aworks :: "new" american classical music

What You Will Wear (2001). Eve Beglarian

The music of What You Will Wear, from the larger work A Book of Days is a simple, short gallop. The text makes a fashion statement, or more precisely, makes a statement on fashion and is attributed to a saying by Jesus in the Gospel of Thomas, in a Greek version found in 1898 and a Coptic version in 1945.

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• MP3. Note that this MP3 is titled "Do Not Be Concerned" and the one on my hard disk is "What You Will Wear." I assume they are the same but I'm on dialup so it's going to take me awhile to confirm that.
• The first records I had were Copland and Stravinsky. Eve Beglarian
• Wolfe, Gordon, and Lang have developed a kind of house style, which is shared to a greater or lesser degree by colleagues such as Eve Beglarian, Annie Gosfield, Mikel Rouse, Lois Vierk, and the multitasking Ziporyn. Alex Ross
• "Eclectic Minimalism works wonders", a recent review by Josef Woodard of the composer's Book of Days.
• Wikipedia's neutral point of view article on the Gospel of Thomas.
• Commentary on the Gospel of Thomas Saying 36.

The Bus Driver Didn't Change His Mind, for clarinet/bass clarinet, electric guitar, cello, bass, piano, percussion, and playback (2002). Eve Beglarian

The Bus Driver popped up again in my iTunes, and this time, it sounds like a contemporary version of the jazz composer Horace Silver. A slow, slightly ominous beginning leads to a spirited romp by the end.

Eve Beglarian:

The pre-recorded material is constructed solely from samples of the pipa, a Chinese instrument that is conventionally played by cultivated young ladies performing elevated music for the delectation of the upper classes.

The title of the piece comes from something I read yesterday in a profile of the American troublemaker Al Sharpton in this week's (2/18-25/02) New Yorker:

"The bus driver didn't change his mind, Rosa Parks changed hers."

The piece is dedicated to the memory of Samia al-Rumn.

New Sounds program stream including the work. NewMusicBox PDF score. Sharpton New Yorker profile.

Prior Beglarian aworks post. Prior aworks post which describes Kyle Gann's MP3 page where he responded to the Critical Conversation with examples of composers influenced by pop music. Unfortunately, the MP3 page is no longer available.