#2687: Music for Large Ensembles

For this New Sounds, listen to some large-scale works by Lou Harrison and John Adams, among others. First of all, we'll hear Harrison's Solstice, a 30-minute drama depicting the struggle between the new year and the old, represented by the Sun Lion (the warmth of summer) and the Moon Bull (the dark days of winter ushered in by the December solstice). For this work, Harrison created a gamelan orchestra sound by combining celesta and tack-piano, joined by a double bass player beating up the instrument. Plus, there's the Finale of John Adams' Violin Concerto on the show. Throwing aside the usual dialogue between soloist and orchestra, Adams instead has the violin constantly weaving in and out of the orchestra like some kind of daredevil in traffic. Also, there's music by Colin McPhee and Tan Dun.

PROGRAM #2687, Western Music, Eastern Echoes (First aired on Wednesday, 6/13/07)

ARTIST(S)	RECORDING	CUT(S)	SOURCE
Harrison/Ung/ McPhee	American Composers Orchestra	Colin McPhee: Tabuh- Tabuham: Ostinatos [7:30]	Argo #444 560 Out of print, but the piece has also been recorded and released on CBC 5181, Chandos 10111 Try Amazon.com for any of the three.
Lou Harrison	In Retrospect	Solstice: Part One [13:00]	New World #80666** www.newworldrecords.org
Harrison/Ung/ McPhee	American Composers Orchestra	Colin McPhee: Tabuh- Tabuhan: Finale [6:30]	See above.
Adams/Glass	Violin Concertos	John Adams: Violin Concerto, Finale -Toccare [7:30]	Telarc #80494 ** www.telarc.com
Tan Dun	Symphony 1997	Earth [9:30]	Sony Classical #63368** www.sonyclassical.com