#4217: Music About Spring
For this New Sounds, listen to spring-themed music from Emily Doolittle, Wendy Carlos, The Bad Plus, and Heiner Goebbels. Listen to reworkings of Stravinsky's ballet, "The Rite of Spring" from a record by The Bad Plus, where they reduced Stravinsky's score and arranged it for jazz trio -piano, bass, and drums- with a few twists.
Then, hear music from Canadian-born, Scotland-based composer Emily Doolittle’s collection, “four pieces about water” – off of her record, All Spring. As per her own bio page, Doolittle has an ongoing research interest in zoomusicology, the study of the relationship between human music and animal songs. Plus, listen to “Butterfly Kite,” written for easy piano + delay/verb effects by the Australian-born, London-based electroacoustic musician & sound artist Leah Kardos.
The groundbreaking composer and synthesist Wendy Carlos has explored electronic music, sound design, and alternate tunings. More than 50 years ago, she put the music of J.S. Bach and the Moog synthesizer together and Switched-On Bach was born. Hear “Spring” from her double LP, Sonic Seasonings, an album focused on the power of nature, where each side was named for a season.
Also, listen to music by German composer and “radical left-wing rock musician, theatre director, concert composer, jazz musician, maker of artworks and sound-installations” Heiner Goebbels (The Telegraph, UK). Hear the Dutch ensemble Ensemble Klang and their recording of "Spring," - a small portion Goebbels' larger work, based on Walden, Henry David Thoreau’s back-to-nature tract. - Caryn Havlik
ARTIST: Ensemble Klang
WORK: Heiner Goebbels: Spring [1:30]
RECORDING: Walden
SOURCE: Ensemble Klang Records Nr 06
INFO: ensembleklangrecords.com
ARTIST: Wendy Carlos
WORK: Spring [22:27]
RECORDING: Sonic Seasonings
SOURCE: East Side Digital #81372. Out of print.
INFO: wendycarlos.com
ARTIST: Leah Kardos
WORK: Butterfly Kite [3:15]
RECORDING: Spring 2014
SOURCE/INFO: bigoandtwigetti.bandcamp.com
ARTIST: Seattle Chamber Players and friends
WORK: Emily Doolittle: Rain Water [2:31]
RECORDING: All Spring
SOURCE: Composers Concordance Records
INFO: emilydoolittle.com
ARTIST: The Bad Plus
WORK: Stravinsky: The Augurs of Spring
RECORDING: The Rite of Spring
SOURCE: Sony Masterworks 88843 02405 2
INFO: Available at iTunes and Amazon. | thebadplus.com
ARTIST: Ensemble Klang
WORK: Heiner Goebbels: Spring [17:25]
RECORDING: Walden
SOURCE: Ensemble Klang Records Nr 06
INFO: ensembleklangrecords.com
