Latest Blogthoven Podcast Episodes
Episode 14: Counterpoint
Perennial Dissonance - October 20, 2011 16:29 - 28 minutesThere is a word among many aspiring young composers and music academics that is often fraught with much cringing and clenching of teeth: counterpoint. But what exactly is counterpoint, and what's all the fuss about? This week, we explore these questions and reminisce about the glory an...
Episode 13: Doing Damage
Perennial Dissonance - October 13, 2011 16:08 - 26 minutesWhen does music do socio-culture damage? It isn't a concept we're typically aware of, but the modern advent of newer technology and forms of media combined with its speed of distribution creates a situation where, with a mere roll of the dice, distributed media could actually do socio-c...
Episode 12: Absolutely Programmatic or Programmatically Absolute?
Perennial Dissonance - October 06, 2011 15:00 - 30 minutesCan music be perceived beyond its extramusical associations? This week, we explore the dichotomy between "Absolute" and "Program" music, and their varying degrees of applicability depending on composer intention, performer agency, and audience reception. And believe it or not, the two ...
Episode 11: A Sound's "Becoming" Musical
Perennial Dissonance - September 29, 2011 19:00 - 37 minutesThis week's episode attempts to draw a rough picture of how a 'sound' becomes 'musical.' We trace sound's development within the musical context throughout history in an attempt to understand how we came to listen to sound in musical setting as we do today, and discuss some of the probl...
Episode 10: The Canon, Pt. II
Perennial Dissonance - September 15, 2011 14:57 - 35 minutesWe return to the Canon this week to discuss music for films and videogames, which are often ignored by the Canon due to the traditional considerations of the work concept and their necessary intertwinedness with other, more visual forms of artistic creation. We look at the birth of the ...
Episode 9: The Canon
Perennial Dissonance - September 08, 2011 16:24 - 23 minutesThis week, we discuss the Canon of established Western Classical compositions that have "stood the test of time," including what it is, how it emerged, how one gets into the Canon, how one falls out of the Canon, and whether the thing is actually justified. Errata: at about the 12'00", ...
Episode 8: Repetition
Perennial Dissonance - September 01, 2011 16:24 - 24 minutesOur discussion this week consists of basic musings and analysis surrounding the "why" and, to some degree, the "how" behind repetition in music. Just as repetition serves to reinforce organizational and structural elements throughout all facets of life, music is plagued with repetition ...
Episode 7 - Form of...
Perennial Dissonance - August 25, 2011 16:47 - 23 minutesIn this week's episode, we explore the concept of musical form. Our discussion winds through teleology, repetition, and musings on human psychology and pattern recognition. Throughout the epsiode, we ask four main questions: What is musical form? Why does it exist? Who determines it? ...
Episode 6: "The Liberation of Tonality"
Perennial Dissonance - August 18, 2011 17:00 - 30 minutesThis week, we examine that weird moment in 20th century concert music when composers realized that tonality was actually pretty cool. Our discussion weaves around Messiaen, minimalism, and George Rochberg. To join in the conversation and discover more, visit us at perennial-dissonance.t...
Episode 5: The Liberation of the Tones
Perennial Dissonance - August 11, 2011 13:03 - 26 minutesThis week, we begin to explore the birth of atonality with a special focus on dodecaphonic (12-tone) serialism. Our discussion veers through thoughts on Schoenberg and the Second Viennese School, Boulez's "Schoenberg is Dead," and a final attempt at determining whether dodecaphonic and i...
Episode 4: Tuning Systems
Perennial Dissonance - August 04, 2011 13:35 - 2 hoursThis week, Dave and I explore some of the various tuning systems that have been used throughout the history of Western concert music. We pick apart their pros and cons without delving into too much technical detail, and talk about some of their major proponents.
Episode 3: Sampling, Remix, and Stealing
Perennial Dissonance - July 28, 2011 17:10 - 2 minutesThis week, we explore the hazy territory between sampling another composer's work and stealing it, and the methods of artistic and social justification.
Episode 2: Concert Etiquette
Perennial Dissonance - July 21, 2011 10:33 - 18 minutesThis week, we discuss the issue of concert etiquette and attempt to dispell some of the pretentiousness often attributed to the subject.
Episode 1: "Classical" vs. "Popular"
Perennial Dissonance - July 16, 2011 15:40 - 27 minutesThis week’s episode explores the definitions of “classical” music, “Classical” music, and music which is not “Classical,” “classical,” or “serious,” as well as the value judgments inherent in these often confusing delineations.
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