Music & Culture
Classical Music Posts
Past As Prologue: How The Namesake Of Pullman Tried To Improve Worker’s Lives, But Failed
The strike—and the violence that occurred—became George Pullman’s legacy, rather than his attempt to create the utopian worker’s town. When he died, his family buried him in a lead-lined coffin because they were concerned workers would try to desecrate it. Continue Reading Past As Prologue: How The Namesake Of Pullman Tried To Improve Worker’s Lives, But Failed
New Music Mix: Margo Price, The Iceland Symphony Orchestra, Hand Habits, More
From Hand Habits to a violin concerto that includes whistling, this week’s All Songs Considered has some surprises along the way. Hand Habits is the music of Meg Duffy. On their new EP dirt, we hear the climactic tune “4th of July,” filled with Meg’s intriguing guitar. It was also the guitar that attracted me to Miss Grit, the music of Korean American Margaret Sohn. She takes on the imposter syndrome, a fear many of us face when coming of age. We play the title track from her self-produced EP called Impostor. Continue Reading New Music Mix: Margo Price, The Iceland Symphony Orchestra, Hand Habits, More
Distinct Dissonance And Piano Tones Mark Max Richter’s Tiny Desk (Home) Concert
These half-dozen short pieces can offer two very different modes of experience. Shot in artful black and white, their simplicity and beauty invite us into a world as we once knew it, where fresh air wafts through open doors and dogs peacefully snooze (canine cameos by Evie and Haku) in the late summer sunshine in southern England. Continue Reading Distinct Dissonance And Piano Tones Mark Max Richter’s Tiny Desk (Home) Concert
When The Giants Of Indian Classical Music Collided With Psychedelic San Francisco
Since his first American concert, Zakir Hussain has become perhaps the most famous tabla player in the world. He now lives in California, and he says it was this performance 50 years ago that showed him that Indian classical music could be played in the West in its purest form. “It really set the tone of how I would present myself to my fellow musicians — whoever I was accompanying — for the rest of my life.” Continue Reading When The Giants Of Indian Classical Music Collided With Psychedelic San Francisco
From Brooklyn, 10th Grader Nora Brown Channels Appalachia For A Tiny Desk (Home) Concert
Thirty feet below the surface in Brooklyn, 10th grader Nora Brown brings incredible, surprising depth to the Appalachian music she plays. Over the course of her Tiny Desk Meets globalFEST concert, surrounded by innumerable globes and instruments, she infuses new life and energy into the traditional songs of Addie Graham, Virgil Anderson and Fred Cockerham. Continue Reading From Brooklyn, 10th Grader Nora Brown Channels Appalachia For A Tiny Desk (Home) Concert
What Is The Sound Of Grief? Composer Osvaldo Golijov Puts It To Music
Osvaldo Golijov is a MacArthur “genius” composer who’s written for Yo-Yo Ma, Kronos Quartet and soprano Dawn Upshaw. But in 2012, he was accused of plagiarism, and he disappeared from the scene. Only now, nearly a decade later, is Golijov reemerging — with a work that could not have a more timely subject: it’s a meditation on grieving and loss. Continue Reading What Is The Sound Of Grief? Composer Osvaldo Golijov Puts It To Music
