Contemporary/Twenty-First Century

Remembering Sofia Gubaidulina

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The renowned Russian composer, Sofia Gubaidulina, passed away yesterday at her home near Hamburg, Germany. She was 93. Born in the rural Tatar region of the Soviet Union, Gubaidulina graduated from the Kazan Conservatory in 1954. Soviet authorities conducted raids in the school’s dormitories, in search of Western contemporary music scores, which were banned at the time. Gubaidulina later recalled, “We knew Ives, Cage, we actually knew everything on the sly.” While …

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Theodore Shapiro’s “Severance” Theme: Haunting and Hypnotic

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In a recent post at his Youtube channel, Everything Music, Rick Beato analyzes the title theme from the hit television series, Severance, composed by Theodore Shapiro. Built on modal harmony, the theme is at once haunting, hypnotic, satisfying, and unsettling. Developing from a small fragment, its tension-filled melodic line is filled with wrenching, exotic intervals. Shapiro drew subtle inspiration from David Shire’s theme for the 1974 film noir thriller, The Conversation, which similarly features …

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Jocelyn Morlock’s “Solace”: Echoes of Josquin

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Born in the St. Boniface ward of Winnipeg, Jocelyn Morlock (1969-2023) was one of Canada’s most prominent composers. Based in Vancouver, she was the inaugural composer-in-residence for the city’s Music on Main Society (2012–14), and later for the Vancouver Symphony Orchestra (2014-2019). She described much of her music as being  “inspired by birds, insomnia, or a peculiar combination thereof.” In the 2001 string orchestra work, Solace, the solo violin erupts in exuberant birdsong …

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Caroline Shaw’s “Blueprint”: Imagining Structure

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Born in Greenville, North Carolina, composer Caroline Shaw (b. 1982) has been called “a musician who moves among roles, genres, and mediums, trying to imagine a world of sound that has never been heard before but has always existed.” She is active as a violin soloist, chamber musician, and ensemble singer in the group, Roomful of Teeth. At the age of 30, Shaw became the youngest composer ever to be awarded the …

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Remembering Pavel Karmanov

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Pavel Karmanov, the Russian post-minimalist composer and rock musician, passed away suddenly and unexpectedly last Saturday, November 23. The cause of death was heart failure. He was 54 years old. Born in Siberia, Karmanov was once described as “a romantic dressed in a minimalist gown.” A flutist and pianist, he was a permanent member of the alternative band, Vezhlivy Otkaz from 2000 until 2017. In past posts at The Listeners’ Club, we have explored …

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Osvaldo Golijov’s “Tenebrae”: Melismatic Echoes of Couperin

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In Western Christianity, Tenebrae occurs in the final days of the Holy Week, and commemorates the sufferings and death of Christ. It involves the gradual extinguishing of candles, leading to a void of darkness. Metaphorical darkness, light, and space formed the inspiration for Tenebrae, a 2002 chamber work by Argentine composer, Osvaldo Golijov (b. 1960). (The piece was originally scored for soprano, clarinet, and string quartet, and later adapted for strings alone). …

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Michael Torke’s “Bloom 2, Morning”: Music for Percussion Ensemble

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Bloom, the newest album by American composer Michael Torke (b. 1961),  will be released on August 30. The eleven movement work was written for, and recorded by, Sandbox Percussion. With an exuberant, infectious rhythmic groove, Bloom develops over three musical “days,” with movements titled “morning, noon, night.” With repeating patterns, it rides the visceral pulse of the contemporary dance floor. In his program note, the composer writes, BLOOM uses interlocking rhythms which, when …

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