Each week, Tyler Kline journeys into new territory and demystifies the music of living composers on Modern Notebook. Listen for a wide variety of exciting music that engages and inspires, along with the stories behind each piece and the latest releases from today’s contemporary classical artists. Discover what’s in store on Modern Notebook, every Sunday night from 8 to 10 on Classical WSMR.
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On this week’s Modern Notebook with Tyler Kline: we celebrate the Winter Solstice and the official beginning of the Winter Season. Listen for numerous works inspired by the solstice by composers like Kitty Xiao, Lou Harrison, and Melissa Hui, as well as pieces inspired by Winter by Akemi Naito and Gifrants. Plus, “Winter Moons” by Jerod Impichchaachaaha’ Tate.
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On this week’s Modern Notebook with Tyler Kline: we continue our series of programs inspired by the Winter Season with music draws on stars and the night sky. Hear “A Very Star-Like Start” by John Liberatore, and more music about stars by Jessie Montgomery, Chris Opperman, David Fulmer, and others. And, it’s music of the night by Golfam Khayam, with the “Night Triptych” for two guitars, and new music from Caterina Schembri titled “I wake up in the night when I dream in black and white.”
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On the next Modern Notebook with Tyler Kline: In 2024, North America experienced four eclipses, including the total eclipse in April. Tune in for music inspired by and composed just for these occasions, with “Eclipse” by Marc Mellits. It’s music that sonically reflects the process of eclipse with hidden melodies, dancing rhythms, and funky lines.Then: we kick off a series of interviews featuring composers from Sarasota’s Suncoast Composer Fellowship Program. Tune in for an introduction by artistic director Max Tan and composer mentor Sean Friar, then we’ll hear from fellows David Acevedo and Daniel Gostelow.
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On this week’s Modern Notebook with Tyler Kline: with fall time here, it seems like a good time to make a bit of chili. So, tune in for a work titled Cello Chili by composer Brent Michael Davids: complete with a recipe for a stew made of green chiles and pieces of cello.Then: We welcome in the month of November with the music of Toru Takemitsu… we’ll hear his double concerto for biwa and shakuhachi titled November Steps.
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On this week’s Modern Notebook with Tyler Kline, tune in for a special lineup of pieces chosen just in time for Halloween! We’ll be getting spooky, with music about ghosts and ghost stories, pieces that will cast a spell on you, and selections that draw inspiration from horror genres.
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On this week’s Modern Notebook with Tyler Kline: Dai Wei’s piece “Honeycomb” is music born out of her own observations of a beehive outside her bedroom window. Stuck inside during the COVID-19 lockdowns, she would watch bees come and go, and later learned how bees passed nectar to one another to form a honeycomb–and this natural process went on to inspire the construction of this piece.Then: hear music by Akshaya Avril Tucker for trumpet and saxophone, and a piece by Sean William Calhoun called “Plasmonic Mirror.” And a guitar quartet by João Luiz titled “Three Brazilian Pieces,” which serves as a musical portrait of three forms of expression from his native country.
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Coming up on this week’s Modern Notebook with Tyler Kline: When the Apollo Chamber Players approached Adolphus Hailstork to compose a new piece, they specifically requested that he base his composition on material representing his heritage in some way. So, he chose to quote his favorite spiritual, “Deep River,” and crafted a rhapsody for string quartet from that material.You can hear that piece, plus: A combination of old and new ideas inspired Jüri Reinvere’s orchestral work, “On the Ship of Fools.” On one hand, it draws on Sebastian Brant’s 1494 satirical work “Ship of Fools,” but on the other hand… Reinvere cites the deception found on today’s social media as our own modern “Ship of Fools.”
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On the next Modern Notebook with Tyler Kline: There’s an old Japanese tale about friendship and loss called Hanasaka Jiisan, which tells the story of an old man who lives with his best friend, a dog that possesses a magical power to find hidden treasure. Tune in for music for oboe, bassoon, and piano by Sato Matsui inspired by this tale.Then: it’s music that serves as a reminder of hope and that times move fast, with a piece by Sarah Lianne Lewis called “Letting the Light In.” It’s a work inspired by her experience of becoming a new mother… watching rays of morning light emerge from the inky darkness of nighttime.
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Coming up on this week’s Modern Notebook with Tyler Kline: hear expansive, meditative music with a piece by Marti Epstein titled “Swirl.” It’s a work that opens with a circular gesture that ascends higher and higher, and proceeds to examine fragmentary musical material through the lens of sonic memory.Then: The word “Symphonies” comes from the Greek word meaning to “sound together,” which adds another layer of meaning and context to Nova Pon’s “Symphonies of Mother and Child.” This is intensely personal music, inspired by her bond with her child - but also explores broader themes like love and loss, attachment and interconnection, and time and transcience.
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On the next Modern Notebook with Tyler Kline: Wēpan is the Old English word for “weeping.” It’s also the name of this piece by Tina Davidson scored for piano quintet - a work that explores metallic preparations in the piano mixed with evocative sliding gestures in the strings.Then: Gazing at the night sky has been a source of bewilderment and inspiration for millenia - and invitation to discern patterns and seek their meaning. It’s music inspired by the stars by Gerardo Dirié composed for viola da gamba and bass clarinet titled Noctuary Duos.
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On this week’s Modern Notebook with Tyler Kline: Molly Joyce’s piece Unity explores the similarities and differences between the clarinet and saxophone across two movements. It was also written to incorporate sound descriptions for the purposes of accessibility and artistry of the music.Then: hear pieces by Baljinder Sekhon, Ge Gan-Ru, and others; plus, music for violin and electronics by Pamela Z called “Four Movements,” which explores different sounds generated by long delay lines and granular synthesis.
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Coming up on the next Modern Notebook with Tyler Kline, we are celebrating the fifth anniversary of the program’s launch! Tune in for an array of pieces that highlight the full spectrum of contemporary music, including pieces by James Grant, Sky Macklay, Ricardo Zohn-Muldoon, Salvatore Sciarrino, Fumiko Miyachi, and Annie Clark..Then, listen for high-energy pieces by Beat Furrer and Tyondai Braxton; an acapella work by Ken Ueno; and microtonal string quartet music by Ben Jonhston.
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On the next Modern Notebook with Tyler Kline: Violinist Rachel Lee Priday has a new album called Fluid Dynamics, created in collaboration with six composers and an oceanographer. On this week’s program, listen for new music by Paul Wiancko from this collection of pieces.Then: Denmark’s Kronborg Castle has been immortalized as Elsinore in William Shakespeare’s Hamlet and you can hear a work by Brett Dean that imagines moving from room to room in this castle. It’s titled Rooms of Elsinore, scored for viola and piano.
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This week on Modern Notebook with Tyler Kline: hear pieces by Keyla Orozco, Maeve Gilchrist, and others. And, music for steel pan and wind quintet by Andy Akiho, titled “BeLonging.”Plus: When it was time for composer Gabriel Erkoreka to write his first piano concerto, he figured he would put a bit of himself into it: after all, the piano is his primary instrument. But he found other ways to do it: born under the sun sign of Pisces, he decided to draw on the symbolism of Pisces as the inspiration for this piece.