And, no, I am not talking about John Adams, the composer of gargantuan inanities such as the opera The Death of Klinghoffer. I am going to write about the other composer named John Adams, more accurately, John Luther Adams: born January 23, 1953; an American composer whose music is inspired by nature, especially the landscapes … Continue reading Celebrate John Adams
Was John Cage the greatest composer of the 20th century?
Who was the greatest composer of the 20th century? This was the question asked recently on a popular Classical Music forum. Many names were put forward: Bartok, Stravinsky, Schoenberg, my choice was Cage, but even some argued for Mahler. This raises the question how could a composer that died in 1911 be considered the greatest … Continue reading Was John Cage the greatest composer of the 20th century?
Overview : Pelléas et Mélisande
Debussy had planned on writing an opera for some time prior to Pelléas et Mélisande. Much earlier he had remarked, "For a long time I had been striving to write music for the theatre, but the form in which I wanted it to be was so unusual that after several attempts I had given up … Continue reading Overview : Pelléas et Mélisande
focus : early music
I really enjoy listening to music from the 13th-15th centuries. This has been an interest of mine for almost as long as my love of music. And I am told that often people who enjoy contemporary classical music also enjoy early music, and not much in between. While that is not entirely true for me, … Continue reading focus : early music
Antecedents of Ambient Music
It was English musician, sound designer and conceptualist Brian Eno who first officially coined the phrase “ambient music”. In the sleeve notes to his 1978 opus Ambient 1: Music For Airports he defines it as music "designed to induce calm and space to think". Eno's concept of "ambience" is music that can be either actively … Continue reading Antecedents of Ambient Music
New Voice: Sam Salem
Website | Soundcloud Sam Salem (b. 1982) currently resides in Manchester (UK), where he completed a MUSM in Electroacoustic Music Composition in 2007 and a PhD in Composition in 2011 at the University of Manchester. Sam’s work is focused upon the sounds of urban environments: each of his pieces focuses upon a specific geographical location. His music … Continue reading New Voice: Sam Salem
Composer Profile: Pietro Riparbelli
Website | Bandcamp Pietro Riparbelli is a philosopher, composer and sound-multimedia artist based in Livorno (Tuscany). He studies the phenomenology of perception with particular reference to the dichotomy between the visible and the invisible closely connected to his conceptual address of the sonic landscape. His compositions have been published by Touch (UK), Radical Matters Ed/Label … Continue reading Composer Profile: Pietro Riparbelli
New Voice: Jeremy Wexler
Website | Soundcloud Jeremy Wexler (b. 1991) is a composer, percussionist, and teacher from Levittown, New York. His compositional language explores the physics of sound-phenomena, microtonality, and irregular metric and formal organization. Jeremy’s compositions have been heard on Composers Circle, Kinetics Internet Radio from Los Angeles, Incipitsify, the Wintergreen Summer Music Academy in Virginia, the … Continue reading New Voice: Jeremy Wexler
Composer Profile: Gráinne Mulvey
Website Gráinne Mulvey's music has been performed and broadcast across the globe. She has been the recipient of many awards, commissions and honours, including the "RTE Young musician of the Future Competition", Ireland (Composers Class) in 1994, the Macaulay Fellowship (Arts Council Of Ireland), Arklow Music Festival, New Music for Sligo in 1999 and St. John’s University … Continue reading Composer Profile: Gráinne Mulvey
Composer Profile: Taylor Deupree
Technology and imperfection. The raw and the processed. Curator and curated. Solo explorer and gregarious collaborator. The life and work of Taylor Deupree are less a study in contradictions than a portrait of the multidisciplinary artist in a still-young century.
Musica Kaleidoskopea 