Charles Wuorinen befriended Edgard Varèse and Igor Stravinky in his youth and has collaborated with the likes of Salman Rushdie and Annie Proulx. Today at 3 pm he joins the Brothers Balliett for an interview and listening session.

Composer Gregory Spears has collaborated with So Percussion, Eighth Blackbird and JACK quartet among others. His Mixtape illustrates his fascination with the parallels between early and contemporary music--a juxtaposition that appears frequently in his own music.

New Yorkers needn't travel far to hear music from a great composer, and this week on Hammered! we follow suit with a week's worth of borough-hopping playlists that survey New York City's young composers.

If there's one thing that the Brothers Balliett have learned from Rothko, it's that monochromaticism, in art OR music, is not necessarily a bad or boring thing. This week we explore ensembles built entirely of one sound color. Listen Thursday at 3 pm.

The music of Daniel Lopatin – aka Oneohtrix Point Never – is at once futuristic and in constant conversation with the past. His Mixtape collides Renaissance master Orlando Gibbons with contemporary experimentalist Paul Lansky. Listen Wednesday at 3 pm.

This past November, violinist Hilary Hahn performed her most recent encore-commissioning project, "In 27 Pieces," live from Greenwich House. Stream excerpts this week. 

No ambiguity here. No broader historical context required. No chicken / egg complex. This week we listen to five piano concertos preluded by the smaller piano pieces from which they came.

Does an aural representation of geography exist, or does "landscape" take on a new meaning when applied to music? Today at 3 pm, the Brothers Balliett explore landscape music by John Cage, Harrison Birtwistle and Brian Fernyhough.

The music of composer Anna Thorvaldsdottir paints textured sonic pictures as hazy and mystical as the as the landscape of her native Iceland. Listen to her Mixtape.

Few pianists have impacted contemporary music more profoundly than the Frenchman Pierre-Laurent Aimard. Hear his insights and performances of Ives, Ligeti and Messiaen all week on Hammered!

Thanksgiving isn't just about tryptophan-induced comas – it's also about cultures meeting and deep grooves. This week, in a special Thanksgiving edition, the Brothers Balliett honor that early American meeting of cultures with three pieces that exemplify cross-cultural connections.

Marvin Lin is the editor-in-chief of the webzine Tiny Mix Tapes. His Mixtape tours the history of electronic music, from Duchamp to Matmos. Listen Wednesday at 3 pm.

Composers today inherit some pretty profound baggage. How is one able to write a single note! with all of music's most monolithic presences staring at your staff paper? One option is to ignore them, another is to talk with them.

Today at 3 pm, the Brothers Balliett talk to composer and Guggenheim recipient Alex Mincek, who's collaborated with Yarn/Wire, JACK Quartet and Wet Ink among others.