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Paul Simon has always been attracted to new kinds of sounds. From his early band Simon & Garfunkel in the 1960s through solo albums like Graceland and Rhythm of the Saints in the '80s and '90s, up through his recent albums So Beautiful or So What and Stranger to Stranger, Simon has made music that does what the very best art can do: it resonates with our experience, re-frames it, and introduces new timbres and ideas.Recently, Simon’s curious mind has brought him into the world of contemporary classical music, mining the microtonal sound world of Harry Partch for his last record, and, just last month, collaborating with 10 composers and the ensemble yMusic on a set at the Eaux Claires music festival. On this episode of Meet the Composer – the final of Season Three – we hear Simon's perspective on his career and his most recent projects, as well as exclusive audio from the festival collaboration itself. Heard a piece of music on this episode that you loved? Find out what it was here: 0:18—Andrew Norman: Music in Circles | Listen2:23—Paul Simon: Insomniac’s Lullaby | Listen5:04—Simon & Garfunkel: Mrs. Robinson | Listen6:09—The Penguins: Earth Angel | Listen7:05—Tom & Jerry: Hey Schoolgirl | Listen7:48—Simon & Garfunkel: Sound of Silence | Listen8:13—Simon & Garfunkel: Bridge Over Troubled Water | Listen8:48—Paul Simon: Still Crazy After All These Years | Listen9:09—Paul Simon: Hearts and Bones | Listen10:00—Boyoyo Boys: Son Op | Listen10:41—Paul Simon: Diamonds on the Soles of Her Shoes | Listen11:03—Paul Simon: Boy in the Bubble | Listen11:30—Paul Simon: Homeless | Listen11:58—Paul Simon: Graceland | Listen12:53—Ladysmith Black Mambazo: The Alphabet | Watch13:22—Paul Simon: Under African Skies | Listen14:50—Paul Simon: Crazy Love, Vol. II | Listen15:38—Eddie Palmieri: Ay Que Rico | Listen15:53—Various Artists: Hausa Street Music | Listen  16:06—Various Artists: Oru Para Todos Los Santos | Listen16:12—Various Artists: Songhay Gulu Drummers | Listen16:24—Paul Simon: Further to Fly | Listen17:08—Paul Simon: Obvious Child | Listen18:58—Marcos Balter: Bladed Stance | Listen20:56—Timo Andres: Safe Travels | Listen23:40—Harry Partch: Cloud-Chamber Bowls | Listen24:33—Harry Partch: The Bewitched, Scene One | Listen25:14—Paul Simon: Insomniac’s Lullaby | Listen26:27—Vincenzo Bellini: Casta Diva, from Norma | Listen27:58—Sergei Prokofiev: Cello Sonata in C major, op. 119 | Listen29:15—Paul Simon: Another Galaxy | Listen31:44—Paul Simon: Kathy’s Song | Listen32:14—Paul Simon: Train in the Distance | Listen32:44—Paul Simon: Train in the Distance [acoustic demo] | Listen35:08—Bob Dylan: The Ballad of a Thin Man | Listen35:34—Gabriel Kahane: Veda (1 Pierce Dr.) | Listen36:10—Paul Simon [arr. Gabriel Kahane]: Train in the Distance37:32—Danny Brown: Ain’t It Funny | Listen40:14—Paul Simon [arr. Robert Sirota]: America42:32—Simon & Garfunkel: Sound of Silence | Listen44:17—Simon & Garfunkel: America | Listen46:15—Paul Simon [arr. Rob Moose]: Sound of Silence  

We began last week’s episode digging into the music of one particular electronic musician - the synthesist, producer and composer Kaitlyn Aurelia Smith. Today we’re thrilled to bring you a song that you won’t hear on any of Kaitlyn’s albums. Clouds Forming Over Mount Baker was commissioned by the University of Pennsylvania’s Arthur Ross Gallery to accompany a landscape photograph by Eliot Porter. It’s a fitting collaboration, as Kaitlyn grew up on Orcas Island, where Mt. Baker is a visible feature. Join us for this rich, synthesized soundscape, bringing sonic life to Porter’s beautiful photograph.   Clouds Forming over Mt. Baker (Eliot Porter)  

What happens when a composer writes music without pen and paper, using machines? How does that change the creative process? How does it morph the art itself?  Today on Meet the Composer, our producer Alex Overington — usually behind the studio glass — takes us on a road trip to unravel the creative process of those composers who write without a score. We meet the synthesists, the samplers, the electronic musicians, and dive deep into the tools they’ve adopted to define their craft.  Join us as we uncover what it means to be a composer who sculpts directly with sound, through conversations with such artists as Matmos, Kaitlyn Aurelia Smith, Tyondai Braxton, Laurie Anderson, Morton Subotnick and more.   Heard a piece of music you loved? Discover it here! 0:21—Kaitlyn Aurelia Smith: Rare Things Grow | Listen 2:27—Terry Riley: A Rainbow in Curved Air | Listen 3:16—Johannes Brahms: Symphony No. 4 in E minor | Listen 4:03—Gustave Mahler: Symphony No. 4, IV. Adagietto | Listen 4:33—Oneohtrix Point Never: Problem Areas | Listen 6:02—Matmos: Ultimate Care II | Listen 6:30—Kaitlyn Aurelia Smith: First Flight | Listen 7:41—Kaitlyn Aurelia Smith: Envelop | Listen 11:29—Matmos: Mister Mouth | Listen 12:59—Morton Subotnick: Silver Apples of the Moon | Listen 13:48—The Vogues: Five O'Clock World | Listen 14:42—Arthur Smith: Banjo Boogie | Listen 15:26—Morton Subotnick: Silver Apples of the Moon | Listen 15:51—Stephen Foster: Camptown Races | Watch 16:04—Johannes Pachabel: Canon in D | Listen 16:55—Kaitlyn Aurelia Smith: Sundry | Listen 18:25—Morton Subotnick: Silver Apples of the Moon | Listen 20:28—Tyondai Braxton: Opening Bell | Listen 20:56—Tyondai Braxton: Gracka | Listen 22:43—Tyondai Braxton: Scout1 | Listen 24:39—Kaitlyn Aurelia Smith: Wetlands | Listen 28:30—Pierre Schaeffer & Pierre Henry: Orphée 53 | Listen 29:25—Mistinguett: Mitsou | Listen 29:38—Pierre Schaeffer & Pierre Henry: Orphée 53 | Listen 29:57—The Sugarhill Gang: Apache [Jump On It] | Listen 30:20—Kanye West: A "Dope Ass Beat" | Watch 30:39—Matmos: Very Large Green Triangles | Listen 31:26—Matmos: Ur Tchan Tan Tse Qi | Listen 32:49—Jingle Cats: Jingle Bells | Listen 33:22—Matmos: California Rhinoplasty | Listen 34:28—Matmos: Lipostudio... And So On | Listen 34:37—Matmos: L.A.S.I.K. | Listen 35:20—Matmos: L.A.S.I.K. | Listen 37:27—Matmos: You | Listen 39:14—Matmos & So Percussion: Aluminum | Listen 40:50—Matmos: Ultimate Care II | Listen 47:46—Matmos: Ultimate Care II | Listen 49:14—Laurie Anderson: Another Day in America | Listen 53:04—Laurie Anderson: Sharkey's Day | Listen 53:59—Edward Grieg: Lyric Pieces for the Piano, op. 43, "Butterfly" | Listen 54:27—Laurie Anderson: My Right Eye | Listen 55:31—Laurie Anderson: Another Day in America | Listen 57:35—Laurie Anderson: The Lake [Instrumental] | Listen   

For today’s Bonus Track, we’re thrilled to bring you the world-premiere recording of Bryce Dessner’s Wires, performed by Ensemble Intercontemporain! Last week, we dug into a particularly contentious moment in classical music’s history. This week, however, we’re looking at where we are NOW, a place of, well… niceness.   “I think right now is a really good time to be a composer,” says composer John Adams. “And I tell young composers that. They don't believe me, but they don't know how difficult it was back when I was in my 20s and 30s.” We'll hear how David Lang’s group Bang on a Can helped to shape a newfound culture of support and generosity, and how the next generation of composers - including Bryce Dessner - can find creative freedom in this new landscape. Finally, we hear from Bryce what it’s like to write for “the Rolls Royce … of New Music,” with his new piece, Wires, for Ensemble Intercontemporian, led by Matthias Pintscher.   Bryce Dessner's Wires is provided courtesy of Chester Music, part of the Music Sales Group, Ensemble Intercontemportain and SPEDIDAM (Société de Perception et de Répartition des Droits des Artistes-Interprètes.)

It was composer pitted against composer: uptown vs. downtown, tonal vs. atonal, left brain vs right brain, and these musicians were NOT pulling any punches. Composers were antagonizing each other, questioning each other's validity, and bad-mouthing one another; it was like the second half of the 20th century was when Western Music went through middle school, and it was brutal! “If you weren't being a constructivist composer, if the music wasn't indeed about its own structure, and its own structure wasn't complicated, then you were a pariah, you were rejected. You didn’t get tenure. You didn’t get a job.” That’s Robert Sirota - Nadia’s Dad - one of many composers who came of age in the midst of this feud and struggled - for years - to find a voice. On this episode of Meet the Composer, we unravel one of the most contentious periods in classical music’s history. How did this fight begin? How did it play out? Who were the contenders?  We hear from composers on both sides of this battle, and discover how, on all ends of the aesthetic spectrum, we can find value in differences.   Heard a piece of music you loved? Discover it here! 0:00—The Yorks: Love Without Reason, written by Barry Flicker2:14—Robert Sirota: Pange Lingua Sonata | Buy 3:30—Robert Sirota: Pange Lingua Sonata | Buy 5:23—Philip Glass: Music in Twelve Parts | Listen 6:31—Ruth Crawford Seeger: Study in Mixed Accents | Listen 7:08—David Lang: orpheus over and under | Listen 8:53—Richard Wagner: Overture from Tristan und Isolde | Listen 9:36—Julia Ward Howe: Battle Hymn of the Republic | Watch 11:27—Arnold Schoenberg: Klavierstüke, Op. 33 | Listen12:04—Pierre Boulez: Piano Sonata No. 2 | Listen  13:05—Pierre Boulez: Sur Incises | Listen 13:47—Lewis Nielsen: Oerknal! "...the crisis of conscience..." | Listen 14:50—Charles Wuorinen: Two Part Symphony | Listen 15:57—David Lang: the so-called laws of nature: part III | Listen 17:59—Jr. Walker and the All-Stars: Shotgun | Listen 18:47—Bob Dylan: Maggie's Farm | Buy 19:09—Elliott Carter: String Quartet No. 2 | Listen 19:45—Steve Reich: Violin Phase | Listen 21:05—Elliott Carter: String Quartet No. 2 | Listen 21:16—Charles Wuorinen: Second Piano Quintet | Listen 22:10—John Adams: Phrygian Gates | Listen 23:31—John Adams: Death of Klinghoffer | Listen 24:08—David Lang: child, II. sweet air | Listen 25:21—David Lang: almost all the time | Listen 28:53—Brian Ferneyhough: La chute d'Icare | Listen 30:58—Brian Ferneyhough: no time (at all) | Listen 32:09—Brian Ferneyhough: Superscriptio | Listen 33:36—J.S. Bach: Invention No. 15 in B minor | Listen 34:26—J.S. Bach: Mass in B minor, "Crucifixus" | Listen 38:49—David Lang: breathless | Listen 

Henry Threadgill’s music and community can’t be separated; there is no boundary: challenge and failure and growth in music are the same as challenge and failure and growth in life. This Meet the Composer bonus track shares an exclusive performance by Henry Threadgill's Zooid ensemble of I Never, recorded live by Q2 Music at the Village Vanguard on Oct. 2, 2016. Throughout his career, Threadgill has led countless ensembles with diverse instrumentations and personalities. And in each of them, he finds a way to unearth a type of asymmetry – a blend of unease and transcendence that comes across in his remarkably structured compositions. He unites musicians in the same way as he composes: with affection for the mysterious, embrace of the unexpected, and spontaneity guided by a rigorous intellect. As Threadgill has said, “Improvisation is a way to live your life and solve problems.” Music is one outlet, one way to activate this philosophy, which is something we hear echoed often from his collaborators. In this recording, we hear the 2016 Pulitzer Prize laureate leading his longest standing chamber ensemble, Zooid, in a live performance inside the legendary New York City underground jazz venue, the Village Vanguard. Performers: Henry Threadgill, alto saxLiberty Ellman, tresChristopher Hoffman, celloJosé Davila, tubaElliot Humberto Kavee, drums, percussion This live recording was produced by Curtis Macdonald and engineered by Edward Haber (technical director and remix), Irene Trudel, Duke Markos, Bill Moss and Curtis Macdonald.

1967, Fort Riley, Kansas. Henry Threadgill is 23 years old. Knowing he’s going to be drafted into the military, he joins the Army Concert Band, hoping to focus on his passion: writing music. As he surrounds himself with new ideas, he works his influences into the music that he's arranging. Then one day, the band plays one of his arrangements of a patriotic song for an inauguration of big-wigs, and from the calm of a quietly confused crowd comes a cry from a cardinal in attendance: “Blasphemy!” One day later, he’s told to gather his things. Thirty days later, he’s on his way to Vietnam. Fifty years later, he wins the Pulitzer Prize for music composition. This is only the beginning of the story of how the energy, hunger and curiosity of Henry Threadgill have influenced and changed the people around him. In spite of the failure and rejection he’s faced, Threadgill is perpetually driven toward new ideas, new challenges and new opportunities to pursue and grow stronger in his improvisational creative vision. His music is the product of the community he builds in the moment. This is the story of Henry Threadgill, told by the people whose lives he has touched. Heard a piece of music that you loved? Discover it here! 1:32—Samuel Ward: America the Beautiful | Listen 1:47—Cecil Taylor: Air Above Mountains | Listen 1:51—Igor Stravinsky: Rite of Spring | Listen 1:57—Thelonious Monk: Solo Monk | Listen 2:58—The Star-Spangled Banner, re-imagined by Meet the Composer3:29—Henry Threadgill: Someplace | Buy 3:47—Henry Threadgill: Higher Places | Buy 5:24—Henry Threadgill: Little Pocket-Sized Demons | Buy 6:00—Nico Muhly: Mothertongue: I. Archive | Listen 6:20—Henry Threadgill: The Devil is on the Loose and Dancing with a Monkey | Listen 6:58—Henry Threadgill: Try Some Ammonia | Listen 9:00—Edward Ciuksza: Basia | Listen 9:07—Demiran Cerimovic: Laca's Proud Cocek | Listen 9:17—Sallie Martin Singers: Jesus | Listen 9:28—Howlin' Wolf: Back Door Man | Listen 10:20—Ernest Tubb & Red Foley: Hillbilly Fever | Listen 10:33—Dmitri Shostakovich: Cello Concerto No. 1 in E-flat Major, op. 107 | Listen 10:39—Big Maybelle: Do Lord | Listen 10:52—Meade Lux Lewis: Honky Tonk Train Blues | Listen 12:17—Billy Strayhorn: Lush Life | Listen 13:11—Bishop Samuel Kelsey & Others: Tell Me How Long Has The Train Been Gone | Listen 14:19—Henry Threadgill: Where's Your Cup | Listen 16:10—Muhal Richard Abrams: Wise in Time | Listen 18:02—Muhal Richard Abrams: Marching With Honor | Listen 18:09—George Lewis: Voyager Duo 4 | Listen 18:16—Amina Claudine Myers: African Blues | Listen 18:24—Roscoe Mitchell: A Game of Catch | Listen 18:30—Wadada Leo Smith: Lake Michigan | Listen 18:31—Henry Threadgill: Old Locks & Irregular Verbs | Listen 28:03—Henry Threadgill: Old Locks & Irregular Verbs | Listen 29:15—Henry Threadgill: Subject to Change: This | Buy 34:08—Henry Threadgill: In for a Penny, Out for a Pound | Listen 37:27—Henry Threadgill: Old Locks & Irregular Verbs | Listen 

Today's bonus track is an exclusive arrangement of a nutso, sci-fi-y electronic piece John Adams wrote in 1993. Originally part of a larger work, Hoodoo Zephyr, Coast was never intended to be performed live. However, the 20-person chamber ensemble Alarm Will Sound has often been tempted by electronic works. Violinist, composer, and Alarm Will Sound member Caleb Burhans, who cut his teeth arranging works by Aphex Twin for the group, adapted Adams' work. While Alarm Will Sound has performed this piece several times, we're proud to bring this you exclusive recording! 

What happens when the composer shows up to the first rehearsal of his brand-new piece? Would a living Beethoven sue for intellectual property? Are you the hit, or are you in the hole? For this episode, we collaborated with the 20-member chamber ensemble Alarm Will Sound and its conductor Alan Pierson – with whom we're partnering on the upcoming podcast album Splitting Adams (out April 21 on Cantaloupe Music) – to take a close look at the music of John Adams, specifically his two insanely difficult chamber symphonies. This episode offers unprecedented access to not only to the creative process, but the weird, woolly procedure of putting these massive pieces together. Heard a piece of music you loved? Discover it here! 1:48—John Adams: Chamber Symphony | Listen | Buy 2:12—Arnold Schoenberg: Pierrot Lunaire, Mondestrunken | Listen | Buy 2:29—Richard Strauss: Five Piano Pieces, op. 3: IV, allegro molto | Listen | Buy 3:08—Ray Noble: The Midnight, The Stars and You | Listen | Buy 3:13—Busby Berkeley: Hooray for Hollywood | Listen | Buy 3:55—Louis Armstrong: You're Lucky to Me | Listen | Buy 4:37—George Gershwin: Rhapsody in Blue | Listen | Buy 5:20—John Adams: Chamber Symphony | Listen | Buy 5:58—John Adams: The Death of Klinghoffer | Buy 7:30—Arnold Schoenberg: Chamber Symphony | Listen | Buy 8:53—John Adams: Chamber Symphony | Listen | Buy 19:10—John Adams: Son of Chamber Symphony | Listen | Buy 20:46—Danny Elfman: Pee-Wee's Big Adventure, The Breakfast Machine | Listen | Buy 21:10—John Adams: Son of Chamber Symphony | Listen | Buy 22:19—John Adams: Son of Chamber Symphony | Listen | Buy 24:25—Ludwig van Beethoven: Symphony No. 9, mvt. I | Listen | Buy 24:51—Ludwig van Beethoven: Symphony No. 9, mvt. II | Listen | Buy 25:00—John Adams: Son of Chamber Symphony | Listen | Buy 26:01—Ludwig van Beethoven: Symphony No. 9, mvt. II | Listen | Buy 26:28—John Adams: Son of Chamber Symphony | Listen | Buy 31:33—John Adams: Fellow Traveler | Listen | Buy 31:42—John Adams: Nixon in China | Listen | Buy 31:56—John Adams: Son of Chamber Symphony | Listen | Buy 32:24—John Adams: Fellow Traveler | Listen | Buy 32:33—John Adams: Son of Chamber Symphony | Listen | Buy 

Today's Meet the Composer Bonus Track is an extended cut of Pauline Oliveros' Tuning Meditation, recorded live at the Fuentidueña Chapel at the Met Cloisters on Jan. 20, 2017. Recorded in 3D-sounding binaural audio, it's an immersive experience in which we would love you to think about participating while listening. For optimal audio quality, please listen with headphones!

Meet the Composer continues its investigation of the odd, wrong-side-of-the-tv-set role of The Performer with a deep dive into the Sonic Meditations of pioneering American composer Pauline Oliveros. Oliveros manages to smudge at the distinction between composer, performer and audience with these simple, text-based pieces, which somehow pack an emotional wallop far larger than their few lines might suggest. Heard a piece of music that you loved? Discover it here! 0:49—Pauline Oliveros: Lear | Listen | Buy 4:15—Henry Francis Lyte: Abide with me | Listen | Buy4:37—Pauline Oliveros: Nike | Listen | Buy 5:10—Ludwig van Beethoven: Sonata No. 31 in A flat, op. 110 | Listen | Buy 7:20—Pauline Oliveros: Continuing Variations8:05—Pauline Oliveros: Nike | Listen | Buy 8:16—Pauline Oliveros: Sound Patterns8:47—Pauline Oliveros: The Well and the Gentle | Listen 10:37—Pauline Oliveros: Who Said What12:11—Pauline Oliveros: Ione | Listen | Buy 14:50—Pauline Oliveros: Bye Bye Butterfly | Listen | Buy 15:27—Pauline Oliveros: I of IV | Listen | Buy15:33—Pauline Oliveros: Something Else | Listen | Buy15:38—Pauline Oliveros: Tara's Room | Listen | Buy15:41—Pauline Oliveros: Silence15:43—Pauline Oliveros: River of Folk Dance | Listen | Buy15:46—Pauline Oliveros: Lear | Listen | Buy 16:37—Pauline Oliveros: Ione| Listen | Buy 18:55—Pauline Oliveros: Sonic Meditation XII: One Word25:14—Pauline Oliveros: Tuning Meditation

Meet the Composer is thrilled to bring you a world-premiere recording as our first bonus track of Season Three! Our previous episode The Performer: Part One featured, among other things, a really fascinating conversation with the Austrian composer Georg Friedrich Haas (if you haven’t heard the episode yet, go check it out!). As we are a talk show about music, we are always dying to simply play some music, and so today we bring you our exclusive, first recording of Haas’ 9th String Quartet. The whole thing! Featuring the fantastic JACK Quartet. The JACK Quartet has spent years performing and championing an older piece of Haas’, his 3rd String Quartet. They played it so well, in fact, Haas decided to write his 9th quartet specifically for the JACKs, taking full advantage of their superpower: just intonation. So we figured, what could be better than having the JACKs over to Q2 Music to bring this piece to life? Like his 3rd String Quartet, this piece comes with an unusual stipulation: it is to be performed in complete, india ink, can’t-see-your-hand-in-front-of-your-face darkness. So turn out the lights and join Meet the Composer and the JACKs for the first-ever recording of this spectacular piece of oddly-tuned awesome. –Nadia Sirota

We're kicking off Season Three of Meet the Composer with a look beyond the composer to the performer, that unusual intermediary between the artist and the audience. How do performers from different cultures, who speak different languages, come together to perform the same piece? What happens when an ensemble completely messes up... and the audience loves it? How does a piece change when it’s played nonstop for twelve hours? We explore these questions and more, taking a seat on stage as we find out what it’s like to experience music from the inside-out. Hear a piece of music you loved? Discover it here! 0:59—David Lang: Just | Listen | Buy 4:51—Kayhan Kalhor: Silent City | Listen 6:04—Kayhan Kalhor: Silent City | Listen 9:30—Robert Schumann: String Quartet No. 3 in A minor | Listen | Buy 11:13—Evan Ziporyn: Sulvasutra | Listen | Buy14:39—Kayhan Kalhor: Silent City | Listen 15:09—The xx: Lips | Listen | Buy17:08—Georg Friedrich Haas: Limited Approximations | Listen 18:13—Georg Friedrich Haas: String Quartet No. 3 | Listen 19:44—Georg Friedrich Haas: Morgen und Abend | Listen 20:59—W.A. Mozart: The Magic Flute | Listen | Buy 23:05—Georg Friedrich Haas: Hyperion | Listen 24:00—Franz Schubert: String Quartet No. 13 in A minor, D. 804 | Listen | Buy 24:22—Georg Friedrich Haas: In Nomine | Listen | Buy 27:13—Franz Schubert: Piano Sonata No 21 in C minor, D 958 | Listen | Buy  34:36—The National: Sorrow | Listen | Buy 37:09—W.A. Mozart: The Marriage of Figaro, "Contessa perdono" | Listen | Buy 44:33—Nico Muhly: Mothertongue, "I. Archive" | Listen | Buy 

Meet the Composer with Nadia Sirota – Q2 Music's podcast about the musical creative process – returns for its third season on Monday, March 6. Pre-game for the new season with a week of clips from the original WNYC radio program. Meet the Composer is available on iTunes or wherever you get your podcasts. We conclude the week-long ramp-up to our next and third season with an interview with the legendary, charismatic Leonard Bernstein. Though mostly known for his work as a composer (West Side Story) and conductor (New York Philharmonic), Leonard Bernstein was also a consummate evangelist for classical music. This conversation focuses on Bernstein's efforts as a music educator and the role that education played for host Tim Page in his music criticism. Hear a piece of music you loved? Discover it here! 0:05—Aaron Copland: Appalachian Spring | Listen | Buy 0:49—Leonard Bernstein: Overture from Candide | Listen  | Buy1:13—Leonard Bernstein: "Maria," from West Side Story, feat. Jose Carreras | Listen | Buy 2:33—Gioachino Rossini: Overture from William Tell | Listen | Buy2:49—Leonard Bernstein: Symphonic Dances from West Side Story | Listen | Buy 3:44—Leonard Bernstein: Serenade after Plato's "Symposium" | Listen | Buy 6:11—Leonard Bernstein: Suite from Candide | Listen | Buy 7:16—Leonard Bernstein: Symphonic Suite from On the Waterfront | Listen | Buy 9:12—Leonard Bernstein: Symphony No. 2, "The Age of Anxiety" | Listen | Buy 10:37—Leonard Bernstein: Symphony No. 2, "The Age of Anxiety" | Listen | Buy 

Meet the Composer with Nadia Sirota – Q2 Music's podcast about the musical creative process – returns for its third season on Monday, March 6. Pre-game for the new season with a week of clips from the original WNYC radio program. Meet the Composer is available on iTunes or wherever you get your podcasts. A blast from the past featuring the composer Libby Larsen. Larsen explains how living in Minneapolis facilitated her success as a composer, and how federal regulations in Title IX provided an uplift to women composers in the U.S. This week, we're revisiting interviews conducted in the 1980s by the influential music critic and educator Tim Page. His show, which aired from 1981 until 1992, was called Meet the Composer and featured some of the most towering musical figures of the previous century. Join us tomorrow for one more throwback episode, and stay tuned on Monday for the premiere of Meet the Composer's third season. Hear a piece of music you loved? Discover it here! 0:05—Aaron Copland: Appalachian Spring | Listen | Buy 1:05—Aaron Copland: Hoedown | Listen | Buy 1:09—Paul Simon: I Know What I Know | Listen | Buy 1:27—Kaija Saariaho: Nymphea | Listen | Buy 1:39—Julius Eastman: Stay On It | Listen | Buy 1:48—Libby Larsen: Barn Dances | Listen | Buy 4:34—Virgil Thomson: Autumn, Promenade | Listen 6:47—Libby Larsen: Full Moon in the City | Listen | Buy 

Meet the Composer with Nadia Sirota – Q2 Music's podcast about the musical creative process – returns for its third season on Monday, March 6. Pre-game for the new season with a week of clips from the original WNYC radio program. Meet the Composer is available on iTunes or wherever you get your podcasts. Today's blast from the past features the composers and electronic experimentalists Alvin Lucier and Otto Luening. Page introduces us to Lucier's seminal tape piece, I am sitting in a room, and Luening tells the story of his first foray into electronic composition. Luening also wonders at the interest a younger generation has taken in his very earliest music, decades after its conception. Hear a piece of music you loved in the show? Discover it here! 0:05—Aaron Copland: Appalachian Spring | Listen | Buy 0:55—Alvin Lucier: I am sitting in a room | Listen | Buy 3:37—Otto Luening: String Quartet No. 2 | Buy 3:48—Otto Luening: Low Speed | Listen | Buy 5:27—Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart: Flute Concerto No. 1 in G, K. 313 | Listen | Buy 5:43—Otto Luening: Fantasy in Space | Listen | Buy 6:29—Otto Luening: Incantation | Listen | Buy 6:46—Benjamin Britten: Missa Brevis in D, Op. 63 | Listen | Buy 7:39—Otto Luening: String Quartet No. 2 | Buy 

Meet the Composer with Nadia Sirota – Q2 Music's podcast about the musical creative process – returns for its third season on Monday, March 6. Pre-game for the new season with a week of clips from the original WNYC radio program. Meet the Composer is available on iTunes or wherever you get your podcasts. We continue the week-long ramp-up to our next and third season with an interview with the widely influential patriarch of 20th-century experimental music John Cage. In this conversation with host Tim Page, Cage explains how his strenuous connection with music precipitated his experiments with silence, ambient noise and spirituality. Page offers his own straightforward critique of Cage's discoveries and reiterates the need for objectivity and seclusion in music criticism. Hear a piece of music you loved? Discover it here! 0:05—Aaron Copland: Appalachian Spring | Listen | Buy 0:48—John Cage: Suite for Toy Piano | Listen | Buy 1:54—John Cage: Quartet (Santa Monica, California 1936), II. Very Slow | Listen 3:03—John Cage: Sonata VII | Listen8:20—John Cage: Bacchanale | Listen | Buy 10:24—John Cage: Six | Listen | Buy 

Meet the Composer with Nadia Sirota – Q2 Music's podcast about the musical creative process – returns for its third season on Monday, March 6. Pre-game for the new season with a week of clips from the original WNYC radio program. Meet the Composer is available on iTunes or wherever you get your podcasts. As we build up to the launch of our third season next Monday, March 6, we thought we'd look back at the original WNYC radio program Meet the Composer from the mid-'80s, hosted by the illustrious music critic Tim Page, currently a professor of music and journalism at USC. We'll share excerpts of his interviews with some of the most exciting figures in contemporary music, but before that we wanted to check in with Tim himself, a man for whom music has played an enormous force in his life, in his career, and even for his psychological well-being. We ask him how he found his way into music criticism, where that first Meet the Composer radio program came from, and what role music has played in his recovery after a recent traumatic brain injury. Hear a piece of music you loved? Discover it here! 0:05—Aaron Copland: Appalachian Spring | Listen | Buy 1:15—Aaron Copland: Appalachian Spring | Listen | Buy 2:58—Maurice Ravel: La Valse | Listen | Buy3:20—Luciano Berio: Sinfonia, mvt. III | Listen | Buy3:22—Philip Glass: Music in Changing Parts | Listen | Buy4:36—Dizzy Gillespie: Night in Tunisia | Listen | Buy 7:18—Gustav Mahler: Symphony No. 2, mvt. III | Listen | Buy 8:05—Giacomo Puccini: La Bohème: Donde lieta uscì | Listen | Buy 8:24—Gustav Mahler: Symphony No. 2, mvt. III | Listen | Buy 8:48—Elliott Carter: Of Rewaking | Listen 9:02—Elliott Carter: Retrouvailles | Listen 9:08—Gustav Mahler: Symphony No. 2, mvt. III | Listen | Buy

Hi, I’m Nadia Sirota, host of Meet the Composer (MTC). MTC is a podcast that confronts the artists and art that move us, using radio storytelling to tease out what makes these pieces and people tick. We aim to share the music we love with anyone who is down to listen. Music can be tricky to talk about, so when words fail, Meet the Composer uses all of the tools in our arsenal – sound design, phrasing, underscoring, and sonic embroidery – to share what we love about music with our audience. MTC is art and artists, exposed. Just a few weeks ago, we were blown away to hear that MTC won a 2015 Peabody Award, broadcasting's highest honor, praise which put us in the heady company of Radiolab and This American Life. The Peabody committee described MTC as “Fascinating, intelligent, enlightening podcasts devoted to the work of current classical composers. The show integrates music with thoughtful conversation about it without distracting from either.” We've been humbled by the overwhelming reception from our listeners. Since the show launched in June 2014, listeners from 183 countries have downloaded MTC more than 540,000 times! We've also had big shout-outs from The Guardian and The New York Times with the headlines “Meet the Composer: the podcast that's demystifying classical music” and “With ‘Meet the Composer,’ Nadia Sirota Illuminates New Music.” Both seasons were funded in large part by your contributions via Kickstarter, so, honestly, we could not have made this happen without your support. We hope we have rewarded your trust with beautiful, composed radio, and we want to start making you more.  With our upcoming third season, we are excited to take on new formats for the show and to follow creative themes past individual composers to stranger and more exotic conclusions. An emphasis on the driving forces that compel composers to put pen to paper will be a key component of Season Three. We will continue to profile composers but also unpack breakthrough pieces and dig into those moments when musical styles clashed, flirted and mutated between all types of composers, both living and dead! We will continue to compose radio with probing interviews, expert commentary and through-composed sound design. Learn about our current and critical Kickstarter campaign and help today to make Season Three a reality. 

I'm so excited to share today's Meet the Composer bonus track with you. Last October, I traveled to Detroit to perform the US premiere of Nico Muhly's viola concerto with the Detroit Symphony Orchestra under Maestro Leonard Slatkin. The orchestra has graciously agreed to let us use the second movement of the viola concerto for our show for three months, so this is our first ever LIMITED-TIME bonus track.  Nico wrote the concerto in 2014, and in a lot of ways it's the fruit of 10 years of our working together. The piece is in three movements, and this movement, Part II, is sort of the emotional heart of the piece. It's soulful and colorful and I adore playing it.  At the end of the movement the viola line suffers a sort of massive emotional breakdown, which is then answered by a huge orchestral explosion, featuring a giant tam-tam (gong) and all sorts of low-brass rumbles. In the aftermath, individual members of the orchestra play small phrases independently of each other, finally reuniting in a wounded coda.  This is my favorite part of the concerto to play.  Many, many thanks to the Detroit Symphony Orchestra and Leonard Slatkin for making this bonus track possible!