. The connection between these three anniversaries also involves folk singer, political activist and pioneering conservationist, Pete Seeger. The full story is at Benjamin Britten – We Shall Overcome
‘If you’re talking about “relevance to the wider culture” and “speaking to our times“, and all that Greg Sandowian stuff, I couldn’t possibly care less … People seem to forget that there’s always going an audience for whom Beethoven’s 5th or La Boheme is a brand new experience’ – writes Henry Holland today in Killing classical music in the US. Well worth the click, and my photo is of the audience queueing for core classical repertoire at the 2006 BBC Proms.
All too often today, appealing menus of new music turn out to be measly meals relying heavily on technical gimmickry, self-serving cliques, bitchiness and cynicism. By contrast the Britten Sinfonia at Lunch project is a nourishing meal whose courses include imaginative commissioning, innovative and open-minded programming, a truly international perspective, and some damn hard work from the musicians.. But don’t take my word for it. Here are the words of clarinettist Joy Farrall (above) as she introduced the Huw Watkins first performance at today’s Britten Sinfonia at Lunch concert – ”It is great to see such a large audience for this concert, and it is also really nice to see so many young people here.
For the full story of a pioneering contemporary music project visit New music lunch box
The moment you’ve all been waiting for has arrived. I refer, of course, to Robert Fripp’s 4-second start-up theme for the Windows Vista operating system. Soon to be the most played musical signature of all time.
On the Window Vista blog, Jim Allchin writes that the new intro is “made of dual ascending ‘glassy’ (Edit note: as in Philip Glassy) melodies played on top of a gentle fading Fripp ‘AERO’ Soundscape.”
Win-dows Vis-ta…(Click on play under the photo)
Don’t miss Alex Ross’ wonderful portrait of Steve Reich in the new New Yorker. Yes, the New Yorker.
Robert Gable has a video link to the London Steve Reich Ensemble on YouTube playing Reich’s Eight Lines.
Reich is the current featured composer in the Sequenza21 shop. Stock up for Christmas or whatever you do at your house.
Anybody see the latest production of The Cave last week at John Jay? It’s one of the great ones.