Modern Notebook for August 3, 2025
By Tyler Kline
July 31, 2025 at 10:30 AM EDT
On the next Modern Notebook with Tyler Kline: In Listen to the Earth, James Grant takes us aboard Apollo 11 — from liftoff, through orbit, all the way to the lunar surface. Drawing from NASA transcripts, environmental texts, and his own poetic reflections, Grant’s music becomes a call to witness our planet’s beauty from space — and to care for it with everything we’ve got.
Then: Inspired by a Mark Rothko painting, Anna Clyne’s Color Field imagines sound as color and color as sound — with musical movements tied to yellow, red, and orange. Each section draws from synesthesia and Scriabin’s color-pitch associations, blending warmth, fire, and calm into a vivid, sonic canvas.
Also featured this week are works by Nicole Chamberlain, Aso Kohzadi, Nicky Sohn, Caimin Gilmore, Reena Esmail, Shawn E. Okpebholo, and Akshaya Avril Tucker. Performances by the Chamber Winds of South Dakota, cellist Benjamin Larsen, pianist Ava Nazar, the ensemble Musiqa, baritone Marcus DeLoach, the Temple University Concert Choir and Chamber Orchestra, cellist Kate Ellis, harpist Lavinia Meijer, pianist Nicholas Phillips, the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra, Elicio Winds, and the quartet Brooklyn Rider.
Listen Sunday night at 8:00 Eastern on Classical WSMR. Stream from anywhere at wsmr.org.
Hour 1
Moxie by Nicole Chamberlain
Aso Kohzadi’s Avaz
Burning by Nicky Sohn
James Grant’s Listen to the Earth (1080x1080, AR: 1.0)
Hour 2
BlackGate: MVE I by Caimin Gilmore
Reena Esmail’s Rang De Basant
Color Field by Anna Clyne
Shawn E. Okpebholo’s lullaby | ballad | spiritual
Hollow Flame by Akshaya Avril Tucker (1080x1080, AR: 1.0)
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.
Then: Inspired by a Mark Rothko painting, Anna Clyne’s Color Field imagines sound as color and color as sound — with musical movements tied to yellow, red, and orange. Each section draws from synesthesia and Scriabin’s color-pitch associations, blending warmth, fire, and calm into a vivid, sonic canvas.
Also featured this week are works by Nicole Chamberlain, Aso Kohzadi, Nicky Sohn, Caimin Gilmore, Reena Esmail, Shawn E. Okpebholo, and Akshaya Avril Tucker. Performances by the Chamber Winds of South Dakota, cellist Benjamin Larsen, pianist Ava Nazar, the ensemble Musiqa, baritone Marcus DeLoach, the Temple University Concert Choir and Chamber Orchestra, cellist Kate Ellis, harpist Lavinia Meijer, pianist Nicholas Phillips, the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra, Elicio Winds, and the quartet Brooklyn Rider.
Listen Sunday night at 8:00 Eastern on Classical WSMR. Stream from anywhere at wsmr.org.
Hour 1
Moxie by Nicole Chamberlain
Aso Kohzadi’s Avaz
Burning by Nicky Sohn
James Grant’s Listen to the Earth (1080x1080, AR: 1.0)
Hour 2
BlackGate: MVE I by Caimin Gilmore
Reena Esmail’s Rang De Basant
Color Field by Anna Clyne
Shawn E. Okpebholo’s lullaby | ballad | spiritual
Hollow Flame by Akshaya Avril Tucker (1080x1080, AR: 1.0)
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.