Tuesday, March 17, 2009

A Musical Seance


Rosemary Brown and Peter Katin - A Musical Seance

A Musical Seance was released, I believe, in 1971 or 1972. It is an LP of "new" compositions from classical music greats such as Liszt, Chopin, Brahms, Grieg, Schubert and others. Peter Katin performs on piano on side 1 and Rosemary Brown performs on piano on side 2. Side 2 opens with a commentary by Rosemary telling about her experiences attempting to perform a new composition dictated by Liszt in front of BBC officials. Yes, all of these composers have already moved on from this mortal coil before 1971. However, Rosemary Brown, a medium and housewife who received little formal musical training (according to most profiles of her), claims that these composers have communicated with her all of her life and they still compose from the "other side" which they have dictated their compositions to Rosemary.
Apparently, the record company that released this LP was not really buying into the claims of correspondences between Rosemary and the deceased composers. The names of the composers are labeled as "inspired by (name of composer)" instead of "composed by" and are placed next to the names of the compositions.
Now for another message about this record from someone who already passed on: On January 1, 1970 Sir Donald Tovey (deceased), communicated the following message about this record to Rosemary Brown from Beyond The Veil: "As you listen to this record, you may wonder whether the music you hear is the product of Rosemary Brown's abilities, or whether it has indeed emanated from departed composers who are still creating music in another world. Many ideas have been formulated to explain the emergence of the music, but the possibility that composers of the past are still alive in different dimensions from yours, and endeavouring to communicate, should not be dismissed too perfunctorily. Even the most stubborn disbeliever in Extra-Sensory Perception cannot prove conclusively that there is no life after physical death, and scoffers may one day find themselves faced with indisputable instances of authentic communication from those who have shuffled off their mortal coils. We are not transmitting music to Rosemary Brown simply for the sake of offering possible pleasure in listening thereto . . ." Sir Donald Tovey (1875-1940)

Tracklisting:

Side 1

1. Bagatelle in E flat [inspired by Beethoven] {1:25}

2. Moment Musical [inspired by Schubert] {2:47}

3. Impromptu in F minor [inspired by Chopin] {1:24}

4. Impromptu in E flat [inspired by Chopin] {1:38}

5. Jesus Walking on the Water [inspired by Liszt] {3:18}

6. Grubelei [inspired by Liszt] {3:06}

7. Valse Brilliante in E minor [inspired by Liszt] {2:00}

8. Danse Exotique in F sharp [inspired by Debussy] {3:02}

9. Waltz in B flat [inspired by Brahms] {2:59}

Side 2

1. Commentary {6:23}

2. Consolation [inspired by Liszt] {2:44}

3. Swan at Twilight [inspired by Liszt] {2:28}

4. Reve en Bateau [inspired by Liszt] {1:37}

5. Lament [inspired by Liszt] {2:54}

6. Jesus at Prayer [inspired by Liszt] {2:26}

7. Shepherd Piping [inspired by Grieg] {1:43}

8. Longing [inspired by Schumann] {2:06}

9. Ballade [inspired by Chopin] {2:05}

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3 comments:

  1. Oh! Rosemary Brown! I lectured my classroom about her back in 1970 or 71, but never heard her music!
    Thanks a lot!!!

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  2. Oh my god, amazing!

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  3. I went to Bleecker Bobs in Greenwich Village (one of the few remaining music stores in NYC) to see if they had any Basement worthy LPs, and this is the only one that they had filed under "Weird" (same LP, same cover).
    It figures you'd have it already.

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