The Music Show

ABC Australia

All kinds of music and all kinds of musicians in conversation with Andrew Ford.

  1. 1 DAY AGO

    Anna Meredith wants her music loud and the musicality of Dorothy Porter

    Scottish composer Anna Meredith creates a meeting place between the concert platform and the rave in her music. Her piece for electronics and string quartet, Tuggemo, takes its name from an archaic English word for a swarm of bees, and demands to be heard loud. It's being given its Australian premiere by Omega Ensemble as part of their Howl concert season. Sophia Brous is an Australian composer based in the US, and she creates semi-improvised song cycles from selections by 20th century writers. Her new collaborator of sorts is the late Dorothy Porter, with her partner Andrea Goldsmith acting as a guide through the poetry Porter wrote in the last years of her life. Andrea and Sophia join Andy to talk about Porter's impact on music and music's impact on her.  Sophia Brous and Paul Grabowsky are performing Life Lines: A Song Cycle of Dorothy Porter at the Melbourne Writers Festival Music heard in this program: Title: BlackfriarsArtist: Anna MeredithComposer: Anna MeredithAlbum: VarmintsLabel: Moshi Moshi Title: TuggemoArtist: Ligeti QuartetComposer: Anna MeredithAlbum: NucLabel: Mercury KX Title: Lil WaltzerArtist: Anna MeredithComposer: Anna MeredithAlbum: Bumps Per MinuteLabel: Moshi Moshi Title: NautilusArtist: Anna MeredithComposer: Anna MeredithAlbum: VarmintsLabel: Moshi Moshi Title: NautilusArtist: Ligeti QuartetComposer: Anna MeredithAlbum: NucLabel: Mercury KX Title: MoonmoonsArtist: Anna MeredithComposer: Anna MeredithAlbum: FIBSLabel: Moshi Moshi Title: If Snakes Could FlyArtist: Paul Grabowsky and Katie NoonanComposer: Dorothy Porter and Paul GrabowskyAlbum: Before Time Could Change UsLabel: SBS Weatherwatch Title: Set PIecesArtist: Sophia Brous and Kit DownesComposer: Sophia Brous and Alejandra PizarnikAlbum: Set Pieces live at The Lincoln Center Title: 10 Preludes, Op. 23; No. 6 AndanteArtist: Ruth SlenczynskaComposer: Sergei RachmaninovAlbum: Complete American Decca RecordingsLabel: Eloquence The Music Show is made on Gadigal, Gundungurra, and Wurundjeri Woi Wurrung Country Country Technical production by Isabella Tropiano

    55 min
  2. 25 APR

    ZÖJ deafen the devil's ear and The Three Seas embrace naivety

    ZÖJ, the collaboration between Gelareh Pour and Brian O'Dwyer perform the opening track from their new album, May The Devil’s Ear Be Deaf, live in the music show studios. The album was recorded at an artists retreat in Banff, Canada, and features music “built on fragility and on the fear of its own erasure." They also talk about performing a live score to a remarkable 1925 silent film, Grass: A Nation’s Battle for Life. The Three Seas have been coming together and then flying apart again for years, and they're back together for a live session in the Music Show studio. With band members living in both Australia and West Bengal, the music is an amalgam of Himalayan folk, Baul spiritual music, rock, dub, and jazz. Their latest album is called Antahkarana and it was recorded in Peter Gabriel's Real World studio, a high-tech idyll in the south west of England. And we remember two giants of the classical world, conductor Michael Tilson Thomas, who has died at the age of 81, and Ruth Slenczynska, who has died at the age of 102.  Tilson Thomas was known for his advocacy of modern American repertoire, and his life-long embrace of Mahler's titanic symphonies. In an archive interview, he tells Andy how he thinks about classical music as a whole, and Mahler in particular.  We'll hear more from Andy's long conversation with Ruth Slenczynska, a child-prodigy concert pianist who learned with Rachmaninov and duetted with President Truman, next time on The Music Show.  The Three Seas are currently on tour, dates available here ZÖJ are performing Grass at The Capitol Theatre on May 1 Music heard in this program: Title: Chromatic Fantasia & Fugue in D minor, BWV903 Artist: Ruth Slenczynska Composer: J. S. BachAlbum: Ruth Slenczynska - Complete American Decca RecordingsLabel: Decca Title: Symphony No. 4; iii. Fugue (Andante moderato) Artist: San Francisco Symphony Orchestra & Chorus, Michael Tilson ThomasComposer: Charles IvesAlbum: Ives - Symphony Nos. 3 & 4, Selected American HymnsLabel: SFS Media Title: Symphony No. 1 in D major, 'Titan'; iv. Stürmisch bewegtArtist: San Francisco Symphony Orchestra, Michael Tilson ThomasComposer: Gustav MahlerAlbum: Mahler - Symphony No. 1Label: SFS Media Title: TermitesArtist: ZÖJComposer: Gelareh Pour & Brian O'DwyerAlbum: May The Devil’s Ear Be DeafLabel: Bleeemo Music Title: Real WorldArtist: The Three SeasComposer: The Three SeasAlbum: AntaḥkaraṇaLabel: Earshift Music Title: RongmoholeArtist: The Three SeasComposer: The Three SeasAlbum: AntaḥkaraṇaLabel: Earshift Music The Music Show is made on Gadigal, Gundungurra, and Wurundjeri Woi Wurrung Country Country Technical production by Antonia Gauci, AJ Bradford, and Tim Jenkins

    55 min
  3. 12 APR

    Hitchock and Herrmann: the thrilling partnership that shaped an era of cinema

    Film composer Bernard Herrmann’s career started and ended with classics: his first film was Orson Welles’s Citizen Kane (1941), his last was Martin Scorsese’s Taxi Driver (1976). But it’s the nine films that Herrmann worked on with Alfred Hitchcock that define his legacy, and in his new book, Hitchcock and Herrmann: The Friendship and Film Scores that Changed Cinema, Steven C Smith examines the work they shared together. Music heard in this program: Title: Music from Psycho - The ShowerArtist: National Philharmonic OrchestraComposer: Bernard HerrmannAlbum: PsychoLabel: Unicorn Title: Music from The Trouble With Harry - OvertureArtist: Royal Scottish National OrchestraComposer: Bernard HerrmannAlbum: The Trouble With HarryLabel: Varèse Sarabande Title: Music from The Man Who Knew Too Much - Storm Clouds CantataArtist: London Symphony OrchestraComposer: Arthur Benjamin & D.B. Wyndham-LewisAlbum: The Man Who Knew Too Much Title: Whatever Will Be, Will Be (Que Sera, Sera)Artist: Doris Day and Christopher OlsenComposer: Jay Livingston & Ray EvansAlbum: The Man Who Knew Too Much Title: Music from The Wrong Man - PreludeArtist: The Warner Brothers Studio OrchestraComposer: Bernard HerrmannAlbum: The Wrong Man Title: Music from The Wrong Man - HandcuffsArtist: The Warner Brothers Studio OrchestraComposer: Bernard HerrmannAlbum: The Wrong Man Title: Music from Vertigo Prelude and RooftopArtist: Royal Scottish National OrchestraComposer: Bernard HerrmannAlbum: VertigoLabel: Mercury Title: Music from Vertigo - Scène d'amourArtist: Royal Scottish National OrchestraComposer: Bernard HerrmannAlbum: VertigoLabel: Mercury Title: Music from Pyscho - FinaleArtist: National Philharmonic OrchestraComposer: Bernard HerrmannAlbum: PsychoLabel: Unicorn Title: Music from North By Northwest - OvertureArtist: The M-G-M Studio OrchestraComposer: Bernard HerrmannAlbum: North By Northwest Title: Music from North By Northwest - The CrashArtist: The M-G-M Studio OrchestraComposer: Bernard HerrmannAlbum: North By Northwest Title: Music from North By Northwest - The Stone FacesArtist: The M-G-M Studio OrchestraComposer: Bernard HerrmannAlbum: North By Northwest Title: Music from Psycho - The CurtainArtist: National Philharmonic OrchestraComposer: Bernard HerrmannAlbum: PsychoLabel: Unicorn Title: Music from Marnie - PreludeArtist: City of Prague Philharmonic Orchestra, Paul BatemanComposer: Bernard HerrmannAlbum: MarnieLabel: Tsunami Title: The KillingArtist: National Philharmonic OrchestraComposer: Bernard HerrmannAlbum: Torn Curtain: The Unused ScoreLabel: Varèse Sarabande  Title: This YearArtist: The Mountain GoatsComposer: John DarnielleAlbum: The Sunset TreeLabel: 4AD The Music Show is made on Gadigal, Gundungurra, and Wurundjeri Woi Wurrung Country Country Technical production by Antonia Gauci

    55 min
  4. 11 APR

    Sparks rennaisance continues and Mo'Ju's rebel heart

    There aren’t many bands that are still going after 50 years, but Sparks, who had their first big hit back in 1974 with This Town Ain’t Big Enough For Both Of Us, have seen a renaissance of sorts in the last few years - they wrote a film, starred in a documentary, collaborated with Cate Blanchett, and have released some of their best work. The brothers, Ron and Russell Mael, talk about their shifting style, creative use of repetition, and the work of Bernard Herrmann.  After performing with the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra, Mo'Ju has swapped the stage for the library - as one of the musicians commissioned by the State Library of Victoria to write a song for their Rebel Heart exhibition, works inspired by letters that reveal tales of love, and of rebellion. Sparks tour dates available here. Music heard in this program: Title: Far Too LateArtist: Mo'juComposer: Mojo Ruiz de LuzuriagaAlbum: Native TongueLabel: ABC Music Title: Do Things My Own WayArtist: SparksComposer: Ron Mael & Russell MaelAlbum: MAD!Label: Transgressive Records Title: This Town Ain't Big Enough for Both of UsArtist: SparksComposer: Ron MaelAlbum: Kimono My HouseLabel: Island Records Title: Tryouts for the Human RaceArtist: SparksComposer: Ron Mael & Giorgio MoroderAlbum: No. 1 In HeavenLabel: Virgin Music Title: My Baby's Taking Me HomeArtist: SparksComposer: Ron Mael & Russell MaelAlbum: Lil' BeethovenLabel: Lil' Beethoven Records Title: The Girl Is Crying In Her LatteArtist: SparksComposer: Ron Mael & Russell MaelAlbum: The Girl Is Crying In Her LatteLabel: Island Records Title: AgapitoArtist: Mo'JuComposer: Mojo Ruiz de LuzuriagaAlbum: State Library of Victoria Exhibition Label: Independent  Title: I Just Wanna KnowArtist: Mo'juComposer: Mojo Ruiz de LuzuriagaAlbum: Native TongueLabel: ABC Music Title: Music from Psycho - The MurderArtist: National Philharmonic OrchestraComposer: Bernard HerrmannAlbum: PsychoLabel: Unicorn The Music Show is made on Gadigal, Gundungurra, and Wurundjeri Woi Wurrung Country Country Technical production by Antonia Gauci

    55 min

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All kinds of music and all kinds of musicians in conversation with Andrew Ford.

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