After reading the interview in this blog post, I found a piece by composer Keeril Makan written for prepared viola. It is called Mu; there is a video below. The part I find most intriguing is about halfway through, where the viola is turned into a percussion instrument. I’ve always thought that stringed instruments are great at percussive sounds–the larger the instrument, the better in my opinion. Here is a video below:
I also trekked back to the NOW Ensemble’s site simply to finish listening to the pieces available on their audio player. Quite a few nice pieces there. It really thrills me to see ensembles/collectives who are dedicated to the works of new composers, so of course I had to continue to check them out. All of these pieces were written for their ensemble, apparently. Here are the pieces available in the audio player, all of which I enjoyed:
- Folk Music, by Judd Greenstein (which I mentioned last week)
- Hypno-germ, by Patrick Burke
- Hanging There, by Mark Dancigers
- All Together NOW, by Patrick Burke
- How About Now, by Nico Muhly
- Cloudbank, by Mark Dancigers
- Sing Along, by Judd Greenstein (also mentioned last week)
And lastly, here is a pick from Q2:
- Violin Concerto No. 1, ” On the Nature of Love,” by Robert Kyr
Have a great Labor Day Weekend!
Sakari
