#3996: Coal
Listen to an hour of music inspired by coal and coal mining in locales like West Virginia and Pennsylvania, to Northeast England and Wales. Hear music from Public Service Broadcasting and their new record, “Every Valley,” which draws on the mining boom in Wales— and its subsequent collapse. Then, hear versions of the Jean Ritchie folk song, “West Virginia Mine Disaster” about the Hominy Falls Mine Disaster of 1968, by jazz vocalist Dominique Eade and pianist Ran Blake.
Plus, hear music for chorus and instrumental sextet by Bang on a Can co-founder Julia Wolfe. Listen to a portion of her Pulitzer Prize-winning oratorio, “Anthracite Fields,” which honors the struggle of the miners in the Pennsylvania Anthracite coal region. Plus, listen to the late Icelandic composer Jóhann Jóhannsson’s score for New York filmmaker Bill Morrison’s The Miners’ Hymns. The music is an elegy to coal mining culture in Northeast England (Durham & Newcastle), with the brass elements hearkening back to the colliery bands, which used to be the local entertainment.
PROGRAM #3996, Coal (First Aired: 7/6/2017)
ARTIST: Public Service Broadcasting
WORK: The Pit, excerpt [1:00]
RECORDING: Every Valley
SOURCE: Test Card Recordings / Play It Again Sam
INFO: publicservicebroadcasting.net | playitagainsam.net
ARTIST: Dominique Eade & Ran Blake
WORK: West Virginia Mine Disaster [2:37]
RECORDING: Town & Country
SOURCE: Sunnyside Records
INFO: sunnysidezone.com
ARTIST: Public Service Broadcasting
WORK: Every Valley [4:43]
RECORDING: Every Valley
SOURCE: Test Card Recordings / Play It Again Sam
INFO: publicservicebroadcasting.net | playitagainsam.net
ARTIST: Public Service Broadcasting
WORK: The Pit [4:25]
RECORDING: Every Valley
SOURCE: Test Card Recordings / Play It Again Sam
INFO: publicservicebroadcasting.net | playitagainsam.net
ARTIST: Bang on a Can All-Stars and The Choir of Trinity Wall Street
WORK: Julia Wolfe: Foundation [19:35]
RECORDING: Julia Wolfe: Anthracite Fields
SOURCE: Cantaloupe Music 21111
INFO: bangonacan.org
ARTIST: Jóhann Jóhannsson
WORK: The Cause of Labour is the Hope of the World [7:40]
RECORDING: The Miners’ Hymns
SOURCE: Fat Cat CD 13-13
INFO: fatcat-usa.com
ARTIST: Public Service Broadcasting
WORK: Take Me Home [2:12]
RECORDING: Every Valley
SOURCE: Test Card Recordings / Play It Again Sam
INFO: publicservicebroadcasting.net | playitagainsam.net
ARTIST: Dominique Eade & Ran Blake
WORK: West Virginia Mine Disaster [3:10]
RECORDING: Town & Country
SOURCE: Sunnyside Records
INFO: sunnysidezone.com
