Lutoslawski, Penderecki, Cage, Mayuzumi: String Quartets

LaSalle Quartet - Lutoslawski, Penderecki, Cage, Mayuzumi: String Quartets

CD released in 1987

LaSalle Quartet:

Walter Levin - 1st violin
Henry Meyer - 2nd violin
Peter Kamnitzer - viola
Jack Kirstein - cello

The string quartet was one of the supreme achievements of an age when music came nearest to the nature of speech, an age when themes could be stated and discussed in a language that was both rich and clear. It was a conversational medium for a conversational art, and so successful as such that it has survived into a time of musical confusion enough to eliminate any possibility of Haydnesque discourse. Hence the problem which these four quartets (not to mention those of T.S. Eliot) all address: how to use a naturally discursive medium when the foundations of the language have fallen. All dating from 1949-64, these are quartets in which the first violin can no longer speak to the cello and expect to be understood.
The most drastic, radically opposed reactions to this linguistic disintegration are those of Cage and Lutoslawski, the one making the quartet into a single instrument to play "a melodic line without accompaniment", the other writing alienation into his music so that "each player performs his part as though he were alone". If harmonious counterpoint is not possible any more, then these are the obvious alternatives, of monody and of a polyphony of independent voices. The other two works here bear witness to the same dissolution - the Penderecki in its abundance of previously marginal effects, the Mayuzumi by having the players sit as far apart as possible on the platform - but both find ways to retain a more progressive continuity, in contrast with Cage's stasis and Lutoslawski's elusive fluidity. (Paul Griffiths)

tracks 1-4 originally released on LP in 1968
tracks 5-8 originally released on LP in 1976

Tracklisting:

1.  String Quartet: Introductory Movement  {8:29}
composed by Witold Lutoslawski, 1964

2.  String Quartet: Main Movement  {15:15}
composed by Witold Lutoslawski, 1964

3.  Quartetto per archi  {7:03}
composed by Krzysztof Penderecki, 1960

4.  Prelude for String Quartet  {11:10}
composed by Toshiro Mayuzumi, 1961

5.  String Quartet in Four Parts: Quietly flowing along  {4:18}
tracks 5-8 composed by John Cage, 1950

6.  String Quartet in Four Parts: Slowly rocking  {4:57}

7.  String Quartet in Four Parts: Nearly stationary  {10:38}

8.  String Quartet in Four Parts: Quodlibet  {1:33}

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Black Angels

The Cikada Quartet - Black Angels

released on CD in 1995

recorded at the Academy of Music, Oslo, Norway: March 25-27, 1994


The Cikada Quartet:
Henrik Hannisdal - violin
Odd Hannisdal - violin
Marek Konstantynowicz - viola
Morten Hannisdal - violoncello


tracks 1-13 Black Angels composed by George Crumb

tracks 14-16 String Quartet Op. 28 composed by Anton Webern

tracks 17-18 String Quartet composed by Witold Lutoslawski

George Crumb - Black Angels

The score of Black Angels is inscribed in tempore belli, "in time of war." In 1970 that meant the Vietnam War and Crumb was later to explain that the work was "conceived as a kind of parable on our troubled contemporary world". There are aspects of Black Angels which can be construed as making oblique reference to that particular conflict: the vivid "electric insects", the liquid sonorities which form a gentle quasi-oriental backdrop, even the surrealistic juxtaposition of the two. But the work is not "about" Vietnam, nor even war itself, although it can certainly be interpreted as an anti-war statement. In Crumb's own words the "parable" is told in terms of "a voyage of the soul. The three stages of this voyage are: Departure (fall from grace), Absence (spiritual annihilation) and Return (redemption)". This mystical programme is underpinned by "the essential polarity - God versus the Devil", giving rise to a number of musical (and non-musical) allusions. In Black Angels, Crumb's preoccupation with some of the techniques and principles of the medieval age, characteristic of much of his work, is greatly in evidence. But the most immediate impression is that of its highly individual and graphic timbral effects. The Quartet is amplified, the use of an electrified quartet to heighten expressiveness rather than to manipulate the sound pre-dating the the recent trend for doing so by some twenty years. The work is also a catalogue of ingenious string techniques and requires each of the players to double on various percussion instruments from the more usual (maracas and tam-tams, the latter being bowed as well as struck) to the more outre (water-tuned crystal glasses and solid glass rods).

Anton Webern - String Quartet Op. 28

If Webern's Quartet was not actually written "in time of war" it was certainly written in circumstances not far removed, the Nazi Anschluss leading to the conducting appointment Webern had held with Austrian Radio since 1927 being "liquidated" in 1938, the year in which Op. 28 was completed. Webern had already begun sketching the Quartet when a commission arrived from Elizabeth Sprague Coolidge, the American patron who also commissioned Schoenberg's third and fourth quartets, giving Webern the welcome opportunity to accept it for a work he had already commenced.

"The worse it gets the more responsible our task", Webern once wrote about the conflict into which his country was forced, yet nothing could be further from Crumb's extrovert response to the world around him than this supreme example of "pure", abstract music. (Ironically and tragically Webern was to suffer more than most composers because of the "time of war", killed by an American soldier days after the end of the Second World War in what was probably a case of mistaken identity.) The very sound of the work is austere - no harmonics or col legno effects (found in other compositions by Webern), let alone the pyrotechnics of Crumb's piece.

There is, therefore, minimal distraction from the "primacy of pitch" and the twelve-tone technique which articulates it. Webern's compositional development had followed a parallel path to that of his mentor and teacher, Schoenberg, the rich late-romanticism of his early work giving way to the atonality of the years around the First World War and the fully fledged serialism he was ultimately to adopt. By the late 1930s this in Webern's hands had become a fascination with canons, palindromes and symmetry, not as in Crumb's work for symbolic or expressive reasons, but as a means of creating even greater musical integration.

Witold Lutoslawski - String Quartet

"The tempo is approximate as are all rhythmical values. Each performer should play his part as though he were alone... As the vertical result of the juxtaposition of the four parts of this work is not completely fixed, there can be no score." Lutoslawski's indications in his String Quartet, written in 1964 for a commission from Swedish Radio, mark the logical culmination of the trend for using aleatoric (random) procedures which had started with his Jeux venitiens of 1961 and characterised the works of his middle period (Paroles tissees, Symphony No.2, Livre pour orchestre). It was in 1960 that Lutoslawski heard John Cage's Piano Concerto and it was this which brought to his attention the potential of using chance as a compositional technique. So, the String Quartet takes the form of a series of "mobiles", varying in length from a few seconds to as long as a couple of minutes, within which "particular players perform their parts quite independently of each other. They have to decide separately about the length of pauses and about the way of treating ritenutos and accelerandos". The transition from one section to another is realized in various ways and sometimes requires a fairly complex system of signals between the players.

However, how does this square with a composer who wrote, "I firmly believe in a clear delineation of duties between composer and performers, and I have no wish to surrender even the smallest part of my claim to authorship of even the shortest passage of music which I have written"? How can he claim in the String Quartet that "if each performer strictly follows the instructions in the parts, nothing could happen which has not been foreseen by the composer"?

Lutoslawski himself has explained this apparent contradiction in what he has said or written of the Quartet on a number of occasions. "It is not a question of diversity between performances; nor is it a question of the element of surprise; nor of freeing myself from a part of the responsibility for the work and placing it on the performers." It is clear that whilst Cage may have been a catalyst in Lutoslawski's embracing of the possibilities of chance techniques, his aesthetics and his use of aleatoricism provided no deeper influence than that. "The aim of my endeavours has been merely to attain a definite sound result. This result is impossible to attain in any other way especially as regards rhythm and expression." (Nicholas Rampley)

Tracklisting:

Departure

1.  Black Angels: Threnody I: Night of the Electric Insects  {1:22}

2.  Black Angels: Sounds of Bones and Flutes  {0:44}

3.  Black Angels: Lost Bells  {0:56}

4.  Black Angels: Devil-Music  {1:38}

5.  Black Angels: Danse Macabre  {1:03}

6.  Black Angels: Pavana Lachrymae  {1:02}

Absence

7.  Black Angels: Threnody II: Black Angels  {2:50}

8.  Black Angels: Sarabanda de la muerte oscura  {1:00}

9.  Black Angels: Lost Bells, Echo  {1:17}

Return

10. Black Angels: God-Music  {3:22}

11. Black Angels: Ancient Voices  {1:02}

12. Black Angels: Ancient Voices, Echo  {0:21}

13. Black Angels: Threnody III: Night of the Electric Insects  {3:50}


14. String Quartet Op. 28: Massig  {3:36}

15. String Quartet Op. 28: Gemahlich  {1:43}

16. String Quartet Op. 28: Sehr Fliessend  {2:36}

17. String Quartet: Introductory Movement  {9:57}

18. String Quartet: Main Movement  {16:23}

(MP1) or (FL1)

The Music of Lou Harrison

Lou Harrison - The Music of Lou Harrison

released on CD in 1991, originally released on vinyl in 1971

tracks 1-7 performed by the Oakland Youth Orchestra, Robert Hughes - conductor

tracks 8-11 performed by Beverly Bellows

tracks 12-13 performed by Lou Harrison

tracks 14-16 performed by William Bouton - violin along with Richard Dee - cheng, William Colvig - sheng and fang-hsiang, Lou Harrison - piri, Helen Rifas - harp

Pacifika Rondo

Pacifika Rondo was written for the East-West Center at the University of Hawaii and received its premiere there in May 1963. Each movement refers to a section of the Pacific Basin except for the sixth, which is a protest against the bomb and its contamination and destruction of Pacific Life.
"The Family of the Court" largely refers to Korea and its court life; "Play of the Dolphins" is in a sense mid-ocean music and the sound of the psalteries suggests the movement of waves and the dancing of dolphins.
"Lotus" is a tribute to Buddhism, a 'temple' piece; "In Sequoia's Shade" refers to California, particularly to its colonial days. The fifth movement (an 'Homage to Carlos Chavez') looks to Mexico and Netzahualcoyotl, the Aztec emperor, a king of great wisdom and goodness. "From the Dragon Pool" refers to the Sinitic Area and particularly China in which the dragon is considered benevolent.
I have been told to try several of the ways in which I think classic Asian musics might of themselves, and together, evolve in the future, and have combined instruments of several ethnics directly for musical expression.
In composing Pacifika Rondo I have thought, with love, around the circle of the Pacific.  (Lou Harrison)

Four Pieces for Harp

These are occasional works. The Serenade was written in a letter to Frank Wigglesworth, for him, when he was learning guitar in Rome, and it was originally for that instrument. Beverly's Troubadour Piece was first composed at a party in which Bob Hughes, Jerry Neff and I wrote little pieces for Beverly Bellows to play (at once) on my now troubadour model harp. Again, the harp solo from Music for Bill and Me is from a group of pieces for my friend William Colvig and me to play. Avalokiteshvara is from a larger work celebrating the Amitabha trinity - in it the Bodhisattva is heard as it were in a "nimbus" of bells. (Lou Harrison)

Two Pieces for Psaltery

I composed my Psalter Sonata (my first piece for psaltery) after studying the instrument with Liang Tsai Ping, the great Chinese chong-master, to whom the piece is dedicated. One actually could see "one and a quarter moons" in the sky of Mars, and this piece was written to entertain Robert Hughes.  (Lou Harrison)

Music for Violin with Various Instruments
European, Asian & African

Composed for Gary Beswick, who gave its first performance at San Jose State College in 1967. The whole round world of musics and instruments lives around us. I am interested in a "transethnic," a planetary music.  (Lou Harrison)

Tracklisting:

1. Pacifika Rondo: The Family of the Court  {5:18}

2. Pacifika Rondo: A Play of Dolphins  {4:12}

3. Pacifika Rondo: Lotus  {2:52}

4. Pacifika Rondo: In Sequoia's Shade  {2:26}

5. Pacifika Rondo: Netzahuaucoyoti Builds a Pyramid  {2:22}

6. Pacifika Rondo: A Hatred of the Filthy Bomb  {2:53}

7. Pacifika Rondo: From the Dragon Pool  {4:03}

8. Four Pieces for Harp: Serenade for Frank Wigglesworth  {1:54}

9. Four Pieces for Harp: Beverly's Troubador Piece  {1:32}

10. Four Pieces for Harp: From Music for Bill and Me  {3:21}

11. Four Pieces for Harp: Avalokiteshvara  {2:23}

12. Two Pieces for Psaltery: Psalter Sonata  {2:32}

13. Two Pieces for Psaltery: The Garden at One and a Quarter Moons  {2:40}

14. Music for Violin with Various Instruments: Allegro Vigoroso  {3:17}

15. Music for Violin with Various Instruments: Largo  {4:19}

16. Music for Violin with Various Instruments: Allegro Moderato  {3:08}

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Domaines

Pierre Boulez - Domaines

reissued on CD in 1988, original release date 1971 (likely copied from a vinyl copy)

performed by Ensemble Musique Vivante under the direction of Diego Masson

clarinet solo: Michel Portal

...originally intended for solo clarinet when it was premiered in 1968. Two years later, Pierre Boulez adopted a circular arrangement made up of six instrumental units, with the clarinet as the sixth of these. The result is a structure in two large sections - original and mirror - directly derived from the dialogue between 'the protagonists' (in this case, Michel Portal) and each of the groups of instruments. (notes taken from 2001 reissue)

Tracklisting:

1. Premiere Partie  {15:38}

2. Seconde Partie  {14:38}

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Meditations sur le mystere de la Sainte Trinite

Olivier Messiaen - Meditations sur le mystere de la Sainte Trinite

released on a 2-LP set in 1973 by Musical Heritage Society (same as 1972 release on Erato)

performed by Olivier Messiaen himself

Organ used on this recording is that of the Church of Sainte Trinite, Paris.

Composed in 1969, the mystical Meditations sur le mystere de la Sainte Trinite (Meditations on the Mystery of the Holy Trinity) is made up of 9 pieces or meditations that reflect on an attribute of the Trinity. The Meditations contain bird songs, plainsong, quotations from Thomas Aqunias's Summa Thelogica, deci-talas (Hindu rhythms). The liner notes include Messiaen's own musical and theological analysis on the music that helps in understanding the music. Also in the liner notes, Messiaen explains his attempt at creating a musical language called communicable language that is incorporated in the music.
Messiaen's version is the only one that I have listened to in its entirety. I'm not sure if it is the essential version although since it's performed by the man himself, it probably should be. The performance and the recording itself is great. I am welcome, of course, to any other suggestions.

Tracklisting:

Side 1

1.  Meditation No. 1  {8:15}

2.  Meditation No. 2  {11:37}

Side 2

1.  Meditation No. 3  {2:19}

2.  Meditation No. 4  {6:30}

3.  Meditation No. 5  {11:18}

Side 3

1.  Meditation No. 6  {8:30}

2.  Meditation No. 7  {6:27}

Side 4

1.  Meditation No. 8  {10:39}

2.  Meditation No. 9  {9:38}

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Hall Overton / Lester Trimble - Split Release (CRI 1972)

Notes (reprinted in spite of the fact that I find them really rather annoying) excerpted from the back cover (included).

Pulsations is the last in Overton's considerable catalogue and is probably the work that most perfectly fuses his own equal and opposite musical loves, concert music and jazz. In his words, it "explores various aspects of rhythm. Instead of avoiding the pulse, my intention was to write music based largely on a strong, steady beat." This is not, however, the primitive pulse of the typical jazz band but ranges from "straight-ahead propulsion, lag beat, silent beat, free time and doubling"". The moderately knowing listener will recognize characteristic jazz figures, along with others that are subtler, more deeply imbedded in the musical texture,  and also more personal to Overton.
In addition to its specific jazz references, Pulsations sometimes achieves a strange and dreamlike atmosphere that seems to represent the unworldly aspects of the jazz scene.
The work is dedicated to Thelonious Monk, the eminent jazz pianist,who is one of the many jazz people Overton worked closely with. It was commissioned by The Ensemble of New York.

The Ensemble; Dennis Russell Davies,conductor

In Praise Of Diplomacy And Common Sense  has been described as "a sonic happening", "an hallucinatory montage", "an ironic sequence." It has been compared to sections of James Joyce's Ulysses and Finnegan's Wake.
To evoke such observations it would seem to be a new and unusual kind of theatre- one might call it "spatial sonic theatre"- which seeks through techniques of musical and verbal overlapping and interpenetration, to evoke the realities of a dramatic event and simultaneously, to make a philosophical comment upon them.
The composer writes:
"The libretto is a montage of news items culled mostly over an eight-day period from the New York Times, the Washington Post, Time magazine, and Life magazine. It presents the simultaneous spectacles of a bloddy uprising in the Congo, the release of the Warren Report on the assassination of John F Kennedy, violent anti-American demonstrations in Egypt, a threatening contretemps between the USA and the Soviet Union in the United Nations, and other examples of human cruelty and intransigence displaying an apparent absence of true diplomacy or common sense from the national and international arena."

The Ensemble; Dennis Russell Davies,conductor; Richard Frisch,baritone

























Hall Overton- Pulsations (17:42)

Lester Trimble- In Praise Of Diplomacy And Common Sense (14:51)


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Sun Ra Arkestra- Media Dreams (Saturn Records,1978)

Sun Ra Arkestra- Media Dreams


Here's the last of my Saturn Records, which I am posting to celebrate the 90th birthday today of Marshall Allen, alto saxophonist and electronic wind instrument player, current leader of the Sun Ra Arkestra- still going strong!

On a personal note:
I had the opportunity to play with Marshall Allen on the 15th in celebration of the 100th anniversary of Sun Ra's birth. Also in attendance was Danny Ray Thompson, playing flute on this occasion, and I had a very fine time, one high point being at the rehearsal where Marshall took the mic and a few of us had a sing-along, Arkestra-style, to the tune of Fate In A Pleasant Mood, which Marshall also seemed to enjoy very much.
 
Marshall has a penchant for saying things like- "You've gotta do what you can while you can with what you've got", and "You've got to take hold of this one life"; things you hear often enough nowadays.
But when you consider that, the day after playing this gig with the Ratchet Orchestra, Marshall and Danny were off to Italy, and from there all around Europe,to Turkey, Japan, Croatia, and all with only a day's rest here and there (see Sunraarkestra.com for the tour dates) you know this man LIVES by these words.I have little doubt that it is precisely this attitude which is at least partially responsible for his amazing energy and longevity.

I can only say "keep saying what you've got to say while you can say it" , and
"Happy Birthday, Marshall Allen!"

About the record:
This is a weird one,
MysterRa plays a keyboard with an "auto-arpeggio" feature (a2) and gets downright goofy with it, getting it to arpeggiate clusters and the like.
There is also some very celestial synthesizer work (a1,a3) and piano (b2) and a couple of fine solos from John Gilmore on Tenor (a2,b2) and Michael Ray on funky Trumpet (a2).
Altogether a very fine and varied record, from Bop and Ballad to the outer limits, and with good sound quality and presence.

Sun Ra Arkestra- Media Dreams

a1- Saturn Research (3:10)

a2- Constellation (13:52)

a3- Yera Of The Sun (4:39)

b1- Media Dreams (13:54)

b2- Twigs At Twilight (7:30)

b3- An Unknowneth Love (4:43)
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Sun Ra And His Omniverse Jet-Set Arkestra-Journey Stars Beyond (Saturn 1981)

Today is Sun Ra's 100th birthday.

Here is another of the Saturn Records which Ra and the Arkestra released independently.
These records are very often entirely unique, with the hand-made artwork sometimes being silk-screened stickers, sometimes magic-marker scribbles, and sometimes both or neither.
This one, as you can see, has magic-marker scribbles on the front cover and on one side of the l.p. center label, which I have presumed is side one.
Both center labels bear the suffix "b" after the serial number, which is almost certainly* the recording date: 72881- July 28th, 1981.
 
On the one occasion when I met Sun Ra, I brought this and my other two Saturn Records (and a postcard of Saturn) and asked him to sign them.
He said "These record covers are meant to be looked at under different colored lights" just as I was pulling out a bunch of different colored large-tipped felt markers, so I said "choose your colors, then".
Thus the very pale blue signature on the back: Le Sun Ra.
(These, along with a signed copy of The Residents' "Mark Of The Mole" are among my most treasured records- not for sale at any price).

Anyway- I have not split the tracks on this record, which alternate between solo synthesizer improvisations and duos with trombone or trumpet, and (on side two) an extended solo with a brief Arkestra explosion as well as an hilarious moment of commentary on Ra's excursions by (I think) John Gilmore and the rest of the band.

From what I can glean from info about the cd release of (among other concurrent work) side two of this l.p. by the Art Yard label, the personnel
(not all of whom are heard on this l.p) is:

Sun Ra And His Omniverse Jet-Set Arkestra:

Sun Ra { synth, organ, vocals }
John Gilmore { tenor sax, percussion, vocals }
Marshall Allen { alto sax, percussion }
Michael Ray { trumpet, vocals }
Danny Thompson { baritone sax, flute, percussion }
Noel Scott { alto sax, vocals }
June Tyson { vocals }
Tyrone Hill { trombone, vocals }
Eloe Omoe { bass clarinet }
Craig Harris  { drums }
Tommy “Bugs” Hunter { drums }
Al Evans { flugelhorn }
Jaribu Shahid { bass }
Samarai Celestial  { drums }
Vincent Chancey { french horn }
Francisco “Ali” Mora { drums, percussion }
Tani Tabbal { drums, percussion }
Bright Moments { congas }
The Bell Brothers { bells }
John Ore { bass }
James Jacson { vocals,  Ancient Egyptian
Infinity Lightning Drum }

Recorded at the Detroit Jazz Center**

(*note: It may be the production or release date and not the recording date-info on this and similar matters is often sketchy or downright contradictory.)

(**The date problem makes this uncertain.)

Put on your Outer-Space
flac
jacket!

CAPAC Musical Portraits #3

Here is another installment in the CAPAC Musical Portrait series posts.

This one features the Larry Lake record missing from the post of January 14,2013 (featuring the work of the other members of the Canadian Electronic Music Ensemble).At the time of that post, I was missing the record from the sleeve and I promised to post it if I ever found it.

Well,it's been a stretch but, (ahem)-
PRESTO! here it is- compliments (once again) of my father, who is much better these days at finding records than I am.

He is also responsible for finding the other two records in this post; part of a collection of some 60 or so Musical Portraits which he managed to find. These were among the duplicates,many of which he sent to me.

Thanks, Daddy-O!

I focused my attention here on records containing electronic music although acoustic instruments are also in evidence, both in the Bruce W Pennycook and in the Rudolf Komorous.

Larry Lake- Musical Portrait QC-1287
 
a1-Sonata (excerpt)
 
a2-Face (excerpt)

b1-Le Bord Du Son (excerpt)

b2- Cavatina (excerpt)


Bruce W Pennycook- Musical Portrait  (Series 3) QCS-1497

a1-gr,RR (excerpt)

b1-August Suite No 3; Intermezzo

b2- Three Complaints for Flute* and Countertenor
3- The Trouble With Geraniums

b3- Three Miniatures for Harp Flute and Clarinet
2- In Strict Tempo

b4- The Yonge Street Variations No 1 and 2

*(Note-The trouble with "The Trouble With Geraniums" is that the Flute is much too Guitar).-Dr E


Rudolf  Komorous- Musical Portrait QCS-1192

a1-York/1967/ (excerpt)

a2-part of a canon from Anatomy Of Melancholy/1974

b1-Rossi/1974-75/ (excerpt)

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Micheline Coulombe Saint Marcoux-Musical Portrait (ca.1977)

 

Here is my second multi-disc installment in the Composers,Artists and Publishers Association of Canada's "Musical Portrait" series.

The first (three records) featured composers from Ontario.These three feature composers from Quebec, including work from one of the most highly respected and best-known of contemporary Canadian composers, Bruce Mather.
Also noteworthy is the inclusion of a complete work- "Atmospheres" by Nicole Rodrigue, and (excerpts from) some very good electronic works by Micheline Coulombe Saint-Marcoux,which hearken back to the sounds of the classic era of electronic music, and should definitely appeal to many of you.


Micheline Coulombe Saint-Marcoux- Musical Portrait (ca.1977)

side one:

a1-excerpts from Assemblages (4:31)
Christina Petrowska,piano

a2-String Quartet no.2, 3rd Movement (3:02)
Classiquue de Montreal(?)

side two:

b1- 3 excerpts from Zones (electronic music) (3:34)

b2- 3 excerpts from Trakadie (for percussion and tape) (4:21)
Guy LaChapelle,percussion

























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Nicole Rodrigue-Musical Portrait (ca.1977)

 


Nicole  Rodrigue-Musical Portrait 

side one:

a1:Atmospheres (beginning) (8:08)

side two:

b1:Atmospheres (conclusion) (2:06)

b2:4 Movements from Soufriere (5:53)



























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Bruce Mather-Musical Portrait (ca.1977)

                                                                                                                                      
Bruce Mather- CAPAC Musical Portrait

side one:

a1:excerpt from Madrigal V (5:10)

a2:excerpt from Symphonic Ode (3:14)

side two:
 
b1:excerpt from Sonata For Two Pianos (5:36)
Garth Beckett,Boyd MacDonald,pianos
 
b2:excerpt from Madrigal II (2:58)
Mary Morrison,Soprano
Patricia Rideout,Contralto
Ensemble of the Societe de Musique Contemporaine Du Quebec,
Serge Garant,conductor

 























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Musical Portrait-David Grimes

Some selected records from the (first?) CAPAC Musical Portrait Series (ca.1977)
"A Fiftieth Anniversary Project".

Considering how many individual 7-inch records were released by the Composers,Authors and Publishers Association of Canada in numerous "Musical Portrait" series (dozens of records in each of at least 5 series in total), it is amazingly difficult to find information on this promotional endeavor, ostensibly intended to give the radio-listening public a broader knowledge of the state of contemporary Canadian music when it was created in 1977.

These "not for sale" 7-inch 33 1/3 rpm records contain music (presumably selected by the composers themselves) which was intended to showcase the variety of styles which each composer utilized.
Most of the records contain excerpts from longer works, though some also contain complete shorter works.
As each record totals only around 17 minutes, it is understandable that some composers would choose to have presented as broad a scope as possible from their entire oeuvre by selecting excerpts.
However, it does make the absolute value of each record hard to evaluate..
My conclusion is that they are useful as a sort of advertisement, as the excerpts are at least long enough to get a distinct sense of the style of the given works.

Finding the complete works to satisfy your interest may be difficult, however, as the chances are that the entire works can be found only in limited-edition CBC boxed sets dedicated to the individual composer, which are not easy to find nowadays.

In any case-I hope that you will find something of intrinsic value in these little artifacts, and maybe some new leads to follow in your search for overlooked or underexposed Canadian composers and their works.

My first offering includes works by 3 of the 4 founding members of the Canadian Electronic Ensemble (unfortunately,my copy of the record by the fourth member- Larry Lake, is missing from its sleeve. If it turns up I'll addend the post.)



 CAPAC Musical Portrait-David Grimes (QC-1289)

a1-excerpt from Increscents for violin and electronic instruments (4:50)
Morry Kernerman,violin
James Montgomery and David Grimes,synthesizers
 
a2-excerpt from Sotto Voce for voice and tape (3:03)
Marry Morrison-soprano

b1-excerpt from Walter for trombone and electronics (3:42)
David Grimes,trombone
James Montgomery,electronics
 
b2-excerpt from Legend (4:00)
Canadian Electronic Ensemble 

























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Musical Portrait-James Montgomery

CAPAC Musical Portrait-James Montgomery (QC-1290)
 
a1-excerpt from Relations for piano and tape (2:02)
Karen Kieser,piano 

a2-excerpt from White Fire for amplified brass quintet(1:50)
The Canadian Brass
 
a3-excerpt from Reconnaissance for amplified String Quartet (3:50) 
Vaghy String Quartet

b1-excerpt from Paris (4:34)
Canadian Electronic Ensemble 

b2-excerptr from October 4th, 1974 (3:07)
Canadian Electronic Ensemble 
 

 


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Musical Portrait-David Jaeger

 

CAPAC Musical Portrait-David Jaeger (QC-1288)
 
a1-excerpt from Fancye for organ and tape (6:47)
Derek Healy,organ
 
a2-excerpt from Quanza Duetto for 2 guitars and tape (1:50)
Robert Bauer and Douglas Virgin,Guitars
 
b1-excerpt from Whale Oil (4:35)
Canadian Brass Ensemble
 
b2-excerpt from Star Song (3:15)
Canadian Electronic Ensemble




























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Music For Pianos In Sixths Of Tones (McGill Recordings,1985)

Excerpts from the cover notes (enclosed):

Born in St.Petersburg in 1893,Ivan Wyschnegradsky was a disciple of Scriabin. In 1918 he had an intense mystical experience that caused him to see the necessity of a musical expression in micro-tones. Because of the chaotic conditions in Russia at the time,he moved permanently to Paris in 1920, where he lived until his death in 1979.
His determination and courage in face of incredible difficulties and the neglect of the musical world seem almost superhuman.because of the problems in creating adequate instruments for microtones,he had almost no performances until 1937 when he adopted the solution of two or more conventional pianos tuned to different diapasons.
Aside from the two successful concerts in 1937 and in 1945 in Paris, there were few performances and no publications.Only recently has the world recognized the importance of both his compositions and his theoretical writings on microtonal composition.
Since his death the "Association Ivan Wyschnegradsky" in Paris under the presidency of Claude Ballif has produces concerts,recordings and publications devoted to his music. But the first long playing recording of his music was produced by McGill University Records (No.77002) in 1978. On that recording the LePage-Mather Duo plays Two Concert Etudes,Op.19,Two Fugues,Op.33 and Integrations,Op.49, all in quarter tones. The works in sixths of tones on the present disc received their premieres at McGill University's Pollack Concert Hall in Montreal on April 21,1983* and are recorded here for the first time.
In the 1950's Wyschnegradsky elaborated his ultimate system for organizing his "continuum of sound".
This system he called "les espaces non octaviants". They are cycles that repeat not at the octave but at a slightly smaller or larger interval.In the case of Dialogue a Trois the interval is the major seventh or 33 sixths of tones.This interval can be subdivided equally (11,11,11) in "perfect regular structure" (requiring 3 pianos), in "irregular structure one colour" (9,12,12) requiring one piano) or in irregular structure two colours" (10,11,12) (requiring two pianos). He associated each piano with a color.
In DIALOGUE A TROIS he also uses his system of "ultrachromaticism rythmique"; very subtle changes in tempo which are the counterpoint of the small intervallic differences.The musical language can be reduced in three elements (1) broken chords, (2) repeated notes or chords, (3) regular fluctuations between two chords.

COMPOSITION OP 46,NO 1 is a short work which uses a non-octaviant space of 17 thirds of a tone (one third of a tone less than an octave). It is subdivided into three intervals of 12,11 and 11 sixths.This system offers the possibility of 34 different positions of the cycle.

The subject of the FUGUE in OPUS 30, on this recording, starts with a minor sixth,each note of which alternately slides downwards in sixths of tones. Following  the five voice exposition the fugue features an entry in augmentation, and entry with the inversion of the augmentation, a  stretto and a coda in non-fugal style.

For its pitch organization, Bruce Mather's POEME DU DELIRE uses Wyschnegradsky's system of "non-octaviant spaces", modified to produce a scale of thirds and sixths of tones.
Formally, it is a mosaic of six different textures: 1-monody, 2-a slow melody accompanied by complex broken chords, 3-a chorale with chords of 3,5,8 and 11 notes, 4-a melody of moderate pace accompanied by solid chords, 5-trills and chromatic (semitone) scales accompanied by slowly broken chords, and 6-fast tremolos and ostinatos.
Poeme du Delire is dedicated to the memory of A.Scriabin and his disciple I.Wyschnegradsky

ASPECTS by Jack Behrens is comprised of a Prologue,six Episodes and a Postlude- each less than a minute long. It is,in intent, a work for one piano with enhanced pitch possibilities; that is, the work is not antiphonal, with one piano echoing or reflecting another.Against a static pitch centre the Prologue quietly explores the "feel" of microtonal possibilities; these are reaffirmed (with many octaves slightly enlarged) in the Postlude. In the body of the composition, microtones are sometimes used to "color" pitches (especially in the final prankish Episode) and are frequently treated as point of fluctuation (rather than steps) or as ingredients in clusters (Episode 1) in other instances spatial expansion (Episode 3) or interval expansion (Episode 5) is explored .Aspects is dedicated to Bruce Mather.

Side One: Ivan Wyschnegradsky

a1-Dialogue a Trois,Opus 51 (1974)

a2-Composition,Opus 46,No.1 (1961)

a3-Prelude Et Fugue,Opus 30 (1945)

Side Two:

b1-Bruce Mather-Poeme Du Delire (1982)

b2-Jack Behrens-Aspects (1983)

Louis-Phillipe Pelletier,Paul Helmer,Francois Couture-Pianos
Bruce Mather,Conductor.


 






















 
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Lukas Foss- Echoi/The Fragments Of Archilochos/Non-Improvisation (Wergo Heliodor 89835)

...And the Lukas Foss Mega-Hit Parade continues here in A Closet.
(Thanks to my father for the gift of this and other records which have appeared here lately and will appear here soon.)

I hope I will be forgiven for my lengthy reprint from the insert notes to this l.p., but I find the ideas here so fascinating that I have reproduced almost all of them.I have left out mostly biographical information, but have kept most of the technical notes intact.I hope you all will find them as inspiring and thought-provoking as I do, and I believe that they are of interest, not only to musicians, but to anyone interested in new (circa 1967) musical forms and creative approaches to performance.
Feel free to let me know if you find the notes too long or too esoteric.
 
These notes (enclosed) were written in or around 1967.

In the new musical rapproachement between composer and performer it is again possible for the creative and the re-creative functions to be taken by one and the same person.Lukas Foss,born in Berlin,in America since 1937,composer,conductor,pianist,teacher,and tireless proponent of newest new music,is an extraordinary case of a one and the same,whose single existence is split into many lives.
There are in general two types of musicians, the Mozarts and the Beethovens, the naturals and the studied.Foss is the former-the natural,the eternal Wunderkind.He started early,accomplished a great deal in a short time,and,still a young man,has gone far.He directs a major American orchestra and guest conducts others;he is one of a handful of avant-garde composers in the public eye and one of the few American composers and conductors whom Europeans take seriously.
He claims to compose slowly but (especially considering the length and breadth of his other activities) he has accumulated a considerable body of work.
He has not practiced the piano seriously in years,but he sits down and plays remarkably well.He is a virtuoso sight reader and a quick study.He is distrusted by many musicians but others swear by him.He has accomplished remarkable things,made terrible blunders,and still moves ever onward and upward.
He has a surprisingly large following-especially among young people.He has attracted a young,knowing audience made up largely of record-buyers who normally do not go to concerts (but he himself is better known on records as a composer than as a performing artist).
In 1957 he founded an Improvisation Chamber Ensemble-clarinet,cello,percussion,and piano-with the idea of developing an improvisational style specifically intended to break down the barriers between performance and the creative act.
In the five or six years of the Ensemble's existence, it followed a course which was,in effect, parallel to and the result of an extraordinary transition in Foss's own musical thinking.The early work of the Ensemble was in the manner of a free and neoclassical diatonicism closely related to Foss's own earlier written compositions.Then,in a frankly experimental way,new techniques were introduced,sometimes merely in a playful spirit,sometimes in a genuinely exploratory mood.
Quite obviously the Improvisation Chamber Ensemble could not use avant-garde materials in complex,plotted serial structures,so the work of the group began to evolve quite naturally toward a kind of free,far out,performance-practice music.
In his written-out work,Foss did flirt with stricter twelve-tone ideas;but even a work like TIME CYCLE, his closest approach to pure serialism and Webernism,has different versions for orchestra (see post below) and chamber ensemble, and was first performed with interpolated improvisations.

After TIME CYCLE, his work increasingly took on the characteristics of open-form and a kind of performance-practice aleatory.
ECHOI, written for the instruments of the Improvisation Chamber Ensemble,is a kind of summation of the improvisational experience but is not improvisatory itself. It is also a big step outward,incorporating action,gestural and chance techniques along with serial and post-serial ideas,the whole bound together by a superb sense of gesture and ensemble sound and color.
An orchestral work, ELYTRES, consists of a large score out of which various possibilities may be selected so that one performance will differ from another.

THE FRAGMENTS OF ARCHILOCHOS are an even more complex application of a similar idea.
 
"Work notes for ECHOI"(By Lukas Foss-punctuation and all):

The Byzantine Echos: somewhere between Raga and Row perhaps.(The chants composed with the Echoi were like a mosaic of melodic formulae.)
 
ECHOI I: four simultaneous cadenzas?could be an opening,a gate,a not-yet-music,on the way.Introducing the four virtuosi in a joint disorderly display of virtuosity.let order creep in,as if by mistake.imitations,as if by accident.(players stepping on each others phrases.) the imitations will produce a semblance of order,so will the serially permutated cadenzas.
Step 1.construct a chain of notes,every one of the twelve followed by every one of the remaining eleven.total:132.contains every interval on every degree of the chromatic scale.(can be done with
the help of greco-latin squares.)copy many times,each time applying a numerical system (chart) for the distribution of various elements,of anything that can be structured,of held notes,accents,pauses,fermatas,overlappings,fast note groups,moderately paced groups of notes,grace notes. Surround myself with all this material.pin it on the walls.arbitrary note formations,the more the better.no longer an empty page to be gradually populated by music,but note-crowded pages,a jungle gradually cleared for inhabitance.
Step 2.to clear for inhabitance,to compose,to make choices.I circle what I like-groups of notes, these may number as few as  seven notes,as many as , say, seventeen. now collect the circled note groups,melodic formations.discard everything that is not circled,liquidating the serial order,the system,like a scaffold not longer needed.composition by deletion.(only way I can work with series.)
Second stage: manipulation of chosen formations casting.four players: they can play as 4,as 3,as 2,as 1.available distrubutions: 4 solos,6 duos,3 trios,1 quartet.total: 14.
Step 1: apply all 14 combinations to each formation.(takes too long.IBM programming for quicker assembling, permutating?-someday.)
Step 2: compose with resultant raw material,again by circling what I like,then building with obtained designs,patterns,groups.
(...)it is important to distinguish the two principal steps:the pre-compositional one-accumulation of an abundance of raw material obtained via serial proportioning-and manipulation of raw materials via an act of composition.)
I have now obtained the desired "quasi-music". notation?leave the rhythm rubato (proportional rather than metrical). fade-outs and climaxes can be notated so as to guarantee the proper "no-coordination"; everyone plays from the score,all coordination is via eye and ear )the "ideal" chamber music?) dotted vertical lines,to show where exact simultaneity is necessary.elsewhere the vertical picture on the page must reveal a "precise elasticity" allowing every player to be a note off to the right or to the left without harm to the resulting effect.check this.the slight freedom,or rather,license is necessary-in view of the fast tempo,and desirable-in view of the free cadenza concept.presto rubato.will require a lot of practicing.

ECHOI II: let the completely composed (in every sense of the word) follow the not-yet-music of ECHOI I. symmetry,clarity,order on the heel of anarchy.
First:a short piano solo.proceed similar to ECHOI I,step 1 except use a row for pitches to arrive at intervallic unity.(whenever a row is used in the piece,it is one and the same,throughout.) use 132 chain to obtain maximum variety in other parameters.
Step 2: again encircle what I like.look for possible opening and closing phrases among the circled areas.juggle,edit a dozen circled formations,until they "fall into line" that is,show continuity.Geatalt (minimum of the improvisatory).
Follows:vibraphone shadowing clarinet (close canon at the unison) sticks to him like glue.clarinet should make futile attempts to escape its own shadow,like an insect trying to extricate itself from a spider web.cello joins in the pursuit )canon at the minor second). this takes a special kind of playing at and against one another as in our Chamber Improvisation experiments. (difficult to write down,to pin down.)
Piano solo da capo but shadowed at the minor second and only a sixteenth note apart.pitchless percussion also shadowing.imitating.everyone wanting to get in on the act.
 
ECHOI III a study in different levels of sound-presence.distant sounds echoing close ones.discard obvious notion of seating in different locations.unsubtle and inflexible unless the players kept exchanging seats (not a bad idea).as a rule,obtain the levels via a sudden,unmotivated switch of roles forcing the performer to play as if in a distant room in one moment,close up front in the next.
To be perceived clearly,distant notes,lines should move at a slower pace than close ones and should tend to sustain.
There must be reaction of foreground music to background music and vice versa (Example:vibraphone (oscillator off) holds soft chord,turns oscillator on the moment pianist strikes same chord,but short,loud.result:as if piano attack made sustained background chord shake,vibrate.)
Use the four players in such a manner as to invoke the image of a quartet in front,mirrored int he distance.
Could gain a completely new dimension of "presence" )foreground) were equated with "the present"-and "distance" (background) with the "distant past". Note:space symbolizing time intrinsically musical,because of the dreamlike,hallucinatory nature of music.
(Note: the idea discussed here is explored also in Foss's work GEOD )

Found an old sketch,like a children's tune,tonal,sickly,complete with alberi bass,why not superimpose,that is,recompose,collage,combine with ECHOI III, so that children's music (vibraphone) is like something that has beenpainteed over., emerging if one scrapes the surface,shining through the background-the past-then distorted,disfigured in the foreground-the present- faintly emerging again in the distance (tape-covered triangle beater inside the piano strings,a la mandolin, only to be annihilated,cancelled out by the menacing activity in front,the clarinet in foreground is mocking the fragile tune,barking in distorted pitches,bell inside piano,later ball over timpani, for unnatural resonance- A two-music piece.

ECHOI IV: conjure up the noise,chaos of ECHOI I for a moment,to complete the arc.ECHOI IV (so to say) continuing ECHOI I after a 12-minute interruption.To make this clear,fade in (quick <) on the middle of ECHOI I (like "turning on" the players). for the rest of introduction:a recitative.use unused surplus material from ECHOI I, but fragmentize (pauses,interruptions,tentative sounds-clarinet and cello bending pitches). then attaca.
What I want now is a music like an obsession-hundreds and hundreds of notes-piano acting as protagonist,a compulsive,unending piano monologue with the other instruments accompanying,observing,commenting,bemoaning,mourning.(...)
The piano plays and plays,notes and more notes,gets nowhere.very moving.a task for a formidable virtuoso.must play sensitively mechanical,precision-obsessed,let him repeat little phrases from time to time,like a phonograph needle caught in a groove.from time to time?why not organize that too?
Compulsive repeats-go one better: jump back and forth between different spots in the music at the crack of a "whip"-wrong sound- "anvil", struck at the whim of the percussionist within a given two-page stretch.at this anvil signal the four musicians skip from the moment of interruption to an earlier place in the music (the idee fixe) and back as the anvil is struck again.the music is slapped back and forth in time.(Hope the musicians will be quick and simultaneous enough in obeying the anvil's command.the kind of task that is difficult only because it is new.)
(...)We begin to hear double and triple: clarinet and cello imitate their own performance as it emerges from two loudspeakers (two tape tracks prerecorded by the two musicians). who is echoing whom? the echo (tape) is "preceding" the performance.meanwhile the piano must go on following obliviously its separate course-the piano solo would now be at its fastest and loudest,widest register,longest and most obsessed repetitions.What now?End it cannot.it could abruptly stop in mid-course or be stopped.by the percussion?yes.stopped,drowned out.percussion eruptions.need not be notated except in form of samples to "inform" the player.each eruption wipes out the piano music for a second or two.each time the piano emerges again(as if recuperating), until the percussionist strikes all of his instruments starting with the one farthest fro the piano and hitting everything on his way to the piano,finally into the piano strings with his mallets.this literally and symbolically stops the pianist in whatever phrase he happens to be playing at the time.silence.an aperiodic assortment of a-musical sounds (percussion) . composing-these last few pages-has become almost a kind of "programming", that is: samples and footnotes such a: "percussionist,hit side of piano,music stand,drum sides,etc.dull, pitchless, illegitimate sounds-"use" but do not "play" the instrument.think between attacks,then strike with a sudden hurried gesture.strike large lid of a garbage can (dullest thud) silence- to be filled by audience laughter-but laughter must subside quickly lest it cover the short epilogue-epitaph, giving the clarinet,cello and vibraphone a chance to sing their last notes in peace.

Author's note: Be the obvious mentioned here: there are not and never were "Work-Notes":only pages with numbers,and pages with music, 2 1/2 years of them.The so-called Work-Notes were written post factum in 2 1/2 days; they are based on the best of my recollection.


THE FRAGMENTS OF ARCHILOCHOS

The words of THE FRAGMENTS OF ARCHILOCHOS are surviving fragments by the ancient Greek satirist,Archilochos (714-676 B.C.),whose bitter pen caused caused several of his contemporaries to commit suicide.In many cases the composer emphasizes the humor of these fragments,their implications and possible juxtapositions.Subjects dealt with are life,death,love and war.
The work is written for four small choirs,large chorus,percussion,mandolin,guitar,male and female speakers and solo countertenor In addition to standard notation Foss writes specific pitches but leaves the rhythm up to the performers,or specific rhythms with the pitches only approximately indicated.At other times free choice of both pitch and rhythm is granted,within strictly defined limits.Considerable use is made of speech.In the more traditional passages,Foss employs some serial techniques.
To a musician,the unique feature of this composition,like the same composer's ELYTRES, is its form.Like other avant-garde composers,Foss is excited at the idea of writing works which can be performed many different ways.This is a reaction against music of the last 150 years,in which one performance ideally should not differ from another, and is a throwback (possibly subconscious) to the 18th century practice of improvising or embellishing a composition during a concert.Thus the performer once more becomes a creative artist instead of merely a reproducer of someone else's ideas.
With the new Foss technique,the complete composition is written out,the full score appearing quite dense-that is,most of the performing forces seem to be engaged simultaneously.However,by following an intricate diagram,the music is marked so that only a small amount of this material is actually heard at any one time.At another concert,different combinations are used.There are actually hundreds of different compositions pissible with the material assembled under this title,all predetermined by the composer when designing the diagram.
Foss comments,"I would not be interested in the many possibilities per se, were they not controllable.It is the fact that a glance at the score suffices to foresee all possible textures,harmonies,etc.,which makes the idea that every performance is different interesting to me.In a word,the composer is not taking a chance...the detail is as controlled as it is in a conventional score,one which does not vary from performance to performance.
"My aim,then,was to make multi-diversity possible without surrendering to chance.There remains the question WHY? Why is it desirable that each performance should differ from the other?The answer in this case is simple;for the pleasure of surprise-not so much the audience's, who may hear the piece but once,but the performer's.He will experience surprise at every performance because (a) the detail is always different, (b) because,though always different, the music remains curiously the same."

NON-IMPROVISATION

There are (curiously) no notes for this work in the enclosed insert.
From a couple of listens, I can tell you this:

The work is made up of two distinct layers of activity, one of which functions as a curtain or "fog" through which the second may sometimes be viewed (heard).
The first layer, the curtain, is a massive cluster of unknown origin (perhaps a forearm or two on the organ?) which, by being varied in volume or dynamics, allows the second layer- a sort of faux-Baroque (mostly harpsichord) music (whether authentic or fancied) to come more or less into focus.
Foss seems to be using a device he muses about above, of placing the music in time- the Baroque music representing the past literally, but, more importantly, also figuratively or metaphorically- in this instance by the varying of the speed and pitch of the fragments so that the echoes (repeated fragments) seem to be slipping into a fog of memory as they decrease in speed or pitch,
(I'm reminded of Brian Eno's First Variation on the Canon in D major by Johann Pachelbel-"Fullness Of Wind", where the speed of the fragments being played is governed by the pitch of the instrument playing them "(Bass=Slow)" but the effect here is quite different.)

Side One:

a1-Echoi I (3:37)

a2-Echoi II  (4:26)

a3-Echoi III  (7:24)

a4-Echoi IV  (11:58)

Lukas Foss-Piano
Jan Williams-Percussion
Douglas Davis-Cello
Edward Yadzinski-Clarinet
Side Two:

b1-The Fragments Of Archilochos  (10:12)

Crane Collegiate Singers,State University College of Potsdam Directed by Brock McElheran
Robert Betts-Tenor
Miriam Abramowitsch,Melvin Strauss-Speakers
Oswald Rantucci-Mandolin
Jonathan Marcus-Guitar
Jan Williams
Edward Burnham
Lynn Harbold-Percussion

b2-Non-Improvisation  (9:14)

Lukas Foss- Piano, Harpsichord
Jan Williams- Percussion, Hammond Organ
Douglas Davis- Cello
Edward Yadzinski- Clarinet
This recording was first issued as Wergo LP 60040. It was later re-issued on LP and cassette by Heliodor. The original masters for Echoi and Non-Improvisation were made on November 20, 1968 at the Buffalo and Erie County Public Library in Buffalo, New York. The Fragments of Archilochos was recorded at Potsdam, New York, in the late spring of 1968.

























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