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CDs, Contemporary Classical, File Under?, Piano, Recordings

Veda Hille: Indie Pop = Hymnals plus Hindemith?

Veda Hille – Indie pop plus Hindemith!   Vancouver’s Veda Hille is an indie singer/songwriter who fashions classical instrumentation and catchy tunes into an erudite pop style. This Riot Life, her latest CD, draws on a wide assortment of influences. Its frequent eschatological references and cryptically, messianic-tinged lyrics (“Ace of the Nazarene,” “Book of Saints, ““Rose of Sharon”) represent a recent find: an old hymnal belonging to her grandmother. The harmonic sophistication and extended formal designs of her songs reflect Hille’s classical training, as does an unorthodox rendition of “The Moon,” a Shelley setting by Paul Hindemith. Prog-rock inflections are

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Choral Music, Composers, Contemporary Classical, File Under?

Holiday Tunes

A little palette-cleanser to shift our focus away from stimulating discussions of academe – after all, school is only out for a short while – what ‘holiday’ music do you admire? This week, I’ve been listening to Anonymous 4’s Wolcum Yule around the house, enjoying both the Renaissance pieces and Maxwell Davies’ “A Calendar of Kings.” A ‘guilty pleasure’ is Vaughan Williams’ Hodie.

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Boston, Composers, Concerts, Contemporary Classical, File Under?, Orchestral, Orchestras, Photographs

Break a Leg?!?

Wendy plays Ken’s viola concerto with BMOP! Hear harmonies analyzed from Wendy’s ankle bone! Friday, November 14, 2008 / 8:00pm – 10:00pm Jordan Hall at New England Conservatory 290 Huntington Avenue, Boston, MA The amazing violist Wendy Richman plays Ken Ueno’s concerto Talus, with the Boston Modern Orchestra Project and the incomparable Gil Rose. Here’s the program: Martin Boykan Concerto for Violin and Orchestra / Curtis Macomber, violin Robert Erickson Fantasy for cello and orchestra / Rafael Popper-Keizer, cello Arnold Schoenberg Concerto for String Quartet and Orchestra / BMOP Principals Elliott Schwartz Chamber Concerto VI: Mr. Jefferson / Charles Dimmick,

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Chamber Music, Composers, Concerts, Contemporary Classical, File Under?

Quartet for the End of Time at Merkin on Tuesday

Charles Neidich and friends are performing Messiaen’s Quartet for the End of Time and music by Israeli composers. The program is below, and you can check out the notes over at my blog. Moshe Zorman – Hora Arnaud Sussmann, Violin; Vincent Balse, Piano  Menachem Wiesenberg – Like Clay in the Potter’s Hand Gal Nyska, Cello; Vincent Balse, Piano  Paul Ben Haim – Pastorale Variee Op. 31b Moran Katz, Clarinet; Vincent Balse, Piano  Olivier Messiaen – Quartet for the End of Time  Charles Neidich, Clarinet; Arnaud Sussmann, Violin; Gal Nyska, Cello; Vincent Balse, Piano

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