Music with Roots in the Aether

April 7, 2007 3:11 PM

"These are my friends. I love their music. They are among the most important people in my life. The portrait is shattered because I could not make it whole." If you're bored this weekend, check out Robert Ashley's Music with Roots in the Aether. Each episode features a "landscape" (unusually-staged informal discussion) with a contemporary American composer, followed by a one-hour performance of his or her work. Subjects include the recently discussed Alvin Lucier, Pauline Oliveros, and Philip Glass. More on Ashley from NewMusicBox and Ubu.
posted by roll truck roll (7 comments total)

Huh. I can hardly believe that this post broke NewMusicBox, but it does seem to be down now.
posted by roll truck roll at 3:23 PM on April 7, 2007

Nevermind. It's back.
posted by roll truck roll at 3:27 PM on April 7, 2007

It's notable that the interviews take place at a time when a lot of these musicians were heavily experimental and still struggling to define their ideas, versus now, with the musicians being much more established-- they're part of the historical avant-garde. I'm excited to see these.

Thank you for this post.
posted by Benjamin Nushmutt at 3:29 PM on April 7, 2007

I absolutely love early Philip Glass and Terry Riley. The lengthy interviews are terrific. Thank you for posting this as I would not have seen it otherwise. Amazing stuff.
posted by inoculatedcities at 5:25 PM on April 7, 2007

Really great stuff. Thanks for posting this.
posted by treepour at 5:38 PM on April 7, 2007

Thanks rtr! Just saw a solo concert of Terry Riley's a few months back: his playing (acoustic piano) was absolutely lovely. He's got a lot of heart. Great, great musician.
posted by flapjax at midnite at 6:31 PM on April 7, 2007

Delightful. Thank you.
posted by mykescipark at 8:13 AM on April 8, 2007