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Modern Notebook

Modern Notebook

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.
  • Photo courtesy of the artist's Facebook page.
    On the next Modern Notebook with Tyler Kline: hear an undulating, groovy work for four trombones, with Laura Jurd’s “Swamped.” It’s music that encourages the performers to change their sound to something more compact, like performing into a 1940s microphone.Then: we continue our interview series with composers from the Suncoast Composer Fellowship Program in Sarasota. This week, it’s conversations with Max Gibson and Joshua Muetzel.
  • Composer Marc Mellits.
    Photo courtesy of the artist.
    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.
  • 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.”
  • 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.
  • 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.
  • 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.
  • 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.
  • 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.
  • 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.
  • 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.
  • On this week’s Modern Notebook with Tyler Kline: The writing of Emily Dickinson has long inspired composers to set her words to music, and we’ll hear a work by Jennifer Jolley that features three poems by Dickinson. It’s music for soprano, flute, and guitar that weaves in and out of moods, somber, to bright, to free.Then: it’s solo violin music by Scott Wollschleger titled Secret Machine No. 7. It’s music that draws on the composer’s typical glitchy soundworlds, but notably, asks the violin to detune one string and use a metal mute to produce delicate, yet clear, noises.
  • On this week’s Modern Notebook with Tyler Kline, we’ll hear a work by Takuma Itoh for shakuhachi and chamber ensemble called Faded Aura, and pieces by David Lang and Helen Grime. Plus, a new work by composer-pianist Beyza Yazgan titled “Question.”Then: Eleanor Alberga’s first symphony is music inspired by geology and the makings of a planet. It’s called “Strata,” and over the course of the piece, the composer travels through the different layers of the Earth - growing more imaginative the deeper we go.
  • Coming up on the next Modern Notebook with Tyler Kline: Pianist Michael Mizrahi has a new album out titled “Dreamspace,” and it’s a collection of music for solo piano intended to give space for dreaming. We’ll share a selection from the album, as well as pieces by Laurie San Martin, Jeffrey Mumford, and others.Then, composer John Mackey says that he sees the saxophone as essentially a brass instrument: it’s made of metal, yet it uses wood to produce sound. We’ll hear a Soprano Saxophone Concerto by Mackey that draws on the physical materials of a saxophone as musical inspiration.
  • On the next Modern Notebook with Tyler Kline: “Imagine preparing to board a sailboat at dawn. The water is completely calm. There is hardly a sound except the occasional early morning birdcall and sound of a ripple breaking on the shore.” These perfect words were written by composer Margaret Brouwer to accompany her piece, “The Art of Sailing at Dawn.”Then: The interplay of piccolo trumpet and ambient soundscape is the focal point of Orlando Jacinto Garcia’s work “Resonating Color Fields.” It’s music where, with each ascending gesture of the trumpet, new colors in the electronics swirl to life to create an ever-evolving texture.