Extra Eclectic

Which composer down through history has provided the most inspiration for the composers of our time and their works? Bach? Arnold Schoenberg? Philip Glass? You just might be surprised how much Beethoven has been a boon to the music of the 20th and 21st century. As we celebrate the groundbreaking innovations of one of history's great artists on this 250th anniversary of his birth, Steve Seel has a look at how contemporary composers have taken up his themes, ideas, and melodies in their own works.

Evan Ziporyn is known both as a composer and bass clarinetist. He's been teaching that instrument for years, and he says the act of teaching and playing along with his students got him thinking of drill sergeants: how they always seem to be working just as hard as their recruits, running along with them, exhorting and cajoling, but never really asking them to do things he himself couldn't or wouldn't do. Thus, "Drill" is the name of the work by Ziporyn that Steve Seel features on this week's show.

Composer Michael Torke says he loves learning about new kinds of music to inform his own composing. But misunderstanding those musical genres can often be just as fruitful. That's where "weird kinds of unintentional results can happen," he says, and a great example is his latest work, "Being," which is inspired by Torke's exploration of electronic dance music. Steve Seel features selections from Torke's new work on this edition of the show.

The fantastically gifted pianist Keith Jarrett recently announced that he suffered not one but two debilitating strokes in 2018, effectively putting an end to his incredible performing career that has crossed boundaries of jazz, classical, and more. But it likely hasn't silenced him as a composer. Steve Seel showcases one of Jarrett's compositions for orchestra on this week's show, with a hopeful eye toward a career that still isn't over yet.

Derrick Spiva is an American composer who integrates musical practices from cultures around the world into his works. He's an authority on Persian, Balkan, Hindustani, and West African music, in addition to having traditional western classical training. Fittingly, his work "American Mirror" centers around the theme of immigrants, and how "inter-cultural collaboration," as he says, is "central to the well-being of American society." Steve Seel showcases Spiva's work on this week's program.

As the definition of classical music continues to grow, so too does the global village of composers who are welcomed into the fold of what was once dominated by the west (particularly western Europe) in centuries past. Today, audiences hunger to hear from composing voices outside of that bubble, and on this edition of the program, Steve Seel showcases composers from Argentina, Latvia, China, Venezuela, and more.

In 1887, the Michelson-Morely Experiment was one of the earliest investigations into the speed of light, and it marked a turning point in modern science. Philip Glass's piece "The Light" takes its name from that event, and it was the composer's first full work for symphony orchestra, written in 1987. It's just one of the "light"-themed works featured on the next edition of Extra Eclectic. Ward Jacobsen guest hosts.

Danny Elfman has written over 100 film and TV scores, from Tim Burton's Batman to the theme from The Simpsons. He says that from time to time, however, he finds that he has to write orchestral music totally free from the influence of film, in order to "keep my sanity" -- a process he says he finds "incredibly liberating and relieving." His latest is his Violin Concerto, "Eleven Eleven," and it's featured on this week's show.

We're analyzing the earth from different vantage points this week -- primarily as outside observers. Steve Seel features Tina Davidson's "Blue Curve of the Earth" and David Skidmore's "Aliens with Extraordinary Abilities," in addition to Terry Riley's "Sunrise of the Planetary Dream Collector" and Christopher Theofanidis' "All Dreams Begin With the Horizon."

Sometimes, illusions are more powerful than reality. That's part of the undercurrent of several of the works on this week's show. Steve Seel features Scott Wollschleger's "We See Things That Are Not There," Brendon Randall-Myers' "Auras" from his "Dynamic of Vanishing Bodies," and Nico Muhly's "Seeing Is Believing," based on how ancient sky-observers saw shapes, animals, and objects in the heavens -- by grouping the stars into constellations.