Grant Chu Covell

Managing Editor Grant Chu Covell works in the Boston area. He once worked for a global technology company that made hardware which Xenakis and Babbitt used to good effect. He was the publisher of the brilliant but forgotten The Periodic Journal of Bibliography (1990-95), and his music reviews have appeared in EAR Magazine and InMusic. His instrumental and electroacoustic music has been performed in the U.S. and abroad, and he has shared many CDs of his music with family and friends (one piece was recorded in a refrigerator). A short article about a composition he wrote for piano and tape can be found in the Csound Magazine. Two electroacoustic works have appeared in commercial compilations: Presence III and The Door Project. A recent CD can be found here, and another is in preparation. A long departed family dog’s name was taken from a character in Wagner’s Ring.

(Dis)Arrangements 16: Shostakovich

With the addition of a percussion part, this is a bit more than just a piano reduction.

(Dis)Arrangements 16: Shostakovich

With the addition of a percussion part, this is a bit more than just a piano reduction.

String Theory 40: Piano Trios, String Trios

Some later day I will explain why I strongly believe that the sustaining path forward for new music is through the past, but for now, my enthusiasm for the vital and invigorating Barry will have to suffice.

String Theory 40: Piano Trios, String Trios

Some later day I will explain why I strongly believe that the sustaining path forward for new music is through the past, but for now, my enthusiasm for the vital and invigorating Barry will have to suffice.

Maestro di Suoni e Silenzi 7: A Reissue and a Revisit

Alphabetically, Nono sits between Mussorgsky and Pergolesi. There could be stranger and less compatible bookends.

Maestro di Suoni e Silenzi 7: A Reissue and a Revisit

Alphabetically, Nono sits between Mussorgsky and Pergolesi. There could be stranger and less compatible bookends.

A Listener’s Predicament (Also, A Concert Review)

While I do admire the impossible purity provided by engineered recordings, live events really are more satisfying for the combination of serendipity and determinism.

A Listener’s Predicament (Also, A Concert Review)

While I do admire the impossible purity provided by engineered recordings, live events really are more satisfying for the combination of serendipity and determinism.

Piano Factory 32.

I hear the last four sonatas as a connected sequence where Walker’s system appears to value compact expression over logic.

Piano Factory 32.

I hear the last four sonatas as a connected sequence where Walker’s system appears to value compact expression over logic.

Dvořák’s Prophecy, Shostakovich as Cure and Beethoven in Boston

Should you read one book on music this year, then this is the one.

Dvořák’s Prophecy, Shostakovich as Cure and Beethoven in Boston

Should you read one book on music this year, then this is the one.

Silvestrov in 2022 / Mostly Symphonies 42.

The thing is, we take Silvestrov’s nostalgic, weepy pieces differently now that he is an exile in Germany. I encourage a closer look at Symphony No. 5 from 1980-82.

Silvestrov in 2022 / Mostly Symphonies 42.

The thing is, we take Silvestrov’s nostalgic, weepy pieces differently now that he is an exile in Germany. I encourage a closer look at Symphony No. 5 from 1980-82.

A Ramble, Fairly Eclectic, with Turntables

Still Point was a reaction to surviving WWII in London.

A Ramble, Fairly Eclectic, with Turntables

Still Point was a reaction to surviving WWII in London.

String Theory 39.

Exceptionally fine performances of the Price quartets and quintets set a high bar for others to follow.

String Theory 39.

Exceptionally fine performances of the Price quartets and quintets set a high bar for others to follow.

An Appreciation of Recent Pesson: “Graceless Anticipations”

Other composers make do with note values and pitches, whereas Pesson immediately alights upon connotations and an expressive plateau.

An Appreciation of Recent Pesson: “Graceless Anticipations”

Other composers make do with note values and pitches, whereas Pesson immediately alights upon connotations and an expressive plateau.

EA Bucket 33.

Except for the Parmegiani, most of these ea works were created in 2000 or afterwards.

EA Bucket 33.

Except for the Parmegiani, most of these ea works were created in 2000 or afterwards.

Maestro di Suoni e Silenzi: Necessary Nono 6.

It would seem Nono continued to be frustrated with the world, and that he implores us to do better, and, crucially, to listen better and to participate better.

Maestro di Suoni e Silenzi: Necessary Nono 6.

It would seem Nono continued to be frustrated with the world, and that he implores us to do better, and, crucially, to listen better and to participate better.