Minimalist Icons: Wolfe & Mattingly

A trio of composers weaves folk-music traditions into striking modern compositions. Dylan Mattingly likes to think big. His 2023 opera Stranger Love, which premiered at Walt Disney Concert Hall, was six hours long and led The New York Times to say, “Mattingly has internalized a wealth of musical styles: the gamelan-influenced, West Coast sounds of Lou Harrison; the propulsive cadences of John Adams; the vocal technique and poetic dramaturgy of Meredith Monk.” Leaves of Grass, his latest major work for orchestra, uses Walt Whitman’s famous poem as its inspiration. Julia Wolfe’s Cruel Sister follows the emotional arc of an old English murder ballad. The 2010 Pulitzer Prize finalist builds eerie anticipation throughout the piece, culminating in what she calls the “harp gone mad.” The night begins with a selection from Ann Southam’s Glass Houses—one of her “fiendishly difficult” piano études that enlivens the pulse of Minimalism with bright melodies and incredible pace.