Extra Eclectic

Some of the warmest, most compelling new classical music today is being written for the cello - and, played by cellists with a solid pedigree in new music. This week Steve features two hours of nearly wall-to-wall cellos, in solos, duos, multiples, and concerto settings, with performances by Maya Beiser, Ashley Bathgate, Yo Yo Ma, Zoe Keating, and others.

Avi Avital is an Israeli mandolinist, best known for his renditions of well-known Baroque and folk music, much of which was originally written for other instruments. Just about all those things are defied however in the work Steve features this week - a new work by David Bruce, called "Cymbeline," in which the composer says the mandolin conveys "the warmth of the sun." Steve also features two works by Steve Reich, as well as pieces by Missy Mazzoli, Colin Stetson, and more.

Rene Clausen, the professor of choral music and the Grammy-winning composer and conductor at Concordia College in Moorhead, Minn., depicts the epochs of time it took to form what we now know as the Red River Valley of the North in 'Before the Whirlwind' on this week's Extra Eclectic.

Composer Christopher Rouse died on Saturday at the age of 70 after a battle with cancer. Rouse once said, "I don't think it matters whether a piece is complex or simple, whether it's tonal or atonal or whatever ... That's not nearly as significant as whether it communicates something meaningful to a listener." Steve honors his life and career with an airing of his work, "Supplica." That plus music of John Adams, Toru Takamitsu, and more on this week's program.

For centuries, and even for most of the 20th, classical music was very much a boy's club. Thankfully that's come to and end, and even though there's still much ground to be gained for women in classical music, female composers are growing in number all the time. Steve Seel features a full two hours of living women composers on this edition of the show, including Sarah Kirkland Snider, Paola Prestini, Laura Cannell, Caroline Mallonee, Shelley Washington, Carmen Braden, and more.

It can be a challenge to know exactly what to play on September 11. On this edition of the program, Steve chooses to go the broadly spiritual route, with selections including Richard Danielpour's "For Love is Strong as Death," David Lang's "again (after ecclesiastes)," and from John Tavener's "The Protecting Veil" - a work that encircles the listener with a sense of light and love.

Steve Seel marks the unofficial ending of summer and beginning of fall on this week's program. Libby Larsen's "Deep Summer Music" hands off the passing season to fall-themed works including Paul Moravec's "Autumn Song" .... and you'll hear music that celebrates the northern landscapes and vistas that will soon be flush with color, including Michael Fine's "Heading North," and Reinaldo Moya's "The Way North."

A new setting of Brian Eno's meditative song "By This River" featuring violinist Mari Samuelsen is the centerpiece of the first hour of this week's show - and Steve Seel also replays Eno's classic, experimental "deconstructions" of the Canon by Johann Pachelbel, featuring Gavin Bryars and the Cockpit Ensemble. The second hour showcases works on themes of air and water, from John Adams, Mary Lattimore, Lou Harrison, and more.

The spiritual energy of light, the earth and sun, and natural flora are explored in this week's program. Steve Seel features works ranging from Terry Riley's "Sun Rings: One Earth, One People, One Love," and Johann Johannson's magnificent "A Pile of Dust" to John Cage's "In a Landscape" and not one but two live recordings from the 2019 BBC Proms, including Alexia Stone's "Earthward," featuring the choral group Voces8.

We hear from a host of classical mavericks and innovators this time out, including Harry Partch, a firebrand free-thinker who devised and built his own instruments to play his microtonal music. Steve also features Meredith Monk, Terry Riley, and both Colin McPhee and Steve Reich, two composers who were influenced by the sound of Balinese Gamelan in developing their own unique styles.