NWS: What We're Listening To
Gabriel Fauré: 'Cantique de Jean Racine' - Arno Tri Pramudia, Trombone Fellow When I was in High School several inputs triggered me to make the decision to pursue a career as a professional musician. One of the most important moments was when I heard Fauré's 'Cantique de Jean Racine' for the first time. It was the first time music really gave me a sense of pure beauty. The fact that Fauré wrote this piece when he was still a student has always inspired me. Whenever times are difficult, I listen back to the song and remember why I'm doing what I do.
Read more…Beethoven: Piano Sonata No.8 Op.13 Pathetique (Barenboim) - Victoria Chung, Oboe Fellow
The opening dotted motive that comes back repeatedly in the first movement floods me with aching emotions as if it represents the destitute, uncertainty, and fear that people have been feeling due to the unfortunate current events. The second movement reminds me of the rainbow after the storm - that everything will be okay. And whenever I am listening to this, I can just imagine the hushed hall filled with audience whose attentions are solely captured by the emotional journey of the music.
Various Works for Solo Instruments: Bartok, Britten, Seeger, Fujikura, Berio - Scott Leger, Horn Fellow
Since our quarantines have begun and still continue, I find myself more and more interested in complete works for a single solo instrument. Each of the following five works from the last 100 years were written to demonstrate and expand the expressive and technical capability of a single instrument alone. Some of the works make obvious attempts incorporate extended techniques into the instrument’s sonic palette, like the use of a bass trombone "wah-wah” mute in Fujikura’s “Poyopoyo,” but they all challenge the singular musician to carry the weight of an entire composition alone. I look forward to a day soon when we can play music in groups again, but for now, it’s good to be reminded how much captivating music there is for one musician alone
2 Tracks with Chris Thile – Antonio Escobedo, Bass Fellow
Bach Trios 4th track, Well-tempered Klav. Prelude 19, and Not Our First Goat Rodeo 1st track, "Your Coffee is a Disaster"
One of my favorite musicians of the last ten years on is mandolinist Chris Thile. Since discovering him through the first "Goat Rodeo Sessions" album (as a bass player, I was interested in what Edgar Meyer was up to), and with a second album recently released I've been having fun revisiting all of this great music. In particular, Thile's "Bach: Sonatas and Partitas vol.1" is one of my favorites to turn to, closely followed up by the "Bach Trios" with Meyer and Yo-Yo Ma. Thile and Meyer as well made a duo album simply called "Bass and Mandolin, and between both styles of older Baroque and newer Folk music, I can feel everything from driving motivation to calming serenity.
Schoenberg: Verklaerte Nacht - Levi Jones, Bass Fellow
“Schoenberg’s Verklarte Nacht was one of the first pieces that I performed as a fellow at New World. It has always been one of my favorite works and it was a privilege to be able to perform it for the first time with my wonderful string colleagues in the orchestra. I've found myself coming back to it frequently throughout quarantine to reflect on the meaningful experiences that I have had performing, and to remind myself of what I have to look forward to again!