Classical Music Vinyl 360 Items

Feldman's last composition, »Piano, Violin, Viola, Cello«, was completed in 1987; although its instrumentation largely corresponds to that of »Piano and String Quartet«, with one instead of two violins, it differs in almost every other respect from the composition written only two years earlier: Here, Feldman makes every effort to integrate the piano into the string section, and the basic formal components of the composition are no longer staves, but individual bars.

Originally released in 1974 on Shandar, Dream House 78'17" is the second full-length album by La Monte Young and Marian Zazeela. This first-time US edition reproduces the original gatefold sleeve with beautiful calligraphy by Zazeela and liner notes by Young and French musicologist Daniel Caux.

Side one was recorded at a private concert (on the date and time indicated by the title) and features Young and Zazeela's voices against a sine wave drone with Jon Hassell on trumpet and Garrett List on trombone. This work is a section of the longer composition Map of 49's Dream the Two Systems of Eleven Sets of Galactic Intervals Ornamental Lightyears Tracery (begun in 1966 as a sub-section of The Tortoise, His Dreams and Journeys, which was begun in 1964 with Young's group The Theatre of Eternal Music). The piece evolves with the oscillator changing pitch and dictating an ornate pattern over the course of the performance.

Side two is an example of one of the sets of frequencies sustained in the Dream House, the composite sound environments conceived by Young and Zazeela. The composer suggests listening while seated – to experience how the sound interacts with the room and other perceptions of its arrangement – as well as while walking. As Young states, "The frequency ratios are monitored continuously as lissajous patterns on the oscilloscopes and, in spite of the great stability of the oscillators, the phase relationships of the sine waves gradually drift which causes their amplitudes to add and subtract algebraically. Not only does the sound become a bit louder and softer, but at very loud levels, one actually begins to have a sensation that parts of the body are somehow locked in sync with the sine waves and slowly drifting with them in space and time."

Obliques presents Poème symphonique. Electronic music composer Jonathan Fitoussi revisits Symphony No. 1 “Titan” by Gustav Mahler as part of a world creation commissioned by Radio France. Concert recorded live in the large auditorium of La maison de la radio on November 18, 2023, Paris. Limited Edition clear vinyl LP - No Digital

Composer David Julyan has until now existed just beyond the image — soundtracking celluloid stories on film and television. Best known for his work with cinema auteur Christopher Nolan, his atmospheric and achingly beautiful scores have time again perfectly melded subtle orchestra with electronics — conjuring music in the post-classical genre.

More recently, away from the deadlines and drama of others, it was time to reflect and reconnect with his own musical voice. The result of this introspection is the album Hireth.

In film, the music is defined before you even find a note or melody. As David puts it: “I realised that film music is written back to front. When scoring a scene I know the length of the cue to the exact second; I know the emotions and journey of the piece. All this before I've played a single note.” With Hireth the approach is different: allowing the music to lead and evolve into a journey across this album landscape to somewhere new or unknown.

A swirl of drones, pulses and piano greets us with ‘Wires’ — setting the tone and framework for what is to follow. ‘Labyrinth of the Night’ continues with a palette of synthesisers before blending into the string quartet which features throughout the album — an unexpected but welcome transformation. When beginning the project, David decided to start with two recently-bought vintage analogue synthesisers: Roland Sh-2000 and Roland Vp-330. Like Brian Eno’s idea of working with limitations, the rule he gave himself was to only write using these two keyboards. Of course, as it was his own rule, he was free to stretch and bend it, and the project evolved into what you now hear: those synthesisers, plus a few others, along with piano and a string quartet.

‘Hireth’ is a Cornish word that has no direct translation, yet could describe a feeling of homesickness, of nostalgia, of longing. Or, perhaps, a beautiful melancholy — which perfectly describes David’s music. With this title track you hear the piano being woven into the fragile strings, resulting in his trademark tapestry of emotive melancholia.\

As the album continues, we ponder questions of science, physics and quantum mechanics in ‘An Uncertainty’; while ‘Forever Beyond Our Reach’ references the limits of our knowledge about the nature of the universe — the title coming from a line in the short film which accompanies the piece by writer and director Barbara Stapansky.

This album will not be confined to its studio origins and David will be performing it live accompanied by a string ensemble. As well as the album, performances will feature a new version of David’s score to Nolan's Memento: taking the original electronic score and reworking it with the quartet — a work that has already been performed at London's Union Chapel as part of the Daylight Music series.

The word Hireth has no direct translation, and the language or voice of the composer, likewise, can’t be placed in a box: it has its own timbre, depth - its own emotional weight - which is why this extraordinary album further reveals itself with repeated listens.

Albert Alan Owen was born in Wales in 1948 to parents of Welsh and Latvian heritage. His family later moved to Zimbabwe, where his father took up a teaching position. There, Owen was deeply influenced by local music and culture, while also exploring American RnB and jazz. It was during this period that he became acutely aware of the harsh inequalities under British colonial rule, which instilled in him a lifelong aversion to discrimination and racism.

In 1967, Owen returned to Europe to pursue his studies and enrolled at the Royal Academy of Music in London. He went on to spend time in Paris, studying composition with the eminent Nadia Boulanger and piano under Jacques Février, a favorite pianist of Ravel’s and Poulenc’s. Owen's focus shifted almost entirely to composition, and the acquisition of a Fender Rhodes electric piano marked the beginning of a divorce from his classical Western training. This transition allowed him to merge his passion for African and African-American music with the impressionistic styles of Ravel and Debussy while exploring the innovative realm of electroacoustic composition. These formative experiences framed Owen’s career as a composer and educator at the Royal Academy of Music and London’s Working Men’s College. He eventually returned to Wales, where he continues to reside. In 1979, 29-year-old Albert Alan Owen released “Keyboards & Strings”, a light magical chamber music masterpiece. Transcending the formal conventions of its era, “Keyboard & Strings” is an acoustic and electric piano piece, where the violin is met by synths and electronics.

As is often the case in Albert Alan Owen’s most intimate works, there is a sense of ethereal beauty that emerges from the music, akin to the emotional state one might experience while contemplating a Félix Vallotton landscape or the unfathomable mystery of dawn’s first light. Quiet, profound, and immersive, “Keyboard & Strings” stands out as an electronic-age tone poem, a rare gem that transcends time and place.

Luka Aron is a German musician and composer of electroacoustic and minimalist music based between Stockholm and Berlin. 'XV Xxvii III XXI IX: Variations & Coda' is his debut vinyl release. Apart from his solo work, he is also a member of the trio Minua (signed to Nils Frahm's Leiter label) and the dream gaze band Roomer. His work was previously described as "thick, impasto layers of slow-moving sound that completely command your attention" in The Guardian.
'XV Xxvii III XXI IX: Variations & Coda' is a four-part suite for an acoustic ensemble (bass clarinet, contrabass, euphonium, foghorn organ, harpsichord, serpent, shō, and trumpet) and analog as well digital synthesis. The result is an album of spiralling compositions which navigate labyrinthine structures of multiple closely related overtones and layers of heavy distortion based on Aron's research and observations of the physiology of hearing through minute listening tests. On the album, the composer collaborates with a number of notable musicians: Mattias Hållsten and Santos Silva (both members of the late CC Hennix' Kamigaku ensemble), just intonation contrabassist Vilhelm Bromander, or Amina Hocine, among others. The release was mastered by Stephan Mathieu at Schwebung Mastering.