Seda Röder » Podcast

Blackbox #008: How it all began Part I: Reinventing Dissonance and its Resolution

sedaroeder.com — Fri, 09 Jul 2010 16:50:19 +0000

Tristan Chord

In Blackbox I usually talk about contemporary music. However recently I have been receiving questions about how it all began. So I decided to prepare a few episodes about the beginnings of modern music, and about some of the pieces that are pivotal in showing a new musical direction.

For many of us, contemporary music is defined by its extensive use of dissonances: intervals that -when played simultaneously- sound clashing, and not really in harmony, for some ears even disturbing. But there is something very important here to keep in mind: dissonance as such is not necessarily something unpleasant or unnatural. Composers like Bach, Mozart, Chopin, all used dissonances. With one important point however, when these composers used dissonances, and created tension they always resolved it.

Today I would like to bring three examples for the different uses of dissonance by Mozart, Chopin and Wagner, and show you how these composers handled dissonance and paved the way for the future composers.

– Seda

Blackbox #007: “A Child’s Play” Listening to Helmut Lachenmann

Seda Röder — Sun, 14 Mar 2010 23:03:10 +0000

In this episode of Blackbox I would like to talk about a piece that caused a very interesting discussion on my YouTube Channel: “Ein Kinderspiel” (A Child’s Play) by Helmut Lachenmann. I am hoping that this episode will help you to develop a new listening strategy for this very interesting piece while also clarifying its context a little bit.

As always please don’t hesitate to contact me with questions or comments. Enjoy!

–Seda

An Alphabet of Sounds: Tolga Tüzün on his Compositional Process

Seda Röder — Wed, 17 Feb 2010 04:53:13 +0000

The Turkish composer Tolga Tüzün speaks about the compositional process that underlies his new piano piece “Permanence,” a piece he composed for the “Listening to Istanbul” Project and dedicated to me. I can’t wait to play this composition for the Listening to Istanbul project.

By the way, if you haven’t signed up to my mailing list yet, please do so. I’ll send around a notice once the recording is ready. And hopefully you will be able to come to one of the many concerts that we are planning as well!

– Seda

Blackbox #006: HYDRA in a Winter Night

sedaroeder.com — Thu, 10 Dec 2009 18:27:40 +0000

Those who are familiar with the Blackbox series will remember the composer Hans Tutschku. Today I would like to dedicate another episode to Hans and his work. Actually to two of his works: one of them is a compositional achievement: a piano, percussion, and live-electronics work Winternacht (Winter Night), which I will perform together with the percussionist Sam Solomon on Friday.

The other one is an extraordinary contribution to the electro-acoustic music scene in North America: Hydra. Hydra is a so to speak loudspeaker orchestra specially designed for the performance of electro-acoustic music.

The concerts will take place at Paine Hall at Harvard University, on December 10 and 11 starting at 8pm, there will also be a late night concert on December 10 at 10.30pm with a large scale electro-acoustic work by Francois Bayle.

Our performance will take place during the Friday concert. Hope to see many of you there!

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Blackbox 005: Fuchs vs. Brahms – 1 : 1

sedaroeder.com — Sat, 31 Oct 2009 23:23:28 +0000

Robert Fuchs and Johannes Brahms

As you all know in this podcast series I usually talk about contemporary music, but this time I would like to focus on music that is new not in the sense that it was composed recently, but that is new because it is still undiscovered for the wider public: the piano sonata op. 88 in g-minor by Robert Fuchs.

Fuchs was a contemporary of Brahms and in today’s episode I compare two pieces by these two composers.

Please leave me a comment if you like the podcast!

Best wishes,
– Seda

Blackbox #004: My Chamber Music Partner is a Computer!

Seda Röder — Thu, 06 Aug 2009 05:44:10 +0000

Welcome to the fourth episode of Blackbox. This episode of Blackbox will introduce a composition that employs not only solo piano but also live-electronics: Zellen-Linien (Cells and Lines), composed by one of the most important electronic music composers of our time: Hans Tutschku. I will particularly focus on one fascinating aspect of this composition which is the interaction between computer and performer, and how this interaction affects the aural outcome of each performance.

Here is the full recording of the piece from my performance at the New York City Electroacoustic Music Festival:

If you would like to listen to a live performance of Zellen-Linien, you are kindly invited to my upcoming performance at MIT’s Kilian Hall on September 25, at 8pm.

I am looking forward to seeing you there, and as always please let me know if you have any comments on this podcast either by simply emailing me at seda@sedaroeder.com or using the comments field below.

– Seda

Blackbox #003: How Méandres meanders

sedaroeder.com — Sun, 28 Jun 2009 22:51:06 +0000

The third episode of Blackbox is on Bert van Herck’s piano piece Méandres. The main focus of this episode lies on the question of how the composer transforms a musical idea that seems secondary at first into an important supporting pillar of his work. Of course, you will also find out how all of this relates to the title of Bert’s piece (and of this episode).

As always the podcast contains many musical examples as well as a full recording of my performance of the piece.

I am looking forward to receiving any feedback or questions from you. Please post your comments below or email me directly at seda@sedaroeder.com

Have fun!

– Seda

[Click Here to Download a Transcript of this Episode - PDF]

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Blackbox #002: Listening to Stockhausen’s Klavierstück IX

Seda Röder — Sat, 30 May 2009 23:27:40 +0000

In the second episode of Blackbox, I will show you the six building blocks that make up Stockhausen’s famous piano piece No. 9. Recognizing these formal elements will help you find a way into this complex composition and hopefully increase your enjoyment of this fabulous piece!

Here are some interesting links that might help you while digging deeper into the material:

Karlheinz Stockhausen Official Website

What is … ?

I hope you like this episode. As always, please feel free to post any comments or questions you might have, either below in the comment field or via email to seda@sedaroeder.com.

Have fun!

– Seda

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Blackbox #001: A conversation with Tolga Yayalar

Seda Röder — Mon, 13 Apr 2009 04:36:39 +0000

I have just started a new podcast series: Blackbox. The idea behind this podcast project is that I would like to share with you some of the experiences and questions that arise from my everyday work as a musician.

The Blackbox #001 features a conversation with the Turkish composer Tolga Yayalar on his solo piano piece “in the temporal gardens” which he dedicated to me. In this episode we talk about Tolga’s intention in composing this piece and what the particular challenges in writing for piano are. In addition, I also play specific musical examples that highlight certain aspects we discuss.

The world premiere of “in the temporal gardens” will take place at the next HGNM concert on April 25 at Harvard University.

Tolga and I would be more than happy to hear any comments, or answer all of your questions. Just post them as a comment on my website or email me at seda@sedaroeder.com.

I hope to see you at the concert!
Seda

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