Five Seismic Moments In New Music

Episode

Title

First
Broadcast

Comments

Robert Worby On John Cage's 4'33''

20160104

Robert Worby's selected seismic moment in new music is the first performance of John Cage's controversial 4'33' and its impact on performers and audiences ever since.

The story of new music is peppered with events that have altered the course of musical history. For our New Year New Music season, we asked five Radio 3 presenters to each tell the story of one of these 'seismic moments'. From silence and ambient sounds to riot and revolution, these intriguing events have, in different ways, changed the progress of sound and culture - or, as one of our five suggests, have they?

Written and read by Robert Worby

Produced by Elizabeth Allard.

Robert Worby reflects on the first performance of John Cage's 4'33'.

Essays from leading writers on arts, history, philosophy, science, religion and beyond.

Sara Mohr Pietsch On The Fall Of The Berlin Wall

20160105

Sara Mohr-Pietsch's chosen seismic moment in new music looks to the fall of the Berlin Wall. She reflects on the accompanying rise in the popularity of Eastern European composers as a simplicity in musical language emerged from behind the Iron Curtain.

Written and read by Sara Mohr-Pietsch.

Producer: Nicola Holloway.

Sara Mohr-Pietsch on the appetite in the west for eastern European music after 1989.

Essays from leading writers on arts, history, philosophy, science, religion and beyond.

Ivan Hewett On Brian Eno's Music For Airports

20160106

In his 1978 album Music for Airports Brian Eno created a new genre of music he named 'ambient music'. The album was designed to ease the tedium of waiting in airports, but ambient music, which Eno said was 'as ignorable as it is interesting', had an influence way beyond that. Ivan Hewett looks into the genesis and subsequent history of ambient music, and explains why Eno's description is not as self-contradictory as it appears to be.

Written and read by Ivan Hewett.

Produced by Elizabeth Allard.

Ivan Hewett reflects on Brian Eno's creation of a new genre, which he named ambient music.

Essays from leading writers on arts, history, philosophy, science, religion and beyond.

Sarah Walker On Steve Reich's Four Organs

20160107

Sarah Walker's chosen seismic moment in new music describes the notorious 1973 concert when Carnegie Hall played host to the radically minimalist Four Organs by Steve Reich. She also looks at how minimalism together with the idea of the composer-performer ensemble, changed the history of 20th century music.

Written and read by Sarah Walker

Producer: John Goudie.

Sarah Walker reflects on Steve Reich's radically minimalist Four Organs.

Essays from leading writers on arts, history, philosophy, science, religion and beyond.

Tom Service - Where Have All The Seismic Moments Gone?

20160108

Tom Service explores musical creativity and seismic shock in the twenty-first century. By the time the 20th century was 16 years old, music like Stravinsky's The Rite of Spring, Strauss's Salome, and Schoenberg's Five Orchestral Pieces had sent shockwaves through the tectonic plates of musical and cultural convention. In ripping up the musical rule-book, these pieces were heard to threaten social and even moral stability as well. So where are the seismic moments of the first 16 years of the 21st century? Why haven't composers been able to write another Rite? Is it because new music has lost its cultural capital? Or is it, rather, that seismic activity is happening even more today than it was in 1916- an endless series of mini-earthquakes rather than a single musical volcano, biding its time until all that creative energy breaks through?

Written and read by Tom Service

Producer: John Goudie.

Tom Service reflects on the lack of any seismic shocks in 21st-century music.

Essays from leading writers on arts, history, philosophy, science, religion and beyond.

Episodes

Episode	Title	First Broadcast	Comments
01	Robert Worby On John Cage's 4'33''	20160104	Robert Worby's selected seismic moment in new music is the first performance of John Cage's controversial 4'33' and its impact on performers and audiences ever since. The story of new music is peppered with events that have altered the course of musical history. For our New Year New Music season, we asked five Radio 3 presenters to each tell the story of one of these 'seismic moments'. From silence and ambient sounds to riot and revolution, these intriguing events have, in different ways, changed the progress of sound and culture - or, as one of our five suggests, have they? Written and read by Robert Worby Produced by Elizabeth Allard. Robert Worby reflects on the first performance of John Cage's 4'33'. Essays from leading writers on arts, history, philosophy, science, religion and beyond.
02	Sara Mohr Pietsch On The Fall Of The Berlin Wall	20160105	Sara Mohr-Pietsch's chosen seismic moment in new music looks to the fall of the Berlin Wall. She reflects on the accompanying rise in the popularity of Eastern European composers as a simplicity in musical language emerged from behind the Iron Curtain. The story of new music is peppered with events that have altered the course of musical history. For our New Year New Music season, we asked five Radio 3 presenters to each tell the story of one of these 'seismic moments'. From silence and ambient sounds to riot and revolution, these intriguing events have, in different ways, changed the progress of sound and culture - or, as one of our five suggests, have they? Written and read by Sara Mohr-Pietsch. Producer: Nicola Holloway. Sara Mohr-Pietsch on the appetite in the west for eastern European music after 1989. Essays from leading writers on arts, history, philosophy, science, religion and beyond.
03	Ivan Hewett On Brian Eno's Music For Airports	20160106	In his 1978 album Music for Airports Brian Eno created a new genre of music he named 'ambient music'. The album was designed to ease the tedium of waiting in airports, but ambient music, which Eno said was 'as ignorable as it is interesting', had an influence way beyond that. Ivan Hewett looks into the genesis and subsequent history of ambient music, and explains why Eno's description is not as self-contradictory as it appears to be. The story of new music is peppered with events that have altered the course of musical history. For our New Year New Music season, we asked five Radio 3 presenters to each tell the story of one of these 'seismic moments'. From silence and ambient sounds to riot and revolution, these intriguing events have, in different ways, changed the progress of sound and culture - or, as one of our five suggests, have they? Written and read by Ivan Hewett. Produced by Elizabeth Allard. Ivan Hewett reflects on Brian Eno's creation of a new genre, which he named ambient music. Essays from leading writers on arts, history, philosophy, science, religion and beyond.
04	Sarah Walker On Steve Reich's Four Organs	20160107	Sarah Walker's chosen seismic moment in new music describes the notorious 1973 concert when Carnegie Hall played host to the radically minimalist Four Organs by Steve Reich. She also looks at how minimalism together with the idea of the composer-performer ensemble, changed the history of 20th century music. The story of new music is peppered with events that have altered the course of musical history. For our New Year New Music season, we asked five Radio 3 presenters to each tell the story of one of these 'seismic moments'. From silence and ambient sounds to riot and revolution, these intriguing events have, in different ways, changed the progress of sound and culture - or, as one of our five suggests, have they? Written and read by Sarah Walker Producer: John Goudie. Sarah Walker reflects on Steve Reich's radically minimalist Four Organs. Essays from leading writers on arts, history, philosophy, science, religion and beyond.
05	Tom Service - Where Have All The Seismic Moments Gone?	20160108	Tom Service explores musical creativity and seismic shock in the twenty-first century. By the time the 20th century was 16 years old, music like Stravinsky's The Rite of Spring, Strauss's Salome, and Schoenberg's Five Orchestral Pieces had sent shockwaves through the tectonic plates of musical and cultural convention. In ripping up the musical rule-book, these pieces were heard to threaten social and even moral stability as well. So where are the seismic moments of the first 16 years of the 21st century? Why haven't composers been able to write another Rite? Is it because new music has lost its cultural capital? Or is it, rather, that seismic activity is happening even more today than it was in 1916- an endless series of mini-earthquakes rather than a single musical volcano, biding its time until all that creative energy breaks through? The story of new music is peppered with events that have altered the course of musical history. For our New Year New Music season, we asked five Radio 3 presenters to each tell the story of one of these 'seismic moments'. From silence and ambient sounds to riot and revolution, these intriguing events have, in different ways, changed the progress of sound and culture - or, as one of our five suggests, have they? Written and read by Tom Service Producer: John Goudie. Tom Service reflects on the lack of any seismic shocks in 21st-century music. Essays from leading writers on arts, history, philosophy, science, religion and beyond.