A home for new and unusual music from all corners of the classical genre, brought to you by the power of public media. Second Inversion is a service of Classical KING FM 98.1.
Shara Nova’s chamber pop opera You Us We All is featured in this week’s episode.byMaggie Molloy
Love is in the air and on the airwaves this weekend. In honor of Valentine’s Day, we’re devoting this week’s episode of Second Inversion to the music of 21st century troubadours.
In medieval times, troubadours were poets and musicians who wrote songs about chivalry and courtly love—they were kind of like the singer-songwriters of the Middle Ages. But of course, love and heartbreak are pretty timeless themes, and composers today are still writing love ballads for the modern romantic.
On this week’s episode of Second Inversion, we’re going to hear songs about love, songs about heartbreak, and at least two songs about online dating nightmares.
Some say classical music is dead—or at least dominated by the music of dead composers. We beg to differ.
Second Inversion is proud to launch a new weekly radio show highlighting all the ways classical music has expanded and evolved in the 20th and 21st centuries.
The new show, hosted by Maggie Molloy, will air Saturday nights from 10-11pm PT beginning February 8 on Classical KING FM 98.1. Listeners can tune in at 98.1 or stream it online from anywhere in the world.
The new show highlights the diversity and innovation of classical music today, with sounds ranging from the quiet iconoclasm of John Cage to the electroacoustic sound collages of Pamela Z, the wordless revelations of Meredith Monk, and the vibrant musical mosaics of Gabriela Lena Frank.
Second Inversion host Maggie Molloy. Photo by Alyssa Brandt.
Each week’s episode features a different theme or trend in new music, allowing listeners a chance to hear contemporary and experimental music from a new perspective. Each piece is hand-picked by the host to draw connections between classical music of the past, wide-ranging musical genres of the present, and cutting-edge sounds of the future.
Our first episode (airing February 8) examines unusual
instruments ranging from toy pianos to turntables and even 2×4 planks of wood.
Episode two explores the trend of 21st century troubadours,
highlighting the unique intersections of classical music and modern-day
singer-songwriters. In episode three, listeners hear the dissolution of
borders, boundaries, and genres through a selection of works that merge
traditional Western classical idioms with the music and instruments of other
cultures.
In a landscape where many classical music programs are still dominated by the narrow histories of a select few, Second Inversion showcases the incredible breadth, depth, and diversity of classical music today.
