Skip to content
Independent and accessible public media is needed more than ever.
Help us continue keeping communities informed and inspired.
Keep public media independent and accessible
Donate Now

View thank you gift options

CapRadio

CapRadio

signal status listen live donate
listen live donate signal status
listen live donate signal status
  • News
    • topics
    • State Government
    • Environment
    • Health Care
    • Race and Equity
    • Business
    • Arts and Lifestyle
    • Food and Sustainability
    • PolitiFact California
  • Music
    • genres
    • Classical
    • Jazz
    • Eclectic
    • Daily Playlist
  • Programs + Podcasts
    • news
    • Morning Edition
    • All Things Considered
    • Marketplace
    • Insight With Vicki Gonzalez
    • music
    • Acid Jazz
    • At the Opera
    • Classical Music
    • Connections
    • Excellence in Jazz
    • Hey, Listen!
    • K-ZAP on CapRadio
    • Mick Martin's Blues Party
    • Programs A-Z
    • Podcast Directory
  • Schedules
    • News
    • Music
    • ClassicalStream
    • JazzStream
    • Weekly Schedule
    • Daily Playlist
  • Community
    • Events Calendar
    • CapRadio Garden
    • CapRadio Reads
    • Ticket Giveaways
  • Support
    • Evergreen Gift
    • One-Time Gift
    • Corporate Support
    • Vehicle Donation
    • Stock Gift
    • Legacy Gift
    • Endowment Gift
    • Benefits
    • Member FAQ
    • e‑Newsletter
    • Drawing Winners
    • Thank You Gifts
  • About Us
  • Contact Us
  • Close Menu

Classical Communiqué Classical blog

Discussing the way classical music touches the mind and the heart.

subscribe

 We Get Support From:
Become a Supporter 
 We Get Support From:
Become a Supporter 

New Classical Tracks: Bluegrass Banjo Picking And Irish Fiddle Tunes Inspire Michael Torke's 'Sky'

Wednesday, April 29, 2020
Listen
/
Update RequiredTo play audio, update browser or Flash plugin.
  

This interview originally aired on September 25, 2019. We rebroadcast it on April 28, 2020.

Michael Torke/Albany Symphony — Sky (Albany Records)

"I felt, in writing this piece, that there was an openness, or a kind of a renewed freshness, I had working with music materials, because I was working in a new form. It took out all the cobwebs in the brain, all the old habits. It opened me up, and I thank Tessa [Lark] in my program note for opening this door of the imagination."

Michael Torke has been composing for more than 50 years. He found his voice while studying at the Eastman School of Music. He's explored a variety of genres from opera to orchestral music. After meeting violinist Tessa Lark, Torke was intrigued with the idea of writing a bluegrass concerto. The thrill of soaring into this new horizon inspired him to title the work, Sky.

Your new recording, Sky, finds you stretching yourself even further. It features the Albany Symphony and violinist Tessa Lark, and they gave the world premiere of this bluegrass-inspired concerto. First of all, tell me who Tessa Lark is.

"Out of the blue, an inquiry came from this young violinist, Tessa Lark. She had been given the opportunity to play a debut concert at Carnegie Recital Hall and was given money to commission. Her boyfriend, Michael Thurber, said, 'Check out this guy's music.' So she did, and she called me up and said, 'You want to work together?' I said, 'Sure.'

"I wrote a piece for violin and piano called 'Spoon Bread.' In the program note I wrote how, with the détaché bowing — one bow stroke per note — it brought about a harkening back to baroque music, but also to a bluegrass tradition. And, after all, Tessa's from Kentucky. So here I was, making these claims of a bluegrass influence.

"We went into the recording studio not long after, and we were on a break when I said, 'Tessa, how would you feel if I was really inspired by bluegrass and not something you say in a program note?' And then the engineer of this recording, Silas Brown, said, 'Now that's an idea. If you do that, Michael and Tessa, you play it, I'll record it!'

"For example, I started with banjo picking, because to me it's so intricate. The theme to the 'Beverly Hillbillies' was performed by one of the biggest names in the business. When I was growing up, I always thought that was the most amazing music I ever heard. So I slowed it down, I transcribed it, and I thought, Well, wouldn't it be interesting if you took banjo picking, and you gave it to a violin to play? I was already trying to break away with what they did by giving Tessa banjo music to play. That's what you hear in the first movement."

How did Celtic tunes become the basis for the second movement?

"What Tessa confirmed was that Irish fiddle players do some of the same techniques and have the same expression as bluegrass fiddlers. I started studying Irish music, and there you have jigs and reels. It's a different kind of thing, but some of the music sounds similar, just different. I thought, Well, what if I took a reel and slowed it down, and that could become the second movement?

"I met Tessa. I think she is brilliant as a human being and as an artist. I wanted to do something special with her. I talked it over, and then we sat down, and we did it. I said, 'Don't worry about contracts. Don't worry about money. Don't worry about anything.' We didn't even have an orchestra at that point. But we both believed that it could become something, and I think that that leads me to do my best work. That's what I learned."

    More about New Classical Tracks

  • New Classical Tracks

    Host Julie Amacher provides an in-depth exploration of a new classical music release each week. Wednesdays at 8:30 a.m.

 New Classical Tracks

Sign up for ReCap and never miss the top stories

Delivered to your inbox every Friday.

 

Check out a sample ReCap newsletter.

Thanks for subscribing!

Thank you for signing up for the ReCap newsletter! We'll send you an email each Friday with the top stories from CapRadio.

Browse all newsletters
We Get Support From:
Become a Supporter

Back to Top

  • CapRadio

    7055 Folsom Boulevard
    Sacramento, CA 95826-2625

    • (916) 278-8900
    • Toll-free (877) 480-5900
    • Email Us
    • Submit a News Tip
  • Contact Us

  • About Us

    • Contact Us / Feedback
    • Coverage
    • Directions
    • Careers & Internships
    • Mission / Vision / Core Values
    • Press
    • Staff Directory
    • Board of Directors
  • Listening Options

    • Mobile App
    • On Air Schedules
    • Smart Speakers
    • Playlist
    • Podcasts
    • RSS
  • Connect With Us

    •  Facebook
    •  Twitter
    •  Instagram
    •  YouTube
  • Donate

  • Listen

  • Newsletters

CapRadio stations are licensed to California State University, Sacramento. © 2022, Capital Public Radio. All Rights Reserved. Privacy Policy | Website Feedback FCC Public Files: KXJZ KKTO KUOP KQNC KXPR KXSR KXJS. For assistance accessing our public files, please call 916-278-8900 or email us.