Other Minds’ release of new works commissioned and performed by pianist Sarah Cahill.
A Sweeter Music is a collection of new compositions based on the theme of peace and war.
The composers on this disc are Frederic Rzewski, Terry Riley, Meredith Monk, Yoko Ono, The Residents, Phil Kline, Kyle Gann, and Carl Stone (in the entire project there are eighteen composers involved). Sarah commissioned these particular composers because of their commitment as anti-war activists or their strong political conscience.
Cahill brings her technical assurance and expressive warmth to all the music, making each piece that much more eloquent. Joshua Kosman, San Francisco Chronicle, September 2013
Everything Sarah Cahill has done as a champion of 20th-and 21st-century classical music in the San Francisco Bay Area—as a music journalist, radio programmer, and concert producer—pales in comparison to her solo piano recordings. Derk Richardson, The Absolute Sound, August 2014
[The title of] Cahill’s gorgeous new album A Sweeter Music…references a line from Rev. Martin Luther King Jr.’s Nobel lecture, “We must see that peace represents a sweeter music, a cosmic melody, that is far superior to the discords of war.” She singled out composers who share a similar light-a-candle-rather-than-curse-the-darkness outlook. Andrew Gilbert, Berkeleyside, September 2013
Advancing contemporary music is nothing new for Cahill, but it goes without saying that this project is as much an accomplishment for 21st century American composers as it is for peace. Molly Yeh, WQXR, New York, September 2013
1 · Terry Riley: Be Kind to One Another (Rag) (12:41)
2 · Meredith Monk: Steppe Music (excerpts) (8:02)
Frederic Rzewski: Peace Dances (13:06)
3 · I (1:35)
4 · II (1:07)
5 · III (1:30)
6 · IV (1:25)
7 · V (1:10)
8 · VI (3:43)
9 · VII (2:36)
10 · Kyle Gann: War Is Just a Racket (9:14_
11 · Carl Stone: Sonamu (6:42)
Phil Kline: The Long Winter (12:56)
12 · Crash (6:32)
13 · Embers (6:25)
14 · Yoko Ono: Toning (6:31)
15 · The Residents: drum no fife (9:07)
