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Our students in the Music History, Culture and Creativity have a final project that involves providing music to a one minute clip of film, excerpted from the actual working print from which Paul Chihara worked. The excerpt is from a famous anime film and has SMPTE time-code streaming on top.
The class of 80 each has [...]
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When I first came to UCLA, many of my colleagues referred to this chap as “Jamie”–a nickname he now supposedly loathes. He did his Masters work at UCLA, was a TA, a classmate of Mark Carlson, and was on the way towards getting a PhD, but the Roger Corman films started coming fast and furious. [...]
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I loved Glass’ work in Koyaanisqatsi. Music is foreground; hand in glove with the imagery. Some of his other film scores seemed, to me, heavy handed: imposing themselves on the scenes rather than providing underscore.
Philip Glass’ score for THE ILLUSIONIST is his best yet. The harmonies are fresh; the melodies are new; the textures are [...]
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I remember when Frederic Rzewski came to visit us at Harvard in the composition seminar. I remember when Musica Electronica Viva came and performed at UW Madison. “The People United…” is emblazoned into my brain. I have the LP and he played it for us in the seminar. He reminded me that one shouldn’t ask [...]
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Clarinet Rhapsody for clarinet and orchestra (1979) mp3
Music: Roger Bourland
Performers: Gunther Schuller conducts Collage (Sanders Theater)
Publisher: Associated Music Publishers
[Audio clip: view full post to listen]
This piece was commissioned by my old classmate, John Strickler, who at this time was a doctoral student in conducting at USC and wanted a contemporary work for his final [...]
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The Smiling Spider for soprano, soprano sax, viola, cello, and piano (1983) mp3
Words and music: Roger Bourland (quotes from Charlie Chaplin)
Performers: Composers in Red Sneakers, Karen McVoy, soprano
Publisher: Yelton Rhodes Music
[Audio clip: view full post to listen]
The story behind this piece is actually pretty funny. The Composers in Red Sneakers decided to offer their “Concert [...]
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Nat King Cole 10-Year-Old Billy Preston
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Recent Dreams for horn trio (1989) mp3
Music: Roger Bourland
Performers: Richard Todd, horn, Debra Price, violin, Delores Stevens, piano
Publisher: Yelton Rhodes Music
[Audio clip: view full post to listen]
Commissioned by Pacific Serenades, “Recent Dreams” was written during a period when I was having a lot of vivid dreams. Each morning, after waking up, I made musical sketches [...]
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It’s been a wild and woolly time for all us teachers: auditions, interviews, quotas, deciding who to take, and wanting to admit more than we have space for. On Saturday, I went out to a new restaurant and had a lovely salad. Three hours later I was in misery from intestinal cramps and, well, food [...]
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With the subtitle of “The Most Bizarre Musical Number Ever Filmed” it got my attention. It’s really worth watching cuz it’s so bizarre! It just keeps going, getting stranger and stranger! Try to stick it out till the end.
I’ll have whatever SHE’S having.
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