Listen to music that takes on topics of mental illness, mental rehabilitation, and incarceration. Hear works by Michigander Nina Shekhar, Utah-based Philip Bimstein, and English composer Jocelyn Pook.
Hear Southern California via Michigander composer Nina Shekhar’s piece, “Quirkhead” for soprano and string quartet about her giving a name to her own special obsessive rituals and compulsions. Also, hear selections from Michael Nyman’s opera The Man Who Mistook His Wife for a Hat, based on Oliver Sacks’ writing and a case study of Mr. P.
Then listen to a work by Philip Bimstein, “Lockdown,”with voices of teenagers confined to the Washington County Youth Crisis center in southern Utah. Bimstein crafts melodies from the recorded sounds of handcuffs, cell doors, metal detectors, two-way radios, and the voices of the kids expressing their feelings, fears, regrets, hopes and love for their mothers, and combines them with a chamber orchestra.
Also, there’s music by English composer Jocelyn Pook’s and her work,“Hearing Voices,” inspired by Pook’s great aunt Phyllis Williams. Mental illness runs in her family, and for this piece, she recorded interviews with five women across different generations, including her great aunt Phyllis and Mary Pook, about their experiences and struggles.
Program #4147: Stories of Mental Illness and Rehabilitation
ARTIST: Pink Floyd
WORK: The Dark Side of the Moon, excerpt [:45]
RECORDING: The Dark Side of the Moon
SOURCE: EMI 679180
INFO: Available at Amazon.com
ARTIST: Michael Nyman
WORK: Prologue: Neurology's Favourite Term [2:45]
RECORDING: The Man Who Mistook His Wife for a Hat
SOURCE: CBS/Sony 44669
INFO: Available at Amazon.com
ARTIST: Jocelyn Pook
WORK: Jocelyn Pook: So Funny [4:08]
RECORDING: Hearing Voices
SOURCE/INFO: jocelynpook.com
ARTIST: Jocelyn Pook ft. vocalist Melanie Pappenheim
WORK: Jocelyn Pook: The Doctor (pt 1 & 2) [6:23]
RECORDING: Hearing Voices
SOURCE/INFO: jocelynpook.com
ARTIST: Philip Bimstein
WORK: Lockdown 1 (White Bricks, Green Doors) [6:52]
RECORDING: Angels, Cats & Shackles
SOURCE: Other Minds
INFO: othermindsrecords.bandcamp.com
ARTIST: Philip Bimstein
WORK: Lockdown 2 (You'll Be Good) [4:54]
RECORDING: Angels, Cats & Shackles
SOURCE: Other Minds
INFO: othermindsrecords.bandcamp.com
ARTIST: Philip Bimstein
WORK: Lockdown 3 (Handcuffs & Shackles) [6:42]
RECORDING: Angels, Cats & Shackles
SOURCE: Other Minds
INFO: othermindsrecords.bandcamp.com
ARTIST: Third Angle String Quartet, ft. Tony Arnold, soprano
WORK: Nina Shekhar: Quirkhead [9:07]
RECORDING: Quirkhead
SOURCE: soundcloud.com/ninashekhar
INFO: ninashekhar.com/quirkhead/
ARTIST: Michael Nyman
WORK: Prologue: Neurology's Favourite Term [3:36]
RECORDING: The Man Who Mistook His Wife for a Hat
SOURCE: CBS/Sony 44669
INFO: Available at Amazon.com