Shostakovich, Braxton, and their progeny are in the spotlight. We honor the 50th birthday of Shostakovich's final string quartet, and consider how its gloomy sound world helped set the stage for contemporary string-centric works by Jürg Frey, Kevin Puts and Gabriel Prokofiev. A Braxton quartet gig recorded on the same night as the Shostakovich premiere helped established Braxton as a unifier of the postwar avant-garde and the Chicago school of free jazz. And we'll hear that influence in new albums by Josh Modney and Philip Zoubek. A pair of Xenakis and Bernstein premieres from that same May 1974 week get their due as well. And Wayne Horvitz and Bill Frisell offer their own kind of nostalgia in a just-released duet album that documents their pre-Northwest years. Some avant-electronica from the Belgian band Les Antonymes rounds out the proceedings. Creative and improvised music from the Northwest and around the world with host Michael Schell, originally aired May 19, 2024.
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Flotation Device 2024-05-19: Annotated playlist by host Michael Schell
1. [0:00] Intro and SET 1: Braxton and his progeny
2. [1:40] Philip Zoubek Trio Extended: Stiller. From Mirage (Boomslang, 2023) with Philip Zoubek (piano, synthesizer), David Helm (bass), Dominik Mahnig (drums), Leonhard Huhn (woodwinds), Elisabeth Coudoux (cello), Shiau-shiuan Hung (vibraphone, cello), Stefan Deistler (recording engineer)
3. [6:51] Josh Modney: 7 Fragmentation And The Single Form - IV. Call. 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, Oktaven Audio)
4. [14:34] Anthony Braxton: Composition 23E. News From The 70s: Solo, Duo and Quartet (Felmay/New Tone Records, 1998) with Anthony Braxton (sopranino saxophone, clarinet, piccolo), Kenny Wheeler (flugelhorn), Dave Holland (double bass), Barry Altschul (percussion). Recorded May 16 or 17, 1974 in Groningen, Netherlands
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SET 2: Braxton now and Shostakovich then [27:42]
1. [31:04] Anthony Braxton: Composition No. 426 (excerpt). From 10 Comp (Lorraine) 2022 (New Braxton House, 2024) with Anthony Braxton (saxophones, electronics), Adam Matlock (accordion, voice), Susana Santos Silva (trumpet), Jon Rosenberg (recording engineer). NOTE: Recorded live November 9, 2021 in Lisbon, Portugal
2. [36:05] Anthony Braxton: Composition 437 - Bologna (excerpts). From Sax QT (Lorraine) 2022 (I Dischi di Angelica, 2024) with Anthony Braxton (alto, soprano, sopranino saxophone, electronics), James Fei (sopranino, alto saxophone), Chris Jonas (alto, tenor saxophone), Ingrid Laubrock (soprano, tenor saxophone), Gianluca Turrini, Jaime Palagi, Giulio Silei (recording engineers). NOTE: Recorded live June 3, 2022, at AngelicA Festival Internazionale di Musica, AngelicA Centro di Ricerca Musicale, Teatro San Leonardo, Bologna, Italy
3. [38:46] Dmitri Shostakovich: String Quartet No. 15 in E♭ minor, Op. 144 - 5. Funeral March. From Shostakovich: The Complete String Quartets (Accentus, 2024) with Quatuor Danel: Gilles Millet, Marc Danel (violins), Vlad Bogdanas (viola), Yovan Markovitch (cello), Vilius Keras (recording engineer). NOTE: Composed 1974, premiered May 17, 1974 by the Taneyev Quartet in Leningrad, USSR
4. [43:59] Kevin Puts: Home - Movement 2. From Home (Pentatone, 2024) with Miró Quartet: Daniel Ching, William Fedkenheuer (violin), John Largess (viola), Joshua Gindele (cello), Da-Hong Seetoo (recording engineer). NOTE: Composed 2017–19
5. [47:38] Kevin Puts: Home - Movement 3. From Home (as above)
6. [54:47] Outro with Leonard Bernstein: Dybbuk
7. [58:59] Wayne Horvitz, Bill Frisell: Wanderlust. From Live Forever, Vol. 3: Frankfurt, Knitting Factory 1989–1990 (Other Room, 2024) with Wayne Horvitz (piano, samplers, synthesizers, drum programming), Bill Frisell (guitar). NOTE: Recorded live January 11, 1990 at The Knitting Factory, New York. Composition by Duke Ellington
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SET 3: The force of the Earth [1:08:15]
1. [1:10:14] Iannis Xenakis: Erikhthon. From Orchestral Works, Vol. 4 (Timpani, 2004) with Hiroaki Ooï (piano), Orchestre Philharmonique du Luxembourg, Arturo Tamayo (conductor), Jeannot Mersch (recording engineer). NOTE: Composed 1974, premiered May 21, 1974 in Paris
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SET 4: Continuity [1:27:38]
1. [1:29:10] Antonin De Benels: Mélofaune. From Le début (Bandcamp, 2023 reissued by Unexplained Sounds on 9th Annual Report, 2023) with Les Antonymes: Frederic Aerden (processed field recordings), Antonin De Bemels (groovebox), Philippe Van Bellinghen (cello + fx), Benjamin Meunier (live mix)
2. [1:36:54] Jürg Frey: Continuité, fragilité, résonance (excerpt). From Continuité, fragilité, résonance (elsewhere, 2023) with Quatuor Bozzini: Clemens Merkel, Alissa Cheung (violins), Stéphanie Bozzini (viola), Isabelle Bozzini (cello), Konus Quartett: Fabio Oehrli (soprano saxophone), Jonas Tschanz (alto saxophone), Christian Kobi (tenor saxophone), Stefan Rolli (baritone saxophone), Urs Haller and Fabio Oehrli (recording engineers)
3. [1:42:55] Dmitri Shostakovich: String Quartet No. 15 in E♭ minor, Op. 144 - 2. Serenade, 3. Intermezzo. From Shostakovich Edition (Brilliant Classics, 2012) with Rubio Quartet: Dirk van de Velde, Dirk van den Hauwe (violins), Marc Sonnaert (viola), Peter Devos (cello), Johan Kennivé (recording engineer)
4. [1:49:35] Gabriel Prokofiev: Pastoral Reflections - 1. Allegro ma non troppo (escape into nature). From Pastoral 21 (Signum, 2024) with Gabriel Prokofiev (synthesisers, electronics), UNLTD Collective: Çiğdem Tunçelli Sinangil, Songha Choi (violins), Martin Moriarty, Kinga Wojdalska (violas), Alfredo Ferre, Antonin Musset (cellos), Ronan Phelan (recording engineer)
5. [1:53:58] Outro with Dmitri Shostakovich: String Quartet No. 15 - 6. Epilogue
Photo credits: Wayne Horvitz and Bill Frisell via Other Room Music, Leonard Bernstein and Jerome Robbins via the Bernstein estate, Dmitri Shostakovich via National Portrait Gallery London, Josh Modney via the artist, Philip Zoubek by Jennifer Rumbach, Bozzini Quartet (Alissa Cheung, Stéphanie Bozzini, Clemens Merkel, Isabelle Bozzini) by Michael Slobodian, Composition No. 426 by Anthony Braxton, Gabriel Prokofiev by Nathan Gallagher, Iannis Xenakis via Les Amis de Xenakis, Anthony Braxton and Ingrid Laubrock via the artists, Jürg Frey by Elisabeth Frey-Bächli, Antonin De Bemels via the artist