NICO MUHLY

Excerpts from his profile in The New Yorker, "Eerily Composed: Nico Muhly’s sonic magic."

From Antony Hegarty of Antony & the Johnsons:

"He paints the sky with his work. The melody and notes are almost invisible, and he thinks in terms of these panoramas of shifting energy, which at their best are so beautiful."

About "The Only Tune"

"'The Only Tune,' also on 'Mothertongue,' is another Muhly collage—a dismantled traditional English song about a violent sororicide, delivered with affecting flatness by an American folk singer named Sam Amidon, to the accompaniment, variously, of a sampled Farfisa organ similar to that used by Philip Glass in 'Music in Twelve Parts,' a pair of butcher’s knives scraping against each other, a recording of whistling Icelandic wind, and the sound of raw whale flesh slopping around a bowl."

About Muhly's compositional process:

"He begins with books and documents, YouTube videos and illuminated manuscripts. He meditates on this material, digesting its ironies and appreciating its aesthetics. Meanwhile, he devises an emotional scheme for the piece—the journey on which he intends to lead his listener."

Read the full article HERE

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