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Brian Ferneyhough - The Arditti Quartet Edition
CD released in 1989
Arditti Quartet:
Irvine Arditti - violin
David Alberman - violin
Levine Andrade - viola
Rohan de Saram - cello
One of the most important and fascinating personalities of today's music, Brian Ferneyhough is also one of the most difficult to define. His earliest compositions go back to 1968. In 1974 he suddenly came into full view at the Royan Festival, then directed by Harry Halbreich. Prior to that time the complexity of his thought and the extreme difficulty of his works seemed to prevent their wider circulation. From 1974 onwards, this situation was completely reversed and, owing to a greater number of performances, not least by the Arditti String Quartet, who enjoy a close relationship with the composer, Brian Ferneyhough's stature now places him among the most recognized and influential composers of his time.
Brian Ferneyhough defines himself as a "sceptical mystic" in search of "the positive nature of doubt". He creates a fundamentally original music, replete with polyphonic potentials and rich harmonic textures. It often demonstrates a powerful architectonic concern and an acute sense of the large form. His strictly organised writing confronts the material's specific and pragmatic interconnections with the performer's "creative neurosis". This is a music of discontinuous sound and discourse, with complex combinations and hierarchies. As the information content is so extraordinarily dense it can at times be very demanding for the listener, but the aesthetics and dialectics reflect an art of extreme rigour and genuine grandeur.
...
The Arditti Quartet was formed in 1974, when its original players Irvine Arditti and Levine Andrade were studying at the Royal Academy of Music, London. They were joined in 1977 by Rohan de Saran and in 1986 by David Alberman.
They specialise in the performance of contemporary music and music of this century comprising a vast and varied selection of works in all styles, and consider it important to work with the composers whose music they play. Part of their objective is to encourage young composers to write for their medium. In the course of one season they have performed as many as 50 new pieces. The 1988/1989 season included new works from Georges Aperghis, Philippe Boesmans, Sylvano Bussotti, John Cage, Elliott Carter, Pascal Dusapin, Brian Ferneyhough, Sofia Gubadulina, Maurizio Kagel, Helmut Lachenmann, Conlon Nancarrow, Luigi Nono, Krysztof Penderecki, Henri Pousseur, Wolfgang Rihm and Hans-Jurgen von Bose.
Since 1982 they have been resident string tutors in the Darmstadt Summer Academy for New Music, as well as having given master classes worldwide.
This record is part of a series played by the Arditti Quartet for Disques Montaigne. This series consists of the classics of the XXth century to include music of the 2nd Viennese School and Bartok as well as a selection of recent repertoire. (Patrick Szersnovicz; translated by A. A. Hebbachi)
Tracklisting:
1. Deuxieme Quatuor a cordes {9:57}
2. Adagissimo pour quatuor a cordes {1:54}
3. Troisieme Quatuor a cordes: 1er mvt {9:51}
4. Troiseme Quatuor a cordes: 2e mvt {7:00}
5. Sonates pour quatuor a cordes {41:03}
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Paul Hindemith and Bernhard Heiden - Sonatas for Horn & Piano
LP released in 1981
Performers:
Caswell Neal - horn
Zita Carno - piano
The two Sonatas by Paul Hindemith represented on this album represent in full flower the consolidation of his musical language achieved in his celebrated opera, Mathis der Maler, but in the context of the duo sonata for wind instruments. The 1939 Horn Sonata is contemporaneous with the powerful Violin Concerto, while the 1943 piece, composed after he had settled down to a professorship at Yale, having emigrated from a Nazi-dominated Middle-Europe, has as its major companionpiece the brilliant and popular Symphonic Metamorphoses on Themes of Carl Maria von Weber.
In commentary supplied for this recording, horn soloist, Caswell Neal, after noting the love that Hindemith shared for the horn in common with his great Austro-German predecessors, Mozart, Weber, Schumann, Brahms, and Bruckner, gives the following description of the music:
"The first movement leads off with a bold statement for horn, tempered subsequently by more tender and reflective material. A sudden return to the bravura manner ensues with repeated horn calls. A second assertive theme is introduced, this time with interchange between horn and piano. All this occurs within the first page of the horn part. The movement as a whole continues in this vein of contrast between the brisk and heroic, the tender and reflective. A lively coda recalls the opening and leads to the final bars on a note of high resolution. The slow movement opens with a broad, peaceful statement for piano, then taken up by the horn, which then turns the tables with a bolder version; but calm returns quickly and we soon hear thematic elements in inverted form. The music then works toward a brassy climax, then returns to its tranquil opening theme, this time inverted. Abrupt interjections by horn and piano serve as introduction to the spirited finale, with the opening theme proper following in quick succession. A slow section, introduced via a variant of the slow movement main theme, leads to the most haunting and memorable part of the music. The piano brings us back to the fast music, and after dialogue development, the slow episode is recalled, this time leading to a climactic statement for horn. The main elements of the exposition are recalled, then the second movement main theme variant dovetailed with the third movement opening theme, which then becomes inverted to provide a broad and virile ending to the whole Sonata."
While the 1939 Sonata is scored for horn in F, the 1943 work was written originally for the alto horn in E-flat, more commonly associated with the marching band. However, the composer indicated the French horn and/or saxophone as perfectly acceptable alternates, and Mr. Neal in his notes emphasizes his own preference for the more agile and expressive French horn, and accordingly has used it on this album. Herewith his comments on the music:
"The opening is a quiet and noble statement for horn with piano accompaniment - short and full of feeling. The brief movement as a whole constitutes a kind of prelude - a Hindemithian glimpse of ethereal music. Brisk and busy interplay between horn and piano in varying meters characterizes the second movement. The dynamic range of the horn is fully exploited, but the end is quiet.
Following the slow-fast-slow-fast sequence of the baroque sonata da chiesa, Hindemith gives us here another brief slow movement, this time in dialogue format between piano and horn.
Finally, before the last movement proper, Hindemith requests a reading of a spoken dialogue of his own composition, which states in quietly eloquent fashion something of the composer's own perspective on music past, present, and future:
THE POSTHORN (DIALOGUE)
Horn Player:
'Is not the sounding of a horn to our busy souls (even as the scent of blossoms wilted long ago, or the discolored folds of musty tapestry, or crumbling leaves of ancient yellowed tomes) like a sonorous visit from those ages which counted speed by straining horses' gallop, and not by lightning prisoned up in cables; and when to live and learn they ranged the countryside, not just the closely printed pages? The cornucopia's gift calls forth in us a pallid yearning, melancholy longing.'
Pianist:
'The old is good not just because it's past, nor is the new supreme because we live with it, and never yet a man felt greater joy than he could bear or truly comprehend. Your task it is, amid confusion, rush, and noise to grasp the lasting, calm, and meaningful, and finding it anew, to hold and treasure it.'
The piano leads off the last movement with a virtuoso evocation of the modern hustle-bustle. Then the horn makes its quiet statement with a song in slow tempo. They build together, but the horn insists on the stately and the ordered, holding out against the onslaughts of piano to the very end."
---
Bernhard Heiden, born in Frankfurt, Germany, was a pupil of Hindemith who finished his studies in the U.S. He has been teaching composition at Indiana University since 1946 and has composed prolifically for all manner of instruments. His 1939 Horn Sonata is of distinctly lighter character as compared to the ordered and thoughtful complexities of his mentor.
Caswell Neal describes the music as follows:
"The 2/2 Moderato opening movement has the horn leading off with a quiet statement, with subordinate themes following over a moody piano accompaniment. The piano is indeed most skillfully used to announce changes in direction throughout the entire movement. When the original theme is heard again, it is at half the original tempo; but the tempo primo resumes speedily. Contrasting episodes of calm and energy carry the movement to another half-tempo statement of the main theme, which serves via crescendo to end it. The second movement contrasts a quiet minuetto section with a vivace pitting horn against piano. The minuetto section returns in intensified vein. A highly effective obbligato episode for horn leads to a brief and tranquil coda. The finale is a lively 2/2 rondo of almost quickstep character with horn and piano vying vigorously, one against the other. The concluding pages of the movement are marked by the expected return of the main theme, but this time in triplets."
In recent correspondence to Caswell Neal, the composer, Heiden, had some interesting comments on the SONATA:
"The Horn Sonata was written for Theodore Seder who was the first horn player with the Detroit Symphony in 1939. He later became the Librarian of the Fleisher Collection of the Public Library in Philadelphia.
I was not aware at the time that I composed the work that Hindemith was also writing a Sonata for Horn that same year. Nor, I am sure, was he aware of my piece. I do remember showing it to him 1 or 2 years later. The last movement contains some Greek dance rhythms which I heard while dining in a Detroit Greek restaurant! This was long before we ever came to Greece where we now have spent many summers and 2 sabbaticals." (from the liner notes)
Tracklisting:
Side 1
1. Paul Hindemith - Sonata for Horn & Piano: Massig bewegt {5:22}
Hindemith's Sonata for Horn & Piano composed in 1939
2. Paul Hindemith - Sonata for Horn & Piano: Ruhig bewegt {3:56}
3. Paul Hindemith - Sonata for Horn & Piano: Lebhaft {6:45}
Side 2
1. Bernhard Heiden - Sonata for Horn & Piano: Moderato {4:35}
Heiden's Sonata for Horn & Piano composed in 1939
2. Bernhard Heiden - Sonata for Horn & Piano: Tempo di minuetto {4:14}
3. Bernhard Heiden - Sonata for Horn & Piano: Rondo: Allegretto {3:02}
4. Paul Hindemith - Sonata for Alto Horn in E-Flat (or Horn) & Piano: Ruhig bewegt {1:49}
Hindemith's Sonata for Alto Horn in E-Flat (or Horn) & Piano composed in 1943
5. Paul Hindemith - Sonata for Alto Horn in E-Flat (or Horn) & Piano: Lebhaft {3:25}
6. Paul Hindemith - Sonata for Alto Horn in E-Flat (or Horn) & Piano: Sehr langsam {1:46}
7. Paul Hindemith - Sonata for Alto Horn in E-Flat (or Horn) & Piano: The Posthorn (Dialogue); Lebhaft {3:38}
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I'm going to be visiting some people on Xmas day. I'll probably be back in a couple of days.I would like to wish everyone out there best wishes for the holidays and seasons greetings.
Del Roper - Chimes from the Church Tower
released on LP
The delicate electronic balance demanded by today's precise recording techniques requires special studios, sensitive sound systems, and acoustical perfection - all to provide the listener with all the purity and realism of the original performance.
How to duplicate this technical flawlessness - and record the actual playing of a massive carillon - was the problem faced by Del Roper in his creation of this collection of favorites.
Obviously, the instrument could not be housed in a recording studio. Rather, the studio had to be "transplanted" to the location of the carillon in the sanctuary and bell tower of the beautiful Polytechnic Methodist Church.
Here, after endless experimentation with technique and positioning of recording equipment, an engineering triumph was accomplished that is matched only by the excellence of Del Roper's virtuosity on the carillon.
After almost 100 hours of recording, the unique presence of the carillon was vividly caught at last. Now it was possible to reproduce the noble sound of chiming chorales in a home stereo or hi-fi system.
The sound that reaches your ears is the same sound that graces the evening air in the quiet neighborhood of Fort Worth's Polytechnic section. Not just a recording where a microphone overheard the instrument, but the actual, faithfully reproduced sound of the carillon as if your living room were just a short stroll from Del Roper and his Chimes from the Church Tower. (from the liner notes)
Tracklisting:
Side 1
1. And Can It Be {2:29}
2. Onward Christian Soldiers {2:44}
3. Faith of Our Fathers {2:18}
4. Come Thou Almighty King {1:42}
5. When I Survey the Wondrous Cross {3:28}
6. Blest Be the Tie That Binds {2:04}
7. My Faith Looks Up to Thee {2:03}
8. How Beauteous Were the Marks {2:53}
Side 2
1. Deeper and Deeper {1:57}
2. I Need Thee Every Hour {2:28}
3. Joyful, Joyful, We Adore Thee {2:29}
4. I Love to Tell the Story {3:00}
5. All Hail the Power of Jesus' Name {2:34}
6. I Love Thy Kingdom, Lord {2:06}
7. Glorious Things of Thee are Spoken {2:23}
8. The Church's One Foundation {1:48}
(1)
Rita Ford's Music Boxes - A Christmas Tree
LP released in 1985
I'm not sure if I really wanted to post Christmas music. I really don't care for it even at this time of year. Then I dug this LP out and since there's only music boxes on it, I might as well put this up. Some of the only Xmas music I would not mind listening to (even enjoy it) is played by these beautiful-sounding antique devices. Teo Macero is listed as executive producer on this LP, so that might count for something I suppose.
Six different kinds of music boxes are used: the Regina, Symphonium, Stella, Regina with Bells, Polyphon, and the Mira. I hope that all of you are enjoying the holidays so far.
Tracklisting:
Side 1
1. Medley of: I Know My Redeemer Liveth/Silent Night, Holy Night/Ave Maria/Jingle Bells/O Tannenbaum/Good King Wenceslas/Adeste Fideles/Cloister Bells/On the Christmas Tree the Lights are Burning/Song of the Virgin Mary/Christians Awake {14:07}
2. Medley of: Auld Lang Syne/Monastery Bells/Nazareth, the First Noel/Consolation/O Holy Night/Chimes of Normandy/Star of the Sea/Sweet Spirit Hear My Prayer/See the Conquering Hero/Stabat Mater/Silent Night with Bells {15:10}
Side 2
1. Medley of: Moonlight Serenade with Bells/Angels Serenade with Bells/Parade of the Wooden Soldiers/Monastery Bells {13:09}
2. Medley of: Ave Maria/untitled European folk melody/Monastery Bells/Some Sweet Day/Coronation Hymn {13:56}
(1)
Peter Maxwell Davies - Miss Donnithorne's Maggot/Eight Songs for a Mad King
CD released in 1987
Miss Donnithorne's Maggot (1974)
recorded at Henry Wood Hall on May 24, 1984
text by Randolph Stow
Performers:
Mary Thomas - mezzo-soprano
The Fires of London: Philippa Davies - flutes; David Campbell - clarinets; Rosemary Furniss - violin; Jonathan Williams - cello; Stephen Pruslin - piano; Gregory Knowles - percussion
The author has described his text as "a slur on the reputation of an unfortuante lady". Eliza Emily Donnithorne was a real-life model for Miss Havisham in Dickens' Great Expectations. An avid reader, she was probably well acquainted with her fictional counterpart. She was born in Bengal around 1827, and, upon her father's retirement, returned to live in New South Wales. In 1856 she became engaged to a naval officer, but was jilted en route to the altar. Miss Donnithorne coped with this traumatic event by "freezing" the moment of her impending wedding for the rest of her life. The wedding breakfast was left to moulder on the table, the bride continued to wear her wedding dress, and she became a virtual recluse, only indulging in minimal necessary conversations through a chink in her front door. In Maxwell Davies's outrageous but deeply compassionate portrait, we may well infer that Miss Donnithorne's re-living of her experience is a compulsively repeated ritual, one that may have taken place every night of her life. She died on May 20, 1886. Her funeral was her first outing for thirty years.
Although Miss Donnithorne certainly makes forays into the domain of the extended voice, the work fundamentally represents an extension of the ideals of bel canto into the music of our own time. And although there is a wealth of dramatic gesture, it is above all through pitch and harmony that Maxwell Davies informs the listener of his precise location on the axis between comedy and pain. (Stephen Pruslin)
Eight Songs for a Mad King (1969)
recorded at Decca Studios, London on October 1-2, 1970
text by Randolph Stow and George III
Performers:
Julius Eastman - baritone
The Fires of London: Judith Pearce - flutes; Alan Hacker - clarinets; Duncan Druce - violin; Jennifer Ward Clarke - cello; Stephen Pruslin - piano/harpsichord; Barry Quinn - percussion
Peter Maxwell Davies - conductor
The poems forming the text of this work were suggested by a miniature mechanical organ playing eight tunes, once the property of George III. A scrap of paper sold with it explains that "This Organ was George the third for Birds to sing". Another fragment identifies its second owner as "James Hughes who served his Majesty George 3 near 30 years penshen of in 1812 at 30 pouns year served HRH princes Augusta 8 years Half penshen of in 1820 at 30 year".
The organ remained in the family of Hughes until modern times, when it was acquired by the Hon. Sir Steven Runciman, who in 1966 demonstrated it to me. It left a peculiar and disturbing impression. One imagined the King, in his purple flannel dressing-gown and ermine night-cap, struggling to teach birds to make the music which he could so rarely torture out of his flute and harpsichord. Or trying to sing with them, in that ravaged voice, made almost inhuman by day-long soliloquies, which once murdered Handel for Fanny Burney's entertainment. There were echoes of the story of the Emperor's nightingale. But this Emperor was mad; and at times he knew it, and wept.
The songs are to be understood as the King's monologue while listening to his birds perform, and incorporate some sentences actually spoken by George III. The quotations, and a description of most of the incidents to which reference is made, can be found in the chapters on George III in The Court at Windsor by Christopher Hibbert (Longmans and Penguin Books). (Randolph Stow)
Tracklisting:
1. Miss Donnithorne's Maggot {36:40}
1. Prelude - Miss Donnithorne invites the listener to her imagined wedding.
2. Miss Donnithorne's Maggot - The first "song" suggests a parallel between Miss Donnithorne and the White Woman of Berners Street, a famous London apparition and another prototype for Miss Havisham. It also presents the image of the wedding cake as a tower, the first in a series of "Freudian" references invoked by Miss Donnithorne's fevered imagination.
3. Recitative - The well-read Miss Donnithorne here casts herself as Ophelia. Reference is also made to Bea Miles, the rich drop-out who slept rough and, until her death in Sydney in 1974, could recite all of Shakespeare by heart, and also to the "Eternity Man", who went round Sydney at night, chalking the word "Eternity" on the paving stones.
4. Her Dump - The phallic tower of wedding cake is here construed as a lighthouse, connecting it more specifically with Miss Donnithorne's naval officer fiance.
5. Nocturne, instruments alone
6. Her Rant - Miss Donnithorne now fantasises a rape, while further military and anatomical images proliferate from the cipher of the wedding cake.
7. Recitative - Miss Donnithorne rails against the local youths, while taking a more than ladylike interest in their conversations.
8. Her Reel - Miss Donnithorne anticipates the return of her bridegroom and finally pirouettes offstage in a shower of confetti to her imagined consummation.
2. Eight Songs for a Mad King {30:10}
1. The Sentry (Tune: King Prussia's Minuet) - The King imagines himself approaching the sentry before going for a walk in the country. He speaks paternally to the soldier, and promises him a present from his vegetable garden. Then suddenly, seeing himself as the prisoner of the sentry, he breaks down. (In this mood, he once burst into tears and cried: "I wish to God I may die, for I am going to be mad".)
2. The Country Walk (La Promenade) - The King imagines himself to be walking in the countryside, which he loves, but his failing sight distorts it into grotesque forms and his "nervousness" grows.
3. The Lady-in-Waiting (Miss Musgrave's Fancy) - The King imagines himself indulging in another of his chief pleasures, conversation with a wellbred young woman, but is reminded that wellbred young women are terrified of him.
4. To be sung on the water (The Waterman) - The King fancies himself in a boat on the Thames, and dreams of being relieved of his God-given burdens. (It was in such moods that he talked of retiring to Hanover, or even America.)
5. The Phantom Queen (He's ay a-kissing me) - The King yearns for his imaginary Queen. (Esther, Lady Pembroke, had been a famous beauty in his youth. During his first period of madness in 1788-9 he formed the delusion, which recurred later, that he had divorced Queen Charlotte and married Queen Esther, in the presence of his doctors.) Distrusting the doctors, whom he accuses of keeping Queen Esther from him, he remembers the brutal treatment to which he was subjected before the advent of the humane Doctor Willis.
6. The Counterfeit (Le Contrefaite) - The text is taken from one of the King's own monologues, recorded by Queen Charlotte's eavesdropper, Fanny Burney.
7. Country Dance (Scotch Bonnett) - The King imagines the people of Windsor (of whom he once said, weeping: "These good People are too fond of me") engaged in country merrymaking. He encourages them with one of the quotations from Handel which punctuated his conversation. He recalls a piece of local knowledge with which he once startled his grooms. Then (as in his famous interview with Fanny Burney at Kew) he becomes suddenly agitated about the evils of the age. (The Kew interview was terminated by the doctors after the King had cried: "When once I get away. I shall rule with a rod of iron!")
8. The Review (A Spanish March) - The King (who in this life occasionally wore mourning, "in memory of George III, for he was a good man") announces his death to the nation and reviews his career.
(1)
Arnold Schoenberg - Complete Piano Music
Performed by Edward Steuermann - piano
The piano music of Arnold Schoenberg holds an especially significant place in his oeuvre. Every important change in style announced itself in compositions for "piano solo," as if to test the complete autonomy and self-sufficiency of the new works by resorting to this genre of the most absolute music - the most absolute music, as there are no words to explain, no colors to enhance, no dialectics of a chamber music ensemble to differentiate the expression or the meaning.
...
The novelty and originality of Schoenberg's piano style is often overlooked. It seems that in the post-romantic period there is hardly a composer, with the possible exception of Debussy, whose writing for piano is so personal and so intimately connected with the idea it has to express. The pianist is confronted with new problems. It is mainly the extremely scarce use of pedal which often deprives the sound of the romantic vibration for which the piano is known, and the polyphony requires the most exact differentiation by the use of all kinds of touch.
Even a master like Busoni, who was one of the first great musicians (and at this time almost the only one) to understand the importance of these works (Op. 11), thought it necessary to adjust one of the pieces to the more accepted piano sonority. (He recognized this as a mistake later on.) The reception by audiences and press was for a long time frosty or outright negative. But, by the time Op. 23 appeared, Schoenberg's name was world famous after the great success of some of the earlier works; one has learned now to listen with more confidence, trust, and devotion. (Edward Steuermann)
Tracklisting:
Side 1
1. Drei Klavierstuke, Op. 11 {13:02}
2. Funf Klavierstuke, Op. 23 {9:51}
Side 2
1. Sechs kleine Klavierstuke, Op. 19 {4:35}
2. Suite fur Klavier, Op. 25 {14:00}
3. Zwei Klavierstuke, Op. 33a and b {5:27}
(1)
Arnold Schoenberg - Quintet for Wind Instruments, Op. 26
Performed by The Philadelphia Woodwind Quintet:
William Kincaid - flute
John de Lancie - oboe
Anthony Gigliotti - clarinet
Sol Schoenbach - bassoon
Mason Jones - French horn
Schoenberg's first two creative "periods" were both crowded into the sixteen years before the First World War. During this comparatively short space of time, he traversed such different styles as those of Verklarte Nacht, Op. 4, and Pierrot Lunaire, Op. 21 From 1914 to 1923, however, he published no music at all. It would almost surely be incorrect to suppose lying fallow during these years, and were to spring completely rejuvenated to loftier conceptions at their end. Actually, the time was spent in serving two rather brief stretches in the Austrian army, doing some literary writing, sketching the music for Die Jakobsleiter (an oratorio that he was never able to bring himself to complete), and teaching some of his best pupils.
Schoenberg was never a man to write music merely for the sake of doing something. He seems always to have felt that he must have something definite to say, and he preferred that that something should be fresh and new. In his later compositions, this general attitude caused him to avoid exact repetitions of his thematic materials. But in addition to this characteristic, there are reasons for supposing that by 1914 he had come to realize, consciously or unconsciously, that the freedom he had gained through espousing atonal music with its equal use of all twelve tones of the chromatic scale was simply not enough. Music may seem to flourish from a completely free use of fancy, but past centuries have demonstrated very conclusively that the difference between man-made music and that of the birds is that man prefers to work within the prescribed limitations of an organized system of tones.
At any rate, Schoenberg only started to compose once more when he moved to Modling near Vienna in 1920 and met Josef Matthias Hauer. Schoenberg has hotly maintained that he "invented" the row-technique and, conversely, that he was uninfluenced by Hauer, but those who were close to him during those years, notably Egon Wellesz, have admitted that this was not quite true. However much the row-technique differs from Hauer's Tropes and Grundgestalten, the idea of organizing the twelve tones according to some new principle, together with details of method and terminology, are sparks from Hauer that set Schoenberg's tinder once more in flame.
It is easy to see from the first compositions of this period that the technique had not matured during any previous "fallow" period. The five piano pieces of Opus 23 show a definite striving towards new types of organization, but only the last of them, Walzer, is completely realized in the row-technique. And even it uses the row in the most primitive fashion possible. There is a single 12-tone row, used only in its prime position without recourse to a mirror inversion, and only two statements of the crab of the row are introduced near the end of the piece by way of furnishing accompaniment. In the Serenade for baritone and seven instruments, Op. 24, the picture is not much different. Of its seven movements, the third, Variationen, is based on a theme of 14 notes (one of the twelve notes is omitted and three are repeated), and only the fourth movement, Sonett Nr. 217 von Petraca, uses the technique consistently. In both movements, the first regular use of the mirror inversion may be found, but still no transpositions of either the row or the mirror. Indeed, the baritone (who sings only in the fourth movement) must negotiate nearly thirteen straight statements of the prime row, varied only rhythmically and by occasional octave displacements of the notes.
With the Suite fur Klavier, Op. 25, the first use of a transposition occurs, but even here it is introduced for a special purpose. The row includes a tritone, G to D-flat, and Schoenberg inverts it about an axis that will produce the interval on the same two notes; he also transposes both row and mirror up a tritone, so that the same notes will also appear in these transpositions. Needless to say, the emphasis on these two notes make them predominate throughout the Suite, and Schoenberg has to display considerable ingenuity to restore the balance between his "twelve equal notes."
Thus only with the Wind Quintet, Op. 26, does Schoenberg's experimentation with the method reach its logical end and give us the first composition written with all of the resources that we now associate with the technique. This, of course, is not to say that for Schoenberg the Quintet marks the end of the road. It was, in fact, only a beginning, and periodically he instituted changes in the method to perfect it further. For example, in the Quintet he used the various transpositions merely to provide himself with different series of notes. Since they had no functional significance for him at this stage, he could use more than one transposition simultaneously. Starting with the Begleitungsmusik, Op. 34, however, the transpositions were treated exactly like keys. By using only one at a time, he could establish pitch-levels and build structures resembling the forms of classical music. What he gained thereby from the point of view of form, however, deprived him of a free use of the transpositions and lessened motility in the design of subtly varied themes. It is precisely this characteristic that is exemplified at its richest in the Wind Quintet, making it a work particularly worth close listening and study. (Richard S. Hill)
Tracklisting:
Side 1
1. Quintet for Wind Instruments, Op. 26: I. Schwungvoll {10:53}
2. Quintet for Wind Instruments, Op. 26: II. Ammutig und heiter; scherzando {11:50}
Side 2
1. Quintet for Wind Instruments, Op. 26: III. Etwas langsam (Poco Adagio) {10:25}
2. Quintet for Wind Instruments, Op. 26: IV. Rondo {9:33}
(1)
Matachines Tarahumares - Tarahumara Matachin Music
released on LP in 1979
Recorded on the morning of January 6, 1979, with the Alta Tarahumara of the Sierra Madre Occidental, Chihuahua, Mexico, inside a church.
The Tarahumara - Raramuri or "Runners" in their own language - occupy the plateaus, valleys, and barrancas of Mexico's Sierra Madre Occidental in Western Chihuahua, Due mostly to the extreme ruggedness and isolation of their homeland, they have been left pretty much to their own devices since the mission days of colonial New Spain. In recent years the logging and tourist industries have made inroads into the Sierra, and Tarahumara crafts, if not the people themselves, have come to be somewhat familiar to interested city dwellers in Mexico and the United States. Their isolation is still a very real thing, however, and it has led to the preservation of a good deal of traditional Tarahumara life, complete with skills, activities, and world views which seem to have taken their present form in the years prior to 1800.
Like almost all of Mexico's Indians, the Tarahumara show evidence of the intense Christianization programs which were carried on under the auspices of the Spanish Crown by Catholic missionaries. Due to their isolation, Tarahumaras accepted less of European culture than did other groups, and adopted much of what they did accept to their own ancient patterns and preferences. The Spanish influences remain, however, and are very important in the music and dances which make up this record.
The Matachines dance is widespread throughout the area that once was Northwestern New Spain - an area which now lies on both sides of the recently imposed International Border between the United States and Mexico. It is a European ritual dance with New World details and flavor, and is found among both Indians and Spanish-descended populations. It is usually performed by two lines of men, to the music of such Old World instruments as violins, guitars, and harps. The dancers wear special costumes which often include headdresses, colorful shirts, and sashes tied round the body. The dance figures are reminiscent of such familiar secular dances as the Virginia Reel. These are not recreational or social dances, however; Matachines dance as an act of religious devotion. The dance can best be described as a prayer in motion, sound and color.
Matachines dances are an important part of the ceremonial year in many Tarahumara communities, especially in the eastern highland area where these recordings were made. They only appear at specific times, usually around December. In one community, for example, the Matachines start dancing at household fiestas in late November. They then appear at a big fiesta in the church on Our Lady of Guadalupe's Day, December 12. Other appearances may be made on Christmas and New Year's Eves. They appear for the last time to celebrate the Day of the Kings, Epiphany - which falls on January 6. Only during this brief period do the Matachines dance, and only at this time can one hear violin music in Tarahumara country.
The violin is the lead Matachina instrument. In fact, where this recording was made, only violins are used for the dance, although guitars are permitted in other communities. Since its introduction into the area by Jesuit missionaries, the violin has become an important Tarahumara instrument and their manufacture is a common household craft. All the violins heard here were homemade of local mountain woods. The instruments vary in size and tone, a feature which lends interest and variety to the ensemble music. They are held at an angle across the chest, in an archaic playing position. The usual tuning employed is CFGG, a deviation from the standard classical tuning. When there is a large group of fiddlers, as is the case on this record, they may play both in unison and in parts. One musician (not always the same one) will lead each tune.
There is a large body of Tarahumara Matachines tunes, concerning which outsiders still know almost nothing. There seems to be a different repertoire for each of four basic activities: dancing at private house fiestas, dancing in front of the church, dancing inside the church, and dancing in procession. Tunes vary in length from 5 to 6 minutes to as long as 30 minutes. This may be determined by the length and complexity of the figure being danced. In between tunes, the musicians may sit for five or more minutes, returning their instruments. Then one man will start to play, others will join him, and the dancing begins again.
There are from 20 to 30 dancers. They are dressed in a costume consisting of a loose-sleeved Tarahumara shirt, shoes and trousers (not normally items of Tarahumara apparel) and one or two embroidered capes over the shoulders. Several colorful bandana handkerchiefs are worn on the head, face, shoulders and waist. On each dancer's head is his crown or corona, constructed of a wood frame and covered with paper streamers and small reflectors. In his right hand he holds a rattle, which may be made locally of gourd or purchased in a store. In his left hand is the palma, a three-pronged wand with paper streamers attached. Each Matachina dances in total silence and concentration, timing his movements to coincide exactly with those of his fellows. On occasion, all stamp their booted feet on the ground - a sound that you can hear on the record.
Accompanying the Matachines at this fiesta were four leaders, or Chapeones. The chapeon is dressed in a normal Tarahumara costume of shirt, sash, breechcloth and sandals. He may carry a small coiled whip of office. His job is to gather the Matachines together and see that they do what is expected of them. The chapeones encourage the dancers with shrill falsetto cries which can be heard on the record and which add a special flavor to the musical experience. (Jim Griffith)
Tracklisting:
Side 1
1. track 1 {4:18}
2. track 2 {5:25}
3. track 3 {3:28}
4. track 4 {4:03}
5. track 5 {4:03}
Side 2
1. track 6 {6:42}
2. track 7 {14:58}
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Raymond Lewenthal - Toy Symphonies
LP released in 1975
Here is a record for the man who has everything. Music to wake up to. Music to surprise your friends with. Music for Christmas. Music for your children. A sugar-coated history lesson pill. An inquiry into the mores of bygone days.
Hear 'em and laugh!
But above all, here for once is happy music - frivolous, even silly, some will say... but who can deny its happiness? It was written for happy occasions, for a world that was prosperous, secure, and certain at a time when family life was the center of life and when music in the home was homemade. It comes from a time when the cracks in the plaster of society were scarcely noticeable to the naked eye.
This record is the evocation of an era: the 19th century; and a place: the home ... the comfortable home of the well-to-do bourgeois, where people had leisure but not so much money that they were too indolent or too preoccupied with the cares of supervising their fortunes to make their own entertainment, and had to resort to hiring it.
Long ago, a hundred years ago and more, anyone who studied anything studied music. It was part of one's education. One was expected to learn it as one was expected to learn the ABC's. One didn't study music only if one intended (perish the thought) to go into it as a profession, nor did one decide to go into it as a profession simply because one could play a scale decently or eke out a high tone (as is happening more and more today).
No ... music, drawing, letter writing, reciting poetry, these were all part of the general education of those classes which had any leisure for any kind of education at all ... adjuncts to a culture civilized life. Music in those days was part of all family occasions, from the quiet evenings at home to the big festive holiday reunions, when visiting relatives came from afar and the house was full to the brim with the laughter (well-mannered!) of children, the warmth of the hearth and all the happiness that humans are capable of in those periods when troubles, misery and sadness can be warded off, forgotten or hidden in cupboards. The only mechanical music available then was from the music box standing in a corner of the parlor. All other music had to be made. People lifted their voices in song, and created sounds with the aid of their lungs and their fingers. Composers were kept busy supplying music to fill all needs. For this world came most of the lieder of Schubert, Schumann and Brahms, most chamber music and four-hand piano music, and a good deal of the music written for two hands.
And for this world also came the music for this record. Here was music in which the whole family could participate ... the elders playing on "serious" instruments such as the piano, violin and cello, while the children took care of organized noise in the form of peeps, tweets, thumps and what have you. Sometimes the elders took all the parts, to the delectation of the children. Sometimes the children were advanced enough to manage everything, to the vast entertainment of doting grown-ups.
Thus, toy symphonies form a not inconsiderable literature. (The French called them Symphonies burlesques, or Foires des enfants [Children's Fairs]; the Germans called them Kindersymphonien, Children's symphonies.) Their popularity made them a lucrative business for publishers, who sold not only the music but the toy instruments as well. Toy symphonies go back quite a bit in time. Both Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach and Michael Haydn experimented with the idea, and it now seems to be pretty conclusively proven that "The Toy Symphony by Haydn" was actually written by Leopold Mozart. An inspiration for writing this kind of music came, in the 18th century, from the existence of a world famous toy industry in the mountains near Salzburg ... not far from Berchtesgaden (which, ironically later, became infamous as the eyrie of Adolf Hitler). During the long winter months the peasants, confined much of the time to their huts, manufactured all manner of musical toys ... bird calls, drums, rattles, whistles, toy trumpets and the like. The tradition of toy symphonies grew and flourished in the German-speaking countries throughout the 19th century and spread elsewhere, though never to the same extent.
One of my musical hobbies (I have many) has been the collection of Toy Symphonies. Those presented here are a culling from among the best of many. All these pieces were written lovingly, with imagination and with care and, given the built-in pitch limitations of the toys (cuckoos are rather single-minded), they contain delightful music. The parts for the toys are always written out very specifically. Nothing is ad libitum or left to chance. The players are expected to follow all the rhythms and markings with scrupulous attention and the works only really sound well when played with the same care with which they were written.
The first time I conducted a toy symphony was for a gala benefit a few years ago in Newport, the famous summer gathering place of old-time American wealth. The concert took place in the hundred-room "cottage" of the Vanderbilts, The Breakers. The toys, tea trays and glass bowls were manned (or rather, womaned) by pillars of Newport dowagerdom. These formidable ladies took their work very seriously and were a most conscientious orchestra. At the concert they covered themselves with glory (and made only a minimum of wrong entrances). Other toy performances which I have led, numbering among the performers some well-known musicians, have sometimes been on a less high artistic level due to the fact that some of the professional players seemed to have had more difficulty counting correctly than my Newport dowagers!
In Newport there was, however, one major disaster. Before the first rehearsal a tour of the grand homes was made for the purpose of auditioning glass bowls, in order to find one which had the proper pitch and timbre. The lady entrusted with the very important glass-bowl part, while an excellent musician, had not yet mastered the technique of managing the bass-drum stick which was to make the bowl ring forth in all its glory. In one of the grandest homes, she swung her drum stick with a trifle too much vigor and shattered into a thousand sparkling splinters a very large, very expensive and very precious crystal bowl ... thereby almost putting an end to toy symphonies in Newport. (Raymond Lewenthal)
Pieces:
Toy Symphony (Kindersymphonie) in C, for piano, two violins & cello with nightingale, cuckoo, toy trumpet, drum, ratchet, bell tree, glass bell & tea tray - composed by Carl Reinecke
Adagio & Finale from the Toy Symphony, for piano, violin & cello with cuckoo, nightingale, fairy bells, sleighbells, triangle, toy trumpet, drum, bass drum & cymbals - composed by Franklin Taylor
Kitchen Symphony, Op. 445, for piano with trumpet, funnel trumpet, wine glass, bottle, saucepan, fire irons, milk jug & tin covers - composed by Henri Kling
Three Bacchanales, Op. 53, for piano with tambourine & triangle - composed by Daniel Steibelt
Toy Symphony (Kindersymphonie) in C, Op. 169, for piano, violin & cello with quail, cuckoo, nightingale, triangle, toy trumpet & drum - composed by Cornelius Gurlitt
Ouverture Burlesque, for piano and violin with three mirlitons, triangle, toy trumpet, drum, ratchet and whistle - composed by Etienne-Nicolas Mehul
Performers:
Raymond Lewenthal - conductor, piano
Nathan Ross - violin
Marshall Sosson - violin (tracks 1-4, Side 1)
Eleanor Aller - cello
Malcolm McNab - trumpets
Tom Raney (including solo tambourine), Hubert Anderson, Larry Bunker, Richie Lepore, Wally Snow, George Sponhaltz - toy instruments and percussion
Tracklisting:
Side 1
1. Toy Symphony (Kindersymphonie) in C: I. Allegro un poco maestoso {5:38}
2. Toy Symphony (Kindersymphonie) in C: II. Andantino {5:44}
3. Toy Symphony (Kindersymphonie) in C: III. Moderato {1:42}
4. Toy Symphony (Kindersymphonie) in C: IV. Steeple Chase (Molto vivace) {1:42}
5. Adagio from the Toy Symphony {5:17}
6. Finale from the Toy Symphony {5:49}
Side 2
1. Kitchen Symphony, Op. 445 {5:49}
2. Three Bacchanales, Op. 53 {4:21}
3. Toy Symphony (Kindersymphonie) in C, Op. 169: I. Allegro con fuoco {4:28}
4. Toy Symphony (Kindersymphonie) in C, Op. 169: II. Scherzo (Poco vivace) {3:11}
5. Toy Symphony (Kindersymphonie) in C, Op. 169: III. Rondo burlesco (Allegro, non troppo) {3:57}
6. Ouverture Burlesque {4:12}
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Mel Powell - Six Recent Works
CD released in 1988
Die Violine (1987)
A Pierrot Lunaire setting for soprano, piano, and violin
Judith Bettina - soprano Mel Powell - piano Yoko Matsuda - violin
Only in response to the striking idea proposed by Leonard Stein would I have ever considered setting a German text [Die Violine] (for the first and no doubt the last time) and, moreover, setting it rather speedily. So it is friend Leonard who is responsible for this present addition to my collection of 'Overnight Pieces.' (Mel Powell)
Mel was immediately taken with the moonstruck atmosphere of the poem (no. 32 in the collection [Albert Giraud's Pierrot collection], and chose a most appropriate setting for the text with the violin as centerpiece, particularly as he had in mind as performers his dear friends Yoko Matsuda and Judith Bettina, for whom he had written several other pieces. (He did not have himself in mind as pianist. Happily, though, he was persuaded to join the others for this recording - the first time he has entered a recording studio as a performer in more than 30 years!) (Leonard Stein)
Madrigal for Flute Alone (1988)
Rachel Rudich - flute
"The culture of particular form has ended; the age of determined relationships has begun." Powell is fond of quoting Mondrian's famous remark, a remark which is in many ways reflected by the structural nuances shaping this lovely solo piece. ... It is just such perpetual variance - the manifold translations and reinterpretations - that projects a fixed "determined relationship" rather than a fixed "particular" utterance. If from the compositional point of view the piece accordingly proposes an elaborate associational maze, from any point of view it offers the listener a beautiful musical substance. (Peter Zaferes)
Strand Settings: "Darker" (1983)
A song cycle for voice with electronic-music accompaniment
Texts by Mark Strand from the collections of poems, Darker.
Judith Bettina - soprano
Mel Powell's mode of writing for the voice here aligns the composer with the great bel canto tradition and its ideals of vocal beauty. Along with Powell's tendency to avoid overly dramatic and noisily romanticized expression, this leads him to choose texts from poets such as Mark Strand. Strand's poetry shuns proclamatory drama. The collection entitled Darker is especially rich in images that fluctuate constantly between the interior world of "self" and the external world. All action is covert, lying deep beneath the surface. This conforms precisely with Powell's image of the essence of lyric poetry, which he once defined as the resonance of quiet obsessions. Perhaps there is an indication of Powell's feeling for these particular texts in the fact that, while melismatic treatment is a feature of most of his other vocal works, here the setting is largely syllabic. And the degree to which word and tone are correlated in this composition is suggested by Mark Strand's own comments. (Peter Zaferes)
I wish to say how much Mel Powell's settings of some of the poems in Darker have meant to me. They are exquisite, of course, and way beyond what anyone else has done with my work, but more than that, when I listen to them I reexperience my poems in a way that is actually pleasurable. They seem to have more life; they seem enhanced, not merely complemented; and they seem clear, free of any distortion. In Powell's settings, the poems have about them a kind of magical fullness, the result, I am sure, of a profound sympathy and understanding. (Mark Strand)
String Quartet (1982)
The Sequoia String Quartet:
Yoko Matsuda and Miwako Watanabe - violins
James Dunham - viola
Robert Martin - cello
Here is a brilliant example of Mel Powell's meticulous compositional craftsmanship and his singular skill at assembling complex musical structures that are at the same time richly expressive. In the present instance, the eloquent results are obtained by maintaining a judicious balance between multi-dimensional constructs, including varied 12-tone aggregates and other "scrambled" 12-note pitch sets - intricate techniques that have defeated other, less inventive practioners of the post-serial idiom, but which remain ripe with creative possibilities for Powell. (Mark Waldrop)
Computer Prelude (1988)
A "child of exasperation," Powell calls it. This is because the piece came to light first in quite different form: as a section of a work for two pianos. "After the composition was completed," Powell explains, "I began to assess various relevant 'practical' questions. How refractory were the individual and ensemble burdens here? How many months - years? - of rehearsal would be necessary in order for the players, however conscientious and well-intentioned they might be, to achieve reasonably accurate coordination? And so on. To my dismay, a stubborn inner censor kept asserting, more and more forcefully, that demands on the performers in this section of the composition were outrageous, entirely excessive. So, alas, at the end I decided that it had to be abandoned."
But evidently Powell was still reluctant to part with the material. Rather than banish it to the file cabinet (where perhaps many such entities rest in peace), he called on a "performer" uniquely impervious to difficulties such as beset mortal executants: the computer. The envisioned complexities of temporal structuring were thus "facilitated." (Peter Zaferes)
Nocturne for Violin Solo (1969; rev. 1985)
Yoko Matsuda - violin
The loneliness of the unaccompanied violin is underscored by the extremely introverted nature of this lovely monologue. In a sequence of moment-to-moment shifts, a whisper, a meditation, an intense cry, it bespeaks the nocturnal, true to the title, seeming to reflect dreams rather than declamations.
The opposite of a glittering showpiece, this work keeps even its severe demands on the performer hidden, the "virtuosity" submerged, so to speak. The stark effect of the whole results from the way a thought here is picked up there - as continual rumination rather than development; proposing puzzles, but not puzzles to be unraveled. External worlds, ordinary rules of order in an ordinary usage of time seem distant from this intensely personal zone.
Powell once wrote of the work that its "structural underpinnings derive directly from, and present a modest extension of, the idea of registral invariance introduced by Webern more than a half-century ago." (R. G. Naldec)
Tracklisting:
1. Die Violine {2:55}
2. Madrigal for Flute Alone {2:18}
3. Strand Settings: "Darker" {18:54}
4. String Quartet {11:43}
5. Computer Prelude {2:27}
6. Nocturne for Violin Solo {7:17}
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or (1)
[links may come back soon]
various artists compilation - Music in the World of Islam: The Human Voice/Lutes
In 1976 Tangent Records released Music in the World of Islam as a series of long-playing analogue records. With the advent of the compact disc and its attendant extended playing time we are able to present two LPs on one compact disc. The first two records in the series - The Human Voice/Lutes are presented here.
...
This anthology "music in the world of Islam" is an attempt to present highlights of music found within a huge area in Africa, parts of Europe, and Asia which are today, or have been in the past, Islamic.
As it is obviously impossible to cover adequately the music of any of these countries, far less all of them, the aim has been to divide the music into groupings so that the listener can hear, compare and learn to appreciate some of the almost limitless variety of musical styles - both vocal and instrumental - which have developed in this vast area. The diversity of cultures in the Islamic world is so great that it is strange to find unifying factors in the music. But Bedouins and nomads, farmers on the banks of the Nile, or in the Hindukush Mountains of Afghanistan or the High Atlas of Morocco or the fertile valleys of Pakistan and India. Turkish fishermen on the Black Sea coast and Malay and Javanese along the East China Sea or pearl divers on the gulf which divides Arabia from Iran, as well as the inhabitants of the great and ancient cities of Damascus and Baghdad and Cairo and Fez and Istanbul, Shiraz and Samarkand, all share certain musical traits and some of these, along with specialised music of each area, can be heard on this compact disc. (from the liner notes on the back cover)
The Human Voice LP - tracks 1-14
Lutes LP - tracks 15-23
Tracklisting:
1. [uncredited artist] - Recitation of verses of the Qu'ran {2:26}
(Al-Ateuf, near Ghardela, Algeria)
2. Ismail Ali Hasan and Abdel Hamid Abdel Aziz - Dhikr (remembrance) {2:18}
(A Sufi ceremony; Fayoum Oasis, Egypt)
3. Habibola Halika - Houri {1:21}
(secular vocal music; Sanandaj, Kurdistan, Iran)
4. [uncredited artist] - Bedouin wedding songs {1:18}
(south of Wadi Musa, Jordan)
5. Jabr bin Husein - Ghazal, or Love Song {1:17}
(Tarif, Abu Dahbi)
6. Amir Mohammed and Baba Hakim - Gurdum Gurdum {3:16}
(love song; Daulatabad, north of Baikh, Afghanistan)
7. [uncredited artist] - Song at the feast after Ramadan {1:50}
(near Nafga, Entrea, Ethiopia)
8. Salim Alan - Haddadi {4:16}
(led by Salim Alan and a group of about twenty pearl divers; Muharraq, Bahrain)
9. Wasimxzama Khan Naseri and Nazir Ahmad - Kavali {4:37}
(a devotional song; Hyderabad, Deccan, India)
10. Dunya Yunis - Abu Zeluf {3:03}
(Beirut, Lebanon)
11. [uncredited artist] - Leader/Chorus song {2:23}
(a group of Gadabursi Somali; Jijiga, Harar Province, Ethiopia)
12. Mehein fin Baqid and Dahar fin Baqid - Radha/Hateim Atiya Khalil Sayed - Ga's {2:20}
(Sharjah, United Arab Emirates/Fayoum, Egypt)
13. Aqi Pishak - Love song {2:22}
(Aqcha, Afghanistan)
14. [uncredited artist] - Tahlil {6:18}
(sung by a Sufi group; Baghdad, Iraq)
15. Salman Shukur - Taqsim in maqam Iraq {3:30}
(Baghdad, Iraq)
16. Sultan Hamid - Taqsim in maqam Hejaz {6:04}
(Muharraq, Bahrain)
17. Aboubekr Zerga - Hausi in makam Iraq {5:02}
(Tlemcen, Algeria)
18. Hussein Ali Zodeh - Tar solo in dastgah Mahur {4:55}
(Teheran, Iran)
19. Baba Hakim - Tambur solo {4:44}
(Daulatabad, Afghanistan)
20. [uncredited artist] - Gunbri (Folk Song) {2:52}
(Foum el Ancur, Morocco)
21. Erol Sayin - Taksim in makam Nishaburek {3:29}
(Ankara, Turkey)
22. Jalal zur Fonun - Solo in dastgah af-Shari {4:19}
(Teheran, Iran)
23. Khan Mohammad, Aqi Pishak and Mohammad Omar - Wedding song (in Uzbek) {2:51}
(Aqcha, Afghanistan)
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various artists compilation - Istanbul 1925
CD released in 1994; music remastered from metal master 78 rpm discs recorded in 1925
Istanbul 1925 presents a collection of legendary performers from one of the most exciting periods in Middle Eastern music. Belly dancing, folk music and classical styles were merged together, creating a sound that became the rage of Istanbul - a city situated literally at the crossroads of Europe and Asia. The greatest cabaret singers, musicians, dancers and classical artists from various ethnic backgrounds - Turks, Armenians, Jews, Greeks and Gypsies lived in Istanbul, creating a musical style that dominated the city for more than half a century.
Hundreds of recordings were made by His Master's Voice in Turkey and issued on 78 rpm records. Presented here are performances of Turkey's greatest artists recorded during that era, digitally remastered from the original metal parts. (from the back cover liner notes)
Ernest Hemingway once said that the way to get rid of something was to write about it. In some way, it was with that thought in mind that this project was born. For this music, which was exposed to me from early childhood, had had an almost hypnotic effect on me, leading me twice to Istanbul and through countless hours of searching through records, photos and books for any scrap of information about the artists whose music had profoundly influenced my life. Istanbul 1890-1950 was a period which produced a genre of music as powerful and emotionally impacted as any age in musical history. It was, in many ways, similar to the musical scene in New York where audiences crowded into Carnegie Hall to hear new symphonies by Mahler, Dvorak and Tchaikovsky while uptown Harlem clubs were making musical history with the invention of jazz. Istanbul too harbored a rich cultural environment where music became the crossroads for Turkey's multi-ethnic population to come together. Turks, Greeks, Armenians, Jews, and Turkish gypsies merged their cultures to create a style of music which thrived in and around Istanbul for over half a century.
With the decline of the Ottoman Empire, many of the classical musicians sought employment in the night clubs of Istanbul. Here, the merging of refined Ottoman court music and urban secular music created a lighter style of the classical music known as fasil which was both sophisticated yet accessible to the young, westward-looking generation. Beginning with the reform movement of 1839, tanzimat, and later, as Kemal Ataturk began to introduce western ideology into the new republic, musical influences from other Middle Eastern countries and Europe also began to appear, though a definite Turkish flavor was retained. The emphasis on soloists gave rise to numerable singers and instrumentalists who attained pop star status. The introduction of larger ensembles, orchestrated arrangements and what today has become a main stream in Turkish music, Arabesque, was born in this era. Mohammed Abdel Wahab's westernization of Arabic music so intrigued Turkish musicians, that many, including Kemani Haydar Tatliyay, Kanuni Ahmet Yatman, Kemani Bulbuli Salih, Udi Hasan Dramali and Kemani Nubar Tekyay-Comlekciyan traveled to Egypt for extended visits.
Fortunately, many of the artists who pioneered the post-Ottoman musical era were recorded on wax cylinders and 78rpm records. Recording companies such as Regent and the Blumenthol Talking Machine Company recorded many of the leading artists. A Turkish division of His Master's Voice (Sahabinin Sesi) was already established in Istanbul by 1925. Kanuni Artaki Candan-Terzian (1885-1948), a noted Armenian musician and composer, served as the director of Sahabinin Sesi recording studios in Istanbul until his death in 1948. Under his supervision, hundreds of albums were recorded featuring the legendary artists of the day. Almost immediately, they appeared on 78 rpm discs in Europe and the United States through licensing agreements with RCA Victor, EMI, HMV and Columbia. (Harold G. Hagopian)
Tracklisting:
1. Sukru Tunar - Huzzam taksim {3:19}
2. Mahmut Celalettin - Neva Hicaz Gazel {3:21}
3. Munir Nurettin Selcuk and Sadettin Kaynak - Cikar yuclerden {3:02}
4. Udi Hrant - Cifte Telli {3:11}
5. Deniz Kizi and Kanuni Artaki - Daktilo {2:30}
6. Kemani Haydar Tatliyay - Raks Bedia {3:23}
7. Udi Hrant - Hicaz taksim {3:25}
8. Suzan Yakar - Sevda Zinciri {3:09}
9. Mahmut Celalettin and Udi Marko - Yuzu Pembe {3:14}
10. Sukru Tunar - Suzinak taksim {3:18}
11. Sukru Tunar - Karslama {3:08}
12. Mahmut Celalettin - Neva Ussak Gazel {3:10}
13. Udi Hrant - Huzzam taksim {3:22}
14. Munir Nurettin Selcuk and Sadettin Kaynak - Leyla {3:17}
15. Kucuk Nezihe Hanim and Sukru Tunar - Agladim aci Cektim {3:19}
16. Kemani Nubar - Bahriye Cifte Telli {3:42}
17. Udi Hrant - Kurdili Hicazkar taksim {3:19}
18. Kemani Haydar Tatliyay - Arap Oyun Havasi {3:20}
19. Mahmut Celalettin - Rast Neva Gazel {3:14}
20. Perihan Altindag and Rakim Elkutlu - Ne Bahar Kaldi Ne gul {2:49}
21. Hanende Agyazar Efendi - Kessik Kerem {3:06}
22. Sukru Tunar - Cifte Telli {2:45}
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Phong Thuyet Nguyen - From Rice Paddies and Temple Yards: Traditional Music of Vietnam
cassette released in 1990
This cassette accompanied the book of the same title as the cassette.
Phong Thuyet Nguyen, Ph.D. was raised in Can Tho province in the Mekong delta of South Vietnam, in a village called Tam Ngai. He was born into a musical family that played art music, music for festivals, rituals, ceremonies, Buddhist chant, chamber music and theatrical music.
...
Over the years he concentrated particularly on the dan tranh zither, dan nguyet lute, and dan bau monochord. When he was ten he moved to a town called Tra On, and several years later resettled in Saigon, where he studied Western music, earned a degree in literature and philosophy from the University of Saigon and taught high school literature and private music students. He was appointed principal of the high school and from 1970-74 introduced and taught classes in Vietnamese traditional music, not previously taught in schools, and only recently offered for credit. He left Saigon in 1974.
Dr. Nguyen earned his Ph.D. in Ethnomusicology at the Sorbonne University in Paris, France, and served the National Center for Scientific Research through the mid-1980s. His research centered around various aspects of Vietnamese music, including traditional song, modal systems, and the mixture of Western and Vietnamese elements in the music of contemporary Vietnam and Vietnamese-American communities. He is now considered to be one of the two recognized exponents of Vietnamese music on the international scene. A well-known and widely respected teacher and scholar, he has trained a number of students (some of who have gone on to teach traditional Vietnamese music in Vietnam), performed on numerous recordings on the Lyrichord and other labels, directed and participated in international concerts in Asia, Europe and America, and has further contributed to the field of Ethnomusicology through his books and articles. He has been the recipient of a number of grants by the United States and French governments to aid in the collection and preservation of Vietnamese musics. (from biographical information in the book that included this cassette)
Tracklisting:
Side A
1. Hat Dum {0:30}
performed by an uncredited chorus
2. Cum Num Cum Niu {0:25}
performed by an uncredited chorus
3. Xay Khan {0:22}
performed by an uncredited chorus
4. Co La {4:48}
performed by Phong Nguyen - zither and monochord
and an uncredited chorus
5. Ly Chim Quyen {1:38}
performed by Phong Nguyen - zither
Thu Van and an uncredited chorus
6. Qua Cau Gio Bay {1:44}
performed by Phong Nguyen - zither
Tinh Trang and an uncredited chorus
7. Do Doc Do Ngang {2:28}
performed by Phong Nguyen - zither
Thu Van and an uncredited chorus
8. Ly Tinh Tang {2:13}
performed by Phong Nguyen - zither and monochord
Tinh Trang and an uncredited chorus
Side B
1. Kim Tien {1:53}
performed by Phong Nguyen - zither
2. Ly Ngua O {1:08}
performed by Phong Nguyen - zither and lute
3. Voice of the Trong {1:48}
performed by Phong Nguyen and Thu Van - drum and wooden bell
4. Chinh Phu Ngam Khuc {8:52}
performed by Phong Nguyen - zither; Dan bau - monochord; Dan Nguyet - moon shaped lute; Dan Tranh - 16 or 17-stringed zither; Mo - wooden bell; Trong - drum; Phong Nguyen, Thu Van, Tinh Trang, Phuong Chi - solo vocalists; Huong Lan, Kim Van, Kim Thanh, Mong Tuyet, Thu Van, Tinh Trang - chorus
(1)