With their third studio album, itsnotyouitsme treads deeper into the realms of Gavin Bryars and John Luther Adams. Read on for more provocatively-titled songs and ambient shoegazing, andgrab a free download for this week only.

Osvaldo Golijov is an Argentinian of Eastern European Jewish descent living in Boston at the start of the 21st century, and his music is in many ways an exploration of what, exactly, all of that means. Here he introduces his best-known works.

To say that Kronos Quartet has earned a reputation as a tireless champion of new works with diverse collaborators doesn't come close to doing the ensemble justice. With a 30+ year career, over 750 commissioned works and arrangements, over 45 recordings, countless awards, including a newly minted Polar Music Prize and Avery Fisher Prize, and cemented relationships with iconic composers such as Terry Riley, Henryck Gorecki, Steve Reich, Philip Glass and Osvaldo Golijov, Kronos has an unmatched run of razor-sharp, new-music credentials.

Rachael Elliott, a founding member of Clogs and one of the sharpest executors of new-music currently on the scene, didn't have to look far when it came to assembling her debut album Polka the Elk, which features three tracks by fellow bandmate Padma Newsome cozied up to tracks by Tawnie Olson and David Lang. Learn more and grab a free download for this week only. 

Here’s the problem with Steve Reich’s newest work to hit recording WTC 9/11: While you want it to be good as a means of doing justice to the tragic events it musically marks, t’s also hard to see the piece turn out to be too good, because listening to a work of such cathartic and unsettling power has to be, like a bottle of Scotch old enough to vote, a judiciously parsed-out experience both to ensure potency and minimize the raw feeling you’re left with at the end of this 16-minute work.

There’s a doubleness to listening to Jacqueline du Pre play Edward Elgar’s Cello Concerto. The music is powerful, beginning with vivid chords from the cello, which continues with a mournful, downward melody that is greeted by the winds. Jackie, as everyone called her, said she loved the piece because she “felt it had such a wide range of expression, it went from terrible pathos to ridiculous fun and amusement.”  

As part of The Requiem Project, we searched the WNYC Archives for voices that offer perspective on loss, grief and remembrance. The goal was for these voices to augment the music stream — text that would expand upon the themes in the music, and vice versa. We found accounts from volunteers who rushed to the World Trade Center site to help in the relief efforts, interviews with artists who struggled to capture the enormity of the event, and much more.

The fifth segment of Q2's 10-hour Requiem Project mix features suggestions from listeners, a composition from Ingram Marshall, stories from a musician, a scientist, a policeman and a relative of a 9/11 victim, and many other pieces that reflect on the timeless and universal themes of loss and consolation.

The fourth segment of Q2's 10-hour Requiem Project mix features suggestions from listeners, compositions from composers including Meredith Monk and Arvo Part, stories from writers and volunteers, and many other pieces that reflect on timeless and universal themes of loss and consolation.

The third segment of Q2's 10-hour Requiem Project mix features suggestions from listeners, compositions explored by producers and WQXR host Annie Bergen, stories from volunteers and artists, and many other pieces that reflect on timeless and universal themes of loss and consolation.

The second segment of Q2's 10-hour Requiem Project mix features suggestions from listeners, compositions from contributing composers including Gavin Bryars and Toby Twining, stories from artists and relatives of 9/11 victims, and many other pieces that reflect on timeless and universal themes of loss and consolation.