#4031: Traffic Music
Hear an hour of music that deals with traffic (not the band), with works titled after specific NYC roads notorious for their traffic, and more generally music about the machines that cause the traffic: cars, trucks, trams, and buses.
"Blame it on Pulitzer Prize-winning composer Caroline Shaw," says John Schaefer. Her work, “Boris Kerner,” is actually named after a Moscow-born German-based traffic theorist and author of revelatory ideas about traffic – like three phase traffic theory. Caroline Shaw's work itself is scored for cello and flower pots and was written with/for the duo, New Morse Code. Hear that work, along with pieces that use car horns by Hungarian composer Gyorgy Ligeti – from his larger work, ‘Le Grand Macabre,” - his two car horn preludes.
Then, listen to music about certain roads, like the BQE (Brooklyn-Queens Expressway) and the L.I.E. (Long Island Expressway), in works by Sufjan Stevens, and Christopher Cerrone, respectively. Also, from American electronic composer Neil Rolnick, listen to a portion of his larger work, “The Economic Engine," which attempts to describe musically the impact of boom times in China - specifically, the movement about traffic. It’s scored for traditional Chinese instruments, string quartet and digital processing, and features New York-based Music From China ensemble and the Todd Reynolds String Quartet.
There's also music about a packed bus on its way to Bamako from Daniel Freedman, as well as music inspired by the 28 tram in Lisbon, featuring taped sounds from along the route. Music from violinist Jenny Scheinman, and her instrumental “Song of the Open Road,” rounds out the show.
PROGRAM #4031, Music Involving Traffic (First Aired: 10/04/2017)
ARTIST: Philharmonia Orchestra, Esa-Pekka Salonen, conductor
WORK: Le Grand Macabre: Car Horn Prelude [:52]
RECORDING: Ligeti: Le Grand Macabre
SOURCE: CBS/Sony 62312
INFO: Out of print, but try Amazon.com
ARTIST: 3 Mustaphas 3
WORK: Taxi Driver (I Don't Care) [3:40]
RECORDING: Heart of Uncle
SOURCE: Rykodisc #20156
INFO: Try Amazon.com
ARTIST: Goran Bregovic
WORK: The Trucker's Song [3:30]
RECORDING: Alkohol
SOURCE: Blue Wrasse 5315091 / Wrasse Records 238
INFO: wrasserecords.com
ARTIST: Daniel Freedman
WORK: Bamako by Bus [6:05]
RECORDING: Bamako by Bus
SOURCE: Anzic 0038
INFO: anzicrecords.com | danielfreedman.net
ARTIST: New Morse Code
WORK: Caroline Shaw: Boris Kerner [8:00]
RECORDING: Simplicity Itself
SOURCE: New Focus Recordings FCR 189
INFO: newfocusrecordings.com
ARTIST: Los Angeles Percussion Quartet
WORK: Christopher Cerrone: Memory Palace - IV. L.I.E. [4:23]
RECORDING: Beyond
SOURCE: Sono Luminus DSL-92214
INFO: sonoluminus.com
ARTIST: Sufjan Stevens & the BQE Project
WORK: BQE Movement III Linear Tableau with Intersecting Surprise [4:27]
RECORDING: The Brooklyn-Queens Expressway
SOURCE: Asthmatic Kitty 278
INFO: asthmatickitty.com
ARTIST: Philharmonia Orchestra, Esa-Pekka Salonen, conductor
WORK: Le Grand Macabre: Second Car Horn Prelude [:40]
RECORDING: Ligeti: Le Grand Macabre
SOURCE: CBS/Sony 62312
INFO: Out of print, but try Amazon.com
ARTIST: Neil Rolnick / Music from China / Todd Reynolds String Quartet
WORK: Neil Rolnick: The Ecomonic Engine 1 Traffic [6:50]
RECORDING: The Economic Engine
SOURCE: Innova 724
INFO: innova.mu
ARTIST: Daniel Kientzy, sax
WORK: Elzbieta Sikora: Lisboa, Tramway 28, mvt 2 [2:52]
RECORDING: Lisboa, tramway 28; Janek Wisniewski, décembre, Pologne
SOURCE: INA #275842
INFO: electrocd.com
ARTIST: Jenny Scheinman
WORK: Song of The Open Road [4:00]
RECORDING: 12 Songs
SOURCE: Cryptogramophone CG125
INFO: cryptogramophone.com
