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CD Review, Michael Finnissy's Beat Generation Ballads

Ivan Hewett reviews recent releases of new music with composer Zoe Martlew and guitarist Tom McKinney. Plus the world premiere of Michael Finnissy's Beat Generation Ballads.

Ivan Hewett reviews recent releases of new music with the composer Zoe Martlew and guitarist Tom McKinney, including music by Hans Abrahamsen and Christopher Fox. Michael Finnissy introduces his piano work, Beat Generation Ballads, which was commissioned by the Huddersfield Contemporary Music Festival and premiered there in November last year.

Plus the latest in the series Modern Muses which looks behind some of the key composer-performer partnerships of our times. Jazz drummer Peter Erskine was one of Mark-Anthony Turnage's musical heroes who he'd first heard as the drummer in Weather Report in the late 70s. They talk about meeting in the 1990s and how and why Turnage re-wrote the drum part in his ground-breaking Blood on the Floor with Erskine's input. Ever since, a close musical friendship has flourished, resulting in further Erskine-inspired music.

Modern Muses: Peter Erskine and Mark-Anthony Turnage

Michael Finnissy
Beat Generation Ballads
Philip Thomas (piano).

2 hours

Last on

Sat 25 Apr 2015 22:00

Music Played

  • Michael Gordon

    Rewriting Beethoven's Seventh Symphony

    Conductor: Jonathan Nott. Orchestra: Bamberg Symphony Orchestra.
    • Dystopia.
    • Cantaloupe.
    • 2.
  • Harry Partch

    Leda and the Swan (from Castor & Pollux)

    Ensemble: Partch.
    • Plectra and Percussion Dances.
    • Bridge Records.
    • 1.
  • Harry Partch

    Even Wild Horses, Act 3 Scene 2

    Ensemble: Partch.
    • Plectra and Percussion Dances.
    • Bridge Records.
    • 20.
  • John Luther Adams

    Canticles of the Sky, No. 2: Sky with Four Moons

    Ensemble: Northwestern University Cello Ensemble. Conductor: Hans Jørgen Jensen.
    • The Wind in High Places.
    • Cold Blue Music.
    • 5.
  • John Luther Adams

    Dream of the Canyon Wren

    Performer: JACK Quartet.
    • The Wind in High Places.
    • Cold Blue Music.
    • 8.
  • Thomas Adès

    The Four Quarters, No. 4: The Twenty-Fifth Hour

    Ensemble: Calder Quartet.
    • The Twenty-Fifth Hour.
    • Signum.
    • 4.
  • Hans Abrahamsen

    Four Orchestral Pieces, No. 4

    Orchestra: WDR Symphony Orchestra Cologne. Conductor: Jonathan Stockhammer.
    • Zählen und Erzählen.
    • Winter & Winter.
    • 4.
  • Christopher Fox

    Republican Bagatelles

    Performer: Philip Thomas.
    • Works for Piano.
    • Hat[now]ART.
    • 4.
  • Mark-Anthony Turnage

    Modern Muses - composer Mark Anthony Turnage and drummer Pete Erskine

  • Michael Finnissy

    Beat Generation Ballads (world premiere)

    Performer: Philip Thomas.

Broadcast

  • Sat 25 Apr 2015 22:00

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