The Well-Tempered Ear
Classical music: Here are the world premieres of the fourth and fifth pieces of “pandemic music” commissioned by the U.S. Library of Congress
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By Jacob Stockinger
The project has reached the midway point.
Last week was when the world premieres of the 10 short pieces — written for the Library of Congress’ “Boccaccio Project” — started going public and began being posted on various social media sites such as Twitter, Facebook and YouTube as well as the Internet.
One performance is released each weekday night starting at 8 p.m. EDT.
The project is a way to capture some of the unique culture brought about by the coronavirus pandemic and COVID-19.
The first piece was “Sequestered Thoughts,” a solo piano work by composed Damien Sneed and performed by Jeremy Jordan.
The second was “shadow of a difference/falling” by composer Richard Drehoff Jr. and solo oboist Andrew Nogal of the Grossman Ensemble.
There were featured in this blog last week.
The fourth and fifth pieces were premiered last Thursday and Friday, bringing the project to the halfway point before the Summer Solstice, Father’s Day and Make Music Madison weekend.
The fourth work is “Bridges,” a solo piano work composed by Cliff Eidelman (below top) and performed at home by Jenny Lin (below bottom, in a photo by Liz Linder).
The title refers to the composer’s focus on finding bridges from the peculiar coronavirus pandemic back to normal life.
https://www.loc.gov/concerts/boccaccio-project/eidelman-lin.html
The fifth piece is “Hello World” by composer by Erin Rogers (below top, in a photo by Aleksandr Karjaka), an exploratory work for solo flute that is performed by Erin Lesser (below bottom) of the Wet Ink Ensemble.
https://www.loc.gov/concerts/boccaccio-project/rogers-lesser.html
On the same page as the performance you can read what the composer and sometimes the performer have to say about the new work and what it strives to mean or express.
You can use links to go to the five past performances and premieres.
You can also follow links on the bottom of the page to see more information about both the composer and the performer, and to general background of the project.
If you would like some more background, along with some commentary and questions from The Ear, go to https://welltempered.wordpress.com/2020/06/13/classical-music-the-library-of-congress-has-commissioned-new-music-about-the-coronavirus-pandemic-you-can-listen-to-the-premieres-from-this-monday-june-15-through-june-28/
What do you think of the pieces?
What do you think of the project?
Will you like to hear more of the commissioned music?
The Ear wants to hear.
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Classical music: Here are the world premieres of the second and third pieces of “pandemic music” commissioned by the U.S. Library of Congress
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PLEASE HELP THE EAR. IF YOU LIKE A CERTAIN BLOG POST, SPREAD THE WORD. FORWARD A LINK TO IT OR, SHARE IT or TAG IT (not just “Like” it) ON FACEBOOK. Performers can use the extra exposure to draw potential audience members to an event. And you might even attract new readers and subscribers to the blog.
By Jacob Stockinger
It has started.
This is the week when the world premieres of the 10 short pieces — written for the Library of Congress’ “Boccaccio Project” — started going public and began being posted on various social media sites as well as the Internet.
One performance is released each weekday night starting at 8 p.m. EDT.
The project is a way to capture some of the unique culture brought about by the coronavirus pandemic and COVID-19.
The first was “Sequestered Thoughts,” a solo piano work by composer Damien Sneed and performed by Jeremy Jordan. You can hear it in the post preceding this one.
Now it’s on to two new ones.
The second piece in the series is the 4-1/2 minutes “shadow of a difference/falling” by composer Richard Drehoff Jr. (below top, in a photo by James Matthew Daniel) and solo oboist Andrew Nogal (below bottom, in a photo by Jay Morthland) of the Grossman Ensemble.
https://www.loc.gov/concerts/boccaccio-project/drehoff-nogal.html
The third work is the three-minute “Intuit – (a way to stay in the world)” by Miya Masaoka (below top, in a photo by Heika no koto) performed by solo cellist Kathryn Bates (below bottom) of the Del Sol String Quartet.
https://www.loc.gov/concerts/boccaccio-project/masaoka-bates.html
On the same page as the performance video, you can read what the composer and sometimes the performer have to say about the new work and what the music strives to mean or express.
You can also go to past performances and premieres.
You can follow links on the bottom of the page to see more information about both the composer and the performer, and to general background of the project.
If you would like some more background, along with some commentary and questions from The Ear, go to https://welltempered.wordpress.com/2020/06/13/classical-music-the-library-of-congress-has-commissioned-new-music-about-the-coronavirus-pandemic-you-can-listen-to-the-premieres-from-this-monday-june-15-through-june-28/
What do you think of the pieces?
What do you think of the project?
Woud you like to hear more of the commissioned music?
The Ear wants to hear.
Tags: #African-AmericanComposer, #AndrewNogal, #BlogPost, #BlogPosting, #BoccaccioProject, #ChamberMusic, #CommissionedMusic, #CoronavirusPandemic, #COVID-19, #DamienSneed, #DelSolQuartet, #DelSolStringQuartet, #FacebookPost, #FacebookPosting, #GiovanniBoccaccio, #GrossmanEnsemble, #HomeWebsite, #JacobStockinger, #JeremyJordan, #KathrynBates, #LibraryofCongress, #MiyaMasaoaka, #NewMusic, #OboeMusic, #PianoMusic, #RichardDrehoffJr., #Self-Quarantine, #SequesteredThoughts, #SocialDistance, #SocialDistancing, #SocialMedia, #StringQuartet, #TheEar, #TheInternet, #TheU.S., #U.S.Government, #WorldPremiere, #YouTubevideo, American, Andrew Nogal, Arts, Bates, begin, blog, Boccaccio, Boccaccio Project, capture, Cello, Chamber music, Classical music, commission, compose, composer, coronavirus, culure, Damien Sneed, Del Sol Quartet, Del Sol String Quartet, difference, express, Facebook, falling, first, forward, Giovanni Boccaccio, government, Grossman Ensemble, Internet, Intuit, Jacob Stockinger, Jeremy Jordan, Kathryn Bates, Library of Congress, like, link, lockdown, Masaoka, mean, microtonal, microtone, Miya Masaoka, Music, New Music, night, Oboe, oboist, performance, performer, Pianist, Piano, piece, post, posting, premiere, project, public, quarantine, reader, Richard Drehoff Jr., second, Sequestered Thoughts, shadow, share, short, site, social distancing, social media, solo, start, stay, String quartet, tag, The Ear, third, Twitter, U.S., unique, United States, way, Website, week, weekday, work, world, written, YouTube
Classical music: Here is the world premiere of the first piece of “pandemic music” commissioned by the Library of Congress
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PLEASE HELP THE EAR. IF YOU LIKE A CERTAIN BLOG POST, SPREAD THE WORD. FORWARD A LINK TO IT OR, SHARE IT or TAG IT (not just “Like” it) ON FACEBOOK. Performers can use the extra exposure to draw potential audience members to an event. And you might even attract new readers and subscribers to the blog.
By Jacob Stockinger
It has started.
This is the week when the world premieres of the 10 short pieces — written by American composers for the U.S. Library of Congress’ “Boccaccio Project” — will go public and start being posted on various social media sites such as Facebook, Twitter and YouTube as well as the Internet.
The project is a way to capture some of the unique culture brought about by the coronavirus pandemic and COVID-19.
The first is “Sequestered Thoughts,” a solo piano work by composed Damien Sneed (below top) and performed by Jeremy Jordan (below bottom).
Below is a link to the page with the performance. You can also read what both the composer and the pianist have to say about the new work and what it means — including rippling octaves that depict the monotony of the days in isolation.
Here is the link: https://www.loc.gov/concerts/boccaccio-project/sneed-jordan.html
You can also follow links on the bottom of the page to more information about both the composer and the performer, and to general background of the project.
If you would like some more background, along with commentary and questions, go to: https://welltempered.wordpress.com/2020/06/13/classical-music-the-library-of-congress-has-commissioned-new-music-about-the-coronavirus-pandemic-you-can-listen-to-the-premieres-from-this-monday-june-15-through-june-28/
What do you think of the new piece?
What do you think of the whole project?
Do you want to hear more of the commissioned music?
The Ear wants to hear.
Tags: #African-AmericanComposer, #AmericanComposer, #BlogPost, #BlogPosting, #BoccaccioProject, #CommissionedMusic, #DamienSneed, #FacebookPost, #FacebookPosting, #GiovanniBoccaccio, #HomeWebsite, #JacobStockinger, #JeremyJordan, #LibraryofCongress, #NewMusic, #PianoMusic, #Self-Isolation, #SocialMedia, #Stayathome, #TheEar, #TheInternet, #WorldPremiere, #YouTubevideo, African American, American, Arts, audience, background, blog, Boccaccio, Boccaccio Project, Classical music, commentary, commission, composer, Congress, culture, Damien Sneed, days, depict, Facebook, first, forward, general, Giovanni Boccaccio, hear, help, home website, information, Internet, isolation, Jacob Stockinger, Jeremy Jordan, library, Library of Congress, like, link, listen, mean, monotonous, monotony, Music, New Music, octave, page, performance, performer, Pianist, Piano, piano music, pieces, post, posted, posting, project, public, question, rippling, say, sequester, share, short, site, social media, solo, stay at home, tag, The Ear, think, thoughts, Twitter, U.S., unique, web page, Website, week, world premiere, YouTube
Classical music: The Library of Congress has commissioned new music about the coronavirus pandemic. You can listen to the world premieres from this Monday, June 15, through June 26
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PLEASE HELP THE EAR. IF YOU LIKE A CERTAIN BLOG POST, SPREAD THE WORD. FORWARD A LINK TO IT OR, SHARE IT or TAG IT (not just “Like” it) ON FACEBOOK. Performers can use the extra exposure to draw potential audience members to an event. And you might even attract new readers and subscribers to the blog.
By Jacob Stockinger
The U.S. Library of Congress (LOC, exterior is below top and interior is below bottom) has started a new artistic project relevant to a public health crisis in both a historical era and the current times.
The LOC has commissioned 10 different short works, experienced in 10 different performance videos recorded at their homes — that pertain to the coronavirus pandemic and COVID-19 from American composers and performers.
It is called The Boccaccio Project after the Renaissance poet Giovanni Boccaccio (below), a 14th-century Italian writer who wrote “The Decameron,” a series of stories told by 10 people who fled from Florence, Italy, to find refuge in the countryside during the Black Plague.
The musical works will start being premiered on weekdays this coming Monday, June 15, at the Library of Congress website. The works will also be broadcast on social media including Facebook, Twitter and YouTube.
The website, which now has a complete list of performers and works, will soon have a complete schedule of world premieres, running on weekdays from Monday, June 15, to Friday, June 26. Then the manuscripts will be transferred to the LOC archives.
Here is a link: https://loc.gov/item/prn-20-038/
Many of the names will be unfamiliar to the general public. But an excellent story about the background and genesis of the project, including music samples, can be found on National Public Radio (NPR), which aired the story Friday morning.
Here is a link to that 7-minute story (if you listen to it rather than read it, you will hear samples of the music): https://www.npr.org/2020/06/12/875325958/a-new-library-of-congress-project-commissions-music-of-the-coronavirus-pandemic
And here are some of the participants, who are noteworthy for their ethnic and geographic diversity:
Flutronix (below) includes flutist Allison Loggins-Hull, left, and composer Nathalie Joachim.
The work by composer Luciano Chessa (below top) will be performed by violist Charlton Lee (below bottom), of the Del Sol Quartet:
And the work by Damien Sneed (below top) work will be performed by Jeremy Jordan (below bottom):
The new project strikes The Ear as a terrific and timely undertaking — the musical equivalent of the photographic project, funded and staffed by the Farm Security Administration (FSA) during The Great Depression of the 1930s. That project yielded enduring masterpieces by such eminent photographers as Dorothea Lange and Walker Evans.
But several questions arise.
How much did the project cost?
Will the general public be able to get copies of and rights to these works to perform? One assumes yes, since it is a public project funded with public money.
And will this project give rise to similar projects in other countries that are also battling the pandemic? New art – literature, films, painting, dance and so on — arising from new circumstances seems like something that is indeed worth the undertaking.
Listen to them.
What works stand out for you?
What do you think of the project?
The Ear wants to hear.
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The Well-Tempered Ear 
Classical music: Here are the world premieres of the last three pieces of “pandemic music” commissioned by the U.S. Library of Congress
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PLEASE HELP THE EAR. IF YOU LIKE A CERTAIN BLOG POST, SPREAD THE WORD. FORWARD A LINK TO IT OR, SHARE IT or TAG IT (not just “Like” it) ON FACEBOOK. Performers can use the extra exposure to draw potential audience members to an event. And you might even attract new readers and subscribers to the blog.
By Jacob Stockinger
The ambitious project has now ended.
Two weeks ago was when the world premieres of the 10 short pieces — written for the U.S. Library of Congress’ “Boccaccio Project” — started going public and began being posted on the social media sites Twitter and Facebook as well as on YouTube and the internet.
Last week saw the last five compositions and the end of the project.
This blog has already posted the first seven compositions and performances.
Today you can hear the last three.
The project, funded by the federal government, is a way to capture some of the unique culture brought about by the coronavirus pandemic and COVID-19. Below are photos with links to the performances.
The eighth piece is “Lobelia,” a work for solo cello composed by Ashkan Behzadi (below top) and performed by Mariel Roberts of the Wet Ink Ensemble (below bottom, in a photo by Gannushkin).
https://www.loc.gov/concerts/boccaccio-project/behzadi-roberts.html
The ninth piece is “A Shared Solitary” for solo violin and electronics by composer Niloufar Nourbakhsh (below top) and performed by Jannina Norpoth (below bottom, in a photo by Laura Ise) of the PUBLIQuartet.
https://www.loc.gov/concerts/boccaccio-project/nourbakhsh-norpoth.html
The 10th and final piece is “Have and Hold” for solo singing flutist and electronics composed by Allison Loggins-Hull (below top, in a photo by Rafael Rios) and performed by Nathalie Joachim (below bottom, in a photo by Erin Patrice O-Brien), both of the group Flutronix.
https://www.loc.gov/concerts/boccaccio-project/loggins-hull-joachim.html
On the same page as the performance you can read what the composer and sometimes the performer have to say about the new work and what it strives to mean or express.
You can use links to go to the past performances and premieres, to all 10 commissions.
You can also follow links on the bottom of the page to see more information about both the composer and the performer, and to general background of the project.
If you would like some more background, along with some commentary and questions from The Ear, go to https://welltempered.wordpress.com/2020/06/13/classical-music-the-library-of-congress-has-commissioned-new-music-about-the-coronavirus-pandemic-you-can-listen-to-the-premieres-from-this-monday-june-15-through-june-28/
What do you think of the individual pieces?
Do you have one or more favorites?
What do you think of the project?
How successful is it?
Will you like to hear more by composers of the commissioned music?
The Ear wants to hear.
Share this:
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