Ernö Király

Kiraly's experimental music stems from two sources, the first of which is his country's traditional folk music, while the second is Edgard Varese, whose '+'"'+'Poeme Electronique'+'"'+' had an incredible impact on Kiraly when he first heard it. Thus the high pitched gypsy violin, the energetically strummed guitar and the eerie rumble of electronic music come together to create a marriage of sounds that are both ancient and modern. Kiraly (like Partch) is also an inventor of musical instruments, two of which are the electrified zitherphone (made up of five zithers of varying sizes) and the tablophone, a creation that is part instrument and part drawing table! The zitherphone can be heard in action here on "Perpetuum Mobile", a composition which brings to mind the explorative playing power of Keith Rowe and Fred Frith. Complete with score diagrams, drawings, photographs and an informative essay on Kiraly and his work by Stevan Kovacs Tickmayer, PHOENIX is an important addition to any serious contemporary music collection.