About once a year I get to sub for Mixed-Up Class, Romain's classical music show. It's always a pleasure -- both a nice outlet for my growing love of classical music and a fresh challenge. My tendancy is towards chamber pieces and "20th-century" music, whereas Romain's is more towards sacred and vocal/choral musics. Tried to give more of a nod in that direction this time.
Format:
COMPOSER, "TITLE" -- ARTIST -- ALBUM TITLE (LABEL, YEAR)
Donald Crockett: "Pilgrimage" -- Vicki Ray, piano -- From the Left Edge (CRI, 1999)
# Edward Elgar: "String Quartet in E Minor," Opus 83 -- The Claremont Quartet -- Elgar String Quartet/Sibelius String Quartet (Nonesuch, 196?)
Witold Lutoslawski: "Dance Preludes for Clarinet and Orchestra" -- Zbigniew Kaleta/Polish National Radio Symphony Orchestra -- Orchestral Works, Vol. 8 (Naxos, 2003)
# Georg Philipp Telemann: "[Flute Fantasy] No. 2 in A Minor" -- Viviana Guzman, flute -- Telemann: Flute Fantasies (Syren,
Jorgen Bentzon: "Intermezzo," Opus 24 -- Darkwood Consort (Aage Nielsen, bass clarinet; Jennifer Drake, viola) -- Tro Og Hab Spiller (Rampur, 2003)
# Henryk Gorecki: "Symphony No. 3," 3rd mvmt: Lento, Cantabile-Semplice -- Dawn Upshaw, soprano, and London Sinfonietta; David Zinman, conductor -- Symphony No. 3 (Elektra, 1992)
* Paul Dutton: "Else" -- Paul Dutton, voice -- Oralizations (Ambiances Magnetiques, 2005)
A chamber duet from Boise, Idaho, that often performs in coffee houses
and the like. This CD features mostly Scandanavian composers, mostly from the
early 20th century but with one 14th-century track thrown in ... that one
probably would have fit best with this show, but this one fit the
time restrictions I was working with at the moment. Another day, maybe.
Kicking off the "vocal music" segment with a long one, the 17-minute finale to this symphony.
*# Wojciech Kilar: "Angeles" -- Izabela Klosinska, soprano; National Polish Radio Symphony Orchestra (Antoni Wit, conductor); Warsaw Philharmonic Choir -- Tryptyk [The Triptych] (Dux, 2004)
Choral music, included because it's in rotation (!) here, but it doesn't
really fit the mold. This is jarring and even violent piece, versus the
more placid sacred musics that Romain favors. Were it not in rotation, I'd
have passed it up, actually -- it's a very good piece, with interesting use
of spoken word and whispering from the choir, but it's just too much for a
7:00 a.m. listening.
Benjamin Britten: "The Big Chariot" (from Songs from the Chinese) -- John Langridge, tenor; Stephen Marchionda, guitar -- Songs for Tenor and Guitar (Chandos, 2005)
Something a little calmer.
Thomas Pasatieri: "Tsurik A Heym" -- Jane Eaglen, soprano; Music of Remembrance -- Letter to Warsaw (Naxos, 2004)
"Music of Remembrance" is the name of the chamber symphony, apparently.
Letter to Warsaw is a 12-part suite about women's experiences during
the Holocaust, with texts in English. Pasatieri wrote it in 2003, and this
recording comes from a December 2003 performance in Seattle.
Spoken wordplay, from an entire CD devoted to exploring the musicality of voice. A cute way to end the vocal/choral segment of the show.
# Elliott Sharp: "Gagers and Gin" -- Elliott Sharp, acoustic guitar -- The Velocity of Hue (Emanem, 2003)
By the way, if you're interested in that stuff, there's a local group that has the same aim but less funding than BMOP, and they deserve some attention. They're called SF Sound, and you should check them out.
# = Item from KZSU library
* = Item in KZSU rotation
-- Go back to Memory Select playlists.
-- Bay Area free/improv music calendar: http://www.bayimproviser.com.