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.
If the 4pm sunsets here in Seattle have got you down—don’t worry, the light at the end of the tunnel is near! December 21 marks the winter solstice, the shortest day of the year…and the days will only get longer from there. Join us as we celebrate the solstice a little early this weekend on Second Inversion.
On this Saturday’s episode: the Sun and the Moon. We’ll hear music inspired by day and night, darkness and light. One composer traces the mythic struggle between the Sun Lion and the Moon Bull. Another explores the four suns of the Arctic sky. Plus: night music from the land of the midnight sun, and moonlight shimmering over Guan Mountain.
byMaggie MolloyMusic from the composer and performance artist Du Yun is featured in this episode. Photo by Zhen Qin, makeup by Nina Carelli, and art direction by SpaTheory.
Sometimes music is the best medicine—it mends the heart and soul. A daily dose can keep you feeling calm, centered, and inspired.
On this Saturday’s episode of Second Inversion: Music for Healing. We’ll explore music as a medium for solace, comfort, and liberation. From the healing ceremonies of the Navajo people to the meditative power of Hindustani ragas, composers explore the restorative power of music. Plus: ruminations on mental illness, and the songs of spiritual healers.
byMaggie MolloyStill frame from Mark DeChiazza’s video for Christopher Cerrone’s Memory Palace.
We all have those certain sounds that transport us straight back to childhood—the sound of the school bus rumbling down your street, or maybe the plastic, clicking sounds of rewinding a cassette tape. The sound of the screen door slamming as you used to run outside, or the timbre of that cheap guitar you used to play in the backyard.
On this Saturday’s episode of Second Inversion: Musical Nostalgia. We’ll hear from composers creating new music inspired by the old, familiar sounds of childhood: summer nights on the porch, wind chimes twinkling in the evening breeze, crickets chirping outside your childhood home. It’s a musical trip down memory lane.
byMaggie MolloyCarrie Wang performed Tan Dun’s Ghost Opera with Seattle Symphony musicians this November.
Do you believe in ghosts? Not the Halloween kind of ghosts—but spirits of the past…and maybe, spirits of the future, too.
On this Saturday’s episode of Second Inversion: Ghost Opera.The Chinese composer Tan Dun takes us back in time, to the shamanistic ceremonies of his native Hunan, where musical rituals launched the spirit into new life. In ghost opera, the performer is in dialogue with past and future, spirit and nature.
In Tan Dun’s Ghost Opera, he calls on the spirits of Bach, Shakespeare, ancient Chinese folk traditions—and the sounds of the earth, too. He combines a string quartet with the sounds of water, metal, stones, paper, and one instrument that you might not be quite as familiar with: the pipa, a kind of Chinese lute.
Seattle Symphony musicians perform Tan Dun’s Ghost Opera at Octave 9. Photo by Brandon Patoc.
Last weekend, the Seattle Symphony presented two sold-out performances of Tan Dun’s Ghost Opera in their immersive Octave 9 space. The string quartet included violinists Andy Liang and Mae Lin, violist Olivia Chew, and cellist Nathan Chan. The pipa player was Carrie Wang. She joins host Maggie Molloy in studio this week to introduce us to the sounds of the pipa and to take us behind the curtain of Seattle Symphony’s recent performance.
byMaggie MolloyThe Persistence of Memory by Salvador Dalí.
Artists have long been fascinated by the subconscious. Salvador Dalí used to nap at his painter’s easel, ready to capture whatever melting clocks or lobster telephones drifted into his dreams. Composers do the same thing sometimes…
On this Saturday’s episode of Second Inversion: Strange Dreams. From the surreal to the subliminal, we’re exploring composers’ wildest and most bizarre musical visions.
One composer finds music in the snores of his sleeping partner. Another explores how our evening TV viewing seeps into our subconscious. We’ll hear from a composer who imagines herself in the dreaming mind of her pet turtle—plus, the whimsical story of a dream collector, who runs around picking up everyone’s dreams at the end of the night.
