John Malveaux: William Kraft's work "Contextures" has been recorded on Cambria and can be sampled on YouTube as provided by NAXOS of America

 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1ReuEddOx3g

Published on Jul 29, 2015

Provided to YouTube by NAXOS of America

John Malveaux of 

www.MusicUNTOLD.com 

writes:

Maestro Zubin  Mehta conducted the Los Angeles Philharmonic from 1962 to 1978.  On April 4, 1968, assassination of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr, the Los Angeles Philharmonic featured Aaron Copland's "Lincoln Portrait" with Gregory Peck, narrator. William Kraft was a percussionist/composer in residence with the LA Phil. William Kraft's "Concerto for 4 Percussion Soloists: Contextures: Riots-Decade 1960" was also performed on the program. William Kraft subsequently revised the ending after contemplating King's assassination. "There are several layers of sound in Contextures, whose main title refers to contrasts in textures. Racial civil rights confrontations since the late '50s, including the Watts riots of Los Angeles in 1965, were joined in the mid-'60s by free speech riots in Berkeley, CA, and numerous protests opposing the escalating Vietnam War."  Kraft said ""I found myself translating social aspects into musical techniques." Maestro Mehta and the LA Phil recorded the William Kraft's musical statement. The Concerto has also been choreographed and performed by the Scottish National Ballet and the Minnesota Dance Company. Here is a sample https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1ReuEddOx3g