News
Steel Hammer receives Boston Premiere
Julia Wolfe's critically-acclaimed work Steel Hammer receives its Boston premiere on November 12 at MIT. Click here for more info.
Julia Wolfe Miller Theater Portrait Concert February 3
works for string orchestra
Miller Theater at Columbia University presents a portrait concert of the music of Julia Wolfe on February 3.
New York's Signal Ensemble, conducted by Brad Lubman, gives the NY premieres of Wolfe's two string orchestra works, Fuel and Cruel Sister.
New CD: Cruel Sister
'Though Ms. Wolfe never directly quotes this mournful song, she painstakingly depicts the story. And what a story!'
—Anthony Tommasini, New York Times
After an acclaimed Miller Theater Portrait Concert in February, Julia Wolfe releases her two string orchestra works masterfully recorded by the Hamburg-based orchestra Ensemble Resonanz -- Cruel Sister, which conveys the tale of the old English ballad of the same name and Fuel, which takes its inspiration from both the global issues as well as the human metaphor of high octane energy.
The new release on Cantaloupe Records, which was selected by New York City's WQXR as their album of the week, is now available worldwide (Enter code CRUELSISTER for 10% off, available through May 3).
On May 8, Andre de Ridder and the Britten Sinfonietta perform Cruel Sister on the Barbican Centre's festival Reverberations: the influence of Steve Reich.
Provocative and intense, Julia Wolfe's music combines minimalist techniques, repetitive rhythms, sustained harmonies with a rock sensibility. Her music has been described as 'invariably fresh and surprising' by the New York Times, and she was a finalist for the 2010 Pulitzer Prize in Music for her 2009 composition Steel Hammer.
Wolfe comments on the new release:
Cruel Sister is a stirring and fantastic Old English ballad. The tale is of two sisters — one bright as the sun, and the other cold and dark. One day, so that she can have the love of a young man who has come courting, the dark sister pushes the bright sister into the sea. Two minstrels find the dead sister washed up on the shore and shape her breastbone into a fine harp strung with her yellow hair. They come to play at the cold dark sister's wedding. As the sound of the harp reaches the bride's ears, the ballad concludes 'and surely now her tears will flow.' While my piece references no words and quotes no music from the original tune, it does follow the dramatic arc of the ballad — the music reflecting an argument that builds, a body floating on the sea, the mad harp.Cruel Sister was commissioned by the Münchener Kammerorchester with funds from Musica Femina München.
The ideas for Fuel began in conversation with filmmaker Bill Morrison. We talked about the mystery and economy of how things run — the controversy and necessity of fuel — the global implications, the human need. The music takes its inspiration from the fiery strings of Ensemble Resonanz. The members of the group challenged me to write something rip roaring and virtuosic, asking me to push the group to the limit. This request merged with the sounds of transport and harbors — New York and Hamburg — large ships, creaking docks, whistling sounds and a relentless energy.
No electronics have been used in this recording. All sounds are of acoustic strings.
Fuel was commissioned by Ensemble Resonanz and premiered in a multi-media performance with a film by Bill Morrison at the Kaispeicher B Warehouse at the port of Hamburg, Germany, in 2007.
Julia Wolfe @ (le) Poisson Rouge
Listen to Julia Wolfe talk about two of the pieces featured on her (le) Poisson Rouge concert Sunday October 3, 2010:
Stronghold, for 8 basses
LAD, for 9 bagpipes
With A Blue Dress On
Julia Wolfe hears her newest work on September 8th, during Gaudeamus Music Week in Amsterdam, when acclaimed violinist Monica Germino premieres With A Blue Dress On, for “multiple Monicas.” Based on the traditional fiddle tune, Pretty Little Girl with a Blue Dress On, Wolfe weaves vocal iterations with melodic fragments to create a unique and beautiful solo for a dynamic performer and multi-track electronics.
Additionally! On October 3, Julia has a profile concert at New York City's hippest spot for new music, Le Poisson Rouge. Don't miss this show if you are in the NYC area. With Stronghold, for 8 double basses, Bang on a Can All-Star Robert Black and the Hartt Bass Band become a mega bass with wild harmonic rolls, soaring tunes, and an earthquake of low strings. In the relentless and breathless Dig Deep the ferocious JACK Quartet whip all 16 strings up to a frenzy, and in LAD, for multiple bagpipes, piper Matthew Welch builds dense walls of reedy sound that turn to a cacophony of gigs and reels.
Julia Wolfe's STEEL HAMMER at Zankel Hall, November 21
BANG ON A CAN ALL-STARS & TRIO MEDIÆVAL
PERFORM JULIA WOLFE’S STEEL HAMMER
Saturday Nov. 21st at Zankel Hall at Carnegie Hall, New York NY [more information here]