#4533, With Molly Herron
Hear new music where Minimalism and the Renaissance overlap by New York-based composer Molly Herron from her new record, Through Lines: New music for Viola da Gamba. The viola da gamba looks and sounds like a cello and pre-dates J.S. Bach. The instrument has frets like a guitar, but is played with a bow, that is, until New York composer Molly Herron wrote parts involving hammer-ons and pull-offs for the three members of Science Ficta (Science fiction + Musica ficta).
Listen to works from Herron’s 2021 record, Through Lines where she plays with the idea of horizontal stacking to overlay melodies while using the canon form, and veers into ambient pieces as well. With these adjustable frets and malleable tuning, plus guitar techniques of hammer-ons and pull-offs, all relying on the deep resonance of the viola da gamba, there is the possibility for some “really juicy and beautiful” music.
Then, from Montreal-based early music and middle eastern music ensemble Constantinople, hear Traversées, a Canadian-Iranian- Senegalese collaboration with viola da gamba, setar (Persian lute), percussion, and kora. The collaboration features kora master Ablaye Cissoko, a griot from Saint-Louis, Senegal, who plays the 21-string bridge-harp of the ancient Manding Kingdom (13th century.) Plus, hear more music for viola da gamba by Gerald Trimble, which draws on Moorish music, and an arrangement of a jig by Henry Purcell.
Program #4533, With Molly Herron (First Aired 9/7/2021)
ARTIST: Jordi Savall
WORK: Marin Marais: Improvisations sur les improvisation sur les folies d'Espagne [1:11]
RECORDING: Tous les Matins du Monde Soundtrack
SOURCE: Auvidis Travelling
INFO: Available at AppleMusic, Amazon.com, YouTube Music, and Spotify
ARTIST: Science Ficta
WORK: Canon No. 2 [5:14]
RECORDING: Molly Herron: Through Lines
SOURCE: New Amsterdam Recordings
INFO: https://mollyherron.bandcamp.com/album/through-lines
ARTIST: Steve Reich
WORK: Come Out, excerpt [1:00]
RECORDING: Early Works
SOURCE: Nonesuch 79169
INFO: nonesuch.com or available at Amazon.com
ARTIST: Science Ficta
WORK: Interlude No. 2 [2:15]
RECORDING: Molly Herron: Through Lines
SOURCE: New Amsterdam Recordings
INFO: https://mollyherron.bandcamp.com/album/through-lines
ARTIST: Science Ficta
WORK: Lyra [3:53]
RECORDING: Molly Herron: Through Lines
SOURCE: New Amsterdam Recordings
INFO: https://mollyherron.bandcamp.com/album/through-lines
ARTIST: Science Ficta
WORK: Hammer and Pull [3:51]
RECORDING: Molly Herron: Through Lines
SOURCE: New Amsterdam Recordings
INFO: https://mollyherron.bandcamp.com/album/through-lines
ARTIST: Science Ficta
WORK: Interlude No. 4 [2:19]
RECORDING: Molly Herron: Through Lines
SOURCE: New Amsterdam Recordings
INFO: https://mollyherron.bandcamp.com/album/through-lines
ARTIST: Constantinople & Ablaye Cissoko
WORK: Recercada Quinta [3:39]
RECORDING: Traversées
SOURCE/INFO: ablayecissoko.bandcamp.com
ARTIST: Gerald Trimble
WORK: The Moor's Revenge [6:35]
RECORDING: Uncharted
SOURCE: MSR 1523 msrcd.com
INFO: Available at arkivmusic.com, iTunes & Amazon.
ARTISTS: Ablaye Cissoko & Ensemble Constantinople
WORK: Lountang [5:12]
RECORDING: Jardins migrateurs (Itinerant Gardens)
SOURCE: ablayecissoko.lnk.to
INFO: constantinople.ca/creations
