Today at noon ET, we have the second of our Spring for Music live chats, this time, with composer Steven Stucky. Here is his launch statement, pegged to his piece ‘August 4, 1964’ which will be performed with the Dallas Symphony:
“How does a composer write a work about a failed President (Johnson) and a probable war criminal (McNamarra) without lapsing into propaganda? Does he have to check his personal opinions at the door? If a middle-class white composer writes music about the Civil Rights movement of the 1960s, does he risk being patronizing? In writing a historical symphony does he steal the voices of those who actually went through the struggles of the movement, fought and died in Vietnam?”
More information about the piece can be found in this preview video:
And you can chat right here on Life’s a Pitch. Don’t change that dial!