KPFA-FM Music Dept. ➔ An Interview with Dane Rudhyar on his 85th Birthday

Analog Audio

Event Type

Interview and Music

Origin

CA/KPFA

Identifier

AM.1980.03.24

Program Length

65 min

Dates

1980-03-24 | broadcast
| 1980-03-24 | created

Description

From March 24, 1980, a very poor quality recording of a program on the music of Dane Rudhyar, in celebration of his 85th birthday. The program begins with a barely audible, over-the-phone interview between host Charles Amirkhanian and Rudhyar, in which the composer is asked to describe how his music is often based on speech patterns rather than the dance rhythms. Rudhyar also discusses how his works relate to that of his contemporaries, such as Alban Berg and Arthur Honegger. In addition to being a composer, Rudhyar was also an accomplished painter, author, astrologer and philosopher and he shares some of his thoughts about the rewards and challenges of handling multiple careers, as well as some of his opinions on social change. The program concludes with lengthy excerpts from two of his latter compositions for string quartet, which were written for, and performed by, the Kronos Quartet.

Genres

20th century classical
New music

Musical Selections

Advent “String Quartet No. 1” [excerpt] (1978) (18:37) / Dane Rudhyar -- Crisis and Overcoming “String Quartet No. 2” [excerpt] (1979) (15:22) / Dane Rudhyar

Performers

Kronos Quartet
David Harrington, violin
John Sherba, violin
Hank Dutt, viola
Joan Jeanrenaud, cello

Subjects

20th century classical
New music
Astrology
Spiritual life
Social change
String quartets

Acknowledgment

Funding for the preservation of this program made possible through a grant by the National Endowment for the Arts.

Related places

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

Related Entities

Kronos Quartet
Amirkhanian, Charles
Rudhyar, Dane, 1895-1985
Harrington, David (Violinist)
Sherba, John
Dutt, Hank
Jeanrenaud, Joan