Our ears are moved by music, just as our eyes adjust to varying degrees of light and dark. Music's ability to set or altar our mood instantly creates within ourselves curiosity about the world. There's always a chance for adaptation and inspiration.

This week we hear Alan Hovaness's Prayer featuring Chris Gekker on trumpet with Richard Audolon Clark leading the Manhattan Chamber Orchestra. An orchestra of voices in WQXR's Greene Space spins out of nothingness from Yunchen Lhamo. She improvises with her own audience, raising the pitch of the piece almost a whole step. The point of that exercise was adaptation -- a type of communal elevation through group participation. 

Also on the program is pianist John Salmon's version of the late Dave Brubeck's Strange Meadowlark, alongside Ravel's Sonata for Violin and Cello played by violinist Frank Peter Zimmermann and cellist Heinrich Schiff. Nino Rota's Variations and Fugue on the name Bach showcases mood alterations. 

And, we hear Artur Rubenstein playing Albeniz's Navarra. Rubenstein was a pianist who adapted nightly practice and performing habits only after he was married, adapting his music making to night and day.

In what music do you hear yourself, and how do you appreciate its mood altering effects?

Playlist:

Yungchen Lhamo: Improvisation No. 2

Yungchen Lhamo, Vocals

Alan Hovhaness: Prayer of Saint Gregory

Manhattan Chamber Orchestra; Richard Auldon Clark , Conductor; Chris Gekker, trumpet

Koch International

Prayer of St Gregory

Dave Brubeck: Strange Meadowlark

John Salmon, piano

Naxos

Strange Meadowlark

Maurice Ravel: Sonata for Violin and Cello

Frank Peter Zimmermann, piano; Hank Schiff, cello

ECM

Sonata for Violin and Cello

Isaac Albeniz: Navarra

Arthur Rubenstein, piano

RCA

Navarra

Heitor Villa-Lobos: Bachianas Brasileiras No. 5 : Aria

Manuel Barrueco, guitar; Barbara Hendricks, piano

Angel/EMI

No. 5 Aria

Nino Rota: Variations and Fugue on the name of Bach

Danielle Laval, piano

Valios

Scott Johnson: How It Happens: Soliloquy

Kronos Quartet, I.F. Stone, speaker

Nonesuch

How it Happens: Soliloquy

Johann Sebastian Bach: Cantata, “Ich Habe Genug” BWV 82

Members of the RIAS Chamber Choir Rainer Kussmaul, violin and director; Thomas Quasthoff, bass-baritone; Albrecht Mayer, oboe; Berlin Baroque Soloists

Deutsche Grammophon

Ich Habe Genug; BWV 82

Steve Reich: Different Trains: America- Before the War

Kronos Quartet

Nonesuch

Different Trains

Astor Piazzolla: Five Tango Sensations:Loving

Kronos Quartet; Astor Piazzolla, bandoneon

Nonesuch

Five Tango Sensations: Loving