Listen to music about memory from a five-pointed collaborative song cycle between composers Rachel Grimes, Angélica Negrón, Shara Nova, Caroline Shaw, Sarah Kirkland Snider, called The Blue Hour, setting text from the epic poem, On Earth by Carolyn Forché. These five gifted composers speak to a circle of stories – shared influences, revelatory experiences- all riffing off of and taking inspiration from one another, as they respond collectively to a flood of memories from a woman traveling the space between life and death as laid out in the poem. The work was commissioned by, and is performed with, the Boston–based chamber group A Far Cry and features Shara Nova as vocal soloist, with additional sound design by the five composers and Michael Hammond.
Then, listen to work by Berlin-based sound artist and double bass player, Yair Elazar Glotman, from his record, Speculative Memories, spacious textures made up of varying processes of tape manipulation and analogue tape layering of strings, vocals, drone and piercing contrabass. Plus, Paris-based American composer and multi-instrumentalist Rhys Chatham’s flute-a-riffic work in memory of composer Robert Ashley from a compilation benefit album called The Longest Day: A Benefit Album for the Alzheimer's Association. - Caryn Havlik
Program #4674, The Blue Hour, music about memory (First aired 10/20/2022)
ARTIST: Yair Glotman
WORK: A Year [1:00]
RECORDING: Speculative Memory
SOURCE: SA Recordings
INFO: yairelazarglotman.bandcamp.com
ARTIST: Rachel Grimes, Angélica Negrón, Shara Nova, Caroline Shaw, Sarah Kirkland Snider, A Far Cry
WORK: Angelica-balefire [2:09]
RECORDING: The Blue Hour
SOURCE: New Amsterdam Records
INFO: newamsterdamrecords.bandcamp.com
ARTIST: Rachel Grimes, Angélica Negrón, Shara Nova, Caroline Shaw, Sarah Kirkland Snider, A Far Cry
WORK: Firmament [3:11]
RECORDING: The Blue Hour
SOURCE: New Amsterdam Records
INFO: newamsterdamrecords.bandcamp.com
ARTIST: Rachel Grimes, Angélica Negrón, Shara Nova, Caroline Shaw, Sarah Kirkland Snider, A Far Cry
WORK: 1st Refrain [:40]
RECORDING: The Blue Hour
SOURCE: New Amsterdam Records
INFO: newamsterdamrecords.bandcamp.com
ARTIST: Rhys Chatham
WORK: For Bob - In Memory [7:12]
RECORDING: The Longest Day: A Benefit Album for the Alzheimer's Association
SOURCE: Mon Amie Records – MON-017
INFO: Try Discogs.com
ARTIST: Rachel Grimes, Angélica Negrón, Shara Nova, Caroline Shaw, Sarah Kirkland Snider, A Far Cry
WORK: Ghost swift [1:29]
RECORDING: The Blue Hour
SOURCE: New Amsterdam Records
INFO: newamsterdamrecords.bandcamp.com
ARTIST: Rachel Grimes, Angélica Negrón, Shara Nova, Caroline Shaw, Sarah Kirkland Snider, A Far Cry
WORK: I am alone [5:07]
RECORDING: The Blue Hour
SOURCE: New Amsterdam Records
INFO: newamsterdamrecords.bandcamp.com
ARTIST: Rachel Grimes, Angélica Negrón, Shara Nova, Caroline Shaw, Sarah Kirkland Snider, A Far Cry
WORK: Oil soap [1:01]
RECORDING: The Blue Hour
SOURCE: New Amsterdam Records
INFO: newamsterdamrecords.bandcamp.com
ARTIST: Rachel Grimes, Angélica Negrón, Shara Nova, Caroline Shaw, Sarah Kirkland Snider, A Far Cry
WORK: Older than clocks [1:09]
RECORDING: The Blue Hour
SOURCE: New Amsterdam Records
INFO: newamsterdamrecords.bandcamp.com
ARTIST: Rachel Grimes, Angélica Negrón, Shara Nova, Caroline Shaw, Sarah Kirkland Snider, A Far Cry
WORK: 2nd Refrain [1:10]
RECORDING: The Blue Hour
SOURCE: New Amsterdam Records
INFO: newamsterdamrecords.bandcamp.com
ARTIST: Yair Glotman
WORK: A Year [5:33]
RECORDING: Speculative Memory
SOURCE: SA Recordings
INFO: yairelazarglotman.bandcamp.com
ARTIST: Rachel Grimes, Angélica Negrón, Shara Nova, Caroline Shaw, Sarah Kirkland Snider, A Far Cry
WORK: The hole [3:18]
RECORDING: The Blue Hour
SOURCE: New Amsterdam Records
INFO: newamsterdamrecords.bandcamp.com
ARTIST: Rachel Grimes, Angélica Negrón, Shara Nova, Caroline Shaw, Sarah Kirkland Snider, A Far Cry
WORK: We are as paper [2:32]
RECORDING: The Blue Hour
SOURCE: New Amsterdam Records
INFO: newamsterdamrecords.bandcamp.com
ARTIST: Rachel Grimes, Angélica Negrón, Shara Nova, Caroline Shaw, Sarah Kirkland Snider, A Far Cry
WORK: 3rd Refrain [4:22]
RECORDING: The Blue Hour
SOURCE: New Amsterdam Records
INFO: newamsterdamrecords.bandcamp.com
ARTIST: Yair Glotman
WORK: A Child [:41]
RECORDING: Speculative Memory
SOURCE: SA Recordings
INFO: yairelazarglotman.bandcamp.com