Poster Black-and-white photo of a woman sitting in an electronic music studio
Laurie Speigel created the program Music Mouse in the 1980s, which allows users to compose music with only a computer mouse.
Marilyn McLaren
Extra Eclectic

Questions and answers

Extra Eclectic - Aug. 10, 2026

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. Anna Clyne’s Dance interprets the mysterious words of the poet Rumi as a work for cello and orchestra, and Estonian composer Toivo Tulev’s A child said, what is the grass sets the words of Walt Whitman from his poem “Song of Myself.” Also, Charles Ives’ The Unanswered Question is “answered” by Laurie Spiegel’s work The Unquestioned Answer.

Playlist

Live the Questions
Composer: Jake Runestad
Conductor: Joel Rinsema
Orchestra/Ensemble: Kantorei Denver
Naxos 559892

The Unanswered Question
Composer: Charles Ives
Conductor: Michael Tilson Thomas
Orchestra/Ensemble: Chicago Symphony Orchestra
Soloists: Adolph Herseth, trumpet
Sony 42381

Dance
Composer: Anna Clyne
Conductor: Marin Alsop
Orchestra/Ensemble: London Philharmonic Orchestra
Soloists: Inbal Segev, cello
Avie 2419

Dancing on Glass
Composer: Victoria Bond
Soloists: Anna Cromwell, violin
Albany 1797

Whosay
Composer: yMusic
Orchestra/Ensemble: yMusic
StorySound 161050

Why?
Composer: Mid-Air Thief/Summer Soul
Orchestra/Ensemble: Attacca Quartet
Sony 15433

Fate
Composer: Felipe Tellez
Orchestra/Ensemble: TakeFive Ensemble
Centrediscs 28721

Where Life and Death May Dwell
Composer: Snorri Sigfus Birgisson
Soloists: Vikingur Olafsson, piano
DG 4863390

A child said, what is the grass
Composer: Toivo Tulev
Conductor: Donald Nally
Orchestra/Ensemble: The Crossing
Navona 6303

What Was Said
Composer: Ashley Bathgate/Paul Fowler
Soloists: Ashley Bathgate, cello
Curve Blue 2020

The Unquestioned Answer
Composer: Laurie Spiegel
Soloists: James McVinnie, organ
Pentatone 7404

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Latest Extra Eclectic Episodes

VIEW ALL EPISODES

Latest Extra Eclectic Episodes

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

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1:58:59
The American Vanguard

The American Vanguard

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1:58:59
Folk music inspirations

Folk music inspirations

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1:58:58
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1:58:59
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1:58:59
Cross-cultural collaborations

Cross-cultural collaborations

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Extra-musical elements

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