KPFA-FM Music Dept. ➔ Impact: Innovative Music From the Pacific Coast: Program No. 4: The Hub & Kronos Quartet

Analog Audio

Event Type

Interview and Music

Origin

KPFA

Identifier

IPC.1988.02.01

Program Series

Impact: Innovative Music From the Pacific Coast

Program Length

50 min

Dates

1988-02-01 | broadcast

Description

Funded by a grant from the Corporation for Public Broadcasting and distributed via satellite by NPR, the series “Impact: Innovative Music From the Pacific Coast” presents “a wide range of innovative West Coast composers and musicians with original recordings of live performances made at clubs and concert halls in San Francisco and Los Angeles, including on-stage interviews of the artists and discussions and demonstrations of their often unorthodox instrumentation.” Program No. 4 in the four part series, was initially broadcast on February 1, 1988 and featured performances and interviews with The Hub and the Kronos Quartet. The program begins with a discussion and performance by the San Francisco Bay Area’s computer music group, The Hub. These six electronic music composers and performers, have released their inner tech geeks by designing, modifying, and networking various bits of computer hardware and software, in order to create a unique, digitally enhanced, form of musical collaboration. At a time when many electronic music composers were using computers to perfect their intricate compositions in relative isolation, The Hub, decided to go in the other direction, and began to experiment with the networking capabilities of computers, in order to quickly exchange ideas and improvise music during live performances. The result is a lively and at times unpredictable music, that despite its dependence on computer algorithms and predetermined programming, retains the ability to surprise and entertain both performers and listeners alike. The majority of this program is then dedicated to the eclectic Kronos Quartet, which has made a career out of performing avant-garde and experimental works by contemporary composers. In addition to an interview with the group’s founder and lead violinist, David Harrington, we hear a studio recording of John Zorn’s “Forbidden Fruit,” which is scored for string quartet, voice, and turntables, and calls for such quick changes between styles and melodies that it is impossible to play live. The program then concludes with a slightly more traditional string quartet, “Ancora” by Jan W. Morthenson, performed on stage by Kronos.

Genres

New music
Chamber music

Musical Selections

Is It Borrowing Or Stealing, for networked computers (5:44) / Phil Stone & The Hub -- Forbidden Fruit, for voice, turntable, and string quartet (10:16) / John Zorn -- Ancora, meta-music for string quartet (1983) (19:10) / Jan W. Morthenson

Performers

The Hub: (Is It)
Chris Brown, IBM clone computer (Is It)
Scot Gresham-Lancaster, Macintosh computer (Is It)
Phil Stone, Amiga computer (Is It)
John Bischoff, Commodore 64 computer (Is It)
Tim Perkis, Macintosh Plus computer (Is It)
Mark Trayle, Amiga 500 computer (Is It)
Kronos Quartet
David Harrington, violin (Forbidden ; Ancora)
John Sherba, violin (Forbidden ; Ancora)
Hank Dutt, viola (Forbidden ; Ancora)
Joan Jeanrenaud, cello (Forbidden ; Ancora)
Christian Marclay, turntable (Forbidden)
Ohta Hiromi, voice (Forbidden)

Subjects

New music
Chamber music
Electronic music
Computer music
Monologues with music (Instrumental ensemble)
String quartets

Acknowledgment

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

Related Entities

NPR
National Public Radio
Hub (Computer music group)
Kronos Quartet
Goodkind, James
Brown, Chris, 1953-
Trayle, Mark
Bischoff, John
Perkis, Tim
Stone, Phil
Gresham-Lancaster, Scot
Zorn, John, 1953-
Harrington, David (Violinist)
Sherba, John
Dutt, Hank
Jeanrenaud, Joan
Marclay, Christian
Hiromi, Ohta
Morthenson, Jan W., 1940-