Poster Shawn E. Okpebholo
Shawn E. Okpebholo
Provided
Extra Eclectic

Answering Tragedy With Music

Extra Eclectic - Feb. 8

Many composers of our time have answered the tragedies and atrocities brought upon African Americans throughout history with compositions that serve as musical responses. Extra Eclectic host Steve Seel features some of them on this week’s episode. We’ll hear Richard Danielpour's Four Angels, responding to the Birmingham church bombing of 1963. Then we’ll explore Shawn Okpebholo's Two Black Churches: The Ballad of Birmingham, which reflects on that event and the 2015 shooting in Charleston, S.C., that killed nine parishioners.

Episode Playlist

Music For Bill and Me
Lou Harrison (Composer)
Music For Harp (Album)
Karen Gottlieb, Harp (Soloist)
Duration: 4:29

Elegy - In Memoriam - Stephen Lawrence
Philip Herbert (Composer)
Anthony Parnther (Conductor)
Spark Catchers (Album)
Chineke! Orchestra (Orchestra/Ensemble)
Duration: 6:55

Four Angels
Richard Danielpour (Composer)
American Stories (Album)
Pacifica Quartet (Orchestra/Ensemble)
Anthony Mcgill, Clarinet (Soloist)
Duration: 13:48 

Two Black Churches: Ballad of Birmingham
Shawn E. Okpebholo (Composer)
Dreams Of A New Day (Album)
Will Liverman, Baritone (Soloist)
Duration: 9:21

The Promise of The Far Horizon
Jeffrey Mumford (Composer)
Jeffrey Mumford: The Promise Of The Far Horizon (Album)
Corigliano Quartet (Orchestra/Ensemble)
Duration: 15:13

Prelude No. 1 "Joshua Fit The Battle Of Jericho"
Wallace Cheatham (Composer)
Kete: Piano Music Of The African Diaspora (Album)
William Chapman Nyaho, Piano (Soloist)
Duration: :58

Chasing Butterflies
Issam Rafea/Gao Hong (Composer)
Life As Is (Album)
Issam Rafea, Oud (Soloist)
Duration: 4:26

Hora
Adolphus Hailstork (Composer)
20 For 2020 Volume 3 (Album)
Inbal Segev, Cello (Soloist)
Duration: 6:07

The Fence, The Rooftop, And The Distant Sea: Dance
Kinan Azmeh (Composer)
Uneven Sky (Album)
Kinan Azmeh, Clarinet (Soloist)
Duration: 2:42

Four Haikus
Gity Razaz (Composer)
Night Triptych (Album)
Duo Noire (Orchestra/Ensemble)
Duration: 10:43

The Light is The Same
Reena Esmail (Composer)
Bruits (Album)
Imani Winds (Orchestra/Ensemble)
Duration: 8:51

Canto V: Into The Heart Of Light
Einojuhani Rautavaara (Composer)
Juha Kangas (Conductor)
Dedicated To (Album)
Ostrobothnian Chamber Orchestra (Orchestra/Ensemble)
Duration: 11:34

Nihavent Semai
Sokratis Sinopoulos (Composer)
Thrace: Sunday Morning Sessions (Album)
Jean-Guihen Queyras, Cello (Soloist)
Duration: 7:07

Love the music?

Donate by phone
1-800-562-8440

Show your support by making a gift to YourClassical.

Each day, we’re here for you with thoughtful streams that set the tone for your day – not to mention the stories and programs that inspire you to new discovery and help you explore the music you love.

YourClassical is available for free, because we are listener-supported public media. Take a moment to make your gift today.

More Ways to Give

Your Donation

$5/month
$10/month
$15/month
$20/month
$

Latest Extra Eclectic Episodes

VIEW ALL EPISODES

Latest Extra Eclectic Episodes

Moments and eternities

Moments and eternities

On this episode of ‘Extra Eclectic,’ we hear considering both fleeting moments and the vastness of eternity, including Chris Rogerson’s ‘Thirty Thousand Days’ and Steve Reich’s ‘Proverb.’ Listen now with host Steve Seel!

1:58:59
Questions and answers

Questions and answers

Host Steve Seel poses a lot of musical questions on this episode of ‘Extra Eclectic,’ and you’ll have to decide if you hear any answers. Charles Ives’ ‘The Unanswered Question’ is “answered” by Laurie Spiegel’s work ‘The Unquestioned Answer.’

1:58:58
Eternity and beyond

Eternity and beyond

While classical music can sometimes be about frivolous things, this episode of ‘Extra Eclectic’ is concerned strictly with ideas on a higher plane. Host Steve Seel brings us Olivia Belli’s ‘Limina Luminis,’ Arvo Pärt’s ‘Tabula Rasa’ and more. Listen now!

1:58:59
The American Vanguard

The American Vanguard

On the latest episode of Extra Eclectic, host Steve Seel showcases the music of giants such as Philip Glass, Meredith Monk and Steve Reich: composers who introduced fresh thinking into the genre and opened the concert hall to new audiences. Listen now!

1:58:59
Folk music inspirations

Folk music inspirations

We continue our month-long celebration of American music on this episode of ‘Extra Eclectic’ by looking at how contemporary composers reference American folk idioms in their works, including bluegrass, hymns and lullabies. Selections include music by Daron Hagen, Jennifer Higdon and more. Listen now with host Steve Seel!

1:58:58
Elements of jazz

Elements of jazz

Steve Seel presents another week of purely American sounds on the latest episode of ‘Extra Eclectic,’ and this time, it’s works written by musicians associated primarily with jazz. We hear works by Wynton Marsalis, Wayne Shorter, Thelonious Monk, Ornette Coleman, Pat Metheny and more.

1:58:58
An American Mirror

An American Mirror

On this episode of ‘Extra Eclectic,’ host Steve Seel extends the 250th anniversary celebrations with two hours of works by contemporary American composers, including Derrick Skye, Jennifer Higdon, Jessie Montgomery, Shelley Washington, Curtis Stewart and more. Listen now!

1:58:59
International and domestic music

International and domestic music

This episode of ‘Extra Eclectic’ highlights international composers and cross-cultural collaborations with works by Gabriela Ortiz, Johann Johannsson and more. In the second hour, host Steve Seel begins a tribute to contemporary American classical music ahead of the Fourth of July holiday. Listen now!

1:58:59
Music for the summer solstice

Music for the summer solstice

Host Steve Seel features contemporary classical sounds for summer on this episode of ‘Extra Eclectic,’ including Jonathan Bailey Holland’s ‘Halcyon Sun,’ Peteris Vasks’ ‘Music for a Summer Evening,’ and the late Michael Tilson Thomas’ ‘Sunset Soliloquy.’ Listen now!

1:58:59
Cross-cultural collaborations

Cross-cultural collaborations

On this episode of Extra Eclectic, Steve Seel brings us examples of composers and performers reaching across cultural lines, including Terry Riley’s ‘The Cusp of Magic,’ Dan Visconti’s ‘Native Tongues’ and more. Listen now!

1:58:58
VIEW ALL EPISODES
YourClassical Radio
00:00
Infinity:NaN