Being Cheated

Just as I get back into blogging, there is a good classical music scandal!  Osvaldo Golijov has been borrowing music from other composers in his compositions.  There is nothing new about borrowing, in fact the IU Jacobs School of Music maintains an online database of musical borrowing.  But the complaints, by Tom Manoff, Amanda Meer,  Anne Midgette, and Bob Keefer, are that Golijov's borrowing has gone beyond the level of inspiration to that of passing off another's work as his own.  There is discussion of this on the Sequenza21 blog as well.  The main story is of Golijov's "Siderous", commissioned by a whole slew of orchestras in honor of Henry Fogel.  Golijov credits Michael Ward-Bergeman for using the melody from his piece, “Barbeich,” as part of the work.  The charge is that it is more than just the melody used, it is significant structural elements as well.  Michael Ward-Bergeman is quoted as being fine with Golijov's borrowing, that it was all arranged.  So he is not the victim. 

Are the commissioning orchestras being victimized?  They expected a new work by Osvaldo Golijov. But Golijov was well-known to have collaborated with various other artists on his major works, such as Ayre and Ainadamar.  So any responsible commissioning agent could expect the possibility that Golijov would collaborate on this project as well.  One comment at Sequenza21 claims the work is considerably shorter than the original commission called for, but I would think the orchestras already dealt with that issue when Golijov delivered the piece.  The same commenter claims the audience is being victimized, because they are misinformed as to the provenance of the piece.  They came to hear Golijov, dammit!  Not Michael Ward-Bergeman!  Except the program notes do give credit to Mr. Ward-Bergeman, and audiences can still judge the work regardless of authorship.

That is an interesting question, about the role of the audience in questions of authorship.  Is an audience cheated when Mozart's Requiem is performed, though he did not compose all of it?  What about works that had been attributed to one composer for years, before new scholarship revealed a different composer?  Did all the previous audiences have a cheated listening experience?  My impression is that the audience is not harmed by unattributed collaborative efforts.  Clarifying sources can make the listening experience more interesting, such as tracing all of the quotations in an Ives sonata, or noting borrowings from Strauss' Death and Transfiguration in John Williams' score to Superman.  But there is no harm done in not revealing those sources either.

Then it comes down to what composing is.  When Danger Mouse combined the Beatles' "White" album and JayZee's Black Album, was it composing?  When Berio quoted from Mahler, or Corigliano quoted from Beethoven, was that composing?  I say yes, and would also call Golijov's collaborative efforts composing as well.

FriPod: Top 10

Here are the 10 most played tunes on my iTunes for the year (10 and 11 tied for the same number of plays).

1. "Creep" by Radiohead, performed by the Edward Welles Quartet.
2. "Hope and Memory" by Howard Shore, from the Lord of the Rings, Return of the King soundtrack.
3. "Luna" from Ayre by Osvaldo Golijov, performed by Dawn Upshaw.
4. "God Only Knows" by Brian Wilson, performed by Petra Haden.
5. "Ich Klag Mein Not, O Herr Mein Gott" a 5, by Anonymous, performed by the Copenhagen Cornetts & Sackbutts and Ars Nova.
6. "Down to the River to Pray" performed by Alison Krauss on the O Brother, Where Art Thou? soundtrack.
7. "Twilight and Shadow" by Howard Shore on the Lord of the Rings, Return of the King soundtrack.
8. "Sueltate las cintas" from Ayre by Osvaldo Golijov, performed by Dawn Upshaw.
9. Saltarello detto del Naldi by Giralamo Fantini, performed by The Parley of Instruments.
10. "I am a Man of Constant Sorrow" performed by The Soggy Bottom Boys on the O Brother, Where Art Thou? soundtrack.
11. "Jesus Christus Nostra Salus" a 8, by Heinrich Fink, performed by the Copenhagen Cornetts & Sackbutts and Ars Nova.

Press Release: Wordless Music

The Wordless Music Series has announced preliminary details of its 2007-08 season, which will include the much-anticipated U.S. premiere of Radiohead guitarist Jonny Greenwood's Popcorn Superhet Receiver for string orchestra. The series, which brings together classical and contemporary rock and electronic artists in nontraditional chamber-music spaces, will feature performances in the fall of its second season from Do Make Say Think, Beirut, Múm, Colleen, Nico Muhly, Valgeir Sigurdsson, Sandro Perri, Bing and Ruth, Hauschka, Torngat, and Electric Kompany. Also appearing will be classical soloists and ensembles performing the music of Bach, Bartók, Chopin, Scriabin, and György Ligeti, as well as contemporary composers Arvo Pärt, John Adams, Gavin Bryars, Osvaldo Golijov, Jacob TV, Nick Didkovsky, and Marc Mellits.

The 2007-08 season of Wordless Music will open with a concert by Toronto big band Do Make Say Think and New York new-music quartet the Electric Kompany on Friday, September 14, at the New York Society for Ethical Culture on Central Park West and 64th Street. Continuing in the Wordless Music tradition of offering concerts in alternative and unconventional spaces, shows will also take place at Good-Shepherd Faith Church and The Church of St. Paul the Apostle in Manhattan, as well as the Brooklyn Masonic Temple in Fort Greene. Beginning with the 2007-08 season, in a special new partnership, Wordless Music concerts will take place for the first time at venues outside New York City, at the Southern Theater in Minneapolis.

The 2007-08 season will also include an extremely rare full-orchestra program on January 16-17, 2008, with music exploring the subjects of religion, technology, and modernity by contemporary composers John Adams (Christian Zeal and Activity), Gavin Bryars (The Sinking of the Titanic), and Jonny Greenwood (Popcorn Superhet Receiver). Commissioned by the BBC in 2005, when Greenwood was named the BBC's Composer-in-Residence, and premiered in November 2006 at Queen Elizabeth Hall in London by the BBC Concert Orchestra, Popcorn Superhet Receiver is a 20-minute work inspired by the phenomenon of white noise and the music of Krzysztof Penderecki, György Ligeti, and Olivier Messiaen. For its U.S. premiere, the work has been revised by the composer and will be performed by a string orchestra comprising 18 violins, 6 violas, 6 cellos, and 4 double basses. The Wordless Music Orchestra will be led by conductor Brad Lubman, known for his work conducting the Steve Reich Ensemble, and will feature a one-time gathering of 50 instrumentalists, who represent many of the brightest talents in New York's classical and new-music community. They come from a diverse group of bands and ensembles who have drawn inspiration from the music of Jonny Greenwood and Radiohead throughout the group's 15-year history, including members of Alarm Will Sound and So Percussion.

Tickets for all 2007-08 Wordless Music shows will be on sale beginning at noon on Friday, August 9. Planning for Wordless Music concerts in the winter and spring is in progress and will be announced soon. Full schedule details and ticket sale info are available at wordlessmusic.org.


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Wordless Music
2007-08 Season


Friday, September 14 (at the New York Society for Ethical Culture) will be headlined by the Toronto big band Do Make Say Think, with support from the amplified new-music ensemble the Electric Kompany, who will perform music for rock quartet by the composers Jacob TV, Nick Didkovsky, and Marc Mellits.


Thursday, September 20 (at the Brooklyn Masonic Temple) will be headlined by Beirut with support from Fifth Veil, a clarinet-and-string-quartet ensemble from the Bard Conservatory of Music that will perform composer Osvaldo Golijov's The Dreams and Prayers of Issac the Blind (1994), which combines Klezmer clarinet playing with classical string quartet writing.


Monday, September 24 (also at SEC) will also be headlined by Beirut with support from the French cellist/electronic artist Colleen, as well as the pianist Katya Mihailova playing solo pieces by Chopin and Scriabin, followed by duos for piano and violin (with violinist Colin Jacobsen) by Arvo Pärt and Bela Bartók.


Saturday, September 29 (at the Southern Theater in Minneapolis) will mark the first Wordless Music concert to take place outside New York City, and will feature a large ensemble led by composer Nico Muhly and producer/electronic artist Valgeir Sigurdsson.


Friday, October 5 (at Good Shepherd Church) will be a showcase devoted in part to the Bedroom Community label in Iceland, with a large ensemble led by composer Nico Muhly and producer/electronic artist Valgeir Sigurdsson, best known to date for his work producing records by Bjork, Múm, and Bonnie "Prince" Billy. The show will open with music from Toronto musician Sandro Perri.


Friday, November 9 (at St. Paul the Apostle) will be headlined by Múm with support from Torngat, a horn/percussion/keyboard trio from Montreal with Pietro Amato from Bell Orchestre/Arcade Fire, along with the cellist Jihyun Kim performing one of Bach's solo cello suites and György Ligeti's sonata for solo cello.


Saturday, November 10 (at SEC) will again be headlined by Múm, with support from Hauschka, a German pianist and composer on the Fat Cat label, as well as Bing and Ruth, a rotating "ambient orchestra" of ten or more instrumentalists and vocalists, mainly living in Brooklyn. Bing and Ruth's set will open with a brief solo piano program by bandleader, composer, and pianist David Moore, who will perform a selection of Bach's Goldberg Variations.


Wednesday & Thursday, January 16 & 17 (at St. Paul the Apostle) will feature a full Wordless Music Orchestra led by conductor Brad Lubman, performing a program of works exploring the subjects of religion, technology, and modernity, including the U.S. premiere of Jonny Greenwood's Popcorn Superhet Receiver for string orchestra, as well as music by John Adams (Christian Zeal & Activity) and Gavin Bryars (The Sinking of the Titanic).

Tickets for all 2007-08 Wordless Music concerts go on sale at noon this Friday, August 10, via wordlessmusic.org.

FriPod: Sorry, Moms!

Yes, it is far past Friday, and two days past Mother's Day, though fortunately I was prepared for the two mothers in my life. Still, I decided to break radio silence with a makeup FriPod devoted to mothers.

1. "Mother Goose," performed by Jethro Tull on Aqualung.
2. "Songs My Mother Taught Me," by Charles Ives, performed by Susan Graham.
3. "Ya Lo Mira Mama," by Batacumbele, arranged by Marty Robinson, performed by the Lawrence University Jazz Ensemble.
4. "Mama's Gone – Goodbye," by Peter Bocage, performed by Midge Williams & Her Jazz Jesters.
5. "Una madre comio asado," from Ayre by Osvaldo Golijov, performed by Dawn Upshaw.
6. "Rosen Steckt Mir An Die Mutter," from New Liebeslieder Waltzes, Op. 65 by Brahms, performed by Catherine Edwards, John Alley, Jane Glover; BBC Singers.

So, besides celebrating Mother's Day I have been busy finishing another research article and traveling up to Wisconsin to see my dad awarded as a distinguished alumni of the UW. So I missed my opportunities to blog about the fight at the Boston Pops, George Bush taking over JoAnn Faletta's baton, or any other juicy bits of music blogginess. But I should be relatively back now, even though I do have to start working on my tenure file – a topic that has been big in the scienceblog community – and pack up my office to move into the brand spanking new Judson and Joyce Green Center for the Performing Arts.

FriPod: Pray

Given yesterday's post, which was unintentionally a propos given it was the National Day of Prayer, this week's FriPod examines praying.

1. "Down To The River To Pray" from O Brother, Where Art Thou? soundtrack, performed by Alison Krauss. This is probably my number one referral, leading people to one of my earlier posts. I'm not sure if this song has more resonance given my conversion, though it probably does. At least the words don't produce cognitive dissonance anymore, even if the song doesn't necessarily put me into a prayer mood.

2. The Dreams and Prayers of Isaac the Blind, by Osvaldo Golijov, performed by Todd Palmer with the St. Lawrence String Quartet on Yiddishbbuk. This five movement work is for klezmer clarinet and string quartet. The first movement evokes old school Jewish scenery, a musical version of bobbing in front of the Western Wall. The last part of this movement does approach a meditative state. The second movement is a beseeching prayer, in fact all of the movements traverse between various prayer states: supplication, adoration, contrition, rage, peace, questioning.

3. "Invocation to Pan by the nymphs and the prayer of Daphnis" from Daphnis et Chloé by Maurice Ravel, performed by Charles Munch, the Boston Symphony Orchestra, and the New England Conservatory Chorus And Alumni Chorus. This is a scene from the ballet, not the concert suite that is usually performed. This is a little too lush to be a good prayer. The sensual nature of the music, glorifying in the sounds of the chords as most impressionist music does, and the seductive woodwinds and harps (I'm looking at you, Patty and TwTwTw!) brings too much of a focus on the material body and not enough on the ephemeral spirit.

4. Passion Prayers, by Augusta Read Thomas, performed by the Network For New Music Ensemble. This piece features a passionate cello solo with a small chamber group accompanying. This prayer is questioning, trembling, afraid of God yet drawn to It.

5. Prayer for Bruno, by Art Lande, performed by the Aries Brass Quintet. This little gospelly number uses a simple refrain that builds up over time, leading to an authentic cadence finally at 2:15. Then we start over again, except with a plungered trumpet solo over the refrain. So this represents charismatic church prayer, with the plungered trumpet as the minister haranguing his flock as the rest of the quintet calls out "Well" "Praise the Lord" and "Amen". Suddenly at five minutes in, the mood changes, transforming the now familiar refrain to a more abstract hymn briefly before Gospel reasserts itself for the conclusion (no plunger this time, though).

6. Prayer for St. Gregory, by Alan Hovhaness. I have three performances, by Rolf Smedvig, Charles Butler, and an arrangement by the Empire Brass. This is a beautiful piece, peaceful yet also questioning in a sense. The string accompaniment with the trumpet solo evokes Ives'
The Unanswered Question, except the trumpet works with the strings instead of against them. Hovhaness' prayer is also more historical, with typical sequences, cadential figures, etc. The Butler recording is a little too fast, and he doesn't punch the dramatic point enough. But the strings are better than the brass quintet'n'organ arrangement of the Empire Brass. Rolf plays with the organ (and horn) in his version. Rolf is more romantic in his approach, allowing the phrases to ebb and flow. At times this is nice, but in the middle his rubato takes away from the timelessness of the composition, trying too hard to place it within the Classical-Romantic tradition when there are clear pre-tonal references.

Press release: Golijov interview

WGBH 89.7 FM Interview with Recent Grammy Winner Osvaldo Golijov Available Online at wgbh.org/osvaldo

On Sunday, Argentinean composer Osvaldo Golijov won two 2007 Grammy awards---Best Opera Recording and Best Contemporary Classical Composition---for his opera, Ainadamar (Fountain Of Tears) starring soprano Dawn Upshaw and the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra with conductor Robert Spano. In August of last year, WGBH 89.7 FM's Classics in the Morning host Cathy Fuller sat down with Mr. Golijov at his home in Brookline, MA and discussed this award winning opera, his first. This exclusive, in-depth interview---complete with excerpts from this moving opera---can now be heard online at wgbh.org/osvaldo.

About Ainadamer: Despite being Golijov's first opera, Ainadamar has cemented his place as one of the most imaginative operatic voices of our time. Ainadamar tells the story of dramatist Federico García Lorca and his muse, Catalan stage actress Margarita Xirgu (in a twist, Lorca is played by a woman) and incorporates Arab, Jewish, and flamenco elements.

FriPod: Top 10

Last year I wrote a post listing my top 10 iTunes tracks. Here are this year's Top 10. None of them were on last year's list.

1. Ayre: Luna Golijov
2. Suonata a 7 Con due Trombe: 1. Grave Franceschini
3. Creep - Edmund Welles
4. Concerning Hobbits - Howard Shore
5. Sonatas and Interludes #5 - John Cage
6. Down To the River To Pray - Oh Brother Where Art Thou? soundtrack
7. Ah! stigie larve / Gia latta Cerbero / Ma la furia / Vaghe pupil - Handel
8. Hope and Memory - Howard Shore
9. Ayre: Sueltate las cintas - Golijov
10. Twilight And Shadow - Howard Shore