Showing posts with label radio3. Show all posts
Showing posts with label radio3. Show all posts

Sunday, 15 March 2009

The Mathematics of The Baroque


Gottfried Leibniz, 'baroque' mathematician and chocolate biscuit innovator (see the way the chocolate is on only on one side?, the man was a genius.)

The Baroque isn't exactly on topic for this blog but the combination of mathematics and aesthetics and/or rational approaches to it are, so there!.
Mathematician Marcus du Sautoy explores the role of science and mathematics in the arts of the baroque. From Bernini's architecture and sculpture in Rome, the playful gardens at Versailles, to the grand dome of St Paul's Cathedral and the music of Monteverdi and Bach, he discovers that new ideas about perspective, capturing movement and the infinite all play a part in the baroque vision.
A BBC Radio3 programme, Listen to it here (available for another seven days from Sunday 15/03/2009)

Thursday, 12 March 2009

Sequenza 21 Feature


This is just a brief post to link back to Sequenza 21 who featured the Radio3 info in the previous post and linked back to this blog (via this post by managing editor and composer Steve Layton).

It's probably the main site/community weblog/community/call-it-what-you-will for contemporary music in the English language, check out their site if you haven't checked it out before, there is a main news type page (main link above) a Composer's Forum, and a CDs reviews section.

Monday, 9 March 2009

Ligeti, Free Stuff, Again (and some Xenakis).


Ligeti: 'What?, me?, again?!, great!!'

I just can't help it at the moment, it seems the great man keeps appearing all over the place. This week Ligeti is BBC Radio 3's composer of the week (my Dad who listens to Radio 3 said to me today 'your mate's on the radio this week').

For those of you unfamiliar with the format, it's a one hour long programme with music and discussion broadcast every weekday (here is the Radio 3 schedule), these programmes are then archived for a short time (7 days I think). I have no idea how it all works if you are outside of the UK (though I think you can access the programmes, not sure though, good luck).

Then, Ligeti's Violin Concerto is on Performance on 3 on Friday at 7pm, and, while i'm at it, there is an edition of Radio 3's excellent Discovering Music series about the Violin Concerto which you can listen to as part of their archive (also you'll find a link to an interview with John Tusa).

And, Xenakis's music is featured on Performance on 3 tomorrow at 7pm again...(an event connected to the one covered by Lizzie a couple of posts ago).
A concert given at the Barbican, London, featuring the music of Iannis Xenakis, described by Olivier Messiaen as 'a hero unlike any other'. Xenakis's very original music has many complex rhythmic patterns, polyphonic melodies and distinct instrumental and vocal textures and draws on his training as an architect and his work as assistant to Le Corbusier. In his piece Nuits, voices explore the phonetic sounds of Sumerian and ancient Persian.

Christian Lindberg (trombone)
Rolf Hind (piano)
BBC Singers
BBC Symphony Orchestra
Martyn Brabbins (conductor)
Stephen Betteridge (conductor)

Xenakis: Tracees; Anastenaria; Sea-Nymphs; Mists; Nuits; Troorkh; Antikhthon

Thursday, 20 March 2008

Ross Does The Rounds



Seen all over the interweb New Yorker music critic and author Alex Ross discusses his book 'The Rest is Noise' in various places..

At Google, with Charlie Rose, with the Guardian, on BBC Radio3`s Music Matters programme and an AmazonWire podcast.

Whatever you think of his specific musical biases/tastes he is an effective propagandist for 20th century music (70,000 copies sold says so, I have not read any of them, might do when it comes out on paperback)

[Correction: it may already be out on paperback but it is out of stock on Amazon and cant find it on other sites]

Sunday, 16 March 2008

Discovering Electronic Music

Good radio documentary on electronic music by the BBC here.. (part of their excellent Discovering Music archive)

Alwynne Pritchard takes us on a journey through the rich and colourful landscape of electronic music with composer Jonathan Harvey discussing his Mortuos Plango, Vivos Voco and pioneering works by Varese and Stockhausen.

The BBC is grateful to Professor Michael Clarke Director of the Electroacoustic Music Studio at the University of Huddersfield for his assistance in making this programme, and in particular for his permission to use his innovative software analysis of Jonathan Harvey's piece which features in chapter 6 of the book Analytical Methods of Electroacoustic Music, edited by Mary Simoni.



Stockhausen score image from the blog 3282

Radio 3 Composer Interviews

Part of John Tusa`s series...

Gyorgy Ligeti...

http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio3/johntusainterview/ligeti_transcript.shtml

Louis Andriessen

http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio3/johntusainterview/andriessen_transcript.shtml

Harrison Birtwistle

http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio3/johntusainterview/birtwistle_transcript.shtml

Elliot Carter

http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio3/johntusainterview/carter_transcript.shtml

Also transcribed in his book 'On Creativity'