Hear works that use multiples of the same instrument: Rakhi Singh’s violin(s) in Julia Wolfe’s "LAD"; guitars in music by Rhys Chatham; and violas and viols in work by Donnacha Dennehy.
Hear works that use multiples of the same instrument: Rakhi Singh’s violin(s) in Julia Wolfe’s music for 9 bagpipes; guitars in music by Rhys Chatham; and violas and viols in work by Donnacha Dennehy. In each of these musical experiments, there is also an unusual approach to the tuning.
Listen to music from violinist, collaborator, composer & music director Rakhi Singh, who is also the co-founder of the Manchester Collective. From Singh’s debut album, listen to an arrangement of Julia Wolfe’s work ”LAD”, originally composed for nine bagpipes and reimagined for the violin. In Singh’s recording, the multiple violins manage to somehow retain the bagpipe flavor with the droning, grace notes, skirls.
Then, listen to a long portion of “A Crimson Grail” by American musician and composer Rhys Chatham. The work was written as a commission for the city of Paris, and premiered at the basilica of Sacré-Coeur, and features 200 guitarists, 16 bassists, five conductors, and one percussionist. Although Chatham once played a central role in New York’s “downtown music” scene with a series of works for LOUD electric guitar, he‘s best-known most recently for high profile productions of his rugged noise symphonies written for hundreds of softly played electric guitars (and basses.)
There’s also some 15 layers of acoustic bowed strings music by Irish-born Princeton-based composer Donnacha Dennehy - his long-form work, "Tessellatum" for American violist Nadia Sirota, who is joined on the baroque viola da gamba by Liam Byrne. – Caryn Havlik
Program #4859, Music for Multiples and Alternate Tunings (First aired 3/19/2024)
ARTIST: Rhys Chatham (200 guitarists, 16 bassists, five conductors, and one percussionist)
WORK: Rhys Chatham: A Crimson Grail [18:11]
RECORDING: A Crimson Grail
SOURCE: Nonesuch 524138
INFO: nonesuch.com
ARTIST: Nadia Sirota, Liam Byrne
WORK: Donnacha Dennehy: Letter HH [3:43]
RECORDING: Tessellatum
SOURCE: Bedroom Community
INFO: bedroomcommunity.bandcamp.com
ARTIST: Nadia Sirota, Liam Byrne
WORK: Donnacha Dennehy: Letter NN [2:41]
RECORDING: Tessellatum
SOURCE: Bedroom Community
INFO: bedroomcommunity.bandcamp.com
ARTIST: Nadia Sirota, Liam Byrne
WORK: Donnacha Dennehy: Letter RR [2:52]
RECORDING: Tessellatum
SOURCE: Bedroom Community
INFO: bedroomcommunity.bandcamp.com
ARTIST: Nadia Sirota, Liam Byrne
WORK: Donnacha Dennehy: Letter UU [3:12]
RECORDING: Tessellatum
SOURCE: Bedroom Community
INFO: bedroomcommunity.bandcamp.com
ARTIST: Nadia Sirota, Liam Byrne
WORK: Donnacha Dennehy: Coda [1:33]
RECORDING: Tessellatum
SOURCE: Bedroom Community
INFO: bedroomcommunity.bandcamp.com
ARTIST: Rakhi Singh
WORK: Julia Wolfe: LAD [16:35]
RECORDING: Purnima
SOURCE: Cantaloupe Music
INFO: rakhisingh.bandcamp.com/album/purnima