Inventing Abstraction: 1910-1925: Q2 Music & The Museum of Modern Art
Q2 Music is curating a dynamic, innovative sound chamber for the Museum of Modern Art’s multidisciplinary exhibition examining the rise of abstract art, Inventing Abstraction: 1910-1925.
The standalone, enclosed room, titled Reinventing Music: 1910-1925 envelopes visitors in the breathtakingly new music composed during those watershed years, with works by Stravinsky, Varèse, Schoenberg, Ives, Webern and Debussy; and serves as counterpoint to MoMA’s sweeping survey of the development of abstraction, running from December 23, 2012–April 15, 2013.
PARALLEL PROGRAMMING
• Live from MoMA: Q2 Music brings listeners Consonant Abstraction: Claude Debussy and Steve Reich (Feb. 26) and Dissonant Abstraction: Arnold Schoenberg and Morton Feldman (Mar. 4) — two shows curated and hosted by David Lang, performed by alumni musicians of the Bang on a Can Summer Festival at Mass MoCA. The first concert, streamed live on Q2 Music, includes a conversation with Steve Reich.
• David Lang on the Radio: In February, award-winning composer David Lang offers Q2 Music listeners two one-hour shows that delve into the musical innovations of 1910-1925 and their visceral repercussions in today's new music.
• Expanded Playlist: For the duration of the exhibition, stream an extensive, on-demand playlist of music from 1910-1925 that explores the ground-breaking voices of these pivotal years, and read accompanying in-depth liner notes from resident blogger, David Patrick Stearns.
Listen: Debussy, Reich and Lang at MoMA
Tuesday, February 26, 2013
Q2 Music recently presented a live webcast of the sold-out show, "Consonant Abstraction: Claude Debussy and Steve Reich," from the Museum of Modern Art.
Recently in Inventing Abstraction: 1910-1925
David Lang Hosts 'The Dissonant Show'
Thursday, March 07, 2013
Composer David Lang hosts a two-part series that explores how the breakthroughs of musical abstraction in the years 1910 to 1925 have found renewed voice in the music of today. Music of Julia Wolfe, Arnold Schoenberg and Glenn Branca.
David Lang Hosts 'The Consonant Show'
Wednesday, March 06, 2013
Pulitzer Prize-winning composer David Lang hosts a two-part series that teases apart the threads of contemporary music that took inspiration from breakthroughs of 1910-1925. Part One, "The Consonant Show," streams Mar. 6 at 7 pm on Q2 Music.
Listen: Arnold Schoenberg and Morton Feldman
Saturday, March 02, 2013
On Monday, Mar. 4, Q2 Music will record Dissonant Abstraction: Arnold Schoenberg and Morton Feldman live from the Museum of Modern Art. The audio will be archived for on-demand listening on this page soon after the concert.
Listen: Debussy, Reich and Lang at MoMA
Tuesday, February 26, 2013
Q2 Music recently presented a live webcast of the sold-out show, "Consonant Abstraction: Claude Debussy and Steve Reich," from the Museum of Modern Art.
Unpacking the Greatest Gift to 20th-Century Music
Thursday, December 27, 2012
Abstraction wrested music from the polarity of major and minor keys and Romantic-era emotions. Blogger David Patrick Stearns deconstructs the watershed years of 1910-1925.
Reinventing Music: 1910-1925
Monday, December 17, 2012
Q2 Music has been invited to curate a dynamic, innovative sound chamber as part of The Museum of Modern Art’s multidisciplinary exhibition examining the rise of abstract art, Inventing Abstraction: 1910-1925. Stream the complete playlist on-demand.


