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Anthony Braxton: Agency and ancestry

Kate Molleson and Gillian Moore shine new light on the 'modern' music of the 20th century. This week, Kate explores the underground, complex, systematic music of Anthony Braxton.

Kate Molleson and Gillian Moore present BBC Radio 3's series exploring the pivotal 'modern' musical works of the 20th century, the groundbreaking composers who created them, and the radical cultural and artistic movements which gave rise to them. In this episode, Kate explores the underground, complex, brilliant musical works of Anthony Braxton, focusing in on one of his pieces of Ghost Trance Music which emerged in the 1990s. In Braxton's scores and his approach to performance we encounter nuanced compositional systems, visually-arresting graphic notation, and the search for ritualistic, meditative modes of being.

'I would talk of Ghost Trance Musics as a way to move towards the supernatural, towards processes that transcend mental plane decision-making [...]' ~ Anthony Braxton in conversation with Graham Lock

Produced by Sam Phillips
A Reduced Listening production for BBC Radio 3

59 minutes

Last on

Sun 30 Nov 202521:00
BBC Radio 3

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Music Played

  • Anthony Braxton

    Composition 193

    Ensemble: Ghost Trance Septet.
    • Ghost Trance Septet plays Anthony Braxton.
    • el NEGOCITO Records.

  • Giuseppe Verdi

    Ah, fors'e lui from La Traviata

    Singer: Patrizia Ciofi. Orchestra: Teatro la Fenice Orchestra.
    • Patrizia Ciofi: Live.
    • Dynamic.

  • Anthony Braxton

    Composition 92 + (30, 32, 139) + (108c, 108d) for Creative Orchestra

    Orchestra: New York Composers Orchestra.
    • First Program In Standard Time.
    • New World Records.

  • Anthony Braxton

    Composition 122 (+108A, 40(0); Collage from Structure Composition 52, 86 (+32,1)

    Ensemble: Anthony Braxton Quartet.
    • Quartet (London) 1985.
    • LEO RECORDS.

  • Ahmad Jamal

    Poinciana

    Ensemble: The Ahmad Jamal Trio.
    • Poinciana.
    • GAMBIT RECORDS.

  • Roscoe Mitchell

    3x4 Eye (excerpt)

    Ensemble: The Sound Ensemble.
    • 3x4 Eye.
    • Black Saint.

  • John Zorn

    Pendet

    Performer: John Zorn.
    • Cobra.
    • Tzadik.

  • Anthony Braxton

    To Composer John Cage

    Performer: Anthony Braxton.
    • For Alto.
    • Delmark.

  • Muhal Richard Abrams

    Dance From The East

    Composer: Amina Claudine Myers. Performer: Amina Claudine Myers. Performer: Muhal Richard Abrams.
    • Duet.
    • Black Saint.

  • Anthony Braxton

    Composition 193

    Ensemble: Ghost Trance Septet.
    • Ghost Trance Septet plays Anthony Braxton.
    • el NEGOCITO Records.

  • Ingrid Laubrock

    Koan 55

    Performer: Ingrid Laubrock.
    • Purposing the Air.
    • Pyroclastic Records.

Broadcast

  • Sun 30 Nov 202521:00
    BBC Radio 3