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New York Philharmonic Presents Notes on the Program by Nadia Sirota, The Marie-Josée Kravis Creative Partner When it comes to expression, music age 30, she became the youngest recipient occupies a weird, slippery space; it’s of the Pulitzer Prize for Music for her Partita not exactly a language, but it is commu- for Eight Voices, a piece composed for the nicative. Much of music is abstract, it Grammy-winning vocal ensemble, Roomful points toward emotions without naming of Teeth, of which she is a member. Soon them, transmits thoughts obliquely, and afterward she began working with rapper sketches circles around concepts other- Kanye West on some recordings, and joined wise inexpressible. But when music is him as a performer and writer for his Life of deployed programmatically, in response Pablo album and tour in 2016. Vaulted into to something specific, it has the ability the spotlight by these events, Shaw has re- to pull the listener into a super-verbal tained a clear, honest, and musician-friendly realm, a place where the object of a approach to writing and performing. Of First work can be illustrated in many glitter- Essay: Nimrod, she writes: ing dimensions at once. It began as a simple exercise in translating Today we’ll hear from five composers who the lilt and rhythm of one of my favorite au- have used music to reframe social, politi- thors, Marilynne Robinson, into music. She cal, and personal events. As this New York writes beautifully and bravely on notions Philharmonic season culminates with Mu- of the human soul, weaving delicately in sic of Conscience, “three weeks of unfor- and out various subjects (politics, religion, gettable music created in response to his- science) in each of her rich, methodical es- torical events, political unrest, and societal says.
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