Sadly I only just had this thought today

As much as I love Bob Dylan, if anyone was going to win a Nobel Prize for writing song lyrics, it should have been Stephen Sondheim.

Carla Bley on BBC Radio 3

... or perhaps the other way around.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

This week BBC Radio 3's Composer of the Week series focused on the redoubtable Carla Bley, longtime Unpopular Music All-Star. 

Each of the five episodes considers a different aspect of Bley's compositional style in chronological order (although there are significant overlaps), often showing how the same source material gets recomposed over time. I have some quibbles about the commentary - there could be a bit more depth on the compositional detail without getting bogged down in theoretical details that only appeal to music theory nerds like myself, and her work with Charlie Haden's Liberation Music Orchestra is only briefly mentiones in passing (if her reworking of her own material is worth examining, why not her reworkings of Haden's?) However, the balance greatly favors the music over the commentary, and five hours with Carla Bley's music is time well spent. (These shows are only available for a few more weeks.)