Currier's "Time Machines"

Synopsis

You could say that when you listen to classical music, you are taking a trip in a time machine. Or, as Shirley MacLaine might put it, “Classical music is the soundtrack of your previous lives.”

The contemporary American composer Sebastian Currier goes even further, suggesting (quote):

“It's only a little bit of an exaggeration to say that music is made of nothing BUT time - well, and air too … melodic or rhythmic gestures are made of a series of events moving forward in time. … And the rest is air. A musician bows a string, blows air in a cylinder, strikes a metal object, and a series of sound waves take that information to our ears … It has always been fascinating to me that an art form that is so penetrating … is made of such ephemeral stuff.”

Sebastian Currier even gave the title “Time Machines” to one of his works, a piece for violin and orchestra, that received its premiere performance in New York City on today’s date in 2011 with the German violinist Anne-Sophie Mutter as the soloist, and the New York Philharmonic conducted by Alan Gilbert. Each of the work’s seven movements explores some aspect of the relationship between the perception of music and time, ranging from “Fragmented Time” at its opening to “Harmonic Time” at its close.

Music Played in Today's Program

Sebastian Currier (b. 1959) Time Machines Anne-Sophie Mutter, vn; New York Philharmonic; Alan Gilbert, cond (r. live June 2, 2011). DG 477 9359

On This Day

Births

• 1835 - Russian composer, pianist and conductor Nicolai Rubinstein (brother of Anton), in Moscow (Gregorian date: June 14);

• 1857 - English composer Sir Edward Elgar, in Broadheath (near Worcester);

• 1863 - German composer and conductor Felix Weingartner, in Zara, Dalmatia (now Zadar, Croatia);

Deaths

• 1937 - French composer and organist Louis Vierne, age 66, in Paris at Notre Dame Cathedral while playing an organ recital;

Premieres

• 1914 - Miaskovsky: Symphony No. 1, in Pavlovsk (Gregorian date: June 15);

• 1937 - Berg: opera "Lulu" (Acts 1 & 2 only), in Zürich at the Stadtstheater; The first complete performance of the 3-act version of this opera with Berg's unfinished Act 3 (arranged by Friedrich Cerha) premiered in Paris on February 24, 1979;

• 1953 - Bliss: "Processional" in London, at the coronation of Queen Elizabeth II;

• 1953 - Ginastera: "Variaciones Concertantes" in Buenos Aires;

• 1953 - Walton: "Coronation Te Deum" and "Orb and Sceptre" March, in London, at the coronation of Queen Elizabeth II;

• 1954 - Leroy Anderson: "Bugler's Holiday" at a Decca recording session in New York City, with the composer conducting; The three cornet soloist for this classic recording were Robert Cusamann, Carl Poole and Melven Solomon;

• 1983 - Henze: opera "The English Cat," in Schwetzingen at the Schlosstheater;

Others

• 1711 - The opera season at the Queen's Theater in London ends with a production of Handel's opera, "Rinaldo," (Gregorian date: June 13) which had opened there on February 24 (Gregorian date: March 7) the same year; This was the first Handel opera produced in London, and the first Italian opera written specifically composed for the London stage, and proved extremely popular;

• 1938 - At the MacDowell Colony in Peterborough, N.H., Amy Beach begins work on a Piano Trio based on some of her earlier works; She would finish the trio fifteen days later (June 18th) and publish it as her Op. 150.