Hear inadvertent songs from the late composer and guitarist Scott Johnson, UK composer/violist Jocelyn Pook, and American Minimalist legend Steve Reich.
From the late Scott Johnson, listen to the playful "John Somebody" (1980-82) for electric guitar, woodwinds, percussion, and tape. The New York-based composer helped originate the "speech-melody" technique, by taking bits of recorded speech and approximating them with musical notes, creating melody from the rise and fall in pitch of casual conversation. Also, those looped samples- "You know who's in New York? Remember that guy, J—John somebody? He was a… he was sort of a…" - were actually hand-cut & spliced by the composer, fashioning loops from the analog tape. [Contrary to local legend, “John Somebody,” an early “hit” on New Sounds, is actually not about host John Schaefer.] Johnson actually performed the work live in The Greene Space for John Schaefer’s 30th Anniversary.
Then hear work from UK-based composer and violist Jocelyn Pook and songs made from answering machine messages, called "Portraits in Absentia." A favorite of the host, Pook's "Arsenal" organizes samples of football chants and then mixes them with the sound of a string quartet.
Also, listen to some of Steve Reich’s tape work “It’s Gonna Rain” which comes from the out-of-sync patterns created with two cheap tape recorders, playing back the voice of a preacher man, along with some of the “Dolly” section from his video opera from the turn of the century, Three Tales.
Program #4733, Inadvertent Songs (First aired 3/29/23)
ARTIST: Steve Reich / Kronos Quartet
WORK: Steve Reich: It's Gonna Rain, Part 1 [1:12]
RECORDING: Works 1965-1995
SOURCE: Nonesuch #79451
INFO: nonesuch.com
ARTIST: Scott Johnson
WORK: John Somebody, Pt 1 [5:19]
RECORDING: John Somebody
SOURCE: Tzadik 8009 tzadik.com
INFO: (original 1986 release: Nonesuch/Icon Records)
ARTIST: Scott Johnson
WORK: John Somebody, Pt 3 [8:30]
RECORDING: John Somebody
SOURCE: Tzadik 8009 tzadik.com
INFO: (original 1986 release: Nonesuch/Icon Records)
ARTIST: Scott Johnson
WORK: John Somebody, Pt 4 [5:24]
RECORDING: John Somebody
SOURCE: Tzadik 8009 tzadik.com
INFO: (original 1986 release: Nonesuch/Icon Records)
ARTIST: Jocelyn Pook
WORK: Messages [2:22]
RECORDING: Portraits In Absentia
SOURCE: This performance not commercially available
INFO: https://www.wisemusicclassical.com/work/14236/Portraits-in-Absentia--Jocelyn-Pook
ARTIST: Jocelyn Pook
WORK: Parvin & Trevor's Journey [4:49]
RECORDING: Portraits In Absentia
SOURCE: This performance not commercially available
INFO: https://www.wisemusicclassical.com/work/14236/Portraits-in-Absentia--Jocelyn-Pook
ARTIST: Jocelyn Pook
WORK: Arsenal [5:22]
RECORDING: Portraits In Absentia
SOURCE: This performance not commercially available
INFO: https://www.wisemusicclassical.com/work/14236/Portraits-in-Absentia--Jocelyn-Pook
ARTIST: Steve Reich
WORK: Three Tales: Dolly [9:24]
RECORDING: Steve Reich / Beryl Korot – Three Tales
SOURCE: Nonesuch 79662
INFO: nonesuch.com