Works 1939 - 2000
We were saddened to learn of the passing of Lou Harrison as this disc just entered production. It is perhaps fitting that it provides an overview of Harrison's work, from 2 movements of a mass composed in 1939 to 3 vocal arias composed in 2000. Mass to St. Anthony was begun when Hitler invaded Poland; a mass for voices and percussion expressing both outrage and hope. Harrison completed the Gregorian-like chant for the entire 5 movements of the work, but only finished the percussion accomp…
Spectral soprano
This retrospective double CD gives examples of Coxhill's early to recent work involving elements of improvisation including R & B, formally structured jazz, electronics, spontaneous music, an open rendition of an old play, and the odd bit of singing. An enormous variety of music ranging from straight-ahead jazz, to a concerto performance with the London Improvisers Orchestra, to an underwater slide saxophone solo recorded using a microphone in a condom. 135 minutes -- mostly previously unissued.
Simoom
On Simoom we hear three of Lois V. Vierk's works for "big instruments," that is, multiples of the same instrument, treated more like single entities than like groups of voices: Go Guitars for five electric guitars tuned microtonally around "E," Cirrus for six trumpets, and Simoom for eight cellos. All three works employ what Vierk describes as "Exponential Structure," which utilizes exponential relationships to control time, pitch movement and rates of change. Within this system, Vierk creates v…
Einfalt. stille.
Austrian composer in a work for flute, viola, percussion, and voice aboout the inner state and flow we perceive when listening and concentrating on a piece of music.
Sei-jaku für Streichquartett
Documentation '20 Years Inventionen', CD III. The string quartet 'sei-jaku' by German composer Klaus Lang, documented on this CD, was performed on 6/30/2002 in the Großer Sendesaal of the SFB Berlin by the Arditti String Quartet during the festival Inventionen 2002.
Trauermusiken
Two compositions by the young Austrian composer/organist Klaus Lang who currently lives in Berlin/Germany. Der Wind und das Meer for viola (Barbara Konrad, viola) The Sea of Despair for String Quartet (Amras Streichquartett)
Freeman Etudes, Books One and Two
John Cage's Freeman Etudes are the modern equivalent of Paganini's virtuoso solo violin etudes. Each etude is completely notated down to the smallest detail, and the composer states "...are as intentionally as difficult as I can make them...So I think that this music, which is almost impossible, gives an instance of the practicality of the impossible." The detail and complexity of these etudes give them a unique and unusual spot in Cage's oeuvre.
These first two books (there are 8 etudes p…
The Piano Works 7 - Chess Serenade
A major discovery and first recording of an important Cage piece from 1944. In 1944, John Cage was invited to participate in “The Imagery of Chess” exhibition at the Julien Levy Gallery in New York City. The artists included Calder, Noguchi, Motherwell, Breton, Duchamp, Ernst, Man Ray, Tanning and other leading surrealists.Cage contributed a painting entitled “Chess Pieces”. It was purchased at the show and went into a private collection. For decades it was deemed lost and was (almost) forgotten…
Sonatas and Interludes
This landmark recording of John Cage’s prepared piano works performed by Mario Bertoncini was recorded back in December 1991. The sonatas are divided into four groups, each divided by the less overtly structured, rhapsodic interlude pieces. Bertoncini sensitivity to the displaced sonic characteristics of the piano is remarkable and suggests a rigorous dedication to Cage’s work.
The Piano Works 2 - Sonatas And Interludes For Prepared Piano
The Sonatas and Interludes enjoy a well deserved reputation as a masterwork and as a repertoire piece. But this is not a masterwork in the sense of other keyboard masterworks: Bach's Goldbergs, Beethoven's Diabelli Variations, Ives' Concord Sonata.
John Cage's masterwork is quite different -- a big piece with a quiet voice. The prepared piano operates entirely by muting: by attaching objects to the strings of the piano. Cage alters their sounds in various ways, turning the piano into a percussio…
Freeman Etudes, Books Three And Four
This CD presents the first recording of the second half of John Cage's Freeman Etudes for violin. Those familiar with the previously-released volume of this work will already know what to expect: the bewildering complexity of the Etudes and the astonishing virtuosity of Irvine Arditti's performance.
Convinced that the later, more complex etudes were unplayable, Cage abandoned work on the Freeman Etudes in 1980, after completing the first sixteen and beginning the eighteenth Etude. It wasn't…
Atlas Eclipticalis With Winter Music
Legendary 1983 Cornish Institute concerts featuring John Cage conducting his own works released for first time on Triple CD, plus previously unreleased composer-supervised recordings with Arditti Quartet, Alvin Lucier, Christian Wolff.
Complete string quartets, volume 2
The Complete String Quartets Vol. 2. “String Quartet in Four Parts” (1949-50). “Four” (1989). The Arditti Quartet. The second volume of Cage's String Quartets features his first and last works in this repertoire. The well known and exquisitely beautiful, serenely Zen-like early quartet receives its first new recording in 16 years. It is a pivotal work in Cage's oeuvre, showing the composer's transition between the rhytmically complex percussion works before it and the chance works of the 1950s. …
Complete Short Works for Prepared Piano
The complete short prepared piano works collected on 2-CDs. John Cage's works for prepared piano expose his earliest experimentations in finding new and exotic sounds.Brief and attractive, they are among his most accessible work. This release marks the first time all of his short works for prepared piano have been made available in one set. All the prepared piano works are included aside from the magnum opus, Sonatas and Interludes. Pianist Philipp Vandr´e has recorded Sonatas and Interludes for…
A Cage of Saxophones 2
The 35th volume in Mode's Complete John Cage Edition is also the second release in Ulrich Krieger's series of interpretations for solo saxophone and saxophones with other instruments. Ensemble pieces of comparatively large dimensions were gathered on A Cage of Saxophones: Vol. 1, so this follow-up disc presents pieces for smaller combinations and solos, though with no less originality or charm. Even though most of these works were composed for open instrumentation, saxophones suit Cage's …
44 Harmonies from Apartment House 1776
Cage's "44 Harmonies" were originally written to form part of the sprawling bicentennial commission "Apartment House 1776", and take as their starting point late 18th century anthems and hymn tunes by William Billings, Jacob French, Andrew Law, James Lyon and the wonderfully-named Supply Belcher. Cage's compositional - or rather decompositional - method was to remove certain tones and extend others, and as James Pritchett points out in the (excellent as always for Mode) liners, he was delighted …
Atlas eclipticalis / 103
Two live, unedited performances of Cage's orchestral music: "At last Eclipticalis With Winter Music" (recorded 5/19/93, performed by The Orchestra of the SEM Ensemble, conducted by Petr Kotick, piano by David Tudor) and "103" (recorded 11/21/98, performed by the Janacek Philharmonic Orchestra, conducted by Petr Kotik)." Kotik and Cage met for the first time in May, 1964, performing a 3-hour, six percussion version of Atlas Eclipticalis. Kotik's association with Cage continued until the composer'…
A tribute
From the liner notes of Eric Salzman: “John Cage wrote for keyboards throughout most of his life. Most famously, he invented the so-called "prepared piano" but he also wrote for unprepared piano in both traditional and untraditional ways. His later piano works employ an almost ferocious complication and virtuosity at the outer limits of performer possibility. Earlier he used electronic extensions, chance and performer collaboration in complex ways. His early keyboard music was written for himsel…
Jani Christou (Enantiodromie / Praxis / Epicycle / Anaparastasis)
An expanded version of the previous rz LP by Jani Christou. All works by Christou, the late, legendary "freely-atonal" Greek composer. Features: "Enantiodromia" (1965-68, for orchestra); "Praxis" (1966-69, for string orchestra and piano), "Epicycle" (1968, for instruments, actors and voices); "Anaparastasis III" (1968-69, for soloist, ensemble and continuum [tapes]); "Mysterion" (1965-66, for narrator, actors, 3 choirs, orchestra and tapes)"Jani Christou tried to use and incorporate philosophica…
A Catalogue of Sounds
Jakob Ullmann's music realizes an infinite variety of gradations in all areas of musical formation. That the music of the "catalogue" is nearly always played very softly leads to the ear noticing the smallest differentiations; the listener is put into a state of constant, acute attentiveness. The musical stream is constantly subjected to small irritations, sometimes its flow quickens, sometimes there are brief splashes like those caused by pebbles thrown into water. Performers: Ensemble Oriol Be…