Poster Shawn E. Okpebholo
Shawn E. Okpebholo
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Extra Eclectic

Answering Tragedy With Music

Extra Eclectic - Feb. 8

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Many composers of our time have answered the tragedies and atrocities brought upon African Americans throughout history with compositions that serve as musical responses. Extra Eclectic host Steve Seel features some of them on this week’s episode. We’ll hear Richard Danielpour's Four Angels, responding to the Birmingham church bombing of 1963. Then we’ll explore Shawn Okpebholo's Two Black Churches: The Ballad of Birmingham, which reflects on that event and the 2015 shooting in Charleston, S.C., that killed nine parishioners.

Episode Playlist

Music For Bill and Me
Lou Harrison (Composer)
Music For Harp (Album)
Karen Gottlieb, Harp (Soloist)
Duration: 4:29

Elegy - In Memoriam - Stephen Lawrence
Philip Herbert (Composer)
Anthony Parnther (Conductor)
Spark Catchers (Album)
Chineke! Orchestra (Orchestra/Ensemble)
Duration: 6:55

Four Angels
Richard Danielpour (Composer)
American Stories (Album)
Pacifica Quartet (Orchestra/Ensemble)
Anthony Mcgill, Clarinet (Soloist)
Duration: 13:48 

Two Black Churches: Ballad of Birmingham
Shawn E. Okpebholo (Composer)
Dreams Of A New Day (Album)
Will Liverman, Baritone (Soloist)
Duration: 9:21

The Promise of The Far Horizon
Jeffrey Mumford (Composer)
Jeffrey Mumford: The Promise Of The Far Horizon (Album)
Corigliano Quartet (Orchestra/Ensemble)
Duration: 15:13

Prelude No. 1 "Joshua Fit The Battle Of Jericho"
Wallace Cheatham (Composer)
Kete: Piano Music Of The African Diaspora (Album)
William Chapman Nyaho, Piano (Soloist)
Duration: :58

Chasing Butterflies
Issam Rafea/Gao Hong (Composer)
Life As Is (Album)
Issam Rafea, Oud (Soloist)
Duration: 4:26

Hora
Adolphus Hailstork (Composer)
20 For 2020 Volume 3 (Album)
Inbal Segev, Cello (Soloist)
Duration: 6:07

The Fence, The Rooftop, And The Distant Sea: Dance
Kinan Azmeh (Composer)
Uneven Sky (Album)
Kinan Azmeh, Clarinet (Soloist)
Duration: 2:42

Four Haikus
Gity Razaz (Composer)
Night Triptych (Album)
Duo Noire (Orchestra/Ensemble)
Duration: 10:43

The Light is The Same
Reena Esmail (Composer)
Bruits (Album)
Imani Winds (Orchestra/Ensemble)
Duration: 8:51

Canto V: Into The Heart Of Light
Einojuhani Rautavaara (Composer)
Juha Kangas (Conductor)
Dedicated To (Album)
Ostrobothnian Chamber Orchestra (Orchestra/Ensemble)
Duration: 11:34

Nihavent Semai
Sokratis Sinopoulos (Composer)
Thrace: Sunday Morning Sessions (Album)
Jean-Guihen Queyras, Cello (Soloist)
Duration: 7:07

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