American Mavericks: Program 10: What's So great About the Orchestra?



	Program 10: What's So Great about the Orchestra (59:00s)

	The orchestra is a European medium if there ever was one - European through and through, grown from the very social forms of European society. Keeping the orchestra alive has always been a troublesome enterprise, and today, orchestras are folding every month. Many American composers have written for orchestra, but fewer and fewer these days, and in particular, those who consider themselves mavericks often avoid the genre altogether. But still, the tonality which crept back into "new" music with minimalism has lead to a both a stylistic pluralism and a new romanticism, which fit the resources of the orchestra well. Is the orchestra dead, as composer Frederic Rzewski has charged? Or has MIDI software and computer orchestration capability given new life to the medium, as John Adams' music suggests?

Lou Harrison
Video clips from the unfinished documentary "Lou Harrison - A World of Music." Includes references to Harrison's other artwork and his straw bale house.

Composers Mentioned in the Show

Franz Joseph Haydn
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
Ludwig Van Beethoven
Richard Wagner
Richard Strauss
Igor Stravinsky
Arnold Schönberg
Johannes Brahms
Carl Ruggles
Lou Harrison
John Adams
Daniel Lentz
Steven Mackey
David Del Tredici
Steve Reich
Philip Glass
John Luther Adams
Henry Cowell
Morton Feldman
Libby Larsen

In addition to host Suzanne Vega and San Francisco Symphony Orchestra Music Director Michael Tilson Thomas, this show includes the voices of these composers, performers, and scholars:

David Del Tredici: "Interview" (34:49s)
Lou Harrison: "Interview" (57:22s)
Steven Mackey: "Interview" (72:51s)
Steve Reich: "Interview" (71:39s)
Tan Dun: "Interview" (76:04s)
Michael Torke: "Interview" (43:59s)

Additional related interviews
John Luther Adams "Interview" (59:00s)
Philip Glass "Interview" (59:00s)
John Adams "Interview" (29:00s)

IN TALK
"The symphony orchestra as we know it is dead. Symphony concerts have become dull and predictable: musicians and audiences are suffering from repetitive routines and formula-type programming. There is an acute shortage of conductors who are inspiring leaders, and just as great a shortage of administrators who possess artistic vision." - Ernest Fleishmann (Los Angeles Philharmonic Executive Director )

What do you think?

Steve Mackey, John Luther Adams, John Adams

Show Audio
Listen to the program (59:00s)

Music played in the radio show:

FRANZ JOSEPH HAYDN: Symphony No. 8 First Mvt. (Northern Chamber Orchestra/Ward/Naxos 8.550722)

W. A. MOZART: Symphony No. 31 ("Paris") ( Academy of St. Martin-in-the-Fields/Marriner/Philips 412 954-2)

LUDWIG VAN BEETHOVEN: Symphony No. 5 (Berlin Philharmonic/Von Karajan/DGG 429 036-2)

RICHARD WAGNER: "Lohengrin" Prelude (Vienna Philharmonic/Solti/London 421 053-2)

RICHARD STRAUSS: "Alpine" Symphony (Vienna Philharmonic/Previn/Telarc CD-80211)

IGOR STRAVINSKY: "The Firebird," (San Francisco Symphony/Tilson Thomas/RCA 09026-68898-2)

ARNOLD Schönberg: Five Pieces for Orchestra (BBC Symphony/Boulez/Sony SMK 48 463)

JOHANNES BRAHMS: Piano Concerto No. 1 (Hough/BBC Symphony/Davis/Virgin Classics 5 61412-2)

LEONARD BERNSTEIN: Overture to "Candide" (London Symphony/Bernstein/DGG 429 734-2)

TAN DUN: "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon" (Sony SK 89347)

DANIEL LENTZ: "The Crack in the Bell,"

STEVE MACKEY: "Tuck and Roll" (Mackey/New World Symphony/Tilson Thomas/RCA 09026-63826-2)

JOHN ADAMS: "Grand Pianola Music," 3rd movement (London Sinfonietta/Adams/Elektra Nonesuch 9 79219-2)

JOHN ADAMS: "Lollapalooza" (New World Symphony/Tilson Thomas/RCA 9026 68798-2)

JOHN LUTHER ADAMS: "Dream in White On White" (Cabrillo Festival Orchestra/Falletta/New Albion NA061CD)

MORTON FELDMAN: "For Samuel Beckett" (Klangforum Wien/Cambreling/Kairos 0012012KAI)

LIBBY LARSEN: "Water Music," 1st movement (Koch 3-7370-2)



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