Art Music Perspectives

Julian Loida is a Boston-based percussionist, collaborator, and curator. In September 2019, he released his first full-length studio album, which he describes as a celebration of the shy and introverted. The album features original compositions for vibraphone, piano, other percussion instruments, and ambient vocals. In this episode, we discuss Loida’s development as a musician, his … Continue reading "Music of Introversion: Julian Loida’s “Wallflower”"

The last episode of Art Music Perspectives delved into performers’ experience of pain and discomfort in playing the music of Galina Ustvolskaya. In this episode, we’ll explore how listeners can experience pain, often at the hands of composers who purposefully create sonically-uncomfortable listening experiences through sound. My guest this episode is:Maria Cizmic, author of Performing … Continue reading "Experiencing Pain Through Sound: Ustvolskaya (Pt. 2) and Maryanne Amacher"

Soviet composer Galina Ustvolskaya wrote music that seemed to defy the rules of pain/injury prevention for pianists. Her pieces frequently ask the pianist to play with the edges of the hands, the clenched fist, or the forearms. Additionally, the expressivity of her works is extreme, with dynamics reaching cacophonous levels. Even so, what draws musicians … Continue reading "Performing Pain through the Music of Galina Ustvolskaya"

Messiaen includes a written account of his birdsong collecting tour in the preface to each movement of the Catalog. Read as a quasi-ethnographic account of the ecology around him, the prefaces can also be interpreted as a type of narrative. This episode explores the place and birds of the first movement of the Catalog, followed by a … Continue reading "Ep. 4: Narrative of “The Alpine Chough”"

Music history is full of examples of composers who used environmental sounds in their works, notably Ludwig van Beethoven’s Pastoral Symphony, in which he uses Western instruments to mimic the sounds of three different species of birds. In the 20th century, composers were able to use recordings of natural sound in their works, but not without … Continue reading "Ep. 3: Natural Sounds in Musical & Social Practice"

How does one translate sounds of the forest to the manuscript page, or even describe a natural sound in language? Do Messiaen’s transcriptions succeed? Guests: Mark Berres, ornithologist, and Steve Dembski, composer. Musical performance: “L’alouette Lulu” (Song of the Woodlark) from the Catalog. Transcript & Citations  

An introduction to Olivier Messiaen’s epic, seven-volume work around birds in the composer’s homeland of France.  Special guest: Todd Welbourne, pianist. Musical performance: “Le Courlis Cendre” (The Curlew), Book 7 of the Catalog. Transcript & Citations