Classical Music 214 Items

Writings on back cover.

Vinyl close to NM

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

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.

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.

Ben Glas (b. 1992) is an experiential composer based in Berlin. Through ephemeral compositions Glas' work questions preconceived notions between the acts of passive hearing and active listening. In seeking to discover open ended forms of music and pragmatic listening perspectives, Glas' compositions focus on the realms of subjective perception and cognition, via the use of acoustics, psychoacoustics and space as tools for sonic composition. His work has been exhibited and performed internationally, including the Portland Institute for Contemporary Art (pica), Glasgow's Radiophrenia Festival, the Soundwave Biennial (sf) and the Czong Institute for Contemporary Art (cica). He is currently receiving his M.A. in Sonic Studies at the UdK.
Ben Glas writes… "Anonymous Sextet for Perverted Piano is a conceptual performance piece that combines a traditional grand piano, six long-distance remote controlled vaginal/anal vibrators and the prolonged use of the piano's sustainer pedal.
The six vibrators were strategically (and preparedly) placed atop of the strings of a various grand pianos (and one harpsichord), while random strangers around the globe connected to and operated the sex toys remotely. After the random and unwitting performers had befriended and synced-up with a catfishing account linked to the six individual vibrators and controlled by three different smartphones, they then sent vibrational patterns and pulses to stimulate their assumed target. The then-kinetic vibrators bounced, slid and bopped aleatorically through the tonal possibilities that the piano and piano's soundboard itself permits. The piano's sustain pedal was held down throughout the performance, elongating the triggered notes and the good vibrations.
All tracks on side A are performed by those unwitting performers, while side B's single track was performed with (more than) a little help from my friends (Anonymous (1), Genesis Victoria, Harry Hudson-Taylor and Hayden Dean)." – Ben Glas, Berlin, 16 February 2023.

Compilation of our favorite Arvo Pärt pieces. All sparse and beautiful arrangements. Some solo piano pieces, some duets with piano, violin cello and viola and one string quartet. The pieces on this record are all unique to the style of Arvo Pärt - deceptively simple compositions that force you to live in the moment you are listening to them. A Pärt quote from the back of the record - "You can kill people with sound. And if you can kill, then maybe there is also the sound that is opposite of killing. And the distance between these two points is very big. And you are free -- you can choose. In art everything is possible, but everything is not necessary." This record comes in a beautiful "tip on" old school cover with metallic gold foil and features an incredible painting from the 16th century manuscript Kometenbuch.

Manchester Collective today announce their fourth studio album Neon, released on the Bedroom Community label. Journeying into the darker side of our urban dreams, the album takes audiences on a sonic adventure of discovery through sleepless nights and crowded streets, evoking glass, concrete and slow, incessant rain. Released on Friday 23 June, daring collaborations with high-profile composers and electronic artists are at the heart of the album. Scored for strings with flute, clarinet and percussion, the album includes newly commissioned music from Ivors - nominated, Emmy-nominated and RTS-winning composer Hannah Peel and Berlin-based multidisciplinary artist Lyra Pramuk, alongside minimalist masterpieces by Steve Reich and Julius Eastman. Released today, Hannah Peel’s titular Neon – commissioned by Manchester Collective and premiered at Kings Place in 2021 – is inspired by light and life, fusing layers of live electronics and field recordings from Tokyo’s Shinjuku Station with the acoustic performances of the Collective. Hannah says ‘Born of breath, heat and a spark, neon has an enigmatic presence of meaning and significance, all things and nothing. A symbol of the city at night, iconic landmarks and urban design – ablaze light waves vibrating through the air … I hope the interplay in this piece between the 'digital tape' performer and the acoustic instruments, allows for a reflection on the presence and value of the hand, as we move ever quickly forward, into the future.’ The album also presents the premiere recording of Lyra Pramuk’s Quanta, the artist’s first major chamber commission and her first foray into the classical world. Known for fusing classical vocalism with pop sensibilities, contemporary club culture and futurist folk music, Lyra’s new piece for Manchester Collective is a meditation on the nature of time, memory and human experience. Taking inspiration from Carlo Rovelli’s critically acclaimed book The Order of Time, Quanta expands on philosophical notions of time and light with a sensual music score for violin, cello, flute, clarinet and vibraphone. Quanta opens with the sound of a huge grandfather clock, at first keeping regular time, and then slowly dancing to a more flexible meter, waxing and waning, stuttering, and finally, stopping. ‘There is no universal time,’ says Pramuk. ‘Quanta explores the notion that each of us has an individual sense of how time traces through our lives.’ Completing the programme are two masterworks of minimalism – Steve Reich’s Pulitzer Prize-winning, monumental Double Sextet and Julius Eastman’s much-maligned 1974 work Joy Boy, which will be available as a bonus track for the digital release. Closing the album, Steve Reich’s Double Sextet sees six members of the Collective performing against recordings of themselves in a virtuosic race to the finish. Released as a bonus track on digital only, Joy Boy by Julius Eastman echoes Lyra Pramuk’s obsession with time, instructing the performers to ‘create ticker tape music’. In a time before the digital revolution this means spools of tape, indented and pierced, transmitted messages across distance. Following their Neon tour of the same programme in May 2022, Manchester Collective will give audiences the opportunity to see music from the album performed live later this year – with an appearance at the Manchester Classical festival on Saturday 24 June, and further live dates to be announced. Known for their experimental programming and daring artistic collaborations, Manchester Collective were formed in 2016 by Adam Szabo (Artistic Director & Ceo) and Rakhi Singh (Music Director). The ensemble crosses different genres and artforms, bringing together cutting-edge contemporary music, classical masterpieces and multimedia work to concert halls, gig venues and festivals in the UK and internationally. Manchester Collective’s previous record releases have featured music by composers including Edmund Finnis, Philip Glass, Arnold Schoenberg, and Antonio Vivaldi.