★Gramavision
Arditti
1990 release ** "Arditti", presents a typically challenging Arditti programme, beginning with Beethoven's Grosse Fuge (1826), which comes over well from their modernist standpoint. Conlon Nancarrow's String Quartet No. 3 (1987) comes next - Nancarrow had said that the Grosse Fuge was the only music he would want his quartet to follow, and they make an illuminating pairing. Ruth Crawford Seeger's magnificent String Quartet (1931) has had several fine recordings, and this one is one of the best - …
Rainforest IV (LP)
Original 1981 mint copies of the first edition of Tudor's electronic environment masterpiece from 1973 published by the legendary Edition Block.
Ragas Of Morning & Night
Rare first release of a 1968 recording of ecstatic ragas by La Monte Young and Terry Riley's teacher, produced by Young.
The Second Dream Of The High-Tension Line Stepdown Transformer From The Four Dreams Of China
Very rare US edition with calligraphy by Marian Zazeela on the CD label and 16-page booklet.
The Well-Tuned Piano
Very rare original 1987 box-set including 28-page book and subscription card. A true minimalistic totem.
Cadenza On The Night Plain and Other String Quartets
After years of composing for piano and electronic media and more jazz-based ensembles, David Harrington of the Kronos Quartet convinced Terry Riley to try his hand at a work for the recently formed ensemble (DH is the 1st violinist). This marked the beginning of an astonishing series of works for string quartet, that far exceed anything produced for the medium by either Steve Reich or Philip Glass (who've both composed works for Kronos). This LP shows the earliest of Riley's music for Kronos. "G…