The Art of Spoken Word

It takes fine craftsmanship to achieve a perfect partnership between text and music in which neither element overshadows the other. This week, we’ll listen to a fascinating array of spoken word and music by composers like Aaron Jay Kernis, Joseph Schwantner, David Lang, and more who are striving to achieve this symmetry.

Scott Johnson: How it Happens (The Voice of I.F. Stone) (excerpt)
Kronos Quartet

Aaron Jay Kernis: Goblin Market, Part II, Scenes 2 & 3
The New Professionals/Rebecca Miller; Mary King, narrator

Martin Butler: The Tummy Beast fr. The Dirty Beasts
Soundwood Ensemble/David Campbell; Richard Stilgoe, narrator

Joseph Schwantner: New Morning for the World (excerpt)
Oregon Symphony/DePriest

David Lang: On Being Hit on the Head and On Hearing the Voice of God fr. Are You Experienced?
Nouvel Ensemble Moderne/Vaillancourt