From the November 13th Concert at the Presidio Chapel in San Francisco Celebrating the Music of Henry Cowell (1897-1965)

Presented by Other Minds

Henry Cowell: String Quartet #5 (1956)
Colorado String Quartet

Henry Cowell:  Rhythmicana  (1938)
Sarah Cahill, Piano

Henry Cowell:  Set of Five (1952)
David Abel, Violin; Julie Steinberg, Piano; William Winant, Percussion

Complete program booklet at Otherminds.org

Morton Feldman: Violin and Orchestra (1979)
From a live concert recorded in Munich in 2001
Isabelle Faust, violin; Symphony Orchestra of the Bavarian Radio, Peter Rundel, conductor.
Col Legno 20089 (2004)

Morton Feldman: Christian Wolff in Cambridge (1963) for unaccompanied chorus
The Choir of St. Ignatius of Antioch, New York City, Harold Chaney, conductor
New World Records 80550 (2000)

This program is offered as a late birthday present. Morton Feldman would have been 84 on January 12th. He died in 1987.

Happy Birthday, Morty!

   >CD Website

And we conclude with wonderful new performance of the original:

Terry Riley: In C (1964)
Grand Valley State University New Music Ensemble   -   Bill Ryan, dir.
Innova 758 (2010)

David Rakowski: Piano Concerto (2006)
Marilyn Nonken, piano and toy piano; Gil Rose, conductor; Boston Modern Orchestra Project
BMOP/sound 1009 (2009)
Watch videos of Rakowski’s Etudes on YouTube.

Poul Ruders: Four Dances (1983)
Oliver Knussen, cond.; Birmingham Contemporary Music Group
DACAPO  8.226028 (2009)

An Hour Of Solo Music:

Philip Glass: Songs and Poems for Solo Cello (2007)  -   Wendy Sutter, Cello
Orange Mountain Music OMM0037     

Pelle Gudmundsen-Holmgreen: For Piano (1992) - Juho Pohjonen, Piano
Dacapo (Denmark) 6.220553

Some more new releases:

SIXTEEN DANCES by John Cage, a work from 1951, in a new release by the Boston Modern Orchestra Project. We’ll hear dances seven thru sixteen. BMOP/sound 1012 (2009)

NINE FRIENDS, a set of nine short solo piano pieces by Denmark’s leading composer, Per Nørgård, from a new release on Dacapo of Nørgård’s piano music.  Dacapo 8.226089 (2009)

For our 200th program, some new releases

Alan Hovhaness: Bardo Sonata Op. 192 (1959)  -  Paul Hersey, piano;  Premiere recording to be released on  OgreOgress in January.

David Simons: Odentity (2005)    -  David Simons; Tzadik 8067 (2009)

Ingram Marshall: September Canons (2002)  with  Todd Reynolds, violin and electronics; New World Records 80704 (2009)

Christopher Roberts: The Channel   with the composer performing on the ancient Chinese zither, the qin; Cold Blue Music, CB0034 (2009)

Morton Feldman: Duration II (1960) -   Arne Deforce, cello; Yutaka Oya, piano;  AEON AECD 0977 (2008)

Since we began this series on KALW in 2005, we’ve broadcast over 600 works by some 250 composers:

John Luther Adams, Peter Adriaansz, Charles Amirkhanian, Beth Anderson, George Antheil, Mark Applebaum, Larry Austin, Richard Ayres, Milton Babbitt, Alexander Balanescu, Billy Bang, Jean Barraqué, David Beardsley, Dan Becker, David Behrman, Barbara Benary, Cathy Berberian, Luciano Berio, Johanna Beyer, Iva Bittová, Marc Blitzstein, Mark Blitzstein, David Borden, Pierre Boulez, Tim Brady, Henry Brant, Martin Bresnick, Chris Brown, Earle Brown, Galen Brown, Ryan Brown, Gavin Bryars, Michael Byron, John Cage, Cesar Camarero, Edmund Campion, Elliott Carter, Friedrich Cerha, Philip Corner, Mildred Couper, Henry Cowell, Rick Cox, Ruth Crawford, Alvin Curran, Roland Dahinden, Maria DeAlvear, Eric de, Donnacha Dennehy, Dennis DeSantis, Francis Dhomont, Kui Dong, William Duckworth, John Duncan, Henri Dutilleux, Julius Eastman, Brian Eno, Robert Erickson, Daniel David, Morton Feldman, Luc Ferrari, Michael Jon, Gordon Fitzell, Jim Fox, Dominic Frasca, Fred Frith, Ellen Fullman, Kyle Gann, Peter Garland, Anthony Genge, Philip Glass, Vladimir Godar, Manuel Goettsching, Malcom Goldstein, Daniel Goode, Michael Gordon, Gerard Grisey, Sofia Gubaidulina, Pelle Gudmundsen-Holmgreen, Barry Guy, Lars-Petter Hagen, Cristobal Halffter, Frode Haltli, Mark Hand, Lou Harrison, Michael Harrison, Lejaren Hiller, Hirokazu Hiraishi, Christopher Hobbs, Heinz Holliger, Bryan Hollon, Eleanor Hovda, Alan Hovhaness, Melissa Hui, Charles Ives, Richard James, Leos Janacek, Dobromila Jaskot, Joan Jeanrenaud, Ben Johnston, Klaus Jorgensen, Dan Joseph, Mauricio Kagel, Elena Kats-Chernin, Mari Kimura, Guy Klucevsek, Charles Koechlin, Jo Kondo, Drew Krause, Hanna Kulenty, György Kurtag, David Lang, Thomas Larcher, Elodie Lauten, Daniel Lentz, Tania León, Arthur Levering, Jorge Liderman, György Ligeti, Pierre-Yves Mace, Bruno Maderna, David Mahler, Keeril Makan, Philippe Manoury, Tigran Mansurian, Igor Markevitch, Ingram Marshall, Steve Martland, Janis Mattox, Toshiro Mayuzumi, Colin McPhee, Marc Mellits, Olivier Messiaen,  Olivier Messiaen, Chris Miller, Jeff Morris, Stephen Mosko, Marjan Mozetich, Hyo-Shin Na, Conlon Nancarrow, The Necks, Olga Neuwrith, Phill Niblock, Per Nørgård, Michael Nyman, Pauline Oliveros, Erik Ona, Leo Ornstein, Hans Otte, Gerard Pape, Arvo Pärt, Harry Partch, Gerard Pesson, Steve Peters, Larry Polansky, Jonathan Pontier, Wendy Prezament, Alwynne Pritchard, Serge Prokofiev, John Prokop, Horatiu Radulescu, Maja Ratkje, Belinda Reynolds, Roger Reynolds, Eric Richards, Wolfgang Rihm, Terry Riley, Jean-Claude Risset, Curtis Roads, Christopher Roberts, Neil Rolnick, Ned Rorem, Daniel Bernard, Loren Rush, Jeffrey Ryan, Frederic Rzewski, Franco Saint, Esa-Pekka Salonen, Eleanor Sandresky, Somei Satoh, Giacinto Scelsi, R. Murray, Dieter Schnebel, John Schneider, Arnold Schoenberg, Phillip Schroeder, Stephen Scott, Peter Sculthorpe, Ralph Shapey, John Mark, Wayne Siegel, Valentin Silvestrov, David Simons, Charles Smith, Chas Smith, Linda Catlin, Ronald Bruce, Wadada Leo, Alessandro Solbiati, Bent Sørensen, Ann Southam, Robert W., Karlheinz Stockhausen, Markus Stockhausen, Carl Stone, Igor Stravinsky, Morton Subotnick, Mari Takano, Toru Takemitsu, Karen Tanaka, James Tenney, Michael Tenzer, Terre Thaemlitz, David Toub, Jason Treuting, Sachito Tsurumi, Erkki-Sven Tüür, Frances-Marie Uitti, Edgard Varese, Giovanni Verrando, Serge Verstockt, Claude Vivier, Kevin Volans, Zachary Watkins, Francis White, Ian Wilson, Erling Wold, Christian Wolff, Stefan Wolpe, Iannis Xenakis, Carolyn Yarnell, Chen Yi, Frank Zappa, Hervé Zénouda, Walter Zimmermann, Evan Ziporyn, Agata Zubel

See the »complete list.

Continuing with the music of Henry Cowell, and the next generation, Cage and Feldman….

Henry Cowell:  Ensemble for string orchestra (1925/1956)
Northwest Chamber Orchestra, Seattle - Alun Francis, cond.
CPO 999222 (1993)

John Cage: Fads and Fancies in the Academy (1940) for piano and 4 percussionists
Zoltan Kocsis, piano; Amadinda Percussion Group
Hungaroton HCD 31847 (2005)

Morton Feldman: Two Instruments (1958)
A World Radio Premiere from OgreOgress!
Paul Austin, French Horn; Karen Krummel, cello
OgreOgress pre-release (March 2010) http://ogreogress.com

Henry Cowell: Hymn and Fuguing Tune #2 for Strings (1944)
Northwest Chamber Orchestra, Seattle - Alun Francis, cond.
CPO 999222 (1993)

Tonight, music by Henry Cowell (1897-1965), in preparation for a pair of concerts that Other Minds is presenting next week:

 Henry Cowell: The Whole World of Music

Two distinct concert programs of music by Henry Cowell (1897–1965) will include Cowell’s notorious piano music and a wealth of little-known works by the original American experimentalist: Set of Five (1952), Quartet Euphometric (1916-19), Sonata for Violin & Piano (1945), the complete organ works, numerous unpublished songs, and other selections.

Performers include: Colorado String Quartet, Abel-Steinberg-Winant Trio, Sarah Cahill (piano), Sandra Soderlund (organ), Wendy Hillhouse (mezzo-soprano)

A pre-concert panel discussion on November 13th will include composer John Duffy, founder of Meet the Composer and student of both Cowell and Aaron Copland; Joel Sachs, conductor of the New Juilliard Ensemble and New York’s new music ensemble Continuum, and author of a forthcoming Cowell biography (Oxford University Press); legendary record producer George Avakian (Dave Brubeck, Miles Davis, Louis Armstrong); violinist Anahid Ajemian; pianist Sarah Cahill; and Charles Amirkhanian of Other Minds.

Henry Cowell: The Whole World of Music will also include an exhibition of Cowell’s manuscripts, notes, and artwork.

Thursday, November 12, 2009
7pm Reception, 8pm Concert
Valley Presbyterian Church
945 Portola Road, Portola Valley

Friday, November 13, 2009
7pm Panel Discussion, 8pm Concert, Reception to follow
Presidio Chapel
Building 130, Fisher Loop, San Francisco

Complete details and program information at the Other Minds website.

Quartet Euphometric (1919) - Colorado Quartet - Mode 73 (1999)

Set of Five (1924) - Marilyn Dubow, vn; Gordon Gottlieb, perc; Joel Sachs, pno - Naxos 8.559193 (2005)

Ongaku for Orchestra (1957) -
Symphony #15 (Thesis) (1961) - Louisville Orchestra, Robert Whitney, cond - Louisville First Edition 0003 (2001)

We celebrate the 40th anniversary of ECM Records by sampling two remarkable new releases:

Friedrich Cerha: Concerto for Cello and Orchestra (1989/1996)
Heinrich Schiff, Cello; Netherlands Radio Chamber Orchestra, Peter Eötvös, cond.
ECM 1887 (2008)

Tigran Mansurian: Three Arias (Sung out the window facing Mount Ararat)
Kim Kashkashian, viola; Boston Modern Orchestra Project, Gil Rose, cond.
ECM 2065 (2009)

From the (German-only) ECM at 40 website, translated by Google:

Forty Years Edition of Contemporary Music

In 1972, the Mirror first reported on the label of a 29-year-old Munich “loner”, for which more and more prominent American musicians interested, because there, the news magazine, the “current best jazz recordings” appeared. Two and half years was the Company founded by Manfred Eicher back then.  Groundbreaking albums of Keith Jarrett, Jan Garbarek, Chick Corea, Paul Bley, Egberto Gismonti, Pat Metheny and others established the reputation of ECM.  Since the late seventies, appeared regularly on names like Meredith Monk and Steve Reich in the program, and in 1984 originated with New Series, a separate series, in which composers such as Pärt, Kurtag and Holliger publish their works and interpreters such as the Hilliard Ensemble, Kim Kashkashian , Gidon Kremer and András Schiff present exemplary interpretations.  Genre and cross-cultural projects are another catalog of gravity.  Producer Manfred Eicher, once active as a musician in jazz, as in the classical, is interested in just for form and clarity of improvised music as he seeks the unexpected in classical music.  Forty years after founding the company in the autumn of 1969 more than 1000 productions are from a wide spectrum before, ECM is regarded as “the most important hallmarks of the world for jazz and contemporary music”, as the British Independent once remarked.

…from http://www.ecm40.de/

    Read about »the history of ECM.

Morton Subotnick: In Two Worlds (2007)
Susan Fancher, winds and electronics
Innova 736 (2009)

Pioneering electronic composer Morton Subotnick wrote the title track, In Two Worlds, back in 1987 but the software to perform it (”Interactor”) is already obsolete. A new version using Max/MSP had to be created to make this recording possible.

Morton Feldman: Projection I (1950), Composition - 8 Little Pieces (1950), Intersection IV (1951)
Arne Deforce, cello; Yutaka Oya, piano;   Aeon AECD 0977 (2008)

Morton Feldman’s early Projections and Intersections pieces, written between 1950 and 1953, are series of ‘graph’ compositions in which […] time is represented by space, and in which the spaced boxes specify only instrument, register, number of simultaneous sounds, mode of production, and duration. The two series differ in that the Projections are to be consistently quiet, while in the Intersections ‘the player is free to choose any dynamic at any entrance but must maintain sameness of volume’ - though ‘what is desired in both … is a pure (non-vibrating) tone’.  (»Paul Griffiths)

Christopher Hobbs: Sudoku 82 (2008)
Bryan Pezzone, piano; Cold Blue 0033 (2009)  New Release Preview

Sudoku 82, a spare, beautiful, spacious piece for eight pianos, was composed utilizing systems derived from sudoku puzzles and the GarageBand computer program.

“Sudoku 82 is one of a series of pieces I have been working on since 2005. There are now over 125 of them that use Apple’s GarageBand software and random procedures culled from the numbers found initially in hexadecimal sudoku puzzles and latterly from online random number generators. I choose the sounds I want and the overall duration, but then let the numbers determine what goes where, how many times, how long, how much silence, and so on. Sudoku 82 used a number of piano loops played on eight pianos at an extremely slow tempo, the result being that the pianists seem to be frozen in time. It was Jim Fox who suggested that the piece might be performed ‘live’ rather than using samples as I had originally done. This is therefore the first of the series to come off the computer and into the recording studio, and I am delighted with the result, which is dedicated to Jim Fox, whose music and predisposition towards slow tempos I have admired for many years.” —CH

 This Friday’s program explores minimalist sound materials in a maximalist setting (Scelsi), and maximalist procedures in a minimalist world (Southam).

• Giacinto Scelsi: Hymnos (1963); Konx-Om-Pax (1968)
  Carnegi-Mellon Philharmonic & Concert Choir, Juan Pablo Izquierdo, cond - Mode 95 (2001)
• Ann Southam: Simple Lines of Enquiry (Movements 8-12)
  Eve Egoyan, piano  -  Centrediscs 14609 (2009)

Here are two remarkable recordings with music by two remarkable composers, both born in 1957 and now living on opposite coasts:

Edmund Campion: Outside Music (2005)
SF Contemporary Music Players, David Milnes, cond.
Albany Records, TROY1037 (2008)

David Lang: Memory Pieces (1997)
Danny Holt, piano
Innova Recordings 734 (2009)

What’s so special about 1977, 1987, 2007, and 1935?

David Borden: C-A-G-E (part III) (1975)
David Borden, Judith Borsher, Chip Smith, keyboards
Recorded in 1977. Arbiter 136 (2003)

Michael Gordon: Strange Quiet (1987)
Ted Kuhn, violin; John Lad, viola; Michael Pugliese, percussion; Evan Ziporyn, bass clarinet; Bob Loughlin, electric guitar; Michael Gordon, keyboard.
CRI 628 (1992)

Roger Reynolds: imAge/piano, imagE/piano (2007)
Yuji Takahashi, piano; Eric Huebner piano
soon to be released Mode 212 (2009)

Alan Hovhaness: Sonata Ricercare for piano Op.12 (1935)
Paul Hersey, piano. OgreOgress pre-release world premiere recording

We conclude our three part series on music by composers openly influenced by the music of Bali and Java with a program devoted to Colin McPhee and Evan Ziporyn.

Kebyar from Dancers of Bali (1952) - Gamelan of Peliatan
World Arbiter re-issue of recordings made in 1952

Colin McPhee: Balinese Ceremonial Music transcribed for two pianos (1936)
Stephen Drury, Yukiko Takagi, pianos - Music Masters 67159 (1996) (out of print)

Colin McPhee: Suite in Six Movements (1946)
Array Music, New Music Concerts Ensemble, Robert Aitken, cond.
CBC MUCO 1057 (1993) (out of print)

Evan Ziporyn: Meditations, from Shadow Bang
I Wayan Wija, Bang on a Can All-Stars, Cantaloupe CA21015 (2003)

All this in preparation for the American premiere of Evan’s A HOUSE IN BALI at UC Berkeley this weekend.

Joshua Kosman interviewed Evan in today’s Chronicle:

Kosman: How did you get involved with Balinese music yourself?

Ziporyn: My discovery was parallel to McPhee’s, hearing a record at random in a record store and thinking “What the - ? What did I just hear?” It seemed to have just what I heard in Stravinsky and Bartók and fusion jazz, and had been trying to do in my own music - something syncopated but cool. It had energy, but also a dispassionate quality that allowed it to do amazing rhythmic things in this precise but offhand way.

So I went to Bali for a summer, and then came out to Berkeley and played with Gamelan Sekar Jaya, which had just been formed. My first gamelan pieces were written here - unlike McPhee, I was lucky enough to have an outlet and a community.

K: After nearly 30 years, do you retain some feeling of the outsider in reference to this music?

Z: Not really. Doing this opera has really squared the circle for me - I feel I’ve said what I wanted to say about the encounter between the two traditions. Not that there won’t be “A House in Bali 2,” but for now I think I’ve worked this issue through.

Read more: SF GATE