Volume
The second movement of 'Volume' by illogical harmonies (Johnny Chang - violin & Mike Majkowski - contrabass), a 55-minute piece from 2015, released on Another Timbre in June 2016 as part of the 'violin+1' series. A joint composition for violin and double bass, developed over six months in 2015 by violinist and Wandelweiser composer Johnny Chang with bassist Mike Majkowski, a fragile and beautifully revealing work in 5 parts that moves slowly through subtle harmonic changes.
Vokal / Instrumental
2013 release **
"Sometimes, music reaches my desk which I genuinely feel is beyond my ken to write about--I simply don't have the necessary tools. This wonderful disc, in large part, is one such so I'll pretty much stick to just giving my impressions and make no real attempt to put the music into context. I do feel confident in saying that, though I haven't heard everything released from Wandelweiser, the music herein will pretty definitely not coincide with your impression of the label, and I …
songs and piano pieces
2014 release **
"Beethoven’s fifth symphony begins with that now-iconic but aphoristic “short-short-short-long” musical motive about which so much has beenwritten and said, a radical statement for string melody without harmonic accompaniment. On his 2008 composition “Song 2,” for bass flute, Wandelweiser composer Anastassis Philippakopoulos essentializes the very concept of a similarly constructed four-note phrase, presenting each gesture in isolation, long silences allowing for listener recont…
24 petits preludes pour la guitare
2013 release **
"True, there are 24 pieces contained on this disc, which range in duration from 2:00 to 3:45, but in part due to the large amount of silence in which the single notes are swathed and also because the composition are "of a piece", the recording reads almost as a continuous work. The preludes seem to consist of sets of two to five notes, generally, perhaps always, in a rising pattern and very often diminishing as they appear, purely struck, with incredible gentleness, so much so th…
keine fernen mehr
2010 release **
"Two discs, 17 tracks per disc, just whistling, never remotely pyrotechnic, always with substantial breath in the tone, emerging from the very audible hum of the room, subsiding back into it. Slow, hints of melody but, fundamentally, the kind of things you'd whistle to yourself when deeply thinking of matters, perhaps not even realizing you're whistling. It's so personal, in a way, yet you don't (at least I don't) have any uncomfortable feeling of eavesdropping. Beuger is a fluti…
piano piece
2010 release **
"Arrayed neatly, but in dislocated sequence, across clean white pages using a standard music notation software, the material of Tim Parkinson's piano pieces suggests anonymity. Traces of other musics may be suggested by some of the material, though the focus for the performer is on projecting the sounds without the clutter of imposed interpretative rhetoric. In so doing both composer and performer declare themselves and this beautiful music is revealed."
abregistrieren
2005 release **
“select a sound of one or three tones within the range of an octavedistribute the pitches between the keyboards (use each pitch only once)select 3 – 31 stops from principals, flutes and reeds and distribute them evenly between the keyboards (do not use mixtures)play the pitches and hold the keys down (e.g. with lead weights)push the stop very slowly until you hear a change – then stop the movement, listen for a while and pull another register in the same way for a long time, on…
Solo pieces
2005 release **
music that allows sounds to sound:to die away, completely, into silence sounds thought from their end:not moving forward, but drawing back. this creates space, expanse, a delicate serenity:silence - and what it shelters - becomes audible. this is singing with the ears:barely more than silence. a singing which not only makes,but becomes space: a space for worlds. phrases are also sounds:unfolded, laid out as a path. sound paths that come into being first when followed,invariably t…
blue/dense
2005 release **
this piece uses 17 tones in whole-numbered proportions to a virtual fundamental of G'' (25Hz).the piece is a kind of analysis of the overtone region from the fifth to seventh partials and the corresponding regions one and two octaves above (10th to 14th, 20th to 28th partials).the tones are played and recorded during the first three parts and played back as samples at specific times.as many as 28 tones may sound simultaneously.the flute sounds are amplified, which allows us to he…
cello piece
2006 release **
I like that which is the extremely refined sound of a note made by an instrument. I find the sound of a note to be a very extraordinary, elusive and indefinable experience. I like the sound of one note next to another, or at the same time as another. The decisions to be made, from all the myriad array of sounds of notes, from all the potential possibilites of how to present and experience these sounds, is what draws me into the process which results in the making of a piece. I wr…
Stimmen
2007 release **
voiceswhat is music made of?of voices.and what is a voice?a sequence of sounds and silences, with its own consistency.perfectly self-contained: each voice voicing a world.and what is a world?a proportion: a specific distribution of movement and repose.perfect repose, incessant movement.in between: the infinite plurality of possible worlds.writing voices means:to traverse this universe of possibilities, one voice at a time, that is: from world to world.to dwell in worlds, in spac…
Beuger.Cage
2004 release **
Few composers have the self-control seen here to allow the silence that surrounds all we do to be so present, to bring to the forefront that which is covered by all of our daily activities, only present when we let ourselves realize the stillness at the base of all action, all sound. The regular presence of notes in calme étendue (oboe) provides for the listener a feeling similar to that of a light on top of a lighthouse as it regularly turns in the night – a feeling of grounding…
Accordion Music
2007 release **
Fold in; fold out: the breathing of the accordion. On this CD the accordion unfolds in a very special way, unusually close to the instrument. Four works, four worlds that seem to know each other; refer to each other like a greeting from far away.Hearing John Cage's ,,Cheap Imitation" played on accordion gives you the impression of folk music from an unknown, probably non-existent country. This music comes from nowhere, goes nowhere, is forever on its way.....Like ,,Sam Lazaro Bro…
Dazwischen / immer anders
2004 release **
dazwischen for organ (2000)a very low tonea very high airy soundonce in a while a tone in between, a noise in betweenorgan sounds, organ noisesroom noise, ambient noise...once in a while a sound in between:between music and non-musicimmer anders for organ (2002)the organ: a wind instrumentair flow – throughout the roomsometimes almost imperceptibly softmore noise than sound, almost just the air flowingdifferent coloured air streamsdifferent coloured silences between
Von da nach da
2007 release **
von da nach da55 images for three performers (2005)not all of the 55 images have to be played during a performance.the performers make a selection and play them in any order.on this cd 17 images appear and disppear."image" might mean: a musical image.but also: a scenery, a situation, a place.
Works for flute
2007 release **
calme, silence, solitude for piccolo solo, quelques riens for mauritius flute and moments musicaux for bass flute constitute a trilogy, composed by eva-maria houben for flutist anne horstmann.they may also be performed individually.the mauritius flute is a traverse flute made of speckled bamboo.its seven holes are burned into the wood.the scores of this trilogy contain the note: "hector berlioz abgehört" ("upon listening to hector berlioz").the titles allude to french composer h…
works for double bass
2008 release **
archipelagos and nachtstück allow hearing to take place:partials are alluded to and unfold,merging into multifaceted, richly coloured harmonies.music happens all by itself, seemingly uncomposed –like the sound of the aeolian harp, its strings set in motion by a passing wind.
Works for tromba marina
2007 release **
ein liederbuch13 songs – to be played in free order, all or in small groups, or just a single song.the tromba marina sings – and dances.it sings – and moves in varying tempi:andante sostenuto, allegro ma non troppo, adagio, allegretto moto, comodo, adagissimo,allegretto quasi andantino, molto moderato, largo… dreisätzig the tromba marina can be so many things.a kettledrum, a bass drum, percussion: timpano;a small trumpet, a piccolo trumpet - with melody and accompaniment: clarino…
A Failed Entertainment: Works 2009-2014
Works from Italian composer Clara Iannotta recorded from 2012 - 2014, including a work for string quartet composed for the DAAD artist-in-Berlin program
Broken Line
Alvin Lucier (b.1931) is the great American poet of acoustic phenomena. He has a keen sensitivity to the way objects vibrate, the way sound waves travel to our ears, and to the way our brain processes those vibrations. Trio Nexus is a Berlin based ensemble specializing in New Music. Carbon Copies seeks the recreation on musical instruments of sounds recorded in the environment. Here, the musicians prepare the piece by making their own 15-minute recordings 'of any indoor or outdoor environment.'…