#4167: Shine a Light
Many folks listen to music as a kind of illumination in times of darkness, so as the days get shorter, we’ll hear works based on the idea of illumination for this New Sounds. Listen to music by electronic composer Alvin Curran, choral work by American composer Joanne Metcalf, music by Norwegian guitarist Stian Westerhus, and a work for string ensemble by Icelandic composer Anna Thorvaldsdottir.
Hear a glowing piece for chorus called “O Shining Light” by Joanne Metcalf written for Scotland's only professional Medieval music group, the choir Canty. Metcalf “wanted to create the impression of a profoundly beautiful outer light, such as that of the stars, that reflects back the beauty of one’s inner light.”
Then, listen to music for small string ensemble by Icelandic composer Anna Thorvaldsdottir – with perhaps a dark, arctic soundscape quality. The work is called “Illumine” and comes from the recent record, AEQUA, the International Contemporary Ensemble (ICE)'s highly anticipated second portrait album of music by Anna Thorvaldsdottir.
Hear otherworldly music from Norwegian guitarist Stian Westerhus, recorded at the Emanuel Vigeland Mausoleum in Oslo – a room with natural 20-second reverb. His piece, “Shine” is just Westerhus with guitar and effects - extending the sonic possibilities of the guitar by drawing a cello bow across the strings, plucking and stabbing, in the reverberant – and cold controlled- space.
Then, listen to "Canti Illuminati" by pioneering electronic music composer Alvin Curran, his "early tribute to the human voice", as he wrote in 2002 on the re-release of the work. There's also music by Irish composer Jonathan Nangle, plus an early work by Japanese composer Somei Satoh, “The Heavenly Spheres Are Illuminated By Lights,” based on an old Buddhist prayer.
#4167: Illuminated Songs (First aired 10/30/2018)
ARTIST: Margaret Leng Tan, piano; Lise Messier, soprano; Michael Pugliese, percussion, bowed percussion
WORK: Somei Satoh: The Heavenly Spheres Are Illuminated By Lights [1:30]
RECORDING: Litania
SOURCE: New Albion
INFO: Try iTunes or Amazon.com
ARTIST: ICE (International Contemporary Ensemble)
WORK: Anna Thorvaldsdottir: Illumine [7:22]
RECORDING: AEQUA
SOURCE: Sono Luminus
INFO: Due out Nov. 16, 2018
ARTIST: Alvin Curran
WORK: Canti Illuminati, excerpt [7:26]
RECORDING: Alvin Curran: Solo Works - The '70s
SOURCE: New World Records 80713
INFO: newworldrecords.org
ARTIST: Canty
WORK: Joanne Metcalf: O Shining Light [5:49]
RECORDING: Carmina Celtica
SOURCE: Linn Records 378
INFO: linnrecords.com
ARTIST: Alvin Curran
WORK: Canti Illuminati, excerpt [3:28]
RECORDING: Alvin Curran: Solo Works - The '70s
SOURCE: New World Records 80713
INFO: newworldrecords.org
ARTIST: Margaret Leng Tan, piano; Lise Messier, soprano; Michael Pugliese, percussion, bowed percussion
WORK: Somei Satoh: The Heavenly Spheres Are Illuminated By Lights [11:33]
RECORDING: Litania
SOURCE: New Albion
INFO: Try iTunes or Amazon.com
ARTIST: Dierdre O’Leary, bass clarinet
WORK: Jonathan Nangle: our headlights blew softly into the black, illuminating very little [5:33]
RECORDING: Contemporary Music from Ireland Vol. 9
SOURCE: CMC CD 09
INFO: www.cmc.ie
ARTIST: Stian Westerhus
WORK: Shine [4:26]
RECORDING: the Matriarch and the Wrong Kind of Flowers
SOURCE: RCD 2133
INFO: runegrammofon.com
