Contemporary Music: Orchestral Music

Henri Lazarof - Contemporary Music: Orchestral Music

LP released in 1977

SPECTRUM for solo trumpet, orchestra and tape

Performers:
Thomas Stevens - trumpet
Utah Symphony, Henri Lazarof - conductor

SPECTRUM for Solo Trumpet, Orchestra and 4-Channel Tape was written in 1973 and first performed in January 1975 in Salt Lake City by the Utah Symphony Orchestra with Thomas Stevens as soloist, the composer conducting. The work is in two movements and the soloist uses both the regular trumpet and the flugelhorn. The orchestra is composed of a group of six instrumentalists surrounding the soloist, eight string basses, and large sections of woodwinds, brass and percussion. The tape consists of pre-recorded trumpets on 4 channels prepared by Thomas Stevens, to whom the work is dedicated.

CONCERTO FOR FLUTE AND ORCHESTRA

Performers:
James Galway - flute
New Philharmonia Orchestra of London, Henri Lazarof - conductor

Henri Lazarof has been greatly drawn to compositions of the concerto type, and his catalogue includes several works for piano and orchestra as well as concertos for both the viola and the cello. CONCERTO FOR FLUTE AND ORCHESTRA was written in 1973 and dedicated to James Galway and the Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra, who gave the first performance in March of 1975. The work's formal balance - it consists of two movements separated by an Interlude for the soloist alone - is to some extent reflected in the layout of the orchestra on the platform. This is as symmetrical as possible.
The soloist begins on the alto flute, but switches to the normal instrument near the half-way mark of the first movement and does not change again. His part incorporates quarter-tones, but these are largely confined to the opening stages and to the final unaccompanied passage.
The work begins with a series of short sections separated by pauses. While they have an introductory character, they also contain the cells out of which musch that follows is built. Although there are several "free" passages during the course of the work, and individual instrumentalists (notably the two percussion players but also the cellos and basses) are allowed to improvise, the bulk of the composition is precisely fixed. (from the liner notes)

Tracklisting:

Side 1

1. Spectrum {13:49}

Side 2

1. Concerto for Flute and Orchestra {18:11}

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Classical Flute Music of India

Pandit Raghunath Seth - Classical Flute Music of India

Pandit Raghunath Seth - bansuri
Sri Balkrishnan Iyer - tabla

recorded May 21, 1993 at Holmberg Hall, University of Oklahoma; released in 1994

Pandit Raghunath Seth began his career as a staff artist for All India Radio in Lucknow in 1954. He took his early training from the eminent musicologist Dr. S. N. Ratanjekar, and credits the flute master Sri Pannalal Ghosh with helping to shape his art as a classical musician.
...
About 50 years ago, Pannalal Ghosh improved the design of the traditional bansuri by adding a seventh finger-hole played by the little finger of the right hand which made some of the complex ornaments and graces of the vocal styles easier to reproduce on the flute. Pt. Seth has taken this innovation even further and added a bamboo key to compensate for the difficulty of playing this hole. This has made it possible for Pt. Seth to develop an unparalleled technique which allows him to explore complex passages which could not be played without this key. The flute which Pt. Seth usually plays is a tenor instrument approximately 30 inches long made from a single section of long-jointed bamboo. The last piece on this recording, Rag Bhairavi, is performed on a smaller flute with a different fingering.
Pt. Seth's style is a unique blend of elements from both the instrumental and vocal traditions. His presentation here in the slow tintal section of Rag Yaman is very much in the style of the string instruments sitar and sarod, while Rag Hansadhwani is developed as a Chota Khyal, or short vocal piece. His synthesis of classical elements has allowed him to evolve a style noted for its virtuosity, clarity and feeling. In addition to his mastery of Indian musical forms, he has also explored musical collaborations with Western musicians, including Herbie Mann and Paul Horn, and has made efforts to combine jazz and Indian music resulting in several recordings of fusion music. (Jeff Whittier) 

Tracklisting:

1. Rag Yaman {28:50}

2. Rag Vijai Nagari {14:00}

3. Rag Hansadhwani {9:26}

4. Dadra {7:59}

5. Bhatiali {4:08}

6. Bhairavi {5:21}

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Indian Music: Ragas and Dances

The Original Uday Shankar Company of Hindu Musicians - Indian Music: Ragas and Dances

LP released in 1968; all music recorded in 1937

Instrumental ensemble: Vishnudass Shirali, Sisir Sovan, Rabindra (Ravi Shankar), Dulal Sen, Nagen dey, Brijo Behari

Ars longa and all that, but in art as in life a lot can happen within a few decades, and it is ever fascinating to observe the interaction of chance events and cultural attitudes. The case of Indian music and dance provides an especially clear illustration of this process. Both are among the glories of civilized man, with traditions tracing to furthest antiquity. In the perspective of their history a span of thirty-odd years is but a millisecond of time.

And yet January 1938, the original release date of a famous recording herewith reissused, could be said for all practical purposes to define the beginning of America's acquaintance with these vast exotic realms of expression. That acquaintance has since ripened to deep affection, and with it has come a healthy awareness that the "universal language" of art in fact comprises many a language other than our own - other than, for example, the tempered scale to which all Western ears are attuned by nurture if not by nature.

The psychedlic perversion of Indian aesthetics along with the raga-rock vogue among our young people are only the most-publicized manifestations of this new and growing awareness. The former is plainly pathological, the latter transitory. But the point is that neither phenomenon - nor,obviously, the widespread interest in the music of India among today's serious listeners - would have come to pass when it did without Uday Shankar.

Starting with his first American tour in 1931, it was this incomparable dancer-showman who effected virtually singlehanded the cultural cross-pollination that was to be enormously accelerated in the CBI (China-Burma-India) deployment during World War II. The subsequent introduction of long-playing records, followed by the "travel explosion" made possible by jet aircraft, brought Kipling's twain even closer. All of which paved a way for the more recent triumphs by such artists as Ali Akbar Khan, Ravi Shankar and Bismillah Khan.

But the pioneer proselytizer of Indian arts in the United States indubitably was Uday Shankar, and his artistry had reached its highest peak when his company assembled - it was Washington's Birthday in 1937 - to make what was to be its only recording. More's the pity that it can only be an auditory souvenir of what was above all a stunning visual experience.

The consensus of contemporary reports is that Uday Shankar's artful mingling of dance and music was, at its best, total theater. He was himself an electrifying performer, and whenever he was onstage his radiant presence was said to be felt by the entire ensemble - and by everyone on the other side of the footlights as well.

So saying, it needs to be added that any music written for choreographic use must be, as Lincoln Kirstein once put it, a "platform" for the dance. Therefore, and particularly in the light of our latterly more sophisticated listening habits, it should be understood that what one hears in this recording is not the pure classical music of India.

It is true that some dozen ragas are importuned or alluded to, but none of them is "developed" as it would be in a concert performance (nor could this have been accomplished without fantastic difficulties in an epoch when record sides rarely exceeded four minutes). And certain of the instrumental combinations are wildly unorthodox, though effective - and in the theater only effectiveness counts. In short, this is "pit" music, tailored for Western consumption and not meant to be heard without reference, at least, to its carefully contrived context.

In a sense, and by no means a pejorative sense, the musical "platform" put together by Vishnudass Shirali for this program might be described as the Indian approximation of a cross between the Vaughan Williams folk-song settings and the Bach transcriptions by Leopold Stokowski, scaled to chamber-orchestra proportions. That is to say, ethnic material is "classicalized," and strictly classical material is so to speak popularized; the result is admittedly hybrid but always well within the bounds of good taste. And everywhere there is consummate showmanship, which is hardly to be scorned even by purists. (Those who were fortunate enough to see Uday Shankar in his heyday will have no trouble conjuring up that ineffable presence in the three male solos - Side 1, Band 3; Side 2, Bands 1 and 2.) (James Lyons)Tracklisting:

Side 1

1. Raga Tilanga {4:00}
(Sitar, Sarod, Esraj, Flute, Tabla, Sarangi, Gongs)

2. Raga Bahar {4:06}
(Sitar, Sarod, Flute, Tabla, Sarangi)

3. Danse Gandharva: Raga Malkauns {4:09}
(Sitar, Sarod, Esraj, Sarangi)

4. Danse Ramachandra: Ragas Sinhendra-Maddhyama, Hansaddhwani {3:52}
(Tampura, Sitar, Flute, Sarod, Mridungam, Khunkhuni)

5. Tabla-Taranga: Raga Adana {4:12}
(Played on Twelve Drums by Vishnudass Shirali)

Side 2

1. Danse Kartikeyya: Raga Malkauns {3:44}
(Jala-Taranga, Flute, Sarod, Sarangi, Mridungam, Gongs, Shankha, Zhanzha)

2. Danse Indra: Raga Bhairava {3:13}
(Sitar, Sarod, Flute, Tabla, Esraj, Sarangi)

3. Danse Snanum: Ragas Durga, Khamaj {3:10}
Jala-Taranga, Flute, Sarod, Sitar, Madal, Kohl, Khunkhuni)

4. Bhajana (Religious Song) {3:36}
(Flute, Sitar, Sarod, Tabla, Karatal; Sung by Vishnudass Shirali)

5. Raga Mishra-Kaphi {3:23}
(Sarod, Tabla, Esraj)

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Ravi Shankar In Concert

Ravi Shankar - In Concert

Ravi Shankar - sitar
Zakir Hussain - tabla

cassette released in 1991

No date and place given when and where concert was performed. :(

Ravi Shankar is veritably the most successful Indian musician in modern times. His contribution to the art reaches far beyond the frontiers of successful performance or training. He has been the most significant architect of the process of Indian Classical Music coming into its own in the mainstream of International Art Music. He was also one of the main drivers of Indian Instrumental Music emerging as the more dominant genre onver Vocal Music in the post 50's era. Ravi Shankar is the most important and recognizable symbol of Indian Music not only for international audiences and artistic communities but within the country too, for those vast numbers of Indians who do not form part of the core fraternity of music lovers.

This remarkable achievement can perhaps be traced to the maestro's incredible courage of conviction and his willingness and ability to completely immerse himself in the immediate task at hand. Whether it was the task of acquiring the musical wealth of Baba Allauddin Khan, creating an individual style on the Sitar, taking music to new audiences in India and abroad, pioneering fusion-concepts with other international genres, serving the cause of art in the Upper House of Parliament or creating maestros for the future, Ravi Shankar always strove to completely redefine the terms of reference and the character of the activity in accordance with a personal vision.

In this album, Ravi Shankar presents a rare variant of the sombre Bhairav group, Asa Bhairav, which has its origins in the Desi traditions of the breezy, rainy hills of North-Eastern India. The raga has a character of simple, open sparseness, which the maestro captures like a true master of raga. The album also features the raga Mishra Bhairavi. (from the liner notes)

Tracklisting:

Side A

1. Asa Bhairav {25:37}
Vilambit Teental & Drut Ektal

Side B

1. Mishra Bhairavi {25:55}
Adhatal & Drut Teental

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Raga Jogeshwari

Ravi Shankar - Raga Jogeshwari

Ravi Shankar - sitar
Ustad Alla Rakha - tabla

Considered the pre-eminent figure in the Indian classical sphere, Ravi Shankar is also the South Asian subcontinent's most innovative composer/instrumentalist. Over the last half century, the Varanasi, India-born sitar virtuoso has created an unprecedented international audience for his raga-based repertoire via landmark concerts and collaborations with such admirers as jazz saxophonist Bud Shank, violinist Lord Yehudi Menuhin, flutist Jean-Pierre Rampal, minimalist composer Philip Glass, and conductors Zubin Mehra and Andre Previn. Moreover, Shankar inspired sitar protege George Harrison to incorporate raga rhythms and melodies in his songwriting with the Beatles and as a solo artist, sparking an explosion of interest in sitar music and kindred Indian classical idioms that would influence rock, blues, and jazz performers as diverse as the Byrds, the Paul Butterfield Blues Band, the Grateful Dead, John Coltrane, and John McLaughlin.
Accorded the honorific of Pandit in his native land, Shankar remains a hero, guru, and revered exemplar for a gifted new generation of Indian classical players and experimentalists. He paved the way for Western acceptance of renowned Indipop vocalists Najma Akhtar and Sheila Chandra, and young tabla superstar Zakir Hussain.
...
At the heart of Indian music, which is derived from sacred Vedic chants and hymns that date to 2500 B.C., are the ragas. There is a cherished maxim in Sanskrit - the classical language of ancient India - that asserts, "Ranjayati iti Ragah," or "That which colors the mind is a raga."
...
"The raga reflects the spiritual hopes of the people, the constant struggle for life," confides Shankar in the film "Ravi Shankar A Tribute," "it is drawn out of the moods of the seasons, the prayers in our temples, for our music is not written down, it is passed from heart to heart."
The ability to play ragas at all is a consequence of a discipline within a discipline. The basic training takes years, after which the sitar player must discover his or her own unique facility for performing the initial three-stage solo exposition of the raga: the alap (slow-paced, free-form invocation that states the central phrases, principal notes, and tonal range of the raga being performed), the jor (more rhythmic and improvisational section), and ihala (characterized by increasing speed and intensity on the two side strings). But through the powers of his limitless imagination, Shankar eclipsed any simple signature approach to the trinity of solo techniques, quickly escaping even the most permissive limits of traditional extemporizing.
In Pandit Shankar's often-bleeding hands, the patina of tears that poured from the sitar strings were tones or svara which, by definition, are "that which shines by itself." Like most naturally gifted musicians, Shankar found he not only could play whatever he thought, but also whatever he felt. His instinctive gifts catapulted his talent into a higher realm described in the Upanishads, the mystical scriptures of Hinduism, as the core of the self, "surrounded by the senses, the person of light, consisting of knowledge." (from the liner notes)

Tracklisting:

1. Alap {13:36}

2. Jor {12:36}

3. Gat I {17:08}

4. Gat II {6:34}

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Khusus Tabuh Joged Sekar Padma Vol.7 Sudimara-Tabanan

Khusus Tabuh Joged Sekar Padma - Vol. 7: Sudimara-Tabanan

I found and bought this cassette (which was released in 1980) at one of the local thrift stores. There are no liner notes or any substantial information included. They certainly would have been very helpful, as I do not know anything about the music in the places on this tape: Sudimara and Tabanan. I had to look up these places on Google. It appears that Sudimara is a tiny village located in west Java (several miles west of the capital of Indonesia, Jakarta) yet there does not appear to be any website that has any information about this place. Tabanan is a district and also the name of a large town in west Bali. There is not much helpful information in the search results about the music of Tabanan that would explain the music on this tape. All of the music sounds to me as if it is the same style which is gamelan featuring primarily bamboo instruments. So, it is difficult to ascertain what is from Sudimara and Tabanan. As always, enjoy the music.

Side A

1. Oleg {15:46}

2. Margapati {13:57}

Side B

1. Tenun {17:12}

2. Panji Semirang {12:34}

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Les Etoiles des Filles Mortes

Alec Empire - Les Etoiles des Filles Mortes

released in 1996

Composed and produced by Alec Empire, August 1996, Berlin

Equipment used: Atari Falcon, Six-Track Synthesizer, Soundlab DSM 25 Mixer

Alec Empire is a name that may be familiar to some of you. He was the founder of techno-punk group Atari Teenage Riot and the Digital Hardcore Recordings label which most of the music's style reflected the label's name. About 11 years ago, I was buying techno/electronica CDs almost every week from online stores. Occasionally, I took a chance of obtaining CDs without hearing a second of it. They were usually from familiar names to me though. Les Etoiles des Filles Mortes is one of those CDs. I took a chance on this as I was interested in hearing more of Empire's solo work. When I first heard this CD, I was pleasantly surprised as it did not sound like anything else he did. It is a collection of mostly percussionless, musique concrete, synth pieces that seem inspired by soundtracks from old sci-fi/horror movies or 1970s UFO/paranormal documentaries. Les Etoiles des Filles Mortes remains to this day the most fascinating collection of music that Alec Empire has ever done.

Tracklisting:

1. La Ville des Filles Mortes {5:41}

2. Les Enfants de la Lune {4:21}

3. La Conséquence, C'est La Révolte {4:46}

4. Le Mur Noir {3:07}

5. J'ai Tué Les Fictions {3:48}

6. Le Marriage {2:27}

7. Les Yeux Electroniques {2:26}

8. Opus 28: Pour la Liberté des Mille Universes {6:09}

9. La Révolution Obligatoire {4:59}

10. La Guerre D'Opium {6:10}

(1) or (1) (2) or (2) [links coming back soon, (1/22/2012)]

Si c'etait du jour

Philippe Mion - Si c'etait du jour

Born in 1956 at Tournan en Brie. (Seine et Marne). Became a young musician - not what his family had in mind. . . .
After one year studying Higher Maths, musical studies at the CNSM in Paris in Pierre Schaeffer's and Guy Reibel's class, and Music Studies at the Sorbonne.
Worked for almost 12 years for the Ina-grm in various fields, particularly teaching, also for the "concert electroacoustique", for radio and did some musical analysis.
Assistant to P. Schaeffer and G. Reibel at the CNSM in 1977-78.
...
Through classes or artistic projects, and through actively seeking the real joy of listening, came experiments in thought and practice centred on innovation, experimenting in every type of resonant wood. These experiments were firmly ludic but still exacting, and relied heavily on <> repertoires.
An exponent of "interpretation" of acousmatic music using loud speakers in various contexts in France or abroad, in particular at the "Futura" festival, calling himself an "interpreter" but insisting also on the inverted commas round the word . . .
Since 1997, has worked part-time for the Muse en Circuit notably in teaching. In this context, manager of an electroacoustic composition workshop at the Conservatoire de Vitry.
"Deeply committed to research and experimentation in music. I attach great importance to the perceptual view in composition and do not plan in my work for musical abstraction which would not initially stem from it." (from the liner notes)

SI C'ETAIT DU JOUR (1999) (IF IT WERE DAY)

Stereo version - 8 Tracks original version
Composed in the studios of the INA-GRM

Firstly: the aim is to confront the idea of rhythm.
Later, a research session in capturing sounds, a heavy crate full of different objects in one's hands: the slight tetany which the weight causes in the muscles of the arm begins to bring out and amplify the natural tension; everything trembles, vibrates, quivers, vacillates and clashes in a barely discernible fashion. (Philippe Mion)

DES JAMBES DE FEMMES TOUT LE TEMPS (1997) (WOMEN'S LEGS ALL THE TIME)

Stereo version - 8 Tracks original version
Composed in the studios of the INA-GRM and of the Muse en Circuit

In my music, without any doubt, something other than music plays a part in my initial choices. Speaking very generally, it is the poetic connection to the world which comes into play. I could explain this willingly by visual representations, but these are no use to me as far as musical composition is concerned.
On the contrary, in order to compose, first of all I always have to get rid of images, and put them to one side, so that they are only a kind of identifying justification of things, enriching the song of movements and living forms.
Here, a kind of choreographic idea was present in my work: a sort of rectangular screen where women's bare legs pass by, jump, dance, quite joyful, lively, and light, either lightly touching the floor, or heavy, firm and solid . . .
A calligraphy of legs, an alphabet of movement.
And then, this music is fuelled by a fascination, perhaps rather a mystical one, for "briefism", for the present reduced to its most ephemeral being, the unattainable and emphatic operator of a precious cut in the fabric of the world, separating the before from the after . . ., the expectation, or the anticipation, of memory. From this come tiny sparks, hard like metal, and almost indiscernible, like drops of water. Briefness, in itself like a break in the perceptual comfort of the listening. A cold abstraction without a place in good old concrete naturalism. (Philippe Mion)

STATUE (1985)

Stereophonic Support
Composed in the studios of the INA-GRM

This piece, sentimental in its inspiration, and for which I gave myself a limit (twenty minutes for a single piece using limited "material") reflects in no uncertain terms the immoderate passion I had at that time for friction, in particular the friction of a bow, which constitutes the main part of the work. My fascination was evident in the gestural inscription, the tracks of the movement (pull-push) in its execution, and particularly in its respiratory metaphor; but also in the infinite variety of microevents produced by the trembling movement and the resistance of various materials which are rubbed:
The metal objects which were made to vibrate produced beautiful sounds which were mostly harmonic, wide brightly coloured far away horizons, full of promise, but hollow, buried in the very heart of the material, quickly covered by a "white layer", a diaphanous imprint of the movement, woven by the friction of the horsehair, like a transparent veil modestly thrown over all the pathos . . . (Philippe Mion)

Tracklisting:

1. Si c'etait du jour {16:26}

2. Des jambes de femmes tout le temps {22:13}

3. Statue {18:27}

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Son of Word Jazz

Ken Nordine - Son of Word Jazz

LP released in 1958

This one is the follow-up to Word Jazz.

featuring the Fred Katz Group

Harold Gaylor - bass
Fred Katz - cello
Red Holt - drums
John Pisano - guitar
Richard Marx - piano
Paul Horn - woodwind

Tom Mack - producer

Tracklisting:

Side 1

1. The Smith Family {1:59}

2. Miss Cone {2:41}

3. Outer Space {3:32}

4. Down the Drain {3:06}

5. Secretary {3:00}

6. Bubble Gum {2:34}

Side 2

1. Looking At Numbers {2:21}

2. Anytime, Anytime {2:20}

3. I Used to Think My Right Hand Was Uglier Than My Left {2:16}

4. Lemming {2:21}

5. The Bullfighter {2:47}

6. Junk Man {4:26}

(1)

Word Jazz Vol. II

Ken Nordine - Word Jazz Vol. II

LP released in 1960

fourth LP in the Word Jazz series

Credits:

Richard Campbell & The Northern Jazz Quartet

Richard Campbell - vibraphone
Emmett Frazier - bass
Ken Soderbloom - woodwind

Tracklisting:

Side 1

1. There's a She and a He {3:23}

2. Reaching Into In {2:00}

3. Adult Kindergarten {1:56}

4. Spectrum {2:44}

5. Fireflies {2:09}

6. So and So {1:55}

Side 2

1. Lesson Number 1 {1:30}

2. Confessions of 349-18-5171 {7:09}

3. You're Getting Better {2:04}

4. Original Sin {2:51}

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Next!

Ken Nordine - Next!

LP released in 1959

Credits:

performed by Dick Campbell & His Orchestra (7 + 1); Richard Marx and His Orchestra (all other tracks)

Emmett Frazier - bass (7 + 1)
John Frigo - bass (all of side 1, Hafta Have You, The Climber)
Bob Frazier - drums (7 + 1)
Jerome Slosberg - drums (all of side 1, Hafta Have You, The Climber)
John Gray - guitar (all of side 1, Hafta Have You, The Climber)
Richard Campbell - piano, leader (7 + 1)
Richard Marx - piano, leader (all of side 1, Hafta Have You, The Climber)
Victor Vallenari - saxophone, flute (all of side 1, Hafta Have You, The Climber)
Ken Soderbloom - woodwind (7 + 1)

I believe that this is the third one in Nordine's Word Jazz series. For more information about the Word Jazz concept go here where I posted the first Word Jazz LP.

Tracklisting:

Side 1

1. Mr Big {1:53}

2. Smerd {4:16}

3. Bury-It-Yourself Time Capsules {3:01}

4. Face In the Jazzmatazz {4:32}

5. Manned Satellite {2:13}

6. A Whistler {2:55}

Side 2

1. 7 + 1 {12:41}

2. Hafta Have You {2:02}

3. The Climber {3:17}

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Music Box Hymnal

,
Rita Ford's Antique Music Boxes - Music Box Hymnal

LP format; no year given

Produced by Teo Macero

When you enter Rita Ford's music box emporium in New York, you discover another world. Outside is the crass Fifty-seventh-Street traffic. Inside all is quiet with the stillness broken only by the occasional dulcet notes from one of the hundreds of staggeringly beautiful music boxes.

At first you have the feeling that you have stumbled into the treasure house of some king. On shelf after shelf are arrayed the bejeweled toys that seem to beg you to turn the key and set them singing. There are those of pirouetting dancers and automated animals, birds in glistening cages, vintage automobiles in miniature that play "In My Merry Oldsmobile," hand-carved musical figurines, intricately wrought carousels - plus non-automated items that range from the rather conservative inlaid woods to those of silver encrusted with precious stones.

When you enter her salon, the charming Rita Ford will greet you, eyes a-twinkle, as if she can hardly wait to play one of her collection for you. This is her hobby, her business, indeed, a large part of her life. Unfortunately, the supply of antique music boxes is dwindling, and Rita Ford is developing something new - a custom-order tune service whereby she can provide a melody on a music box to order. She also has a music box repair service but bemoans the fact that the highly-skilled help needed for this archaic craftmanship is becoming almost non-existent.

Although the Rita Ford music boxes play everything from operatic overtures to the "Theme from Doctor Zhivago," this recording is of a special group that has been programmed for famous sacred compositions. The allusion to a king's treasure above is pertinent because, beginning with the early part of the nineteenth century, the royal courts of Europe proudly exhibited and enjoyed these gem-like objects d'art. They were their phonographs! In those days, to hear the twenty-seven selections in this album, the equipment you would have to own would cost a fortune. Now, with modern high-fidelity recording, you can savor them all for the price of a record. (Gil McKean)

Tracklisting:

Side 1

1. Sweet Spirit, Hear My Prayer [Large American Regina] {1:57}

2. Evening Star [American Regina] {0:58}

3. Jesus, Lover of My Soul [American Regina] {0:56}

4. Abide With Me [Swiss Stella] {0:52}

5. Abide With Me [Swiss Baker with bells] {2:37}

6. Lead Kindly Light [Amorette Organette-Vienna] {0:40}

7. When the Roll is Called Up Yonder [Swiss Nicole Freres] {0:48}

8. Come Into My Heart Lord Jesus [Swiss Nicole Freres] {0:49}

9. Safe In the Arms of Jesus [Swiss Nicole Freres] {1:00}

10. Nearer My God to Thee [Swiss Stella] {0:51}

11. Nearer My God to Thee [Swiss Baker with bells] {2:38}

12. Shall We Gather At the River [German Polyphon] {1:52}

13. Rock of Ages [Swiss Stella] {0:52}

14. Onward Christian Soldiers [American Regina] {1:00}

15. Onward Christian Soldiers [Amorette Organette] {0:40}

16. God Be With You [Swiss Stella] {0:52}

Side 2

1. Ave Maria [Large American Regina] {1:59}

2. Ave Maria [Paillard with bells and organ] {0:46}

3. The Holy City [Swiss Stella] {0:51}

4. The Lord is My Shepherd [American Regina] {0:56}

5. Sweet Bye and Bye [Swiss Stella] {0:53}

6. Retreat and Prayer [Polyphon-German] {1:48}

7. Consolation [American Regina] {0:57}

8. Consolation [Paillard with bells and organ] {0:46}

9. Choral de Luther [Swiss Stella] {0:52}

10. The Creation [Polyphon] {1:51}

11. Lead Thou Me [Amorette Organette] {0:35}

12. Pleasant Are Thy Courts Above [Swiss Baker with bells] {2:42}

13. Spiritual Song [American Regina] {0:57}

14. Hymn [American Regina] {0:58}

15. There's a Green Hill Far Away [Polyphon] {1:50}

16. Doxology [Swiss Baker with bells] {2:39}

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Petites Liturgies

Olivier Messiaen - Petites Liturgies

LP released in 1974

Performers:

Yvonne Loriod - piano
Jeanne Loriod - Onde Martenot
Choeurs de la maitrise
Chamber Orchestra of Radiodiffusion Francaise, Marcel Couraud - conductor

Messiaen conceived the THREE SHORT LITURGIES as a religious concert work; he specifically wanted a composition that would perform a liturgical act in places which were not originally intended for worship. THE POEM IS BATHED IN QUOTES FROM THE HOLY SCRIPTURES: THE EVANGELISTS, EPISTLES, SONG OF SONGS, THE PSALMS AND THE APOCALYPSE, AND THE MOST BEAUTIFUL TEXTS FROM THE IMITATION OF CHRIST, ST. JOHN, ST. PAUL AND ST. THOMAS. He chose three forms of chant which have a life independent of the cathedral - in monastic and private chapel devotions and in liturgical dramas; an antiphon, a sequence and a psalm-tone. The poetic prose of the text is highly charged with mystical imagery and often moves forward in a litany-like pace with parallel phrases. The first part, the antiphon, follows the three-part form of the antiphon, psalm and antiphon repeat. The meditative antiphon is expressed in short phrases in the pure melody of the chorus supported by low, vibrant strings. Between each phrase a commentary from the piano (bird calls) lightens the texture. For the mid-section the chorus turns to a declamatory style with a vocalization on the last syllable. The instrumental forces - piano, solo violin and Onde Martenot - likewise increase the intensity of sound and the range of emotion. The return ofthe pensive antiphon is not exact as this time the celesta is added to piano, often playing in canon. After a cadenza-like flourish (with the gong) on "Mon Amour" the section ends with brightly harmonized major chords on the words, "Mon Dieu." The second section, the sequence, uses a text heavy with rhyme, assonance and rhythm. The form is a stanza with variations which alternates refrain and the main song. The choir uses dance-like meters of 3/8 and 3/16. The general sense is one of exaltation. In the passage with the orchestral variations, the Onde Martenot may be heard, fortissimo, above the choir. The third section is based on a long and complex poem. A psalmtone, it returns to the three part form of the first section. The mid portion returns to the music of the antiphon and it is here that the Onde Martenot can be heard with its METALLIC TIMBRE, that Messiaen so admires. The opening of the poem emphasizes God's omnipresence and the close, in a series of apposites, stresses God's dual nature: near-far; light-dark; simple-complex. Each section closes with the refrain, SEAL THYSELF UPON MY HEART.

Three ideas are part of Messiaen's thought: love of man, love of nature, and faith, divine love. Though some find conflict between any of these ideas, Messiaen finds none. So, too, with many ofthe other apparently contradictory elements of his expression. He respects tradition but sees nothing in it that inhibits innovation. Like the composer-poets of 14th-c. France, he mixes notions of profane and sacred love. There are also times when he seems to have the perfect expression for his ideas; for him the Onde Martenot is an instrument remarkably suited to his melodic ideal: WHICH CAN PRODUCE LOUD TERRIFYING EFFECTS AND CONTRARY-WISE, HALOS OF SWEET UNREALITY . . . GIVES COMPLEX SONORITIES, OF A GREAT DELICACY, AN INFINITE DELICACY . . . (Jean Hughes)

Tracklisting:

Side One

1. Antienne de la Conversation Interieure {10:13}
[Antiphon of Internal Conversation]

2. Sequence du Verbe, Cantique Divin {6:30}
[Sequence of the Word, Divine Canticle]

Side Two

1. Psalmodie de l'Ubiquité par Amour {19:34}
[Psalm Tone of Omnipresence Through Love]

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

Strings and Machines

Hugh Livingston - Strings and Machines

Cellist Hugh Livingston performs contemporary music. He has given over four-hundred performances of new works, with many premieres. He has explored new areas of electroacoustic music, adaptation of Asian musics to the Western practice, and many frontiers of cello technique. Hugh received a DMA in twentieth-century cello performance practice from the University of California, San Diego.

headingsouth composed by Mark Danks

headingsouth is normally performed with three elements: graphics, sound processing, and the cellist. In this recording, the graphics are not present, forcing the composer to create a modified version of the audio to compensate for their absence. Even though the graphics are not visible in the recording, they still have a presence because they influence the audio processing. The performer is the only one without any free will. The visual and sonic elements in headingsouth are manipulated as two cooperative and independent entities. While the cellist is usually in nominal control of the computer, all of the components try to work together as equals. At times, the cello modifies the processing; at other times, the graphics are in control. Sometimes, everyone ignores everyone else. (Mark Danks)

Interactions III composed by Guy Garnett

Interactions III was written in 1995 and received its premiere at University of California, San Diego in May of 1996. It is the third in a series of works exploring different techniques and modes of interaction between a solo instrument and real-time electronics. In this case, the electronics consist of digital processing and mixing controlled by the performer using foot pedals to trigger various responses in a Max patch that in turn controls an outboard effects processor and a MIDI mixer. (Guy Garnett)

Stryx composed by Sean Griffin

Stryx, Mythological Associations: This work is the continuation of a piece I wrote several years ago called Lillith. Lillith was originally associated with Assyrian demonology. She is later referred to by Festus as Stryx - hence the name of the second incarnation of the piece. According to Talmudic legend, she was Adam's first wife and bore him thousands of demonic children. In several descriptions she haunted cities, castrating men and devouring newborn children. Ovid depicts her as "wont to utter a shrill cry in the fearsome night." In book IV of Virgil's Aeneid, Dido wanrs of her coming, "you shall hear the earth groan underfoot." She is frequently described as having the power to "turn the constellations off course and perverse fixed laws of nature." In several poetic fictions, she assumes the form of a man. She is often described as being barefoot with long, disheveled hair. Hearing "the earth groan underfoot" and the concept of "perverting fixed laws of nature" were attractive compositional goals to me. In an attempt to explore these rich sonic possibilities, I began working with the natural phenomenon of the overtone series.
...
This is the examination of a "fractured" or "perverted" overtone series. Stryx also exploits Hugh's special talent for articulating complex and beautiful sounds with bow pressure and placement and intonation minutiae; the devil is, of course, in the details. (Sean Griffin)

Qwfqg (after Italo Calvino) composed by Mark Danks, Hugh Livingston and Michael Theodore

Qwfwq is a group improvisation between the performer on the stage and the computer. A sound processing program written in Max can capture and manipulate the live sound, based on the input from the operator. One of the fundamental transformations of the cello sound is granular synthesis, so that the original sound's pitch is divorced from the playback time. A number of other processes are also available, including reverb, delay lines, and frequency shifting. All of these effects can be used simultaneously and fed into one another. Another sound operator controls a tape playback, which consists of previous performances and layered sound processing of the cello sound. The entire system is a feedback loop, where the performer hears notes which he played before, yet have now been transformed; the computer operators record the new cello sounds and then transform them again; and the tape is a time-delay from a previous performance, while the current performance will be incorporated into the next concert. (Mark Danks, Hugh Livingston and Michael Theodore)

This composition takes its name from the primordial creature that Italo Calvino imagines as the first instance of observational thought in his novel Cosmiccomics. Qfwfq examines his world, just after the Big Bang, and considers what things will come to be, and what they will be called, when words are invented. An ascent to the moon, with ladders and attempted jumps which fall short, is reflected in the scalar nature of the musical material, as the electronics also serve to shift the sound upwards. (Hugh Livingston)

Tracklisting:

1. headingsouth {14:30}

2. Interactions III {11:10}

3. Stryx {12:24}

4. Qwfwq (after Italo Calvino) {10:31}

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Psappha

Shiniti Ueno - Psappha: 20th Century Solo Percussion Masterpieces Vol. 1

Shiniti Ueno, a multi-percussionist and founder and leader of Phonix Reflexion, started studying marimba and piano at the age of three. He was a percussionist for the Orchestre Philharmonique de Strasbourg and then was principal percussionist and timpanist for the Orchestre National du Capitole de Toulouse. . . . As a solo performer, he has given many Japanese and world premieres of contemporary composers. Currently living in Tokyo, Ueno is on the faculty of Kunitachi College of Music.

About the music:

Pieces for Timpani composed by Elliott Carter

These are part of the eight pieces for Timpani composed between 1950 and 1966. They are significant in that they changed the very concept of Timpani sound by adding sounds of rim shots, explosions, and death sounds. It is not too much to say that many of the timpani techniques used in contemporary music first appeared in these pieces. Carter's unique approach to rhythmic aspect of music can be seen in his mathematical representations of tempo and rhythm in his music. Each of the pieces is dedicated to a renouned American timpanist: "Recitative" is dedicated to Morris Lang; "March" to Saul Goodman; "Moto Perpetuo" and "Improvisation" to Paul Price. (Shiniti Ueno)

Zyklus composed by Karlheinz Stockhausen

This piece was first performed in Darmstadt in 1959 by Christoph Caskel. The title means "circle," and the music, which consists of 16 pages, does not proceed in the traditional fashion of from beginning to end, but allows the performer to start from any page and proceed in any direction. Each page gives directions of how to perform the piece by way of figures and signs, and the piece is played once through in accordance with the directions given, beginning at the performer's chosen location and ending with the first note that was played at the beginning. This freedom of the performer, however, is limited within the composer's calculated order. The performer nonetheless is allowed to try various combinations and choices, making the performance his or her own. This kind of music is a challenge to the performer's musical sensitivity and his or her ability to bring out the best in the music, which can be very rewarding if successful. I first heard the performance of this piece when I was still in high school. It was performed by Gualda at Ueno Bunka-Kaikan in Tokyo. During my studies abroad, I was also very fortunate to have had a chance to study with Gualda and Caskel, and this experience has remained invaluable to me. (Shiniti Ueno)

Optical Time for Timpani Solo composed by Isao Matsushita

I composed "Optical Time" in 1987, commissioned by Mr. Ueno, who premiered it in his recital in the same year, and it has since been performed on various occasions. The central concept is to create spaceoptical time by using only 5 timpanis rather than creating musical space using various instruments. At the beginning of the piece, the musical line starts from far away, and individual sounds gradually mass together, and radiate into the wider space. This "Optical Time" also features pedaling which controls timpani tones and creates a spectacular display of spaceoptical time. (Isao Matsushita)

Ground for Solo Percussion composed by Norio Fukushi

Commissioned by Sumire Yoshihara, I composed "Ground" in 1976. Performed at international musical competitions in Geneva and Munich in the 90s, "Ground" has since been boldly played at college graduations. It requires high technical skill in that multiple instruments must be played simultaneously. For this reason, for the first ten years, no one except for Ms. Yoshihara included this piece in her or his repertoire. Aside from Ms. Yoshihara, Mr. Shiniti Ueno is the only exception that I know of thus far. I admire wholeheartedly his power to challenge the frontier of percussive art from different angles, and am very excited with this new recording. Its structure consists of five parts: wood, metal, leather, metal, and wood. The background of the whole is sustained by the combination of the static rhythm and the delicate organic rhythms that repeatedly increase and decrease. (Norio Fukushi)

Psappha composed by Iannis Xenakis

"Psappha" is an archaic form of Sappho, the ancient Greek woman poet. Her poems are characterized by their "Sapphic" rhythm, which gives this piece its rhythmic inspiration. "Psappha" was first performed by my teacher Silvio Gualda in London, while I was studying in france. Inspired by all of the invaluable advice I recieved from both Professor Gualda and composer Mr. Xenakis this has become a memorable repertoire. (Shiniti Ueno)

Tracklisting:

1. Pieces for Timpani: Recitative {3:17}

2. Pieces for Timpani: March {2:54}

3. Pieces for Timpani: Moto Perpetuo {2:08}

4. Pieces for Timpani: Improvisation {2:45}

5. Zyklus {16:04}

6. Optical Time for Timpani Solo {15:22}

7. Ground for Solo Percussion {15:33}

8. Psappha {13:11}

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Music for Mallet Instruments

Steve Reich and Amadinda Percussion Group - Music for Mallet Instruments

Performers:
Amadinda Percussion group: Karoly Bojtos, Zoltan Racz, Zsolt Sarkany, Zoltan Vaczi

Agnes Dobszay, Erzsebet Hajdu, Zsuzsanna Lukin - voices (track 1)
Aurel Hollo, Tibor Nemes, Balazs Papp, Benedek Toth - mallet instruments (track 1)
Bela Farago - electric organ (track 1)
Barnabas Dukay - claves (track 2)
Karoly Binder, Gyorgy Oravecz - pianos, synthesizers (track 3)

While working on Six Pianos I also began work on another piece that seemed to grow very spontaneously from one simple marimba pattern to many patterns played by different instruments. Music for Mallet Instruments, Voices and Organ was completed in May of 1973, and deals with two simultaneous interrelated rhythmic processes. The first is that of constructing, beat by beat, a duplicate of a pre-existing pattern, with the second one or more beats out of phase with the first exactly as in Six Pianos. This then triggers the second process of augmentation or lengthening of another simultaneous, but different repeating pattern. Augmentation is the lengthening of duration of notes previously played in shorter note values creating the sense of slowing down the musical motion.
...
The first process of rhythmic construction, or substitution of beats for rests, is performed by marimbas against marimbas, or glockenspiel against glockenspiel. These rhythmic constructions, which have the effect of creating more fast moving activity in the mallet parts then trigger two women's voices and electric organ into doubling, quadrupling, and further elongating the durations of the notes they sing and play.
When the marimbas and glockenspiels have built up to maximum activity, causing the coices and organ to elongate to maximum length and slowness, then a third woman's voice doubles some of the short melodic patterns resulting from the combination of the four marimba players, using her voice to precisely imitate the sound of these instruments (exactly as in part two of Drumming). During the rhythmic constructions in the marimbas and glockenspiels, the metallophone plays long ringing tones for the same duration as the voices and organ. When the voices and organ get longer, so do the tones of the metallophone.
...
One of the most important aspects of this piece for me is the use of voices to double the electric organ and produce a new timbre which is both instrumental and vocal at the same time. The choice of two women's voices and electric organ took several months of experimentation to arrive at. My first impulse was not to use the electric organ because I wanted to avoid working with electronic instruments.
...
Music for Pieces of Wood (1973) and Clapping Music (1972) are of the same breed: I intended to compose music employing the simplest instruments possible. My choice fell on the claves (or rather pipes made of hard wood, in this case) because of their different and exact pitches (A, B, C sharp, D sharp and another D sharp pitched an octave higher) and timbre. This happens to be one of the loudest pieces of music I have ever written though it uses no amplification whatsoever.
...
Sextet (1985) is five movements played without pause. The relationship of the live movements is that of an arch form A-B-C-B-A. The first and last movements are fast, the second and fourth moderate, and the third is slow. Changes of tempo are made abruptly at the beginning of new movements by metric modulation to either get slower or faster. Movements are also organized harmonically with a chord cycle for the first and fifth, another for the second and fourth, and yet another for the third. The harmonies used are largely dominant chords with added tones creating a somewhat darker, chromatic, and more varied harmonic language than in my earlier works.
...
Percussion instruments primarily produce sounds of relatively short duration. In Sextet I was interested in overcoming that limitation. In the second movement, the use of the bowed vibraphone, not merely as a passing effect but as a basic instrumental voice, was one means of getting long tones. The use of the synthesizer as electric organ supplied long continuous sounds not possible with piano. The mallet instruments (marimba, vibraphone, etc.) are basically instruments of high and middle register without a low range. To overcome this limit the bass drum was used, doubling piano or synthesizer played in their lower registers, particularly in the second, third, and fourth movements.
...
Composed in 1984-85, Sextet was co-commissioned by Laura Dean Dancers and Musicians and by the French government for the Nexus ensemble. The scoring is for three marimbas, two vibraphones, two bass drums, crotales, sticks, tam-tam, two pianos, and two synthesizers. There are six performers: four percussionists and two keyboard players. (Steve Reich)

Tracklisting:

1. Music for Mallet Instruments, Voices and Organ {15:59}

2. Music for Pieces of Wood {10:34}

3. Sextet {25:58}

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

Antheil/Brant: Modern American Music Series

George Antheil/Henry Brant - Modern American Music Series

LP format

Ballet Méchanique composed by George Antheil

performed by the New York Percussion Group conducted by Carlos Surinach

My Ballet Méchanique was composed in Paris during 1924. It had various performances in Paris during 1925, 1926, and was performed in Carnegie Hall on April 10, 1927, for the first time in the United States. Vladmir Golschmann conducted in Paris; Eugene Goosens conducted in New York.
All the concerts above were riotous in some way, the Paris performances having fist fights in the audience, and the New York performance less so, but nevertheless it is said that the New York concert was as scandalous as New York has witnessed. It therefore early became a very notorious piece, much talked about but little played.

The Ballet Méchanique as now recorded (very faithfully, and according to my every original idea of it) by Carlos Surinach, is substantially the same as the version first presented in Paris, with this exception. The original version had eight pianos and, but not played simultaneously, a player piano. I have reduced these to four pianos, which was the original number of piano parts written for; with our present technique with microphones, it was not necessary to double the pianos in order to obtain the required sonority. Also, some cuts have been made, but not many; as the work was originally written to accompany an abstract motion picture by Leger, some measures were repeated -- and these repeats, for the main part, have been eliminated in this version. A glockenspiel, also not in the original version, has been added for highlighting. Otherwise this work is, 99% exactly as it was in 1924.

To those who might wish to understand the intentions and aesthetics of Ballet Méchanique from my point of view, the most important thing I think I can say about it is that it is somewhat like modern architecture. It uses both (a) new methods of musical engineering and (b) new materials. The engineering principle (which, I believe, I was the first to originate, explore) is called TIME-SPACE and is closely aligned to the introduction of the "cantilever" principle in modern architecture. I was not the first to use purely percussive materials (Varese preceded me but, I believe, no one else); however I used these materials in a new way, in juxtaposition to one another.

People have asked me why, for instance, I have used the sound of airplane propellers. They wish to know whether I intend some sort of program, an air-raid, etc.? I wish, for sake of interest in the piece for some people, I could say "yes"; but, actually, I have only used these sounds because they are part of the musical sound of our modern life; they are part of the vast new material of sound, musical sound, as steel and aluminum are now part of the facing, material, of modern buildings; in short, the approach is abstract, not realistic.
Ballet Méchanique is an approach to a new aesthetic in music. If one has a mind to understand it, let him listen with new ears, as he must look at a piece of modern architecture with new eyes. Rhythmically, aesthetically, materially and constructively it is, I feel, aligned with our modern life. When one considers when it was written - 1924 - I believe it may also have a bit of prophecy in its pages. (George Antheil)

Signs and Alarms and Galaxy 2 composed by Henry Brant

(information below from the liner notes)

Signs and Alarms (1953) was first performed in New York under Leopold Stokowski's direction. The music, in one movement, calls for piccolo, two clarinets, two horns, solo trumpet, solo trombone, tuba, marimba and xylophone, and four timpani.
Galaxy 2 (1954), also in a single movement, was written as a companion piece to Signs and Alarms and requires piccolo, clarinet, two solo horns, trumpet, trombone, glockenspiel and six timpani.
To meet the exacting demands on individual playing made in these two works, a hand-picked virtuoso group was assemble for the present recording under the composer's direction. They are:Harry Moskovitz - piccolo
Herbert Tichman - clarinet
Thomas Parshley - clarinet
Fred Klein - horn
Tony Miranda - horn
Theodore Weis - trumpet
Frederick Snyder - trombone
Don Butterfield - tuba
Alfred Howard - timpani
Morris Goldenberg - glockenspiel, xylophone and marimba

Virgil Thomson writes of Signs and Alarms: "The piece is at once a comical joke and a highly expert study in instrumental sonorities. Every part is a piece of virtuoso writing, and the whole is an exciting extension of instrumental customs, as well as an entertaining pleasantry. Especially original and effective are its researches into the acoustical affinities of tuba with kettledrum and of xylophone with piccolo, the former duet accompanying a hair-raising trombone solo, the latter a side-splitting passage for trumpet." (New York Herald Tribune, February 23, 1953).

Tracklisting:

Side 1

1. George Antheil - Ballet Méchanique {17:07}

Side 2

1. Henry Brant - Signs and Alarms {9:00}

2. Henry Brant - Galaxy 2 {5:14}

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Afghanistan: On Marco Polo's Road

various artists compilation - Afghanistan: On Marco Polo's Road

music and performances by the musicians of Kunduz and Faizabad

With the Kunduz River flowing down from the Hindu Kush mountains, rows of pine and willow trees, spacious city streets, and horse carts with bells - Kunduz, the main city of northern Afghanistan, is a delightful, attractive town. Although it prospered as a geographic crossroads between Mazar-i-Sharif to the west and Badakhshan to the east, with Tajikistan 60 kilometers to the north, Kunduz is also surrounded by the fertile and extensive agricultural tracts of the Afghanistan breadbasket.
The area's music reflects the population. Tajiks and Uzbeks are the major groups in northern and northeastern Afghanistan, and Tajiks are the main inhabitants of Kunduz and Faizabad. Musical groups also are primarily Tajik with occasional Uzbeks mixed in.
Faizabad is the main city in the northeastern region of Badakhshan. The most northeastern section of Badakhshan, containing the long, narrow, corridor-like Wakhan Valley, is a militarily strategic area, bordering on the former Soviet Union, Pakistan, and China. Faizabad lies on the eastern edge of Badakhshan, and its music has an earthy charm.
...
The ghichak, a simple instrument that uses a tin can for the sound box, is related to the kamancha, seen in Turkey and Iran. It is particular to northeastern Afghanistan and rarely seen elsewhere.
...
The plucked panjtar, meaning "five strings," is a large, long-necked lute similar to the tanbur.
...
The zirbaghali, or "under the arm," is a vase-shaped drum like the Iranian dombak or Turkish darabukkah. The drum skin covers the wide end, and the other side is open. Found commonly in all regions of Afghanistan, it is played held over one knee.
...
The robab is a short-necked lute characterized by a large, boat-shaped sound box constricted in the middle like a guitar.
...
a dambura [is] a simple, two-string lute with a long neck that characteristically produces a dry tone and finely clipped notes. Primarily used in the north, it is probably related to the central Asian dombura; the unique timbre of each instrument creates an artlessly distinctive sound environment. (Akihiro Takahashi)

Tracklisting:

1. Saleh Mohammed, Ghulam Sakhi and Fakbrudin - Badakhshani Charbaiti (farkhar) {7:40}
Saleh Mohammed - ghichak; Ghulam Sakhi - zirbaghali; Fakbrudin - tar; Recorded August 1973 at Kunduz

2. Saleh Mohammed, Ghulam Sakhi and Fakbrudin - Charbaiti, Batcha Moshi Mosh {7:59}
Saleh Mohammed - ghichak; Ghulam Sakhi - zirbaghali; Fakbrudin - tar; Recorded August 1973 at Kunduz

3. Saleh Mohammed, Ghulam Sakhi and Fakbrudin - Tajik Charbaiti (farkhar) {8:33}
Saleh Mohammed - ghichak; Ghulam Sakhi - zirbaghali; Fakbrudin - tar; Recorded August 1973 at Kunduz

4. Ghulam Rasul and Ghulam Mohammed - Tajik Charbaiti and Mondanabosh {10:49}
Ghulam Rasul - panjtar; Ghulam Mohammed - zirbaghali and vocal; Recorded August 1973 at Kunduz

5. Ghulam Mohammed - Zirbaghali Solo {0:55}
Ghulam Mohammed - zirbaghali and vocal; Recorded August 1973 at Kunduz

6. Saleh Mohammed, Ghulam Sakhi and Fakbrudin - Uzbek-Pashtun-Herati Folk Songs {6:18}
Saleh Mohammed - ghichak; Ghulam Sakhi - zirbaghali; Fakbrudin - tar; Recorded August 1973 at Kunduz

7. Abdul Aziz, Mohammed Yasin and Kaka - Badakhshani Folk Song {5:48}
Abdul Aziz - robab; Mohammed Yasin - zirbaghali; Kaka - harmonium and vocal; recorded August 1973 at Faizabad

8. Mohammed Yasin, Abdul Aziz, Kaka and Delawar - Farkhar: Badakhshani Folk Song (1) {5:39}
Mohammed Yasin - zirbaghali; Abdul Aziz - dambura; Kaka - ghichak; Delawar - tar; Recorded August 1973 at Faizabad

9. Abdul Aziz and Kaka - Farkhar: Badakhshani Folk Song (2) {7:56}
Abdul Aziz - dambura and vocal; Kaka - zirbaghali; Recorded August 1973 at Faizabad

10. Abdul Aziz, Kaka and Amir Mohammed - Falak (Horse Driver's Song) {3:42}
Abdul Aziz - dambura; Kaka - zirbaghali; Amir Mohammed - vocal; recorded August 1973 at Faizabad

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NEXUS Now

NEXUS - NEXUS Now

Someone asked for more NEXUS a while ago.

released in 1989; recorded at McClear Place in Toronto, Canada on June 15 and 16, 1989

CD includes 5 pieces

Marubatoo (1989) composed by John Wyre

Bob Becker - marimba solo
William Cahn - marimba
Robin Engelman - crotales, songbells
Russell Hartenberger - vibraphone
John Wyre - bass marimba solo

Marubatoo is based on "Maruba", a composition for marimba and tuba written at Tanglewood, Massachusetts in the summer of 1987. The original solo marimba part remains intact. The tuba part is given to the bass marimba, generally assuming a melodic role, highlighted by crotales (tuned antique cymbals) and song bells.

Fauna (1988) composed by William Cahn

Bob Becker - marimba, Chinese opera gong, animal horn, quica
William Cahn - digital samplers and sequencers, New Guinea war-horn, conch shell horn, panpipes
Robin Engelman - marimba, handbell, melodion, Chinese opera gong, friction drum (lion's roar), bass harmonica
Russell Hartenberger - Chinese cymbal, Chinese opera gong, darabuka, quica, slide whistle
John Wyre - didgeridoo, darabuka, Chinese opera gong, New Guinea war-horn

Fauna was composed in May 1988. It is an experimental piece combining electronic and acoustic musical instruments, and it is also programmatic in nature.
The electronic instruments are used to generate reproductions of natural sounds (water, birds, voices), as well as reproductions of acoustic musical instruments (drums, marimbas, Chinese opera gongs, penny-whistles). These sounds are combined with acoustic instruments such as wooden and conch shell trumpets, a melodion, marimbas, and Chinese opera gongs, to produce music that is constructed around a single melody, harmonized, and repeated in several series of variations.

Cymbal (1988) composed by Bob Becker

Bob Becker - suspended cymbals, Pakistani iron bells, camel bell
William Cahn - crash cymbals, suspended cymbals, keisu bells, gongs
Robin Engelman - sheet cymbal, suspended cymbals, keisu bells
Russell Hartenberger - suspended cymbals, keisu bells
John Wyre - suspended cymbals, keisu bells, temple bowl, Tibetan cymbals

Originally conceived and performed as a solo piece in 1976, Cymbal was revised and reorchestrated for NEXUS in 1988. All of the sounds heard on the recording of this piece were produced acoustically in real time by the performers.
Conceptually this piece is based on the resonant tones inherent in the complex sounds of fine cymbals, reinforced by various other cymbals, bells and gongs of specific pitch. Structurally it is a slowly moving chorale - like progression beginning with an ambiguous altered seventh chord and finally cadencing in Db major.

Rain Tree (1981) composed by Toru Takemitsu

Bob Becker - vibraphone solo, crotales
Robin Engelman - marimba, crotales
Russell Hartenberger - marimba, crotales

Rain Tree belongs to Takemitsu's Rain Series and is scored for vibraphone, two marimbas and crotales. When Takemitsu was planning the piece he was greatly influenced by a novel of Kenzaburo Oe titled Atama no ij Ame no Ki. The opening page of the score has a paragraph quoted from this novel:

"It has been named the 'Rain Tree'; for its abundant foliage continues to let fall rain drops collected from last night's shower until well after the following midday. Its hundreds of thousands of tiny leaves -- finger-like -- store up moisture while other trees dry up at once. What an ingenious tree. Isn't it?"

Remembrance (1988) composed by Robin Engelman

Bob Becker - chang chiki, two cowbells
William Cahn - wood block, two piccolo wood blocks, chang chiki, squeak toy
Robin Engelman - two almglocken, rope drum, Cidelo Ihos, lion's roar
Russell Hartenberger - chang chiki, two cowbells
John Wyre - darabukas
Michael White - trumpet
Rachel Thomas - tenor trombone
Thomas Allen - bass trombone

A rhythmic motif or series of tones can recall music heard in the past. One can qualify this juxtaposition but it is, nevertheless, spontaneous.
Remembrance was written for NEXUS and is dedicated to an old porch swing. (from the liner notes)

Tracklisting:

1. Marubatoo {13:08}

2. Fauna {13:19}

3. Cymbal {11:59}

4. Rain Tree {11:11}

5. Remembrance {9:36}

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