Multi Bass '70

Francois Rabbath - Multi Bass '70

On Multi Bass '70, Rabbath incorporates jazz, contemporary classical, Indian and African elements into the pieces on this recording. These elements combined with Rabbath's innovative style of double bass playing make for a great listen. For further information, this page has a biography on Rabbath and an interview with him.

Tracklisting:

1. L'odyssee d'eau {8:47}

2. Poucha-Dass {2:37}

3. Incantation pour junon {3:21}

4. Horda {2:18}

5. Embruns {2:26}

6. Papa Georges {3:54}

7. La Guerre et la paix (War and Peace): 1 Avant-Guerre (Before the war) {2:53}

8. La Guerre et la paix (War and Peace): 2 Guerre (War) {3:09}

9. La Guerre et la paix (War and Peace): 3 Apres-Guerre (After the war) {3:14}

10. La Guerre et la paix (War and Peace): 4 Paix (Peace) {3:03}

11. Mutants d'eau pale {3:38}

12. Breiz {1:46}

13. Equation du temps {1:33}

14. Thyossane {4:04}

15. Olivier {3:13}

16. Sete quate {1:32}

17. Ma mere, baidja {4:25}

(1) or (1) (2) or (2) [maybe reposted soon]

Musical Atlas: Cambodia

* no image available *

various artists compilation - Musical Atlas: Cambodia

I apologize to my visitors for having no picture of the album cover. My batteries on my camera died so I wasn't able to take a picture of the cover before I had to return the album to an acquaintance. I was unable to locate a picture of the album cover on the Internet. I thought of placing some other picture in its place, but it wouldn't seem right to do so.

This LP is in the UNESCO Musical Atlas series and covers folk and ceremonial music of Cambodia. Here's a little background derived from the liner notes:

Cambodia has been the cradle of one of the most vigorous civilizations of South-East Asia. During its golden age in the 11th and 12th centuries this civilization brought forth the architectural wonders embodied in the monuments of Angkor and a highly developed musical and choreographic activity, distant echoes of which have come down to our time. We can no longer admire the orchestras of several hundred musicians presented by the princes to the Brahmans or the king, or the thousands of female dancers engaged by Jayavarman VII, the illustrious builder of Bayon, to perform at ceremonies in the great temples. Nevertheless, several distinctive musical forms have survived, and their great originality has influenced the music of neighbouring countries such as Thailand and Laos, which, depending on the vicissitudes of history, were sometimes subject to the Khmer Empire, as well as Burma and Malaysia.
Cambodian music can be divided into two main categories: the orchestras consisting mainly of stringed and wind instruments, and the orchestras of melodic percussion instruments such as keyed metellophones, sets of gongs, xylophones and other percussion instruments. This record presents several aspects of both categories.

Tracklisting:

Side I

1. The Orchestra of Pêang Lovea - Bât Phleng Khlong {5:40}

2. The Orchestra of Pêang Lovea - Bât Ham Rong {5:03}

3. Srey-Yim - Bât Khlong-Saray Andet {6:49}

4. Srey-Yim - Bât Sampong {2:30}

5. Tuk-Môn - Roeung Moyolvong {6:34}

Side II

1. Tuk-Môn - Entertainment Music for the Chapey {4:00}

2. The Musicians of Siem Reap - Khlang Khêk {5:40}

3. The Artists of the Ta-Phul Village Troupe (Siem Reap) - Nang Sbek Thom-The "Sampeah Kru" Ceremony {4:10}

4. The Artists of the Shaow-Theatre Troupe of the Village of Ta-Phul (Siem Reap) - Nang Sbek Thom-Episode from the Ramayana {4:35}

5. The Musicians of the "Pinpeat" Orchestra of Siem Reap - Krao Nay {7:44}

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2001: A Space Odyssey read by Arthur C. Clarke

Arthur C. Clarke - 2001: A Space Odyssey

When I was transferring posts to this new version of this blog on the new Blogger engine, this one somehow got lost in the shuffle and never made it here until now. I forgot about this LP on the old version of this blog originally posted on October 12, 2006.
This particular release contains the final chapters of 2001 read by Arthur C. Clarke himself and a snippet of the memorable Richard Strauss piece, Also sprach Zarathustra, used as the film version's theme music. No need for me to explain the plot as I'm sure most people are familiar with it, but just in case this Wikipedia site explains everything. There is an audiobook of the complete novel on tape and CD, but I am not aware of any other release having a reading of this work by Clarke.

Tracklisting:

SIDE A

1. The Moons of Saturn {14;17}

Experiment --- The Sentinel --- Into the Eye --- Exit

2. Through the Star Gate {12:16}

Grand Central --- The Alien Sky (beginning)

SIDE B

1. Through the Star Gate {28:53}

The Alien Sky (conclusion) --- Inferno --- Reception --- Recapitulation --- Transformation--- Star-Child

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La lontananza nostalgica utopica futura

Luigi Nono - La lontananza nostalgica utopica futura

First, I would like to thank H.C. Earwicker for his contributions during the past week. He did an outstanding job with his first three posts. As he already said, he'll return in a few weeks with something delightful.

The item that is the focus of this post is a piece for solo violin, 8 magnetic tapes and 8 to 10 music stands. I don't know of many pieces of music composed for music stands or that emphasize music stands. Actually, I do not know of any other pieces for music stands. Throughout the piece (split into 6 separate tracks) at points there seems to be sounds of music stands themselves being dragged or being moved. As mentioned in the liner notes on how this is supposed to be performed: "The 6 parts (1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6) of 'La Lontananza' should be placed on 6 music stands on the stage (and in the audience as well), irregularly and asymmetrically, never near each other, but in such a way as to permit free although never direct passage between them, the player searching them out. They can also be 'complicated' with 2 or 4 empty music stands in order to make the passage way more varied and imaginative, the players even suddenly getting lost or coming to a halt."

Performers:

Melise Mellinger - violin

Salvatore Sciarrino - sound design / sound projection

Tracklisting:

1. Leggio I {9:25}

2. Leggio II {12:21}

3. Leggio III {10:33}

4. Leggio IV {8:16}

5. Leggio V {11:30}

6. Leggio VI {9:30}

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JAPANESE KOTO ORCHESTRA

Originally, I wanted to post some recordings from the Japan Collection of the UNESCO world music series here, but they are on DAT tape, and I didn't get to make the transfer in time. So here's an equally beautiful substitute, the CD reprint of a rather old Lyrichord LP. Judging by the "patina" of the recording, I'd say it's from the 1960s.

1 - Otone No Nagare Ni Sote (Along the Great Tone River), composed by Tsuyoshi Sakamoto
2 - Nagare (The Stream), composed by Kazuko Tsukushi
3 - Shochikubai (Music of Pine, Bamboo and Plum Blossoms), composed by Mitsuhashi Koto

Featured are different schools of composers, but unfortunately no dates of birth are mentioned, so we're left wondering how old these poetic pieces may be. Without doubt, the lengthy and episodic "Otone No Nagare Ni Sote" is the highlight here. It's played by 5 kotos, hoteki (flute), shamisen and shakuhachi. Some passages, like the chromatic part in the second half, suggest Western classic-romantic influences. The use of illustrative "sound painting", as well as the frequent quotation of phrases and themes from folk music, are amazing - and even ears less accustomed to Japanese music will have a fantastic listening experience.

"Shochikubai", for a trio of koto, shamisen and kokyu (the only bowed traditional Japanese instrument), seems to have something of a Chinese "touch", though that impression may be attributed to the sound of the seldom heard kokyu.

Enjoy, with a nice cup of light green sencha, or hot sake.


Now it's time for me to step back and let grey calx take over. Next from me, in a few weeks: John Cage's "Empty Words IV", as read by humself, and released way back on double LP by the long gone Edition Michael Frauenlob Bauer.

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Christian Wolff: WERGO 60063

- For Piano I (1952)

- For Pianist (1959)

- Burdocks (1970/71)

A rare LP from 1971, featuring 3 compositions by the youngest composer of the New York School, Christian Wolff, documenting different stages from nearly 20 years in his work.

The virtuosic chance composition "For Piano I" provides an interesting contrast to the cue-controlled open form piece "For Pianist", and the outstanding "Burdocks" with its added

improvisational possibilities is a MEISTERWERK of its genre. It can be performed by any number and any kind of players, be it trained classical, traditional, electronic, rock, jazz, professional or non-professional musicians. To the listener it either sounds like universal music or music from another planet. Or both.

Musicians are: David Tudor, Frederic Rzewski, David Behrman, Gordon Mumma, John Nash, and Christian Wolff. Included are texts on the pieces, written by Wolff, as well as excerpts from the "Burdocks" score.

Coming on Monday: something rare from Japan. 

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Morton Feldman: "Why Webern?" - H. C. E.’s first Post

Hello. Regular visitors to "A Closet of Curiosities" may have noticed a new name on the contributors-list: H. C. Earwicker. That’s supposed to be me, and this is my initial post here. First of all, many thanks to grey calx for letting me aboard. We’re both looking forward to this collaboration.

I’ll be posting something between two and four recordings per month, somewhere along the line of what you’re already used to on this blog: New, Electronic, and Ethnic Music, plus some borderline stuff - mostly rare, hard-to-get, deleted or unreleased recordings from radio broadcasts.




One of the commentors to an earlier post by grey calx asked for more Feldman, so here we go - with a seldom-performed piece by MF in the recording of its world premiere, taken from a radio broadcast: Morton Feldman - Violin and Orchestra (1979), played by Paul Zukofsky and the Radio-Sinfonieorchester Frankfurt, conducted by Christóbal Halffter.
Feldman’s working title for "Violin and Orchestra" was "Why Webern?" and it represents a link between his earlier non-repetetive styles and his later, pattern-oriented "minimalism". It’s one of his first VERY long (60 plus minutes) pieces. He started his series of contemplative and hypnotic large scale works with "Why Patterns?" in 1978 and refined this style of writing continuously to his last composition, "Piano, Violin, Viola, Cello" from 1987.
"Violin and Orchestra" was written for Paul Zukofsky and is scored for a big orchestra, featuring two harps, two pianos and a rich assortment of percussion. It is a mesmerizing microcosmos of changing and shifting figures/patterns and colours/shades. The solo part is carefully woven into the orchestral arrangements. One can hear the solo instrument distinctly, but it is always part of the ensemble. Zukofsky’s interpretation of Feldman’s microtonalities is outstanding and marvellous. "Violin and Orchestra" may sound somehow "chaotic" from the surface, but a dive deep into it will surely be most rewarding for the listener.
"I prefer to think of my work as: between categories. Between Time and Space. Between painting and music. Between the music's construction, and its surface."
Morton Feldman, in: "Between Categories" (1969)

Next post; tomorrow: a WERGO LP from 1971, with two essential piano pieces by Christian Wolff, and a kick-ass version of his "Burdocks", played by a veritable All-Star-Band of legendary composers-slash-performers.

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Flower Dance: Japanese Folk Melodies

The Noday Family, Nakagawa and Oishi - Flower Dance: Japanese Folk Melodies

From the liner notes:

This album consists of ten important folk melodies of Japan designed for the traditional Japanese instruments: koto, shamisen, kokyu (small shamisen played with a bow), drums, kane (bells), and shakuhachi. The music is mainly drawn from ancient folk songs - the most modern of which was composed 65 years ago. They range from a lullaby to drinking-party music, but all are familiar to Japanese ears, and some are internationally known.

Performers:

The Noday Family (Ikuta school) - shamisen and koto
Nakagawa & Oishi - percussion
* uncredited performer * - kokyu
* uncredited performer * - shakuhachi

Tracklisting:

SIDE ONE

1. Hanami odori {7:01}

2. Komori uta {2:28}

3. Hietsuki bushi {3:00}

4. Kiso bushi {4:58}

5. Itsuki no komoriuta {6:10}

SIDE TWO

1. Oedo nihonbashi {5:14}

2. Kojo no tsuki {6:26}

3. Sado kesa {5:43}

4. Kuroda bushi {6:54}

5. Mago uta {2:12}

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Sinopah

Annea Lockwood and Ruth Anderson - Sinopah

Released in 1998 by the Experimental Intermedia Foundation, Sinopah features two long pieces by Annea Lockwood and Ruth Anderson respectively.The first piece, Annea Lockwoood's 'World Rhythms', originated as a 10-channel live improvisation, first performed in 1975. The version on the CD was recorded in 1997. In constructing this piece, Lockwood used recordings of natural events such as volcanic eruptions, earthquakes, rivers, waves and mud pools. As she explains in her liner notes, 'these sounds are a physical manifestation of energies which shape us and our environment constantly, energies of which we are not always aware, but which powerfully influence and interact with the rhythms of our bodies.' The result is a intriguing collage of sounds from massive natural events, peppered by the more local sounding of a gong, or the tapping of a pulsar. Lockwood's piece presents rhythms on a number of levels; some are more local and apparent, but I think the piece points more toward the rhythms of the world as a whole (bringing us back to the theory of the world as a living organism in and of itself), and as such there is a more large scale rhythm at play here, not immediately apparent to our senses as would be a more conventional rhythmic structure, requiring us to take a step back and look at the structure of the piece as a whole.
Ruth Anderson's 'I come out of your sleep' is a piece following in the traditions of sound poetry, or text-sound. The piece is based on the speech vowels in Louise Bogan's poem 'Little Lobelia'. The sounds appear in quiet whispers, elongated echoes, weaving in and out of the threshold of hearing like the sound of the wind against the trees. The whispered vowels become mysterious and tranquil tones. Although they have their origins in the words of a poem, these sounds do not form words in themselves (rather they are the vowels extracted from the poem), however the sounds seem to suggest a meaning or a message; the experience of listening is analogous to those moments when you swear you can hear words being spoken through the whispering winds. 'The breath rhythm is an invitation to meditation,' writes Pauline Oliveros in the liner notes; and further, 'the focus of meditation could be the poem, could be the breath, could be the sound, could be the non-threatening nature of the piece as a whole.' A mysterious and captivating work. (Richard di Santo, Incursion.org)

Tracklisting:

1. Annea Lockwood - World Rhythms {45:59}

2. Ruth Anderson - I come out of your sleep {23:32}

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Kyoto Breeze Longing

Chieko Iwazaki - Kyoto Breeze Longing

For those who enjoyed the koto recordings posted recently, this is another recording of koto music by a virtuoso of the instrument, Chieko Iwazaki. Kyoto Breeze Longing is worth your time if you're into Japanese music or want to explore Japanese music.

(1) [maybe reposted soon]

Tracklisting:

1. Sakura Sakura {6:29}

2. Dream Painting {7:19}

3. Song in C {9:38}

4. Bird Song {12:39}

5. Wind Song {10:54}

Extended Saxophone

various artists compilation - Extended Saxophone

From the liner notes:

Dimensions III and Dimensions IV by Barton McLean
Albert Regini - saxophone
Barton McLean - electronic tape

In DIMENSIONS III and IV for saxophone and tape, McLean has blended the contrasting images of live and taped sounds, first by using saxophone sound events as tape sources, albeit modified through varying of tape speed, tape loops, synthesizer-generated modifications, etc.; and second, by blurring the distinction between tape and instrumental sounds by giving the live saxophone part a considerable number of electronic-sounding passages to play. These two works move away from the abstract pitch-rhythm world and toward a richer palette of basic human gestural and timbral sounds. DIMENSIONS III is a study in extreme emotional contrasts, including some hair-raising as well as sublime sound events for the saxophone. Its basic mood is one of human vs. machine in which, at the end, the performer is figuratively wiped out. DIMENSIONS IV is reflective, relying on evocative chords and effects. Each work in its own way evokes strong subconscious emotional responses by use of the saxophone, which is perhaps as richly endowed as any instrument with a human-gestural repertoire through its association with jazz.

Symmetrics by Karl Korte
Albert Regini - saxophone
University of Texas Percussion Ensemble

SYMMETRICS was composed in 1973 for the University of Texas Percussion Ensemble. The pitch material is derived from symmetric hexachords. The piece explores extended resources of the saxophone utilizing quarter-tones, 'false' fingerings, and multiphonics. One of the several jazz 'licks' heard along the way is intended as a small tribute to jazz giant Lester Young. (Karl Korte)

Variations by Kevin Hanlon
Albert Regini - saxophone
Kevin Hanlon - tape recorders

VARIATIONS for alto saxophone and tape delays is the first in a series of pieces involving live performers and tape delays. The tape delays are created by using a single tape which passes through two reel-to-reel stereo tape recorders, the first on 'record' the second on 'play'. Feeding the live sound into the first tape deck will cause the signal to be played back on the second tape deck a short time later. The amount of time-delay depends on how far apart the decks are from one another, and may thus be controlled precisely. As the first delay sounds, its signal may be rerouted back to the first tape deck and then to the second machine again, causing a second delay of the same material at twice the time distance from the initial sound. (Kevin Hanlon)

Tracklisting:

SIDE 1

1. Barton McLean - Dimensions III {6:24}

2. Barton McLean - Dimensions IV {12:02}

SIDE 2

1. Karl Korte - Symmetrics {11:33}

2. Kevin Hanlon - Variations {6:43}

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Shakuhachi: The Bamboo Flutes of Japan

Michael Gould - Shakuhachi: The Bamboo Flutes of Japan

Recorded at Kent State University Museum on February 18, 1997.

From the liner notes:

The Shakuhachi came to Japan in the seventh century from China and was a six-holed flute used in Imperial Court music. Later, in the middle ages, it was changed into the five-holed flute played today. Mendicant Zen monks who wandered the countryside played the Shakuhachi during their pilgrimages, wishing to be delivered from earthly desires. Honkyoku are the songs which were created by these monks. Unsurprisingly, the titles of honkyoku are usually associated with nature, i.e. trees, clouds, mountains, valleys, wind, etc.

"In Japan, a song of the same title will often be transformed as it takes on the character of a specific region or area. In this sense, I played the longer 3.0 Shakuhachi (88 cm.) length flute made by Yamaguchi Shugetsu of Kyoto, Japan, to best express what I feel here. The three songs, Bosatsu, Ukigumo, and Tamuke, are a tonal trilogy used to view the metaphysical landscape of life on Earth, then the freedom from worldly greed and desire, and, finally, the compassion born of such freedom." (Michael Gould)

(1) (2) [maybe reposted soon]

Tracklisting:

1. Bosatsu: Deity of Compassion {15:55}

2. Ukigumo: Floating Clouds {5:21}

3. Tamuke {5:55}

4. Daha: Striking Waves {5:15}

5. Sokkan {7:03}

6. Nezasa Shirabe {3:47}

7. San Ya: Three Valleys {8:02}

8. Honshirabe: Basic Melody {3:51}

9. San An: Prayer for a Safe Birth {7:26}

Christian Wolff - American Contemporary

Christian Wolff - American Contemporary

The first piece, "Lines", is composed for string quartet. It's more or less an academic exercise where a player for any string instrument makes a sound then when the player stops another player creates a sound immediately and so on. This composition is supposed to demonstrate lines of sound between the players. The strings on each instrument (violin, cello, viola) are retuned so that sixteen different pitches are available.

The second piece, "Accompaniments" was written for Frederic Rzewski. Rzewski is not only asked to play the piano, but to sing and play percussion with his feet (drum with pedal and high hat), tasks that are outside the expertise of the performer. On the first part of the piece, Rzewski sings text from the book "China: The Revolution Continued" written by Jan Myrdal and Gun Kessle. Afterwards, Rzewski plays the percussion with his feet while playing the piano. Then it ends with just a performance on the piano.

Tracklisting:

Side A

1. Lines {22:45}

Side B

1. Accompaniments {21:10}

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Birdy

Peter Gabriel - Birdy [soundtrack]

Peter Gabriel's first foray into soundtracks was for Alan Parker's contemplative film Birdy and is a successful companion piece, providing a backdrop that is moody and evocative. Nearly half of the album's dozen tracks incorporate threads from material found on Gabriel's 1982 Security set, including 'Close Up,' which makes use of keyboard passages from 'Family Snapshot,' and 'The Heat,' which is a reworking of 'The Rhythm of the Heat' and builds to a frenzied percussive crescendo. Material specially written for this project includes the murky opening track, 'At Night,' the tribal 'Floating Dogs,' and 'Slow Marimbas,' a track which would become part of future live performances. The fact that Birdy is comprised of all instrumentals means that listeners whose familiarity with Gabriel is limited to 'Sledgehammer' and 'In Your Eyes' will be largely disappointed. However, its meditative nature makes it fine, reflective listening for the more adventurous. (AMG)

Tracklisting:

Side One

1. At Night {2:31}

2. Floating Dogs {2:47}

3. Quiet and Alone {2:21}

4. Close Up {0:50}

5. Slow Water {2:40}

6. Dressing the Wound {3:57}

Side Two

1. Birdy's Flight {2:50}

2. Slow Marimbas {3:12}

3. The Heat {4:33}

4. Sketchpad with Trumpet and Voice {2:57}

5. Under Lock and Key {2:08}

6. Powerhouse at the Foot of the Mountain {2:09}

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John Cage/Christian Wolff

John Cage/Christian Wolff - John Cage/Christian Wolff

* much thanks to Lothar for providing this LP in the comments section. Be sure to thank him if you enjoy it.

performers:

Cartridge Music: John Cage and David Tudor - cartridges and contact microphones
Duo: Kenji Kobayashi - violin; David Tudor - piano
Duet II: Howard Hillyer - horn; David Tudor - piano
Summer: Matthew Raimondi and Kenji Kobayashi - violins; Walter Trampler - viola; David Soyer - cello

This recording includes 4 simultaneous multi-tracked performances of Cartridge Music. This was originally released on Time [58009]. This recording of Cage was also released (in 1968) on LP [ICA 02]. This LP was released in 1970 on Mainstream [MS 5015].


Tracklisting:

Side A

1. John Cage - Cartridge Music {13:39}

Side B

1. Christian Wolff - Duo for violinist and pianist {5:08}

2. Christian Wolff - Duet II for horn and piano {6:46}

3. Christian Wolff - Summer for string quartet {7:13}

The Koto Music of Japan

various artists compilation - The Koto Music of Japan

From the liner notes:

This album presents six representative styles of the traditional koto music of Japan.

performers and musical style:

Echigojishi: Hatta - koto; folk song
Godan-kinuta: Hagiwara, Mineuchi - koto; music of weaving
Rokudan-no-shirabe: Hagiwara - koto; music of six steps
Haru-no-kyoku: Hagiwara, Mineuchi - koto, Kikusui - shakuhachi; music of spring
Shin-Takasago: Hagiwara - koto; music from noh play
Yugao: Yamaguchi - koto, Kitagawa - shamisen, Kikusui - shakuhashi; evening glory



ECHIGOJISHI (FOLK SONG)

Echigojishi is a folk song based on an ancient Lion Dance performed in the festivals of Echigo in the Eastern part of Japan. Echigojishi was written by Kinto Minezaki in the eighteenth century and has been passed on by generations of talented koto artists.

GODAN-KINUTA (MUSIC OF WEAVING)

The kinuta is primitive machinery for refining cloth materials. Though this machine no longer exists, the sound of the kinuta has often been described in poetry and music and suggests the sad monotones of the fall season. The rustling leaves and the voices of insects always accompanied the sound of the kinuta when autumn arrived. Godan-kinuta (kinuta in five steps) is regarded as the unequalled music of autumn. A number of works which simulate the kinuta have been composed, but none of these are comparable to this piece by Mitsuzaki Kengyo.

ROKUDAN-NO-SHIRABE (MUSIC OF SIX STEPS)

Music of Six Steps (Rokudan-no-shirabe) is a representative style of koto music composed by Yatsuhashi Kengyo (kengyo is an honorary title given to blind koto masters) who died in 1685. Yatsuhashi was an epic figure in the history of the koto, and his compositions have been widely handed down. Music of Six Steps is an "absolute" music consisting of six sections of 52 beats. Though this piece was originally composed for the koto, it later became fashionable to play it on the shamisen (three-stringed guitar-like instrument). The popularity of Rokudan was such that succeeding composers often adapted the melody.

HARU-NO-KYOKU (MUSIC OF SPRING)

Music of Spring (Haru-no-kyoku) composed by Yoshizawa Kengyo is one of the important works of the pseudo-classical movement which took place in the nineteenth century. This movement aimed to overcome the modern sentimentality and the concurrent subordination of koto music to shamisen music. The music of the four seasons, including Haru-no-kyoku, are the culmination of this movement.

SHIN-TAKASAGO

Shin-Takasago was composed by Utano Terashima in the nineteenth century and is based upon Takasago, a famous Noh drama. Takasago is a seaside town near Kobe which has been frequently cited in Japanese literature for its scenic beauty. Takasago in the Noh drama describes happiness and joy, emotions evoked by this lovely koto solo.

YUGAO (EVENING GLORY)

Evening Glory (Yugao) was originally written by Kengyo Kikuoka, but later Yaezaki Kengyo turned it into a masterpiece of koto music. It is based upon the Tale of Genji, a famous story of the eleventh century. The chapter of Yugao tells that when the Lord Genji visited his sick mother in the Gojo House in Kyoto, he found another small house covered with lovely blossoms in which there lived a pretty girl. Genji fell in love with her immediately and invited her to a detached hut. The girl, who was called Evening Glory (Yugao), dies of a curse cast by the spirit which haunted the hut. The lord grieves: "The bud of Evening Glory which opened in the transient dream faded like the cold autumn breeze." Yugao, a koto-shamisen-shakuhachi piece, is inspired by the tragedy of Yugao.

Tracklisting:

SIDE ONE

1. Master Hatta - Echigojishi {1:59}

2. Master Hagiwara and Master Mineuchi - Godan-kinuta {11:34}

3. Master Hagiwara - Rokudan-no-shirabe {5:55}

SIDE TWO

1. Master Hagiwara, Master Mineuchi and Master Kikusui - Haru-no-kyoku {8:47}

2. Master Hagiwara - Shin-Takasago {2:04}

3. Master Yamaguchi, Master Kitagawa and Master Kikusui - Yugao {12:35}

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Japanese Koto Classics

Shinichi Yuize - Japanese Koto Classics

From the liner notes:

SOME NOTES ON THE KOTO:
The instrument averages about six feet in length and ten inches in width, and has thirteen strings of equal thickness. The strings are of wound, starched silk. There are thirteen small bridges, one for each of the strings. Tunings are changed by shifting the movable bridges to a new position. The strings are struck with three ivory picks which are attached to the thumb, forefinger and middle finger of the player's right hand. The date of the introduction into Japan of the koto (perhaps one of the oldest musical instruments of the world) is not quite certain. The only stories more or less credible are what old records tell us: that there was in China a good koto player around the early fifth century; that a koto was presented as a tribute from China to the Todaiji temple, constructed in 755; that a certain Sadatoshi Fujiwara came back from China (T'ang) with techniques of koto playing he had learned there, etc. It may safely be said that several different types of koto were brought over to Japan at different times during the early period of interchange with China.

Tracklisting:

SIDE ONE

1. Zangetsu {6:54}

2. Fuki {4:03}

3. Midare {6:59}

SIDE TWO

1. Akikaze {6:09}

2. Chidori {11:17}

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New Piano Music

various artists compilation - New Piano Music

Excerpts from the liner notes:

RHAPSODIES by C.Curtis-Smith

RHAPSODIES uses heretofore unknown techniques for producing sounds from the instrument, including bowing of the strings. The quality of sound changes and builds from piece to piece, beginning with predominantly keyboard work in the first to inside-the-piano sounds in the fourth which sound almost electronically produced. The titles of the movements are extracts from the Sirens chapter of Joyce's Ulysses. They are I....a swift pure cry..., II. But Wait! Low in dark middle earth. Embedded ore., III. And a call, pure, long and throbbing. Longindying call., IV. Listen! The spiked and winding cold seahorn.

SOURCES IV by David Burge

written by Burge ...SOURCES IV was written originally as a small but organic part of a large work for theater; however, it may be used by itself as a concert piece, its nature being abstract and non-visual. "Each of the four pieces titled Sources derives pitch choices from a source series. SOURCES IV goes further than the others in utilizing these series not only for pitch choice but also to develop tonal emphasis and phrase structure (though just how this is done should be of no interest to the listener).

ETUDES by David Chaitkin

written by Chaitkin: The three ETUDES (1974), though clearly contrasting, are meant to be heard as bound together harmonically, as if by a single, continuous thread. The opening etude is quite compact, combining several varied, short gestures into larger gestures, which themselves evolve, often reflecting one another. After a single melodic line emerges from the sense midpoint, the piece then closes quietly. Here and in the third etude, extremes of the piano's register and dynamics are employed. The second etude has a very slow tempo, with primary interest on lines - essentially two or three voice counterpoint. The last combines the previous slow pace with the abrupt type of gesture found in the first piece. This results in a more relaxed harmonic and more spacious textural situation, in which (at two points) the sense of tempo is suspended entirely, and (also twice) where a particular harmony is reached, retained and made to change slowly by inflections of its parts, until it connects back into the more active flow of the music.

REFLEXIVES by Joe Hudson

written by Hudson: REFLEXIVES for Piano and Tape, was written expressly for David Burge under a project initiated by the Cleveland Composers Guild. With Mr. Burge's virtuosity in mind, the piece quickly took on a rather improvisitory, bravura style. This approach was sustained by a more rigorous formal scheme delineated by the recurrence of various important materials at specific time-intervals. Sometimes these reflections occur as exact reproductions, sometimes as transformations. The tape part was realized at the Columbia-Princeton Electronic Music center.

ORPHEUM (NIGHT MUSIC I) by Andrew Frank

written by Frank: ORPHEUM (NIGHT MUSIC I) was composed in 1970 and extensively revised during the summer of 1974 ... The work is in one continuous movement, structurally articulated by recurring images that unfold throughout the piece in a kind of cyclic variation. Motivically generated gestures are repeated, extended, and sometimes overlapped. Primarily it is a 'sound piece,' with fast figurations that turn around on themselves. Cadences function as links connecting one idea or group of ideas to another. In fact, conventional means of musical organization are often evident in ORPHEUM...

pieces performed by David and Lois Burge

Tracklisting:

side 1

1. C. Curtis-Smith - Rhapsodies I: ...a swift pure cry {3:12}

2. C. Curtis-Smith - Rhapsodies II: But Wait! Low in dark middle earth. Embedded one. {2:27}

3. C. Curtis-Smith - Rhapsodies III: And a call, pure, long and throbbing. Longindying call. {4:10}

4. C. Curtis-Smith - Rhapsodies IV: Listen. The spiked and winding cold seahorn. {4:08}

5. David Burge - Sources IV {5:34}

side 2

1. David Chaitkin - Etudes {8:52}

2. Joe Hudson - Reflexives {4:49}

3. Andrew Frank - Orpheum (Night Music I) {7:40}

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Hammers and Bows

various artists compilation - Hammers and Bows

Pianos are used in unique ways on this album. The track on side 1, "Phases" by Robert Morris, "is designed to distribute the sound of two pianos over a wider space, and to move it around in that space by electronic means" according to the liner notes. Side 2 is occupied by Curtis O.B. Curtis-Smith's composition "Five Sonorous Inventions" divided into five separate inventions (or tracks). A performer opens a piano and bows the piano strings with specially designed bows to create new sounds from the instrument. Not only does "Five Sonorous Inventions" composes a new approach to playing the piano, but also has some really cool sounds.

Performers:

Phases: William Albright and Robert Morris - pianos

Five Sonorous Inventions: Curtis O.B. Curtis-Smith - piano; Gerald Fischbach - violin

Tracklisting:

Side 1

1. Robert Morris - Phases {15:41}

Side 2

1. Curtis O.B. Curtis-Smith - Five Sonorous Inventions: First Invention {3:08}

2. Curtis O.B. Curtis-Smith - Five Sonorous Invnetions: Second Invention {3:27}

3. Curtis O.B. Curtis-Smith - Five Sonorous Invnetions: Third Invention {2:39}

4. Curtis O.B. Curtis-Smith - Five Sonorous Invnetions: Fourth Invention {3:04}

5. Curtis O.B. Curtis-Smith - Five Sonorous Invnetions: Fifth Invention {2:00}

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The Wild Bull

Morton Subotnick - The Wild Bull

From the liner notes:

Morton Subotnick was born April 14, 1933 in Los Angeles, California. He earned his undergraduate degree in English Literature from the University of Denver and his Master of Arts in Composition from Mills College, where he studied with Leon Kirchner and Darius Milhaud. While in California, Subotnick co-founded the Mills College Performing Group and the San Francisco Tape Music Center. At this time he held posts as Assistant Professor of Music at Mills Colllege and Musical Director of Ann Halprin's Dancers' Workshop Company. since 1960, Morton Subotnick has been working with tape, and his present involvement with mixed media includes the theatrical. He was Musical Director of the Repertory Theater at New York's Lincoln Center during its first season, and since the Fall of 1966 has been involved with the Intermedia Program at the School of Arts at New York University. (The purpose of this program is to bring together artists who specialize in various media - film, theater, tape, etc.). Subotnick is also Director of Electronic Music at the Electric Circus. Prominent among his electronic-music works is Silver Apples of the Moon, composed in 1967 for Nonesuch Records on a commission from Nonesuch directed specifically to the LP record medium - the first in Nonesuch's continuing commission series. Both Silver Apples and The Wild Bull (also a Nonesuch commission) were composed on the modular electronic music system originally built for Morton Subotnick by Donald Buchla at the San Francisco Tape Music Center.

Liner notes by Morton Subotnick:

The first side of this record was almost complete when I came across "The Wild Bull". I was very impressed by the poem and quickly began to feel an affinity between the poem and the composition I was working on ... in fact, the first three notes of the work seemed to me a kind of human/wild-bull moan ... and later I added a human breathing sound to one of the notes. There was never an attempt to "portray" the poem (I don't think music is about that), but at the same time it became harder and harder to disassociate myself from the pathos and restrained cry of personal loss which spoke to me from such a distant point in time. The state of mind which the poem evoked became intimately tangled with the state of mind my own composition was evoking in me. To title the work after the poem seemed natural and to offer the poem seems equally natural.

Tracklisting:

Side One

1. The Wild Bull part 1 {12:47}

Side Two

1. The Wild Bull part 2 {14:32}

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Earle Brown - Contemporary Music

Earle Brown - Contemporary Music

Excerpts from the liner notes by Earle Brown:

TIMES FIVE (1963)

Govert Jurriaanse, flute; Arthur Moore. trombone; Teresia Tieu, harp; Jaring Walta, violin; Harro Ruijsenaars, cello, and 4 channels of tape sound. Earle Brown, conductor

Not being over-charmed by purely electronic sounds or by the environmental concrete sounds for which the French Radio Studio is best known, I took this commission as an opportunity to multiply and transform more traditional instrumental and vocal sound sources. The title refers to this process of multiplying a given potential through superimposing and accelerating recorded material on tape, as well as to the fact that the work is produced (in concert) from five sound sources in the shape of an "X" at the front of the auditorium - four loudspeakers with a live group at the center point. The taped material is "choreographed" to move between and across this space as a kind of kinetic wall of sound.

OCTET I (1953) for 8 loudspeakers

This work was composed and realized (assembled by splicing and synchronizing exactly to the specifications of the score) within the "Project for Music for Magnetic Tape" in late 1952 and the early part of 1953. The first performance was at the University of Illinois Arts Festival in March 1953. The work is for eight separate channels of sound to be heard through eight independent sound sources spaced equidistantly (360 degrees) around the audience. A stereo disc recording is obviously not the very best way to hear this work (spatially speaking) but here and now seems a not unreasonable context for its 22nd birthday [1975]. I have combined the tracks by twos, and distributed these four sound sources equidistantly from far left to far right in normal stereo reproduction.The compositional technique used in OCTET I is based on statistical procedures applied almost exclusively to horizontal and vertical attack density; a concept very much influenced by my studies (and teaching) of Schillinger techniques. The library of sounds from which the Project drew its sound materials contained very long tapes catagorized as "city sounds," "country sounds," "electronic sounds," "instrumental sounds," etc. in frequently very identifiable form. In prefering to make a work that would be highly abstract and non-referential in character I worked out a "programm" which would allow only very brief fragments of these sources to appear in complex density patterns and sequences that would obscure their natural origins; to have them exist as sheer sound.

DECEMBER 1952

David Tudor, pianos

This work is the center piece of a group of works published as Folio (1952-53). The collection is described as "experiments in notation and performance process." Having enjoyed the esthetic benefits and poetic exhilarations of solo and collective improvisation as a jazz musician for many years, and being very much under the influence of Alexander Calder's mobile (variable-but-always-the-same) works, I had been searching for a way to this world within the environment of the classically trained (Western oriented) musician. From the totally organized and specific Perspectives (1952) for piano, into the progressively more vague and collaborative Folio works, October 1952, November 1952 and December 1952, I was attempting to find a notation and verbal conditioning (processing) that would provoke the performer into a more creative role than is usually the case in serious music; at least more than was characteristic of that kind of music in 1952.

DECEMBER 1952 is the most extreme "provocation" and seems to be the first example of what came to be called "graphic music." It is extreme to the degree that a performance of it can no longer be said to be a composition by the composer.

NOVARA (1952)

Ton Hartsuiker, piano and leader; Govert Jurriaanse, flute; John Floore ,trumpet; Harry Sparnaay, bass clarinet; Jaring Walta and Roelof van Driesten, violins; Gerrit Oldeman, viola; Harro Ruijsenaars, cello; Earle Brown, conductor

NOVARA is an open-form work and uses many of the less characteristic sounds of the instruments that are sometimes referred to as "noises" but are, nevertheless, instrumental sounds which can extend the formal and expressive potential of a work. "Openform" means that all of the sound materials in the work are notated and controlled in the score but that their sequence, juxtaposition, tempi and repetitions are left to the spontaneous decisions of the conductor, during the performance, as the performing process develops and unfolds between himself, the written sound materials and the musicians; an immediate and direct feed-back condition of response and forming. The form of the work is therefore unique in each performance but it is always NOVARA because only those composed sound events may be used.

Tracklisting:

Side 1

1. Times Five {14:57}

2. Octet I {3:19}

Side 2

1. December 1952 {6:07}

2. Novara {14:48}

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Variations IV Volume II

John Cage - Variations IV Volume II

John Cage, with assistance by David Tudor gave a 6 hour performance at Feigen-Palmer Gallery in Los Angeles. This performance is Variations IV, an early experiment in audio collage and excerpts from this performance were released on the recording Variations IV. Volume II of Variations IV was released afterwards containing material not on the original Variations IV recording.

Tracklisting:

Side A

1. Introduction {3:56}

2. Variations IV Volume II Part I {15:13}

Side B

1. Variations IV Volume II Part II {14:12}

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International Electronics

various artists compilation - Contemporary Music: International Electronics

From the liner notes:

This record contains fine examples of three different types of electronic music: "pure" synthesized sounds (Perera), natural sounds modified by electronic processing (Johnson and Grippe), and sounds created by a computer (Melby). Both the Melby and Johnson pieces require that a live performer combine real time performance with that of the tape.

Tracklisting:

Side 1

1. John Melby - Two Stevens Songs {8:59}

2. Ronald Perera - Alternate Routes {8:00}

Side 2

1. Ragnar Grippe - Musique Douze {13:20}

2. Bengt Emil Johnson - Disappearances {8:20}

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Music of Varèse

Edgard Varèse - Music of Varèse

Déserts for four orchestral groups and tape - performed by Paris Instrumental Ensemble for Contemporary Music and conducted by Konstantin Simonovitch; Electronic Tape realized by Columbia-Princeton Electronic Music Center

Hyperprism for small orchestra and percussion - performed by Paris Instrumental Ensemble for Contemporary Music and conducted by Konstantin Simonovitch

Intégrales for small orchestra and percussion - performed by Paris Instrumental Ensemble for Contemporary Music and conducted by Konstantin Simonovitch

Density 21.5 for flute alone - performed by Michel Debost

Tracklisting:

Side One

1. Déserts {27:45}

Side Two

1. Hyperprism {4:23}

2. Intégrales {11:09}

3. Density 21.5 {3:57}

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Morton Feldman

Morton Feldman - Morton Feldman

A collection of Feldman composed pieces

From the liner notes (these are quite technical but helpful):

It is therefore not merely of anecdotal interest to document Feldman's
playing and that of his first interpreters, for here it is made clear how
much Feldman's entire oeuvre developed from this approach. He shifted the implicit precedence of artistic realization from a negligible peripheral issue to the center of his focus. From here on, the traditional musical parameters of harmony, form, time, instrumentation and arrangement are stripped of their essential features and in Feldman's playing, are heard again anew. The present recordings, primarily from Feldman's early period, present different solutions to the same problem.

One of the earliest pieces of the series, "Intermission 5" from 1952,
could be regarded as the germ cell for later works. In fact, it is the
opposite of Cage's musical process that Feldman notates here: not
progression, not variation, but the uncovering of something which is at
first hidden by clusters and chord attacks. From an irregular rhythm and density, tone repetitions and ultimately, a figure that recurs 9 times are shed - metaphor of periodic movement within an inner space. The figure itself - comprised of the tones G, G-sharp, A , B-flat in an orchestration characteristic of Feldman, that is, distributed among different octaves - plays with the most extreme reaches of the hands and with the "Fort" and "Da" which creates the basis for the repetition of the self-contained figure, the module.

"Extensions 3" from the same year also reflects this structure. Here, the play of horizontal and vertical symmetries in repetitions and
displacements form the starting point that is not interrupted until the
very end with a gesture encompassing the entire keyboard and all pitches. The octave obtains special significance as an axis of reflection in this performance and therein anticipates Feldman's later technique of "bridge building" between different modules.

In "Piano (Three Hands)", the problem of transition appears to withdraw
completely into the verticality of the sounds and their sequence. The
three "voices" come together in a flexible and unpredictable harmony,
which likewise exhibits unsystematic moments of repetition and
correspondence. The harmony which has disappeared is restored again by the play of position and distance.


"Vertical Thoughts 2 for Violin and Piano" combines a harmonically
conceived texture with an extremely differentiated temporal structure:
freely notated sections, in which the duration of the tone is defined by
the duration of the sound itself, alternate with segments that translate
the inherent tension of the sounds into rhythmic weights. The elastic
temporal structure is a result of the tactile quality of the sound
complexes.

In "Piano Piece 1956 A" and "Piano Piece 1956 B", the sounding tones are surrounded by numerous silently depressed keys which, through the resonances of sympathetically vibrating strings, convey the sound space like a second dimension. Though not sounding themselves, they first define the form of what is to be heard. It is the shadow that first makes light possible. Here too, octaves link tone groups together.

In his Darmstadt lecture "Indeterminacy", Cage defined "Intersection 3"
as an example of an indeterminate music, that is, a music which in
relation to its performance presents indeterminacies. Feldman notated the number of tones to be played on a time grid within the general limits of high, medium and low. The exact placement of the chords within the grid is left up to the performer. Cage's indeterminacy, however, aims more at the abolishment of fixed relations, while Feldman constructs here a sequence of unconnected sonic "weights" - as he himself called them - a oneness of harmony and contact.

Both ensemble pieces, "Four Instruments (1975)" and "Instruments 1",
transfer the experience of the "weight" from the early pieces onto other
instruments: "Four Instruments (1975)" to the reflections between piano and strings whose values articulate time and "Instruments 1", to an almost single-voiced line that is defined by instrumental oscillations.

Tracklisting:

1. Piano (Three Hands) {8:03} [Morton Feldman & John Tilbury - piano]

2. Intermission 5 {3:52} [Morton Feldman - piano]

3. Vertical Thoughts 2 {6:48} [Janos Negyesy - violin; Cornelius Cardew - piano]

4. Extensions 3 {8:05} [Morton Feldman - piano]

5. Four Instruments {8:11} [Edna Mitchell - violin; Harry Zaratzian - viola; Stephen Kates - cello; Frank Glazer - piano]

6. Intermission 5 {2:11} [David Tudor - piano]

7. Piano Piece 1956 A {2:23} [David Tudor - piano]

8. Piano Piece 1956 B {3:06} [David Tudor - piano]

9. Intersection 3 {3:07} [David Tudor - piano]

10. Instruments 1 {24:15} [Eberhard Blum - flute; Nora Post - oboe; Garrett List - trombone; Joseph Kubera - celesta; Jan Williams - percussion]

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Match für 3 Spieler/Musik für Renaissance - Instrumente

Mauricio Kagel - Match für 3 Spieler/Musik für Renaissance - Instrumente

*the photo is not the actual cover of the release

Match für 3 Spieler (1964)

performers:

Christoph Caskel - percussion

Siegfried Palm - cello

Klaus Storck - cello

Musik für Renaissance - Instrumente (1965/66)

performed by Collegium instrumentalis

Production: West German Radio, cologne, at the world premiere on the 26th April 1967 (The work was commissioned by the WDR)

Tracklisting:

Side A

1. Match für 3 Spieler (Match for 3 Players) {16:07}

Side B

1. Musik für Renaissance - Instrumente (Music for Renaissance Instruments) {24:51}

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