In this episode of Classical Gas, a podcast series created by radio host and producer Gail Wein and hosted by Classical Voice North America, Wein speaks with Colin Jacobsen, the violinist, composer and co-founder of the Brooklyn Rider string quartet The foursome is performing a new program called “Citizenship Notes” at Montana’s Tippet Rise on Sept. 14 before introducing it to Australia, Paris, Pittsburgh, Tulsa, New York City and other locations this coming season. (Click here for tour dates.)
The 250th anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence, as Jacobson explains, is the conceptual frame for the “Citizenship Notes” commissions, which include new works by Ted Herne, Don Byron, Angelica Negron, and Jacobson’s own fantasy on Bob Dylan’s song “The Times They Are A-Changin’.” In this new context, as Jacobson says, works by Haydn and Beethoven will get a hearing, too.
This year is also Brooklyn Rider’s 20th anniversary. When Wein asked Jacobsen if the quartet developed in the way he expected, 20 years ago, he spoke enthusiastically of the group’s desire to “widen that tent of what goes into a string quartet by collaboration with people outside of what we think of as the Western classical canon, and then by commissioning new work.”
It’s all here in the interview, including Jacobsen’s own comments about why he finds Dylan to be a Beethoven-like revolutionary voice, though from a different genre completely, and therefore a good fit for the program representing some of the “great American values.”
Wein recently launched Classical Gas with a look back at the challenging art of Charles Ives, who has been the subject of sesquicentennial celebrations.
Wein said she chose the name Classical Gas because of its multiple implications: “Gas could be fuel or fun. It’s also a subtle reference to those of us of a certain age who recall the 1970s earworm guitar instrumental by Mason Williams.”
The veteran New York-based music journalist, radio host, and media consultant has contributed valuable commentary on NPR and other media outlets while also writing for Classical Voice North America. Find Wein’s Classical Gas podcasts here. Find Wein’s essays and reviews for Classical Voice North America here.
