Flotation Device wishes saxophonist Evan Parker a happy 80th birthday, and explores the world of Giacinto Scelsi, highlighting its influence on the classic spectralism of France's preeminent living composer, Tristan Murail. We check out a John Adams miniature written for Marin Alsop, who's just given it its first recording, and commence a deep dive into Josh Modney’s new monument to complex hybrid composition: Ascending Primes. We’ve got avant-electronica from Belgium and Ukraine, a Jack Van Zandt piano piece inspired by an ancient Irish monument, and a pair of alternatingly austere and spiky compositions by one of Germany’s leading composers, Wolfgang Rihm. And we look back fondly on the Kronos Quartet’s 50-year history on the occasion of the retirement of two of its longstanding members. Cameos by Frank Zappa and Mary Halvorson’s Amaryllis Sextet round out the wide-ranging playlist on the Northwest’s premiere and longest-running radio show devoted to new and exploratory music.
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Flotation Device 2024-04-07: Annotated playlist by host Michael Schell
Intro and SET 1: Evan Parker at 80 [0:00]
1. [1:50] Mary Halvorson: Unscrolling. From Cloudward (Nonesuch, 2024) with Amaryllis Sextet: Mary Halvorson (guitar), Adam O’Farrill (trumpet), Jacob Garchik (trombone), Patricia Brennan (vibraphone), Nick Dunston (bass), Tomas Fujiwara (drums), Chris Allen (recording engineer)
2. [7:06] Evan Parker, Matthew Shipp: Leonine Aspect #2. From Leonine Aspects (RogueArt, 2021) with Matthew Shipp (piano), Evan Parker (soprano saxophone), Maïkôl Seminatore (recording engineer). NOTE: Recorded live August 22, 2017 at Festival Météo, Théatre de la Sinne, Mulhouse, France
3. [10:57] Josh Modney: 7 Fragmentation And The Single Form - II. Vox. From Ascending Primes (Pyroclastic, 2024) with Charmaine Lee (voice, electronics), Ben LaMar Gay (cornet, synth), Josh Modney (violin with distortion pedal), Erica Dicker (violin), Cory Smythe (piano), Dan Peck (tuba), Kate Gentile (drums), Ryan Streber (recording engineer)
4. [17:47] Josh Modney: 1 Ascender (excerpt). From Ascending Primes (Pyroclastic, 2024) with Josh Modney (violin with distortion pedal), Ryan Streber (recording engineer)
5. [20:38] John Adams: Lola Montez Does the Spider Dance. From City Noir (Naxos, 2024) with ORF Vienna Radio Symphony Orchestra, Marin Alsop (conductor), Christian Gorz (recording engineer). NOTE: Composed 2016 for the opera Girls of the Golden West, revised 2020. First recording
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SET 2: Kronos Newgrange [26:27]
1. [31:38] John Adams: John's Book of Alleged Dances - 10. Ständchen: The Little Serenade. From Gnarly Buttons & John's Book Of Alleged Dances (Nonesuch, 1998) with Kronos Quartet: David Harrington, John Sherba (violins), Hank Dutt (viola), Joan Jeanrenaud (cello), Craig Silvey (recording engineer). NOTE: Composed 1994
2. [36:31] Frank Zappa: None Of The Above. From Beat The Boots III (Zappa Records, 2009) with Kronos Quartet: David Harrington, John Sherba (violin), Hank Dutt (viola), Joan Jeanrenaud (cello). NOTE: Recorded live April 19, 1985 at Schoenberg Hall, UCLA, Los Angeles
3. [43:00] Jack Van Zandt: Sí an Bhrú. From The Poetry of Places (Reference, 2019) with Nadia Shpachenko (piano), Barry Werger-Gottesman (recording engineer). NOTE: Composed 2016
4. [54:53] Outro with Steve Reich: Different Trains (Kronos Quartet)
5. [59:22] King Imagine, Dararat Chemnasiri: Spirit Temple. From Sounds of Survival from Ukrainian Underground (SKP, 2022) with Alexei Mikryukov AKA King Imagine (Roland MC 240, sampler, FX, metal objects, environmental percussion), Dararat Chemnasiri (saxophone)
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SET 3: Sphere after Study [1:05:14]
1. [1:07:00] Edward Sol: Dogs Ballet in Pines. From New Nest On The Same Tree (Bandcamp, 2020) with Edward Solomykin Едуард Соломикін AKA Edward Sol. NOTE: Recorded in 2009
2. [1:10:37] Wolfgang Rihm: Stabat mater (excerpts). From Musica Viva #39: Wolfgang Rihm (BR-KLASSIK, 2022) with Christian Gerhaher (baritone), Tabea Zimmermann (viola), Thomas Schinko (recording engineer). NOTE: Composed 2020
3. [1:14:43] Wolfgang Rihm: Sphäre nach Studie (excerpts). From Musica Viva #39: Wolfgang Rihm (BR-KLASSIK, 2022) with Tamara Stefanovich (piano), members of Symphonieorchesters des Bayerischen Rundfunks, Stanley Dodds (conductor), Thomas Schinko (recording engineer). NOTE: Composed 1993/2002
4. [1:25:25] Voice break with Scelsi: Konx-Om-Pax
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SET 4: Murail after Scelsi
1. [1:30:49] Tristan Murail: Un Sogno. From Scelsi Revisited (KAIROS, 2020) with Klangforum Wien, Johannes Kalitzke (conductor). NOTE: Composed 2014
2. [1:49:27] Outro with Tristan Murail: Désintégrations
Photo credits: Kronos Quartet (Hank Dutt, Joan Jeanrenaud, David Harrington, John Sherba) by Blake Little, Amaryllis Sextet (Nick Dunston, Adam O’Farrill, Patricia Brennan, Jacob Garchik, Mary Halvorson, Tomas Fujiwara) by Ernest Stuart, Wolfgang Rihm by Astrid Ackermann, Josh Modney via the artist, Giacinto Scelsi via Wikimedia Commons, Evan Parker and Matthew Shipp by RogueArt, Dararat Chemnasiri via the artist, Nadia Shpachenko by Tom Zasadzinski, Tristan Murail via Radio France, John Adams via UCLA, Jack Van Zandt by Elisa Ferrari, Frank Zappa via Zappa Family Trust