"WELTMUSIK 82b"

Hi there! H.C. Earwicker is back again (again). Real-world dealings have kept me from posting anything in the last weeks, but today I can offer a very special item. It's a cassette tape from 1982, which I recently rediscovered in my "archive" of boxes and crates.




The tape features recordings from the 2nd Weltmusik-Kongress in Vlotho/Germany from 1982. Labels like Ocora and Bärenreiter/Musicaphon (with the brilliant and pioneering UNESCO Collection of ethnic music recordings) were already releasing music from all over the world, but records were hard to get, and the whole field of "New" world music by contemporary composers was just starting to come into full swing. Only few recordings of such works were available at that time, and festivals like the WELTMUSIK-Kongress in Vlotho/Germany (1979, 1982, 1984 and 1986) were essential in the development of musical styles fusing traditional ethnic elements with contemporary composition techniques.

1 Johannes Fritsch: Kyomu for shakuhachi and tapeHitomi Endo - shakuhachi (premiere performance)
2 Michael Ranta: Mu 3 Michael Ranta - percussion (premiere performance)

In Fritsch's composition, Hitomi Endo's impressive and beautiful shakuhachi play is blended with a wide variety of sounds and music from the most different sources, at times reminding of Jean-Claude Eloy's intensive electronic works. Ranta's piece features additional electronics and/or tape (not mentioned on the cover), giving the composer/performer lots of room to display his unique art in its 30-minute duration, and never over-doing it with quasi-exotic virtuoso stunts. A masterpiece.

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Johannes Fritsch - born 1941, studied Musicology, Sociology, Philosophy, Viola and Composition (B.A. Zimmermann) in Cologne. He played in various orchestras, participated at the "Internationale Ferienkurse" in Darmstadt and worked as a teacher for music theory (1965-70). As a member of the Stockhausen-Ensemble (1964-70) he toured the world and is featured on numerous recordings. Fritsch won many national and international prizes and is co-founder of the Feedback Studio Cologne (1970) and the Feedback Studio Verlag, the first German composer-run publishing house, in 1971 ("Feedback Papers"). Organizer of many concerts and events (WELTMUSIK-Kongress, Vlotho). From 1971-84 he headed a composition class and the "Seminar für Neue Musik" at the Akademie für Tonkunst in Darmstadt. Since 1984 he is professor for composition at the State University in Cologne.

Michael Ranta - born 1942 in Duluth (Minnesota, USA), studied percussion and composition at the University of Illinois (1960-67) and worked with Harry Partch from 1960-68. Since 1963 concerts and recordings with American orchestras, 1967-70 in the Federal Republic of Germany. Collaborations with M. Kagel, H. Lachenmann, J.A. Riedl and K. Stockhausen. 1970: Expo in Osaka, 1971-73: Electronic Studio of the NHK in Tokyo, 1972: Multi-Media Environment Room at the Olympic Games in Munich. 1973-79: in Taiwan; concerts, recordings and teaching all over the Far East. In 1979, Ranta moved to Cologne. Founder of the percussion group TRANSIT; performances at the Ferienkurse in Darmstadt and the Percussion Festival in Cologne (1981). Solo performances with works by Jean-Claude Eloy ("Yo-In") at festivals in Europe and Japan, and "Air" by H. Lachenmann. Ranta's own works were performed in Brussels, Witten and at the LA MAMA THEATER. Collaborations with the TANZFORUM and the URANIA THEATER in Cologne. 1989: commission for the ballett "Die Mauer" (Opera of Ulm), music for the documentary film "Tibet - Tor zum Himmel" by Jaroslav Poncar. 1998: solo performances at the Cologne Cathedral with "Die Steine der Singenden" by G. Oellers. In 2005, he completed his composition "Yuen Shan" for four percussionists and tape. In addition to his musical career, Ranta started his own company, "Asian Sound Köln", supplying musicians with percussion instruments from all over the world.

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