French Music And French Musicians,Program 184-Therese Brenet

This series of records is from the late 1960's.The French Broadcasting System In North America present French Music And French Musicians.
These records are no doubt rare in that the individual programs (clocking in at  thirty minutes each) are divided between two different l.p. records (so thet the radio dj could make the smooth transition from part one to part two without having to break and turn over the record.)
These records are almost 50 years old, and so I imagine that finding the correct pairs to reproduce an entire show might be pretty difficult.

Another, more interesting feature is that the records contain in many cases broadcast premieres of compositions commisioned by the ORTF specially for these overseas broadcasts.
(This first post is one of these).
It seems quite possible to me that many of these contemporary pieces may not have ever subsequently received major label recordings, and might therefore be one-of-a-kind, unique items.

Each program begins with a spoken introduction-a brief biography of the composer and a short description of the work to be presented, with the principal soloists, orchestra and conductor named.
As the records have no covers and most are missing the typed paper insert, I might make errors in spelling the names of the musicians presenting these works.My apologies in advance.

Last year my father was lucky enough to find almost 100 of these l.p.'s and, as far as I know, all programs are complete. He's been sending me the modern music ones, and this is the first one I've decided to post.
Thanks, Beboppa Poppa!
 

The French Broadcasting System In North America-
French Music And French Musicians, Program 184.

Therese Brenet- Fragor, poème en six mouvements pour deux pianos et orchestre 1969 

a1: spoken introduction  (1:41)

a2: Fragor (beginning) (11:51)

b1: Fragor (conclusion) (15:02)

b2: end notes (0:28)

Commande de  (Commissioned By)  l’O.R.T.F.
Catherine Brilly,Anne-Marie Fontaine- Pianos
Strasbourg Orchestra,Directed by Roger Albert




















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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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Solitudes Volume Three

Dan Gibson - Solitudes Volume Three

released on cassette in 1981

Here it is, the first post of the year. As someone helpfully wrote "thunder" on the cover of my copy, there are some sounds of thunder on side 1.

From the liner notes:

Side 1: "Among the Giant Trees of the Wild Pacific Coast" is a haven for natural sounds. Streams twist through this forest of Red Cedar, Western Hemlock, and Douglas Fir. Thunderstorms build and coat the moss laden ground. Along the river a Fox Sparrow and MacGillivray's Warbler sing, and as the delta appears, expanding into coastal waters, the peeps of the Black Oyster Catcher welcomes any explorer.

WILDLIFE SPECIES FEATURED

Fox Sparrow, Pacific Tree Frogs, Varied Thrush, White-crowned Sparrow, MacGillivray's Warbler, Winter Wren, Red-shafted Flicker, Glaucous-winged Gulls, Bald Eagle (adult and young), Black Oystercatcher

Side 2: "Spring Morning on the Prairies" contrasts the peaceful image of swaying grain in the easy breeze to the cacophony of migrating and resident wildlife that frequent the scattered sloughs. The natural energy of the Vesper Sparrow, Killdeer, American Coot, and the Marbled Godwit characterize these active sloughs.

WILDLIFE SPECIES FEATURED

Western Meadowlark, Vesper Sparrow, Canada Geese, Killdeer, Yellow-headed Blackbird, American Coot, Long-billed Marsh Wren, Red-winged Blackbird, Savannah Sparrow, Marbled Godwit, Mallard Ducks

Tracklisting:

Side 1

1.  Among the Giant Trees of the Wild Pacific Coast  {29:07}

Side 2

1.  Spring Morning on the Prairies  {28:54}

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P.S. All of the Solitudes posts should be available. I am still missing volumes nine, eleven and twelve.