The Louisville Orchestra 121st Release

The Louisville Orchestra - 121st Release

LP released sometime in 1974 or 1975 and includes three pieces

Mantrajana (1971) composed by Matthias Bamert

recorded December 12, 1973

conducted by Matthias Bamert

instruments used: two flutes and piccolo, two oboes and English horn, two clarinets and bass clarinet, two bassoons and contra-bassoon, four horns, four trumpets, three trombones and tuba, harp, piano, strings, four gongs differently pitched

Mantrajana is a Buddhist belief which seeks redemption through the repetition of sacred formulas (Mantra).
Mantrajana makes use of four oriental gongs. These four gongs are in front of the orchestra, two on each side of the conductor. Each gong is played by one person using six different sticks, striking the instrument on six different points. To the rear of the stage, two violinists will play - one in the right corner and the other in the left corner. The seating for the remainder of the orchestra is left to the discretion of the conductor.
Mantrajana contains no oriental themes or rhythms. It is strictly occidental music based on an oriental philosophy. As in the religious use of Mantra, repetition becomes the most important factor in Mantrajana. Intervals and rhythmic figures are repeated, then these figures are often inverted, reversed, transposed, interrupted, shortened, and used in varying combinations. This makes these repetitions sometimes obvious to the listener, sometimes not. (Mathias Bamert)

Some Marches on a Ground (1970) composed by Gordon Crosse

recorded December 12, 1973

conducted by Jorge Mester

This is almost two pieces in one; layers of quite different musical character being superimposed throughout. The marches are variations in differing tempi, for winds and percussion. The theme, heard after an opening fanfare, is of a deliberately "fatuous" national-anthem character. The ground (is used) in two senses; firstly a ground bass, or passacaglia, based on a short theme in parallel thirds. Secondly, a ground swell of string colour, in particular pizzicato, which keeps up a constant background thrum and patter emerging as the dominant idea in the brief central section which is a king of a battle symphony. (Gordon Crosse)

Museum Pieces for String Quartet and Clarinet (1973) composed by Phillip Rhodes

recorded October 2, 1973

James Livingston - clarinet

The Louisville String Quartet:
Paul Kling - violin
Peter McHugh - violin
Virginia Schneider - viola
Guillermo Helguera - cello

Movements:

I. Equestrian Bronze
(artwork is Italian, dates from early 16th century)

II. The Pierrot Music Box
(artwork dates from 19th century)

III. Landscape
(artwork created by George Seurat, French, dates from 19th century)

IV. Station of the Cross
(artwork created by Theodore Chasseriau, French, dates from 19th century)

V. Le Bouquet
(artwork created by Pablo Picasso, Spanish, dates from 20th century)

VI. A Bacchanal
(artwork created by Brueghel-van Balen, Flemish, dates from late 16th century)

For anyone fascinated with the interrelationships between music and the visual arts, the disappearance of most of the original Victor Hartmann originals which inspired the various episodes of Mussorgsky's Pictures at an Exhibition is an incalculable loss. Scarcely a handful of the architect's sketches, costumes, and drawings survive although the vivid illustrations by his musical friend have given us the materials from which to reconstruct the originals in our mind's eye. The twentieth century is rich with examples of painting-into-music ranging from traditional works such as Rachmaninoff's Isle of the Dead (Bocklin) and Hindemith's Mathis der Maler (Grunewald) to more contemporary efforts along the lines of Bohuslav Martinu's Three Frescoes of Piero della Francesca and Gunther Schuller's Seven Studies on Paul Klee.In 1973, Phillip Rhodes, then the Kentucky Arts Commission's Composer-in-Residence, was asked to provide a new composition for the dedication of the Hattie Bishop Speed Music Room of the J. B. Speed Art Museum of Louisville. The six movements of the Museum Pieces take their points of departure from a half dozen works in a variety of genres that make up a part of the museum's permanent collection. They consist of three substantial pieces (Movements I, IV, and VI) balanced by three further episodes of a slighter nature. Unlike Mussorgsky's famous work, where the presence of the "viewer" is represented by the series of Promenades which link the various sections, the contrast between art work and audience seems here to be represented in the texture of the ensmeble itself - the juxtaposition of the intricate ensemble writing for string quartet against the more expressive and personal reactions of the solo clarinet. That the latter is inclined to be a follower and interpreter is clear from such a piece as Movement III, a "Landscape" by Seurat. The smudged forms of this tiny (6" x 9") country scene are suggested by the string chords in harmonics while the clarinet's fanciful flight comes as an afterthought, an airy commentary from the poetic imagination. (Robert McMahan)

Tracklisting:

Side 1

1. Mantrajana {9:03}

2. Some Marches on a Ground {13:02}

Side 2

1. Museum Pieces: I. Equestrian Bronze {2:53}

2. Museum Pieces: II. The Pierrot Music Box {1:54}

3. Museum Pieces: III. Landscape {1:47}

4. Museum Pieces: IV. Station of the Cross {6:35}

5. Museum Pieces: V. Le Bouquet {1:11}

6. Museum Pieces: VI. A Bacchanal {2:39}

(1) or (1) (2) or (2) [links coming back soon, maybe (1/24/2012)]