Extra Eclectic

The fantastically gifted pianist Keith Jarrett recently announced that he suffered not one but two debilitating strokes in 2018, effectively putting an end to his incredible performing career that has crossed boundaries of jazz, classical, and more. But it likely hasn't silenced him as a composer. Steve Seel showcases one of Jarrett's compositions for orchestra on this week's show, with a hopeful eye toward a career that still isn't over yet.

Derrick Spiva is an American composer who integrates musical practices from cultures around the world into his works. He's an authority on Persian, Balkan, Hindustani, and West African music, in addition to having traditional western classical training. Fittingly, his work "American Mirror" centers around the theme of immigrants, and how "inter-cultural collaboration," as he says, is "central to the well-being of American society." Steve Seel showcases Spiva's work on this week's program.

As the definition of classical music continues to grow, so too does the global village of composers who are welcomed into the fold of what was once dominated by the west (particularly western Europe) in centuries past. Today, audiences hunger to hear from composing voices outside of that bubble, and on this edition of the program, Steve Seel showcases composers from Argentina, Latvia, China, Venezuela, and more.

In 1887, the Michelson-Morely Experiment was one of the earliest investigations into the speed of light, and it marked a turning point in modern science. Philip Glass's piece "The Light" takes its name from that event, and it was the composer's first full work for symphony orchestra, written in 1987. It's just one of the "light"-themed works featured on the next edition of Extra Eclectic. Ward Jacobsen guest hosts.

Danny Elfman has written over 100 film and TV scores, from Tim Burton's Batman to the theme from The Simpsons. He says that from time to time, however, he finds that he has to write orchestral music totally free from the influence of film, in order to "keep my sanity" -- a process he says he finds "incredibly liberating and relieving." His latest is his Violin Concerto, "Eleven Eleven," and it's featured on this week's show.

We're analyzing the earth from different vantage points this week -- primarily as outside observers. Steve Seel features Tina Davidson's "Blue Curve of the Earth" and David Skidmore's "Aliens with Extraordinary Abilities," in addition to Terry Riley's "Sunrise of the Planetary Dream Collector" and Christopher Theofanidis' "All Dreams Begin With the Horizon."

Sometimes, illusions are more powerful than reality. That's part of the undercurrent of several of the works on this week's show. Steve Seel features Scott Wollschleger's "We See Things That Are Not There," Brendon Randall-Myers' "Auras" from his "Dynamic of Vanishing Bodies," and Nico Muhly's "Seeing Is Believing," based on how ancient sky-observers saw shapes, animals, and objects in the heavens -- by grouping the stars into constellations.

The practice of writing new music for ensembles who specialize in ancient or early music is one that's gained popularity in the past few decades in contemporary classical. It creates a kind of sound that feels unstuck in time, in a way. Steve Seel has examples on this edition of the show, including Gavin Bryars' "Super Flumina."

The Sanskrit word "Shakti" signifies a celestial feminine energy that allows man to enter into contact with the divine. Composer John Tavener says that although Shakti is a Hindu concept, Shakti-ism has a universal significance, since "the concept of the eternal feminine is present in all great primordial traditions." Steve Seel features Tavener's work "Mahashakti" as one of the major works on this week's program, in addition to music by Einojuhani Rautavaara, Hannah Kendall, and others.

In native Australian culture, the Dreaming is a term devised by early anthropologists to refer to a religious cultural worldview attributed to Aboriginal beliefs. Since the term's inception, there's been argument as to whether or not it accurately reflects true Aboriginal culture, or is merely a western misunderstanding of them. Either way, today it's part of the lexicon in popular culture when describing Aboriginal mysticism, and thus, an attractive and interesting concept to Australian musicians and composers as well. Steve Seel explores some on this week's show.