★Wergo

With the legendary “Studio Reihe Neuer Musik” series, Wergo created a trademark of advanced contemporary music in the Sixties of the past century already. On the occasion of its 50th anniversary, the label now releases these highlights of 20th-century music history in an excellent sound quality on CD for the first time.In "Und so weiter pour piano électrique et bande magnétique", the piano and tape sounds become interwoven in a complex dialogue. "Music Promenade. Mixage originale“ – created in t…

The sixth and final volume in Wergo's acclaimed series of recordings, Earle Brown - A Life in Music completes the label's reissue of the eighteen LPs of Earle Brown's legendary Contemporary Sound Series, recorded between 1960 and 1973. The first disc in the set contains works by John Cage and Christian Wolff from the early 1960s. Disc two presents violinist Paul Zukofsky accompanied by pianist Gilbert Kalish in works by Crumb, Yun, Wuorinen and Cage. The final disc contains works by South Americ…

In 1981/1982 the French composer Luc Ferrari produced the radio play “Jetzt – oder wahrscheinlich ist dies mein Alltag, in der Verwirrung der Orte und der Augenblicke” [“NOW – or Probably This Is My Everyday Life in the Confusion of Places and Moments”] with the Hessischer Rundfunk. Like other earlier radio plays of Ferrari, “JETZT” as “radio play on the radio play” is a special case between music, radiophonic art and narrative radio play. The dialogues between Luc Ferrari and his wife Brunhi…

The voice as instrument, the temple bell as orchestra, the piano as detonator. Vol. 3 of Earle Brown's Contemporary Sound Series traces three radical propositions about sound and its sources - each originating from a different continent, each redefining what was possible within its medium. The first disc belongs to Cathy Berberian. Originally issued on Time Records in 1962, it captures the American mezzo-soprano - then based in Milan and married to Luciano Berio - at the height of her extraordin…

Few figures of the American avant-garde wore as many hats as Earle Brown. Composer, graphic notation pioneer, member of the New York School alongside John Cage, Morton Feldman, and Christian Wolff - but also, and crucially, a record producer whose ear shaped one of the most important document series in 20th century music. Between 1960 and 1973, working first for Time Records and then Mainstream Records, Brown curated the Contemporary Sound Series - 18 LPs presenting works by 49 composers from 16…

"Wergo's reissues of the legendary Earle Brown Contemporary Sound Series have been a big hit with fans of contemporary music around the world. Each set is a treasure-trove of works by a wide range of composers, performed by some of the finest musicians of the time. The three CDs of volume four feature string quartets by Boulez, Scelsi and Earle Brown, works for chamber orchestra by Xenakis, Aldo Clementi, Bo Nilsson, Wlodzimierz Kotonski and Yuji Takahashi and works by Milko Kelemen, Niccolo Cas…

3-CD Set.  Recorded between 1960 and 1973, the original eighteen LPs that comprise Earle Brown's legendary Contemporary Sound Series have been highly sought after in the secondary market since 1978 when they were discontinued. These rare and historically important recordings of international avant-garde music have been carefully digitized and remastered by the Earle Brown Music Foundation. Volume two includes music by Nono (Polifonica-Monodia-Ritmica), Bruno Maderna (Serenata No. 2), Luciano Ber…

Original copy, the title of Scelsi's song cycle possibly refers to the fact that the sign of the Capricorn corresponds with an area of the Earth stretching from India to South America and includes, most significantly, the Amazon. The Amazon, as Scelsi noted, is a place where a pre-historic human culture survives. Scelsi's Songs (19) of the Capricorn, reduce the concept of "song" to poetically loaded vocal utterances imaginatively recalling the conditions of music and language in humankind's dist…

Collected here are three radioplays from three Fluxus affiliates, Philip Corner, Alison Knowles, and George Brecht. Each piece is built from a simple element and features a text recited by the author and sometimes others. Corner's piece is an homage to Erik Satie, built from a sparce two chord piano figure and a recitation that teeters along the stereo field. Knowles' piece, which she delivers along with Brecht, Hanna Higgins, and Jessica Higgins, is built from a long list of bean names on top o…

What?? was composed in 1967 in the electronic music studio of Swedish Radio, and was originally released on the German new music label Wergo with Bo Anders Persson 's Proteinimperialism , another static drone piece. What?? is based on Folke Rabe 's intense interest in monotony and harmonic overtones. The work is based on deep drones and their partials, where each partial is separately manipulated. Sometimes this coalesces into a beautiful chord, sometimes into more dissonant structures, but is c…

Recordings from '76/77. "Songs..." is a suite of solo voice pieces, showcasing her various extended techniques. Some excellent experimental vocals, some a bit too whimsical perhaps. "Tablet" is a 23 minute ensemble work for 4 female voices, piano & soprano recorder. Only one copy available.

Homage to Stefano Scodanibbio by Sebastian Gramss and ten other double bassists, among them Barry Guy, Joëlle Léandre, Barre Phillips and Mark Dresser, recorded separately in 2014, plus a 2008 live duo of Scodanibbio and Gramss.

Live recording from Donaueschingen, 17 October 1992: Michael Riessler's project on Abélard and Héloise, with Valentin Clastrier, Michel Godard, Renaud Garcia-Fons, Rabih Abou-Khalil and others, recorded by Südwestfunk.

Duo album by Manfred Schoof (trumpet, flugelhorn) and Rainer Brüninghaus (piano, keyboards), six original pieces recorded in October 1987 and May 1988 at Tonstudio Cornet, Cologne.

Three works by Enno Poppe for Ensemble Resonanz: the viola concerto Filz with Tabea Zimmermann, Stoff in its version for nine strings, and Wald for four string quartets, conducted by the composer. First recordings, co-produced with Deutschlandfunk Kultur.

First recordings of Enno Poppe's Feld, the jointly composed Tonband by Poppe and Wolfgang Heiniger, and Heiniger's Neumond, played by Yarn/Wire (Ian Antonio, Russell Greenberg, Laura Barger, Ning Yu) with Sam Torres on live electronics.

Six chamber works by Younghi Pagh-Paan, including BIDAN-SIL (Silken Thread) and two TA-RYONG pieces, in first recordings by the E-MEX Ensemble conducted by Christoph Maria Wagner. Co-production with Deutschlandradio, 2020.

First recording of Philippe Manoury's Lab.Oratorium (2019) for actors, soprano, mezzo-soprano, choirs, live electronics and orchestra, on the deaths of refugees in the Mediterranean, with the Gürzenich Orchestra conducted by François-Xavier Roth, directed by Nicolas Stemann.

Five works by Enno Poppe written for Ensemble Musikfabrik: Fell for drumset, Stoff for nine players, Brot, Haare for violin solo and Zug for seven brass, with Dirk Rothbrust, Hannah Weirich and Musikfabrik conducted by the composer.

Double album of solo and duo works by organist-composer Gerd Zacher, all first recordings, including 75 Event(ualitie)s for organ with Juan Allende-Blin's Siebeneinhalb Dezennien, played by Matthias Geuting, Hasti Molavian, Evelin Degen, Allende-Blin and others.