Music of Samuel Magrill Vol.2: The Oklahoma Years (1989-1996)

Samuel Magrill - Music of Samuel Magrill Vol. 2: The Oklahoma Years (1989-1996)

Music of Samuel Magrill Vol. 2 is a second collection of Magrill's electronic and electro-acoustic music which continues to chronicle his repertoire that started on Vol. 1: The Early Years (posted earlier in this blog). In 1988, Magrill began his tenure as professor of music at the University of Central Oklahoma in Edmond hence the title "The Oklahoma Years."

Notes about some of the music from Magrill: "Ambiances": Ambiances, the French word for environments or surroundings, is in no way meant to be background music. The four movements are contrasting sound sculptures, each with a similar structure, yet each with a distinctive character. -- "Strands of Time": Six lines of distinct character and timbre derived from the same material... a layer of eight percussion patterns without noticable meter permuted in a modified rondo... as the threads in this tapestry of sound interact, the drama of forms and textures unfolds. -- "secondhandmusic": The "riff" came from the drums and the rest of the ensemble wanted to play it too, all thirty-eight of them. Meanwhile the vocalists wanted to sing the instrumental "licks," which they did phonemically. Sometimes a performer is playing the original music, but mostly the players are performing transformations, borrowed from the source - secondhand music. -- "Strange Jazz": "Strange Jazz" was conceived as a simulated jam session with aliens with apologies to Stephen Foster, Louis Armstrong, Billie Holiday, Duke Ellington and others. -- "Sampler '94": "Sampler '94" is a demo tape of sorts, presenting snippets of twenty-five compositions written over two decades, packaged especially for people with short attention spans. The compositions were divided into eleven categories and broken up into segments of interruptions.

Tracklisting:

1. Ambiances: I {5:02}

2. Ambiances: II {6:12}

3. Ambiances: III {4:20}

4. Ambiances: IV {4:21}

5. Strands of Time {7:02}

6. secondhandmusic {6:47}

7. The Green Monkeys {7:03}

8. Oklahoma Goulash {5:07}

9. Strange Jazz {5:25}

10. Sampler '94 {8:30}

11. A Suite of Bagatelles: I. Quantization Rag {1:14}

12. A Suite of Bagatelles: II. Time Dialation {1:05}

13. A Suite of Bagatelles: III. Trio Concerto {1:06}

14. A Suite of Bagatelles: IV. Three Steps to Diminished Acceleration {1:07}

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