Salute to John Adams
Evening Music | May 6, 2010
Our American Music Festival salutes John Adams in particular, this evening, since its his birthday (1947). Stay tuned for our second-hour airing of a specially commissioned work. . .
The jazz stylings of Paul Whiteman are featured at Jazz at Lincoln Center from February 19th to 22nd. Check out the site, but listen here in the meantime, as George Gershwin himself plays the piano in his “Rhapsody in Blue,” backed by Paul Whiteman conducting his own orchestra in a 1924 historical recording. Amy Marcy Cheney Beach, one of America’s leading composers, is represented by her 1921 Quartet for Strings, performed for us by the Lark Quartet.
Co-commissioned by the New York Philharmonic and Lincoln Center’s Great Performers in honor of the heroes and in memory of the victims of the attacks of 9/11, John Adams’s “On the Transmigration of Souls” superimposes pre-recorded street sounds and the readings of victims’ names by friends and family members over a live performance from the New York Choral Artists, the Brooklyn Youth Chorus, and the New York Philharmonic under Lorin Maazel. An astounding, transformative work.
Bernard Herrmann’s “Souvenir de voyage” for clarinet quintet is slightly lighter fare. Three sources inspire its three movements: the A.E. Houseman poem ‘On Wenlock Edge the wood’s in trouble’ from “A Shropshire Lad,” waves cresting the coasts of the Irish Aron Islands at sunset, and Turner’s watercolors featuring Venetian gondolas.
David Balakrishnan says his “Interplay” for mandolin quartet and violin (which he plays) was his attempt to integrate various musical styles—European classical, American jazz, blues, rock, fiddle, and bluegrass, and Indian classical—all part of his familial and educational heritage. You are sure to find it compelling.
Additional Resources:
» New York Philharmonic Wins Three Grammy Awards for John Adam's On the Transmigration of Souls
» Soundcheck: A September Requiem
» Read an interview with Adams about the work
» John Adams on WNYC
The jazz stylings of Paul Whiteman are featured at Jazz at Lincoln Center from February 19th to 22nd. Check out the site, but listen here in the meantime, as George Gershwin himself plays the piano in his “Rhapsody in Blue,” backed by Paul Whiteman conducting his own orchestra in a 1924 historical recording. Amy Marcy Cheney Beach, one of America’s leading composers, is represented by her 1921 Quartet for Strings, performed for us by the Lark Quartet.
Co-commissioned by the New York Philharmonic and Lincoln Center’s Great Performers in honor of the heroes and in memory of the victims of the attacks of 9/11, John Adams’s “On the Transmigration of Souls” superimposes pre-recorded street sounds and the readings of victims’ names by friends and family members over a live performance from the New York Choral Artists, the Brooklyn Youth Chorus, and the New York Philharmonic under Lorin Maazel. An astounding, transformative work.
Bernard Herrmann’s “Souvenir de voyage” for clarinet quintet is slightly lighter fare. Three sources inspire its three movements: the A.E. Houseman poem ‘On Wenlock Edge the wood’s in trouble’ from “A Shropshire Lad,” waves cresting the coasts of the Irish Aron Islands at sunset, and Turner’s watercolors featuring Venetian gondolas.
David Balakrishnan says his “Interplay” for mandolin quartet and violin (which he plays) was his attempt to integrate various musical styles—European classical, American jazz, blues, rock, fiddle, and bluegrass, and Indian classical—all part of his familial and educational heritage. You are sure to find it compelling.
Additional Resources:
» New York Philharmonic Wins Three Grammy Awards for John Adam's On the Transmigration of Souls
» Soundcheck: A September Requiem
» Read an interview with Adams about the work
» John Adams on WNYC
