Posts tagged as "contemporary-classical"

ECM – A Tone Poem Half a Century Long

August 7, 2020

“The most beautiful sound next to silence”, was ECM Records’ slogan in the 1970s – one ringing even truer now, when we’re blasted not just by the jangle of disposable music, but the shriek of mobile phones. The LP covers backed up the motto with misty landscapes and abstract paintings, and then, when you gently […]

Max Richter – 'Voices', Technology, and Musical Activism

July 30, 2020

Max Richter may be the most important composer of our time. His work has been heard in concert halls, during the emotional climax of major Hollywood films and television series, and has permeated the personal listening of millions worldwide via the democratic technology that is music streaming. Not one to shy away from big ideas, […]

Aurora Orchestra – Music of the Spheres

May 29, 2020

Deutsche Grammophon has announced the 12 June 2020 release of Music of the Spheres, a new album by UK ensemble Aurora Orchestra. The album is based on the ancient Greek concept of celestial harmony – the belief that the movement of the planets follows precise mathematical models that generate “music” inaudible to the human ear. […]

Must the Devil Have All the Good Tunes? – John Adams

April 20, 2020

Must the Devil Have All the Good Tunes? is a new work for piano and orchestra by American composer John Adams. The piece continues Adam’s provocative exploration of the piano – following his seminal works Grand Pianola Music (1983) and Hallelujah Junction (2001). Composed by Adams for pianist Yuja Wang and commissioned by the Los […]

How Max Richter’s ‘Sleep’ Taught The World To Relax

March 13, 2020

Article courtesy of uDiscover Music Award-winning composer and pianist Max Richter’s landmark eight-hour minimalist lullaby Sleep (2015) feels as though it were composed with World Sleep Day in mind. After all, Richter has staged a string of night-time performances (complete with beds for the audiences), during which he has performed the work for piano, string quintet, […]

Ellen Reid releases recording of contemporary opera 'p r i s m'

January 28, 2020

Composer and sound artist Ellen Reid has released a recording of her Pulitzer Prize-winning work p r i s m via Decca Gold. With a libretto by Roxie Perkins, the fearless, genre-defying opera takes on the topic of sexual assault and was commissioned and produced by Beth Morrison Projects in association with Trinity Church Wall […]