Harrison/Perry/Gyring - Harrison/Perry/Gyring
released on LP
Suite for Percussion
composed by Lou Harrison, performed by The Manhattan Percussion Ensemble conducted by Paul Price
Lou Harrison was born in Portland, Oregon on May 14, 1917. He is today one of the most important of America's Pacific Coast composers. Two of Harrison's most prominent teachers have been Henry Cowell and Arnold Schoenberg. Like John Cage, another of Cowell's students, he became fascinated by strange and unorthodox sonorities, and incorporated such curious sounds as those vibrating from automobile brake drums, lengths of plumber's pipes, galvanized wash-tubs, glass bowls and the like. As early as 1944, he devised a method for composing on the "photo-phonograph", a precursor of tape-recorder music.
...
SUITE FOR PERCUSSION (1940) is a late work of his "San Francisco" period. (from the liner notes)
Homunculus, C.F. for 10 Percussionists
composed by Julia Perry, performed by The Manhattan Percussion Ensemble conducted by Paul Price
HOMUNCULUS, C.F., FOR TEN PERCUSSIONISTS was composed in Akron, Ohio, during the summer of 1960 in my apartment situated on the top floor of my father's (physician and surgeon) office, equipped with all the necessary facilities except a piano. These clinical surroundings evoked memories of the medieval laboratory where Wagner, youthful apprentice to Faust, made a successful alchemy experiment, fashioning and bringing to life a creature he called homunculus. Having selected percussion instruments for my formulae, then maneuvering and distilling them by means of the Chord of the Fifteenth (C.F.), this musical test tube baby was brought to life. The chord of the fifteenth was created from a succession of superimposed thirds:
E, G#, B, D#, F#, A#, C#, E#
1, 3, 5, 7, 9, 11, 13, 15
The first twenty measures of this pan-tonal composition proceed at moderate speed, punctuated with subtle rhythmic nuances. Snare drum anticipates wood block in imitation. In the succeeding twenty measures, juxtaposed dynamics between the wood block's medium-loud intensity against the cymbals' dynamics marked a trifle softer with the bass drum's intensity still softer, create a complexity of timbre and dynamics. The triple kettledrum entry on G#, D# and F# is marked very, very soft, increasing its intensity to medium loud; and it is the kettledrum that establishes E as the fundamental tone of the chordal structure in the subsequent duet with harp. The xylophone pivots in the transmutation of material. Superimposed thirds increase in dynamic intensity reinforced with vibraphone, celesta, harp and piano. (Julia Perry)
Piano Sonata No. 2
composed by Elizabeth Gyring, performed by Mitchell Andrews
Elizabeth Gyring's PIANO SONATA No. 2 was composed in 1957. It is in the traditional four movements, the first being a modified sonata form, the second a scherzo, the third a songlike slow movement and the finale a rondo. The composer says that, as in all of her music, the inspiration was the melodic idea and that all the counterpoint and harmonization should be considered merely accompaniment.
The work was premiered by Mitchell Andrews in New York in 1958, where the correspondent for Neues Oesterreich described it as "strongly rhythmic," and "expressive in its dancing flow ... This is highly spiritual music ... that again and again concentrates in dramatic climaxes." (from the liner notes)
Tracklisting:
Side 1
1. Lou Harrison - Suite for Percussion {9:31}
2. Julia Perry - Homunculus, C.F. for 10 Percussionists {5:02}
Side 2
1. Elizabeth Gyring - Piano Sonata No. 2 {20:22}
(1) or (1) [links may come back soon]
Cool! Thx.
ReplyDeleteThanks for this one. Really nice.
ReplyDeleteFor you and your readers:
http://aboombong.bandcamp.com/album/boom-dispenser-remixs-a-chronic-groove-feeder
re-up please
ReplyDelete