KPFA-FM Music Dept. ➔ Ode To Gravity: The Music of Claude Ballif, 1 of 2

Analog Audio

Event Type

Interview and Music

Origin

KPFA

Identifier

OTG.1975.07.16.c1.A

Program Series

Ode To Gravity

Program Length

92 min

Part

1 of 2

Dates

1975-07-16 | broadcast
| 1975-07-16 | created

Description

French composer Claude Ballif is interviewed in his Paris home by Charles Amirkhanian (recorded on December 31,1973). Ballif writes music of enormous strength and clarity. Like his compatriot Messiaen, his music is the result of his deep involvement in Catholicism, a fact which he discusses in the interview. Little known in the United States at the time of this recording, Ballif had produced a highly original and very unified series of works dating back to the mid-1950s. He was a professor of music at the Reims Conservatory and the product of the exciting and turbulent post World War II years of the Western avant-garde which saw the rise of such musical metaphysicians as Pierre Boulez and Karlheinz Stockhausen. But Ballif’s vision was a wide one, and he has shown himself open to a variety of influences stemming from his contact with such widely disparate musicians as John Cage, Boris Blacher, and the quarter-tome composer Ivan Wyschnegradsky, who had worked with Ballif on microtonal theory. Although Ballif’s English is not perfect, he speaks with such intensity and purpose that his meaning is almost always clear, and as such should not prevent anyone from enjoying this interview with a remarkable composer. A selection of Ballif’s music is also heard.

Genres

20th century classical
Microtonal music

Musical Selections

Imaginaire IV, Op. 41, No. 4 (1968) (20:00) -- Bloc-notes, Op. 37, for piano (1961) (12:06)

Performers

Louis Robillard, organ (Imaginaire IV)
Instrumental Ensemble of French Radio (Imaginaire IV)
Charles Ravier, conductor (Imaginaire IV)
Jean Martin, piano (Bloc-notes)

Subjects

20th century classical
Microtonal music
Instrumental ensembles
Piano music

Acknowledgment

Funding for the preservation of this program made possible through a grant by Save America’s Treasures, a program of the National Park Service, U.S. Department of the Interior.

Related places

Berkeley (Calif.) (was recorded at)
Berkeley (Calif.) (was broadcast at)

Related Entities

Radio-France. Ensemble instrumental
Amirkhanian, Charles
Ballif, Claude, 1924-2004
Robillard, Louis
Ravier, Charles
Martin, Jean, 1927-