Blog
Category: On the Beat
3 June 2018
Still jetlagged from time in Beijing, 12 time zones away from New York.
I wake up at 2am or 3am and start thinking about music. At the moment, it’s rap music.
Rap music/hiphop:
By eliminating or marginaizing pitch, the hiphop artists allow for …
29 May 2018
In Search of the Obvious Good
Robert Levin, master pianist and Mozart expert, was fond of telling his students that Beethoven’s music caused people to run out of the concert hall and vomit. He told us the story of Haydn telling Beethoven to tone …
28 May 2018
A Triumph for Chinese Music
LIU Li — LIANG Nan — Zhang CHUN — Tan Dun
Beijing Modern Music Festival Hosts ISCM World Music Days, 2018 in Beijing
This is a personal response to the 2018 Festival and does not reflect an official Roger Shapiro …
28 May 2018
Alarm Will Sound performed at 4pm on May 26, the last day of the ISCM World Music Days, hosted by Beijing Modern Music Festival.
Alarm Has Sounded
Alarm Will Sound has an aesthetic, and it has a festival in the midwest. I get the impression that …
9 July 2017
In response to the present desultory state of affairs, we are now seeing some encouraging developments. Call it The Van Cliburn Effect. Shortly after Sputnik put the USSR ahead of the US in the space race, Van Cliburn surprised the world by winning the …
18 December 2016
The Bang on a Can composers are now in the enviable position to compose and produce evening-length works. David Lang’s “love fail” & “Little Match Girl” were followed in 2014 by Julia Wolfe’s “Steel …
22 August 2016
above: composer Eleanor Cory
It’s here:
https://www.cmc.ie/features/if-you-need-audience-we-dont-need-you
Enthusiastically in agreement.
One difference: Short works are ok.
Regarding young composers, RSF has taken risks on behalf of young …
14 May 2016
There were many things I’d hoped to accomplish before Milton Babbitt’s 100th Birthday. This is another thing that didn’t get done.
Babbitt & The Erotics of Inversion
This piece began as a lecture at the Universidad Veracruzana in …
