May 22, 2013 — The composer, who never fit into any particular school of composition, will be remembered for a relatively small quantity of perfectly realized, richly textured works created for some of the 20th century's leading virtuosos.
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Henri Dutilleux, a leading French composer and unique voice in new music, has died at age 97. (AFP/Getty Images)
Henri Dutilleux, Leading French Composer, Dies At 97
by Tom Huizenga
May 22, 2013 — The composer, who never fit into any particular school of composition, will be remembered for a relatively small quantity of perfectly realized, richly textured works created for some of the 20th century's leading virtuosos.Henri Dutilleux, a leading French composer who wrote music of luminous perfection, died Wednesday in Paris at age 97. His family announced the death, which was reported by one of his publishers, Schott Music, and the Agence-France Presse.
Throughout his career, which took off after World War II with performances of his First Symphony, Dutilleux wrote music with particular musicians in mind. His cello concerto Tout un monde lointain was written for Mstislav Rostropovich and the violin concerto Mystère de L'instant for Isaac Stern. One of his last works, Le temps l'horloge, was composed for soprano Renée Fleming, who won a Grammy for her recording of the work.
Conductor Esa-Pekka Salonen, whom Dutilleux asked to record his 2003 piece Correspondances, attested to the composer's perfectionist tendencies. At a record release party in Paris in January to celebrate the composer's 97th birthday, an event recorded for a promotional trailer, Salonen recalled the recording sessions: "I indeed remember moments in Correspondances, when after a take I would turn towards Mr. Dutilleux and I said, 'Well, what do you think?' and he said, 'Well, you know, this phrase should be a little faster and maybe you might want to take a little bit more time there."
Dutilleux, who continually revised his works, abandoned most of his compositions that preceded his Piano Sonata, begun in 1946. He composed the piece for the pianist Geneviève Joy, whom he married the same year.
Born in Angers in 1916 into a family with artistic connections (his grandfather was a composer and close friend of Gabriel Fauré, his great-grandfather a painter and friend of Eugène Delacroix), Dutilleux studied first at the local conservatory in Douai. As a teenager, after the family moved to Paris, he attended the Paris Conservatory, winning the Prix de Rome in 1938 on his third attempt. After the outbreak of World War II, Dutilleux was enlisted to carry stretchers. Later, he held posts at the Paris Opera and French Radio. His teaching jobs were few, but significant, with stints at the École Normale de Musique and Paris Conservatory and frequent visits to Tanglewood as a guest instructor.
Tom Service, writing for the Guardian, notes that Dutilleux never fit (or associated himself) with any particular school of composition. His anti-ideological approach to music history, Service says, resulted in "some of the most poetically flexible music of recent decades." Dutilleux's rich coloration, shifting textures and streams of melody seem to form a style of his own, with influences of Debussy and Bartók.
Dutilleux's love of literature resulted in numerous songs, incidental music for Wuthering Heights, and Correspondances, in which he set texts by Rainer Maria Rilke, Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn and Vincent Van Gogh. His family ties with visual artists and his lifelong love of painting surfaced not only in the calligraphy of his beautifully crafted scores but also in one of his best-known works, Timbres, espace, movement, a 1978 orchestral piece inspired by Van Gogh's Starry Night.
In 2012 Dutilleux was the first to receive the New York Philharmonic's newly established Marie-Josée Kravis Prize for New Music. The award resulted in performances of three of his works at Avery Fisher Hall last summer. His other awards include the French Grand Prix de la Musique, an honorary membership in the American Academy of Arts and Letters and a MIDEM lifetime achievement award.
At a Paris event in January marking the release of a new album and his 97th birthday, Dutilleux, in a wheelchair and slightly frail, was appreciative of both his longevity and of the musicians and recording industry colleagues gathered around him.
"I have had the great joy of living a long life," the composer announced. "And you are, each and every one of you, doing all that can be done to make the end of it as easy and enjoyable as possible. Thanks to all of you."
Dutilleux's legacy will hang on relatively few perfectly polished compositions such as The Shadows of Time, his symphonies, Timbres and the concertos. But it's not the quantity of pieces that's important to Tom Service:
The influence of Dutilleux's music on the 20th and 21st centuries isn't to be measured in how his work revolutionized the languages of musical possibility, or even in the roster of his pupils (who include Gérard Grisey). Instead, his music is a realization of a complete world, independent of concerns for cutting-edge contemporaneity, and one that becomes more essential the more you hear it, above all for how he transforms his astonishing compositional refinement into real emotional immediacy.
Copyright 2013 NPR. To see more, visit http://www.npr.org/.9(MDAxNzgwMTg5MDEyMTQ4Nzc4MjdiNWVmMw004))
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Copyright(c) 2013, NPR
Mount Moriah. (Courtesy of the artist)
Mount Moriah On World Cafe
by David Dye
May 22, 2013 (World Cafe / WXPN-FM) — The North Carolina band performs powerful, country-tinged songs from its new album, Miracle Temple.Mount Moriah is a rock band formed around the duo of guitarist Jenks Miller and singer Heather McEntire. Its second full-length album, the recent Miracle Temple, combines the strum and twang of Southern rock with vocals that hit hard emotionally.
On this installment of World Cafe, host David Dye discusses with McEntire the complexity of Mount Moriah's sound, as well as her push to explore the nuances in her vocals.
Copyright 2013 WXPN-FM. To see more, visit http://www.xpn.org/.9(MDAxNzgwMTg5MDEyMTQ4Nzc4MjdiNWVmMw004))
Set List
- "Bright Light"
- "Eureka Springs"
- "Miracle Temple Holiness"
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Copyright(c) 2013, NPR
Mount Moriah. (Courtesy of the artist)
London Machete Attack Deemed Likely Terrorist Incident
by Scott Neuman
May 22, 2013 (WXPN-FM) — Two men who yelled political statements attacked another man with a machete in what authorities said was likely a terrorist incident.A man has been killed in a machete attack in London, and police have shot two suspects in what British Prime Minister David Cameron says is likely a terrorist incident.
The Associated Press says the incident occurred on Wednesday when the suspects attacked the man near a London military barracks.
"The footage shown on the ITV website shows a man, dressed in a grey hooded jacket, saying: 'We must fight them as they fight us. An eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth.'
"He added: 'I apologize that women have had to witness this today, but in our land our women have to see the same. You people will never be safe. Remove your government, they don't care about you.' "
Cameron, at a news conference in Paris with French President Francois Hollande, called the attack "the most appalling crime" and said there are "strong indications" that it is a terrorist incident, according to AP.
London Mayor Boris Johnson was quoted by Reuters as saying the attack was "overwhelmingly likely" a terrorist incident.
Copyright 2013 NPR. To see more, visit http://www.npr.org/.9(MDAxNzgwMTg5MDEyMTQ4Nzc4MjdiNWVmMw004))
Set List
- "Bright Light"
- "Eureka Springs"
- "Miracle Temple Holiness"
Missing some content? Check the source: NPR
Copyright(c) 2013, NPR
A baby receives a polio vaccine at the Medina Maternal Child Health center in Mogadishu, Somalia. The country has one of the lowest immunization rates in the world. (AP)
Polio Outbreak In Kenya: A Threat To Global Eradication
by Michaeleen Doucleff
May 22, 2013 (WXPN-FM) — A handful of polio infections in Kenya and Somalia could set back efforts to wipe out the virus worldwide, health workers warned Wednesday. The last time there was polio in this region, the virus spread throughout the Horn of Africa into the Middle East and eventually into Indonesia.See this
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Kenya has recorded its first case of polio in two years, the World Health Organization said Wednesday.
A 4-month-old girl came down with paralysis on April 30, and then two healthy kids nearby also tested positive for the virus.
But this handful of infections with poliovirus has the potential to set back global efforts to eradicate polio, WHO spokeswoman Sona Bari tells Shots.
"Polio is a virus that spreads silently," she says. "One case represents between 200 and 1,000 people infected. It's the tip of an iceberg."
Kenya hasn't seen a case of wild polio (as opposed to the rare ones linked to vaccination) since July 2011. And now the risk to neighboring countries is very high, Bari says.
"This is a particularly fragile part of the world in terms of immunity," she says. "Overall, Kenya has a robust health care system, but if polio lands in a pocket with low immunity it could spark a large outbreak."
The new case occurred in the largest refugee camp in the world, the Dadaab Refugee Camp in southeast Kenya. About 500,000 people from neighboring countries live there or move in and out of the camp each year.
"There is a lot of travel through this nexus in Africa," Bari says. Viruses can spread rapidly.
"Last time we saw polio in this region, it caused infections in Sudan, Ethiopia, Somalia and even Yemen." Eventually the virus spread as far as Indonesia and paralyzed more than 700 children.
A few weeks ago, Somalia recorded its first wild polio case in more than five years. A 32-month-old girl became paralyzed in the region near Mogadishu.
Many parts of Somalia have not held polio vaccination campaigns since 2009, Global Polio Eradication Initiative said, and the country, in general, has one of the lowest immunization rates in the world.
Genetic analysis suggests that the poliovirus in Somalia came from Nigeria, which is more than 3,000 miles away. It's still unknown if the Somalia case is connected with the ones in Kenya. But the international health community has responded quickly to contain both outbreaks.
"Fortunately, we're prepared for these things," Bari says. Vaccinations campaigns will start in Kenya this Sunday. In Somalia, they've already immunized about 400,000 children. "About 1 million children will get vaccinated in eastern Kenya," she says.
Such rapid responses are critical if the WHO and other foundations hope to reach their target of eradicating polio by 2018 — a goal that health leaders said would cost about $5.5 billion.
Polio is currently endemic in just three countries: Afghanistan, Pakistan and Nigeria. There were only 223 cases recorded worldwide in 2012 and so far, just 34 in 2013. More than half of the cases occurred in Nigeria.
Copyright 2013 NPR. To see more, visit http://www.npr.org/.9(MDAxNzgwMTg5MDEyMTQ4Nzc4MjdiNWVmMw004))
Set List
- "Bright Light"
- "Eureka Springs"
- "Miracle Temple Holiness"
Missing some content? Check the source: NPR
Copyright(c) 2013, NPR
A yard sign opposes a local tax increase to fund public safety in Josephine County, Oregon. The ballot measure reportedly failed by a thin margin. (OPB)
Oregon's Cash-Strapped Counties Reject Public Safety Levies
May 22, 2013 (WXPN-FM) — Two Oregon counties have reportedly rejected property tax increases that would have funded law enforcement and public safety services. The counties once received federal timber subsidies, but those days are over -- and now they're scrambling to pay for essential services.Two Oregon counties have reportedly rejected property tax increases that would have funded law enforcement and public safety services. The counties once received federal timber subsidies, but those days are over — and now they're scrambling to pay for essential services.
In Josephine County, where nearly 70 percent of the land belongs to the U.S. government, Tuesday's vote that was too close to call last night. But The Daily Courier in Grants Pass, Ore., reported Wednesday that voters rejected the new levy.
The impact of the loss of federal funds in the county — and the reported 80 percent layoffs in the local police force that it forced — was illustrated in harrowing fashion by Amelia Templeton's report for All Things Considered Tuesday, as she played a recording of a woman's desperate 911 call from August 2012, when the caller was told that there were no officers who could help.
The problem was that the county's police were only on duty during daytime hours, from Monday to Friday.
"My ex-boyfriend is trying to break into my house. I'm not letting him in, but he's, like, tried to break down the door, and he's trying to break into one of the windows," the unidentified woman told the 911 dispatcher. She added that the man had injured her before, putting her in the hospital.
"The call came in on a Saturday at 4:58 in the morning. None of the sheriff's deputies in Josephine County were on duty," Templeton reports. "So dispatch transferred the call to the Oregon State Police, but they also didn't have anyone available."
The call lasts more than 10 minutes; in it, the woman repeatedly asks for help. At one point, the dispatcher suggests she find somewhere to hide.
"Once again, it's unfortunate you guys don't have any law enforcement up there," the dispatcher says.
On Tuesday's ballot, the county's residents were asked to decide, "Shall Josephine County impose $1.48 per $1,000 assessed value for criminal justice and public safety for three years beginning 2013?"
The measure listed several potential uses, such as adding capacity to the county's jail, providing a school security program, and increasing "Sheriff's deputies' response and patrol."
"The approximate tax increase for a home with an assessed value of $150,000 would be $222.00 per year, or approximately $18.50 per month," according to the ballot document.
In two other counties in similar situations — Lane and Curry Counties — voters took up their own public safety levies Tuesday. Curry County voters rejected their measure, according to The Curry Coastal Pilot, while voters in Lane County were projected to approve their levy.
"Keep in mind, it's been almost a quarter of a century since Lane County passed a public safety levy," April Baer of Oregon Public Broadcasting said this morning.
Baer was then asked what might happen next in places like Josephine County.
"The Oregon Senate Rules Committee has been considering a bill that would give the state certain powers," she says. "The governor was involved drafting it. Under its terms, the state could declare a public safety emergency, and impose a temporary tax to shore up the jail and other safety services for up to 18 months."
This week, the Oregon District Attorneys Association called for the state to lower penalties and allow discretionary sentencing for crimes involving drugs and driving offenses, saying the money required to jail people for such crimes cuts into what can be spent to keep violent offenders in custody.
The prosecutors' suggestions come after Oregon's public safety commission suggested removing mandatory sentences, "for such crimes as first-degree sex abuse, second-degree assault and second-degree robbery," The Oregonian reports.
In Amelia Templeton's report yesterday, she noted that Josephine County Sheriff Gil Gilbertson issued a press release after the budget cuts first took effect.
"In it, he warned victims of domestic violence to 'consider relocating to an area with adequate law enforcement services,'" Templeton reported.
Copyright 2013 NPR. To see more, visit http://www.npr.org/.9(MDAxNzgwMTg5MDEyMTQ4Nzc4MjdiNWVmMw004))
Set List
- "Bright Light"
- "Eureka Springs"
- "Miracle Temple Holiness"
Missing some content? Check the source: NPR
Copyright(c) 2013, NPR
