You
may recognize Nico Muhly’s name if you attended the CSO’s MusicNOW Festival.
Born in 1981, Muhly is a rising composer writing a variety of works including
chamber music, orchestral music, sacred music, opera, and ballet. Let’s wrap up
our topic this month by looking at his life and work.
Nico
Muhly finds a great amount of inspiration in English religious music including
work by William Bryd and John Taverner. He also enjoys the repetition used by
Philip Glass and Steve Reich along with the rhythms of singer-songwriter Björk.
When writing music, Muhly does not think about the actual notes musicians will
play but focuses on things like books, YouTube videos, etc., allowing
aesthetics to influence him. He then considers the emotional journey he would
like to take listeners on as they hear his work.
Below
you can listen to an example of Muhly’s music. His Violin Concerto is based on
Renaissance astronomy and educational videos on the solar system from the
1980s. He wrote the piece for electric violin and chamber orchestra.
You’ve
had a month of modern composers. Do you feel one in particular resonates with
you or do you appreciate each approach in its own way? If you have a favorite
composer of today who was not mentioned this month, drop me a line! Perhaps I
can talk about them in a future month!
