By Charles Burns, assistant editor/production assistant
Did you know classical music could sound like this?
It can pulse like electronic music, crackle like electricity, shout, whisper, clap, and occasionally make some very silly noises. The composers on this playlist treat sound like a sandbox on a playground, a play to find joy, to experiment, to dance, to laugh.
Pianos get filled with screws and bolts as Cage rebuilds the piano as an alien drum kit. Singers become shouting comic-book heroes. Andy Akiho conjures a whole sound world from four players, while Steve Reich needs nothing more than two people and their hands. Orchestras make a glorious racket. Apparently, classical music has been getting away with quite a lot.
I put these tracks together for anyone who is curious about music from the past hundred years but isn’t sure where to begin. Start anywhere. Listen for one sound you like, then follow it down the rabbit hole. Curiosity is more useful here than expertise. Most of all, have fun!
