Milwaukee Sentinel Article about learning the Ben Johnston Quartets

http://www.jsonline.com/story/index.aspx?id=489750
"
Ready to record again

They are about to reconvene in Milwaukee to record the remaining
quartets. The composer, who for family reasons has recently moved to
Madison from North Carolina, will be a part of the sessions.

"It's really important to have the composer there," Segnitz said. "The
notation only gets you so far. Ben can hear all those microtones. It's
scary - he picks out the voice and nails the pitch."

Johnston is 80. His advanced age adds urgency to the project.

Segnitz said that the Kepler has enjoyed a steep learning curve with
Johnston's idiom, as the players have attuned their ears to just
intonation. As a service to subsequent ensembles, the Kepler has
commissioned technologists to create digitized recordings in which
every synthesized pitch is mathematically correct. The recordings will
allow future quartets to check their work without the composer at hand.
"

Prent Rodgers

Good thing we have just intonation to get those harmonious fifths...

Joe

--- In MakeMicroMusic@yahoogroups.com, "Prent Rodgers"
<prentrodgers@...> wrote:
>
> http://www.jsonline.com/story/index.aspx?id=489750
> "
> Ready to record again
>
> They are about to reconvene in Milwaukee to record the remaining
> quartets. The composer, who for family reasons has recently moved
to
> Madison from North Carolina, will be a part of the sessions.
>
> "It's really important to have the composer there," Segnitz
said. "The
> notation only gets you so far. Ben can hear all those microtones.
It's
> scary - he picks out the voice and nails the pitch."
>
> Johnston is 80. His advanced age adds urgency to the project.
>
> Segnitz said that the Kepler has enjoyed a steep learning curve
with
> Johnston's idiom, as the players have attuned their ears to just
> intonation. As a service to subsequent ensembles, the Kepler has
> commissioned technologists to create digitized recordings in which
> every synthesized pitch is mathematically correct. The recordings
will
> allow future quartets to check their work without the composer at
hand.
> "
>
> Prent Rodgers
>

It seems that you can hear part of their recording of his 9th here:

http://wfmu.org/playlists/shows/19494

Search for Ben Johnston on that page.

/Magnus

On Tue, 5 Sep 2006, Prent Rodgers wrote:

> http://www.jsonline.com/story/index.aspx?id=489750
> "
> Ready to record again
>
> They are about to reconvene in Milwaukee to record the remaining
> quartets. The composer, who for family reasons has recently moved to
> Madison from North Carolina, will be a part of the sessions.
>
> "It's really important to have the composer there," Segnitz said. "The
> notation only gets you so far. Ben can hear all those microtones. It's
> scary - he picks out the voice and nails the pitch."
>
> Johnston is 80. His advanced age adds urgency to the project.
>
> Segnitz said that the Kepler has enjoyed a steep learning curve with
> Johnston's idiom, as the players have attuned their ears to just
> intonation. As a service to subsequent ensembles, the Kepler has
> commissioned technologists to create digitized recordings in which
> every synthesized pitch is mathematically correct. The recordings will
> allow future quartets to check their work without the composer at hand.
> "
>
> Prent Rodgers
>
>
>
>
>
>