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.
Music has a way of transporting us to new and unexpected places. Sometimes, it can even take us out of this world.
If we hop into a spaceship and blast off into the infinite unknown, we might just find there’s even more new music to discover. On this week’s episode of Second Inversion, we’re exploring the music of outer space. Tune in for celestial songs, astronaut anthems, space transmissions, and even some music from the Starman in the sky.
Evelyn Glennie, Andy Akiho, Bonnie Whiting, and Third Coast Percussion are among the featured artists in this week’s episode.
If you want to be a percussionist in the 21st century, you’ve got to play a lot more than just drums.
The percussion toolkit is constantly expanding, and nowadays percussionists have to be prepared to play just about anything. Sure, there are some of the more familiar percussion instruments like gongs, marimbas, or the triangle—but there are also flower pots, kitchen pans, water glasses, and so much more. If you can hit, shake, or strike it, it’s a percussion instrument.
On this week’s episode of Second Inversion, we’re exploring the vast and vibrant world of 21st century percussion. We’ll hear music written for pails of water, planks of wood, an orchestra of gongs, and more—plus, we’ll talk with Seattle percussionist Bonnie Whiting about the revolutionary spirit of percussion.
This is an encore episode which first aired in March. Our field trip to the percussion studio of Bonnie Whiting is featured in the episode. Listen to the full interview below!
From ocean to desert, forest to tundra, composers have always found music in nature. The rhythm of waves, the rustling of leaves, the song of the mountain—or the colors of the wind.
On this Saturday’s episode of Second Inversion, we’ll explore music of the great outdoors. We’ll hear the pulse of the Amazon River, a duet with the Moab Desert, field recordings from the Pacific Crest Trail, and even music made from living plants.
“Color” is a word that gets thrown around a lot in conversations about classical music—and it can be a slippery thing to describe.
Just like in painting, composers can create different colors in music by mixing together different instruments, harmonies, or even rhythms to evoke a certain mood or energy. They might blend all the colors of the orchestra together or create sharp color contrasts in their music. Sometimes, composers even write with a very specific color in mind.
On this week’s episode of Second Inversion, we’ll explore pieces that take a more literal approach to color. Red, orange, yellow, green, blue, purple—we’ll hear music inspired by every color in the rainbow. Plus, one piece that mixes them all together.
byMaggie MolloyPhilip Glass, Julius Eastman, and Steve Reich are among the minimalists featured in this episode.
Truth, order, and simplicity—those are some of the major hallmarks of the minimalist art movement. It flourished in America during the 1960s and ’70s, primarily as a visual arts movement at first but eventually expanding into design, fashion, architecture, and even a lifestyle aesthetic.
Minimalism also found its counterpart in music. Instead of telling a story or taking the audience on a journey from point A to point B, minimalist music calls attention to the actual activity of listening itself—it’s about being present in the moment. Composers do this in a variety of ways: through repetition, circling melodies, pulsing rhythms, steady drones, or simple harmonies. When performed well, minimalism can feel almost trancelike or hypnotic for the listener.
On this week’s episode of Second Inversion, we’re exploring masterworks of minimalism—plus we’ll hear how some of these iconic pieces are still influencing artists today. We’ll also talk about some of the non-Western musical traditions that helped shape American minimalism.
This is an encore episode which first aired in March. It features excerpts from Emerald City Music‘s performance of Steve Reich’s Music for 18 Musicians. Watch videos from the concert on-demand in the playlist below:
