At the end of February, publisher G. Schirmer, Inc. announced that it had acquired the catalogue of Julius Eastman and would be restoring, publishing, and promoting his works, putting the composer among the ranks of Tan Dun, Terry Riley, Kaaija Saariaho, Anna Thorvaldsdottir, and Tom Waits. It’s quite a distinction for a composer who diedContinue reading “Julius Eastman: That Which Is Fundamental.”
Genre Archives
Jean Derome. Résistances.
While his previous conceptual works, like Canot Camping, conjured paddling through streams, Jean Derome considers waves and currents of a different kind on Résistances—a paean to the hum, crackle, and fizz of electricity. After receiving its premiere at the 2015 Festival International de Musique Actuelle de Victoriaville, this work was recorded at the rehearsals andContinue reading “Jean Derome. Résistances.”
Éliane Radigue. Occam Ocean 1
The French composer Éliane Radigue has moved through various stages in her career. After working as an assistant to electronic-music pioneer Pierre Henry, she started using controlled feedback to create pieces. She worked with synthesizers for a considerable time, then decided to have others perform according to her instructions. In a way, she has takenContinue reading “Éliane Radigue. Occam Ocean 1”
What’s Inside Musicworks 130?
Musicworks turns 40 this year. It’s been quite a journey from the DIY newsprint tabloid published in 1978 to Musicworks 130—our first-ever full-colour issue! Buy the print issue (or print+CD combo) from our shop, or start your subscription today. On the Cover Montreal guitarist, oud player, and composer Sam Shalabi has been active across a diversityContinue reading “What’s Inside Musicworks 130?”
Sam Shalabi’s Land of Kush. Sand Enigma.
Sam Shalabi’s musical worlds are a collision of the Montreal Mile End art–noise–rock–improv scene and the bona fide craziness of Cairo—a city where societal and political instability weaves a shifting sand of death and beauty. It’s easy to see how the effect of these two influences have thoroughly permeated Shalabi’s take on the world, withContinue reading “Sam Shalabi’s Land of Kush. Sand Enigma.”
Ensemble SuperMusique. Les porteuses d’Ô.
In its first twenty years under founders Danielle Palardy Roger and Joane Hétu, Montreal’s Ensemble SuperMusique has established itself as Canada’s most broadly exploratory midsize ensemble (here numbering thirteen), investigating and combining contemporary composition, graphic notation, and collective improvisation. Les Porteuse d’Ô presents interpretations of three recent graphic scores, each of which has strongly programmaticContinue reading “Ensemble SuperMusique. Les porteuses d’Ô.”
Kamancello explores a new duo dimension
“Kamanche means little bow in Kurdish and Farsi,” says Shahriyar Jamshidi, the kamanche player in Kamancello, his Toronto-based duo with cellist Raphael Weinroth-Browne. The pair marry rich lyricism and microtonal ornamentation, influenced by Iranian, classical, and metal musics, in fully improvised performances that feel their way forward from quiet drones to chugging, propulsive rhythms, andContinue reading “Kamancello explores a new duo dimension”
Victoria Composers Cultivate a Place to Listen
Why has a vibrant community of emerging composers chosen British Columbia’s cozy, scenic capital over more bustling contemporary-music hubs? THERE’S A DEEP HUSH in the church where I am sitting and nervously listening to an especially slow and fragile performance of my piece Ruins. It’s not that familiar, polite, sneeze-stifling, concert-quiet; it’s something else altogether: anContinue reading “Victoria Composers Cultivate a Place to Listen”
James Rolfe. Breathe: music for voices and early instruments
New music for period instruments is not always convincing. But in these substantial works, James Rolfe avoids pastiche, homage, and self-conscious novelty, creating music that is subtle, sophisticated, and surprising. In Breathe (2011) Anna Chatterton’s new texts weave a seamless whole with much older words from Hildegard von Bingen and Antonio Scandello. Written for aContinue reading “James Rolfe. Breathe: music for voices and early instruments”
ISCM World New Music Days 2017
Let’s get the complaints out of the way first, shall we? An awful lot of take-out sushi was eaten during the International Society for Contemporary Music’s annual festival, held this year in Vancouver. With up to five official concerts a day, plus secret showcases not entered in the program, there was precious little time forContinue reading “ISCM World New Music Days 2017”