A Closet of Curiosities

"Die Spanische Reise des Oswald von Wolkenstein" is an adaptation of Wolkenstein songs for baritone and an ensemble of oriental instruments. A very impressive example of ethno-historical fusion, and a very impressive alternative to the often hyperclean, sterile academic realizations of medieval music today.
Walter Zimmermann's homepage: home.snafu.de/walterz/
Tracks 2 - 5 were released in the 80s by the TAT Frankfurt ("Theater am Turm") on a 3 LP set featuring Zimmermann's "Lokale Musik". If anyone owns this set, a complete rip of it would be very much appreciated by us.
Prepare to be amazed: (1)

[maybe reposted soon]

In the early 80s, Japanese flutist Tosha Suiho realized his recording project "Four Seasons in Kyoto", a series of solos recordings, performed around Kyoto over the course of 1 year. All recordings were done outdoors, at specially selected locations. To avoid unwanted human noise pollution, most of the recording sessions took place either late at night or in the early hours of the morning.


The pieces can be described as compositions with improvisational elements, each one having a special connection with the location of its performance. In his free-flowing play, Tosha is reacting to / in dialogue with the different ambiences, very much like a jazz-musician might, carefully weaving his music into the sonic textures of the elements(wind, water), nature (birds, plants) and the human world (in "Hieizan", represented by the bell of a nearby monastery, calling the monks to their morning prayers).
The music could be categorized as something like "contemporary traditional": elements from classic Japanese music reshaped and newly blended under the influence of different modern styles. Instruments are the Shinobue and Nokan bamboo flutes.

This is a 3-CD set (originally released on 4 LPs). Each file is one complete CD, the first file includes cover pics and booklet (German only). [Edit 12/07/14: all CDs are in one file.]
Listen in the dark: (1) 

Canadian violinist Marc Sabat with an extraordinary solo program (unreleased radio recordings):

Walter Zimmermann, IMO highly underrated, was Feldman's student in the 80s and has published some essential essays - including texts on Feldman as well as on his own musical concepts. Zimmermann's "Lokale Musik", developed from the late 70s to the early 80s, was based on his own research in the field of traditional German folk songs and dances, mainly from the region of Frankonia. Similar to Cage, but in a more pragmatic way, Zimmermann is also influenced by far-east philosophy. "Die Sorge geht über den Fluss", a composition in just intonation, is based on the 220th fable by Hygin(us). Beautifully picturesque. You'll be hearing more of him here soon...

Sabat's own two studies on Feldman's use of accidentals as means of creating sound/color nuances were written in the "Extended Helmholtz-Ellis JI Pitch Notation", developed by Sabat with german composer Wolfgang von Schweinitz. Compared to more conventional - or convenient - intonations, these systems do sound more interesting, but they also require some getting-used-to for the unaccustomed listener.

Morton Feldman, master of orchestration and instrumental color, is featured with two pieces, both discovered postmortem in the Feldman archives in Switzerland. "For Aaron Copland", a rather short and very subtle hommage to Feldman's long-time friend and mentor Copland, opens the set aptly. The second Feldman piece,"Composition", is an unfinished violin solo: It would probably have grown into something considerably longer if Feldman hadn't abandoned it when he started working on "Violin and String Quartet".In fact, this fragment reminds a lot of "Violin and String Quartet": the patterning is similarly careful and searching, and Feldman's use of accidentals provides Sabat with an excellent opportunity to apply his own intonation system (see above). Maximum microtonality, highly recommended.

1 Morton Feldman: For Aaron Copland (1981)
2 + 3 Walter Zimmermann: Die Sorge geht ueber den Fluss I + II (1993/2000)
4 + 5 Marc Sabat: Intonation after Morton Feldman - Study I + II (2004)
6 Morton Feldman: Composition (1984)

Here's an interesting one which I recorded back in the 80s from several radio broadcasts.

The Glass Orchestra Toronto, founded in 1977, is the only ensemble in the world whose musicians create and perform entirely with glass instruments. Drawing on a wide range of musical influences and performance techniques, the musicians explore the unique sonic properties of glass, creating an ethereal, percussive soundscape with a vast array of glass instruments, both "found" and custom designed. The skill of the members in designing and making glass instruments has earned them a place in the New Grove Dictionary of Musical Instruments.

The Glass Orchestra has performed in major cities across Canada and has toured the U.S., Europe and the Far East, playing mostly at art galleries and museums. The group also holds specially arranged workshops.

Instruments include tubes, bottles, wine glasses, glass bells and Pyrex bowls, a specially designed Glass Harmonica, the "Slide Clarinet" and the "Lepto Tootis" (glass wind/reed instruments), the Glass Marimba (glass bars on a resonantor box), the microtonal Tube Xylophone, the Crystal Gong made from quartz, and numerous bigger and smaller percussion instruments.



Q - Do you break many instruments?
A - The Glass Orchestra is probably the only ensemble in the world that can count on the total destruction of its instruments. The breakage can be caused by the musicians in performance or can be caused by the correct choice of baggage handling company. They have developed the breakage philosophy that now instead of one instrument there are two or more new instruments. When an instrument breaks the result is usually more harmonically complex and interesting to listen to. (Unless the destruction is total!)

Q - Why do you use candles in the show?A - The ensemble chooses to place many candles in and around the instruments during the show and turns the stage lights down very low because we like to see the hundreds of reflections in the instruments.



The group compositions/improvisations "Euroglass 8" and "Euroglass 9" were recorded at a concert of the "Neue Musik im Staedel" series, on February 8th, 1980, in Frankfurt/M., Germany. Musicians were: Marvin Green, Eric Cadesky, Miguel Frasconi, John Kuipers and Paul Hodge.

Enjoy! (1)

The Begum's Lament instrumental by Ustad Shakoor Khan and Ustad Imrat Khan

Concert in the Haunted Palace: Rag Malkauns sung by Ustad Zinda Hasan Khan and Ustad Fayez Ahmed Khan

Concert in the Haunted Palace: Rag Yamani instrumental by Ustad Vilayat Khan and Pandit Shanta Prasad

Instrumentalists:

Ustad Vilayat Khan - sitar

Ustad Imrat Khan - surbahar and sitar

Ustad Shakoor Khan - sarangi

Pandit Shanta Prasad - tabla

Singers:

Ustad Zinda hasan Khan

Ustad Fayez Ahmed Khan

Tracklisting:

SIDE 1


1. Title Music {2:57}

2. Jenny's Theme {1:27}

3. The Haunted Palace {6:08}

4. Tom's Boat Song {1:26}

5. Jenny's Theme (2) {1:00}

6. The Pupil and His Master: Rag Bilawal {3:55}

SIDE 2

7. Arrival in Benaras {1:40}

8. The Begum's Lament {1:01}

9. Train Journey {0:26}

10. Jenny's Theme (3) {0:56}

11. Tom's Boat Song (reprise) {1:22}

12. Concert in the Haunted Palace: Rag Malkauns {2:23}

13. Concert in the Haunted Palace: Rag Yamani {12:36}

From the liner notes:

The works on this CD constitute a representative sampling of Wolff's music from the 60s through the 80s. The earliest of these compositions, For 1, 2 or 3 People (1964), is also one of his most celebrated and often performed works. It epitomizes the techniques and concerns apparent in all his music of the last 50s through the early 70s and in a sense represents these concerns in extremis. In this piece we can vividly experience Wolff's early focus on the reenactment, in a musical setting, of a variety of human social interactions.

In the late 60s and early 70s Wolff created a set of pieces compiled under the title The Prose Collection (1968-71) in which he first explored the intermarriage of his musical/political concerns. The works in this collection dispense altogether with musical notation in favour of simple verbal instructions. As such these pieces can be performed by anyone, whether trained as a musician or not. The Prose Collection soon led to the creation of a large number of pieces which incorporate the term 'exercise' in their titles. Of course, the term exercise has many meanings to a musician. Most obviously it alludes to the learning process itself. Wolff's 'exercise' pieces actually require knowledgeable and skilled performers for their execution. But somehow they make us acutely aware of the ongoing learning process that is required to be a real musician (as well as a human being). As such, they too extend his political concerns in that such strong emphasis on learning encourages each listener to re-evaluate his stance on a wide range of human issues. Exercise #17 (1975) clearly reflects this process of re-evaluation.

More directly through the 70s and 80s Wolff attempted to merge his political agenda with his musical interests by actually incorporating political texts or popular songs with overt political associations into his compositions. Works such as Accompaniments (1972) and Wobbly Music (1975-76) include, respectively texts from the Chinese cultural revolution and songs such as Bread and Roses, strongly associated with the American labour movement in the early years of the 20th century. Dark as a Dungeon (1977) is a beautiful example of such a work as it incorporates a number of protest songs from the American labour movement. The title itself refers to a song about Kentucky coal miners by folk singer Merle Travis. More recently, Wolff has extended his interests in American political and cultural issues to include those of Native Americans. The music of Tuba Song (1992) is partially derived from a Native American (specifically Navaho) melody. Since the mid 80s Wolff has also written a number of pieces dedicated to the memory of friends, many of which make overt reference to the work of these friends. These compositions continue to reflect Wolff's social concerns, but on a smaller, more intimate scale than that of the larger political arenas alluded to in such works as Accompaniments and Wobbly Music. Compositions such as Ruth (1991) and Peggy (1993) reflect these more intimate social interactions. The title Ruth refers to the composer Ruth Crawford (later Ruth Crawford Seeger), an avant-garde composer in the 20s and 30s in the United States who struggled to develop and project a progressive, original voice at a time when the music world was both dominated by men and becoming increasingly conservative. Similarly, the music for Peggy is drawn from the songs of Peggy Seeger, a folk singer and song writer, to whom this composition is intended as a tribute.

Performers:

Ruth:
James Fulkerson - tenor trombone
Frank Denyer - piano

Exercise 17:
James Fulkerson - bass trombone

Dark as a Dungeon (Duet):
Jos Tieman - contrabass
James Fulkerson - trombone

Tuba Song:
James Fulkerson - bass trombone and pre-recorded bass trombone

For 1, 2 or 3 People:
John Anderson - bass clarinet
Jos Tieman - contrabass
James Fulkerson - bass trombone

Peggy:
James Fulkerson - tenor trombone
Tracklisting:

1. Ruth {21:43}

2. Exercise 17 {7:58}

3. Dark as a Dungeon (Duet) {7:15}

4. Tuba Song {7:03}

5. For 1, 2 or 3 People {20:01}

6. Peggy {11:55}

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