Fred Lerdahl's Complete String Quartets Performed in Boston

by Ted Gordon on Oct. 18, 2012, 2:06 p.m.

On October 18th, 2012, the Deadalus Quartet performs the complete String Quartet Cycle of Fred Lerdahl (Nos. 1, 2, & 3) at the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum, presented by Columbia University's Miller Theatre. This program is a touring composer portrait presented by the Miller Theatre, which presented the Deadalus Quartet performing Lerdahl's String Quartet No. 3 in 2010. Don't miss this concert!

Fred Lerdahl, who since 1991 has been the Fritz Reiner Professor of Music at Columbia University, began composing string quartets in 1978 with String Quartet No. 1, later returning to the form with his second quartet in 1982, and finally composing his latest quartet specifically for the Daedalus Quartet in 2008. Lerdahl writes,

"The Third Quartet is the finale of a large-scale work that begins with the First Quartet and continues with the Second. The First Quartet takes the form of 15 geometrically expanding variations, starting with a simple chord and elaborating gradually into a variation six minutes long. Its sequel, the Second Quartet, continues the expansion with two more variations of nine and 13 minutes. The Third Quartet constitutes in its entirety a last expanded variation. At the same time, it periodically interposes reminiscences from the two earlier quartets, progressing through the Second back to the First. The coda of Third Quartet comes full circle by stating in reverse order the brief opening variations of the First Quartet."

All three Quartets are available on a CD released by Bridge Records, performed by the Daedalus Quartet and released in 2008. Don't miss your chance to see these works performed live!

Late Summer News from Keeril Makan, Annie Gosfield, and Pierre Jalbert

by Ted Gordon on Aug. 31, 2012, 5:40 p.m.

The dog days of summer are upon us, though you wouldn't know it from the activities of our PSNY composers! Annie Gosfield has just released her fourth album on John Zorn's Tzadik label, entitled Almost Truths and Open Deceptions. New York City audiences will be able to hear new works from the album, as well as other works by Gosfield, performed on September 14th at the Bohemian National Hall at the Czech Center, as a part of the Austrian Cultural Forum's annual Moving Sounds Festival. For those unfamiliar with Gosfield's music, here's a clip of the MIVOS Quartet performing The Blue Horse Walks on the Horizon, available on PSNY:

On the other side of the Atlantic, BBC Radio 3 has recently broadcast two works by Keeril Makan on Max Reinhardt's Late Junction show: The Noise Between Thoughts and Resonance Alloy, both available on PSNY. Sample the beautiful recording of Resonance Alloy here: 

Finishing up this week's news, we have recently published Pierre Jalbert's The Invention of the Saxophone on a poem by Billy Collins, for alto saxophone, percussion, and optional narrator. Listen to a sample of the piece here: 

Keep tuned for our next post next week with some exciting announcements for the new season!

New Works for Summer

by Ted Gordon on June 26, 2012, 3:08 p.m.

Ah, summer. The classical music season is over, mostly, and we're looking forward to festival performances-- often places where programmers take more chances and choose some more adventurous pieces to play. We've been slowly (and surely) building up our roster here at Project Schott New York, now with over 160 works by 40+ composers. 

Have you checked out Keeril Makan's page recently? We now have 14 works up, including five solo works and nine for ensembles! Keeril's "Resonance Alloy" was just performed in San Diego by David Shively; here he is performing it in 2011: 

 Other new works include his string quartet, "The Noise Between Thoughts," "Voice Within Voice" for baritone saxophone, and "Target" for soprano/mezzo-soprano and ensemble. Check 'em out!

Speaking of saxophone, Richard Carrick's "Harmonixity" for saxophone quartet is also now available:

We also now have a staggering 22 works available from Lei Liang, including "Piano, Piano" for improvising pianist, and "Ascension", for brass quintet and percussion..

Well, I hope that's enough to chew on for now! Stay tuned for an amazing announcement, coming up tomorrow....