Categorie: muziek

early voice is very different from a descent into the maelstrÀÜm. i had a really hard time listening to over 50 minutes of another look at harmony, part 4. regular readers might know that i am very fond of sound pattern phasing (and other variations on a theme). unfortunately the two pieces on early voice, dating from the early seventies, sound very flat and monotonous.

not that i doubt its value in a historical perspective, but that is where it ends. this type of work marks the early stages of minimalism, and makes way for stronger compositions such as music in 12 parts. this is hinted at multiple times in the short text in the inlay:

The repeating patterns of “Music for Voices” were assembled into an informal score which divided the performers into pairs. In this performance eight people sat in a circle facing inwards. Each singer’s part rose and fell in volume in a regular pattern and the entry of each voice coincided with the dynamic peak of its partner. The use of solfage as text for the unaccompanied vocal parts is a hint as to what is coming later in “Music in 12 Parts” and the groundbreaking “Einstein on the Beach”. The handclapping heard on this recording is Philip Galss signaling to the performers when to start the next pattern.

and about another look at harmony:

This piece marks the arrival of harmonic motion but not a departure from the structural concerns and rhythmic intricacy of the earlier works -leading us right up to the watershed, “Einstein on The Beach”.

(it was abit awkward mentioning this since i have yet to listen to einstein on the beach. i’ll repent soon.)

from a historical perspective is an important asset in the collection of a real philip glass fan. but for a regular listener it’s way past its bedtime now.

orange mountain music brings older philip glass music. i didn’t know that beforehand –i’m the kind of guy that doesn’t read manuals either. while listening to a descent into the maelstrom i kept thinking this would have been been great music in the eighties. and how it seemed like the album could have been entitled glass meets vangelis. or how it came that all of a sudden glass was influenced by wim mertens. and why we had yet another variation of the same theme.

coming home, i finally read the text from the booklet

In 1986 Mr. Glass was commissioned by the Australian Dance Theatre to create and bring a piece to the Adelaide Festival of Arts in Adelaide, Australia. he chose to write a piece based on the Edgar Allan Poe short story “A Descent into the MaelstrÀÜm” and invited his collaborators to participate.

so there you have it, for once my intuition was right.

This compelling piece of music premiered in March, 1986 at the Adelaide Festival of Arts and was only performed by the Philip Glass Ensemble during the week of the festival in Australia. Consequently, it has had very little exposure to Philip Glass’ audience, although there have been bootleg recordings available on the internet.

even though no official recording of a descent into the maelstrÀÜm wasn’t made available we’ve been exposed to the melody numerous times. i have to say that i particularly like this version, in spite (?) of its distinct eighties sound.

it had been a while since i’d ordered cds via the internet. there was however no way that i could get the glass cd from his ourange mountain music label localy, rather limiting my options. i chose to order via amazon us (since amazon uk didn’t have the items available at the time i ordered them).

and lo and behold, after more than a month i today received my shipment of 2 glass cds (descent into the maelstrÀÜm and early voice), and one reich (tehillim / the desert music).

total cost: 61.93 USD (58.78 EUR). or so you think:

add to that 14.97 EUR VAT

add to that 2.12 EUR import tax

add to that 8.68 EUR presentation costs

which amounts to 84.55 EUR or 28.18 EUR per CD

(currently they are available through amazon uk, for a total of 42.21 UKP (64.22 EUR). they would have arrived here sooner too.)

it’s no longer cheaper to order cds via the internet. and it’s been like that for a while. i can get almost everything through local stores (mostly fnac), and the cost is rarely higher than if i’d ordered on-line (with shipping costs etc added). no more us stores for me.

daily:

artsjournal: the daily digest of arts, culture & ideas

arts & letters daily: philosophy, aesthetics, literature, language, ideas, criticism, culture, history, music, art, trends, breakthroughs, disputes, gossip. and all of this updated on a daily basis

rec.music.classical.contemporary

monthly:

la scena musicale on-line: a free monthly magazine published in english and french by la sc‚àö√£ne musicale/the music scene, a non-profit organization dedicated to the promotion of classical music

also:

artnet

de morgen (belgian broadsheet) has a short review of naqoyqatsi in its weekend edition (11/12 january 2003). it’s mostly about the movie, but there’s a short reference about the music:

(loosely translated it comes to this:)

“… and the very recognisable music by philip glass, a pure pastiche of his own score for koyaanisqatsi.”

i’ve included the full article (in dutch)

Binnenkort verschijnt er een anderhalf uur durende lsd-trip in de bioscoop, een filosofisch, dialoog-, verhaal- en personageloos traktaat over De Mens. De film heet Na-kooi-kat-si. Ik was altijd al een aanbidder van voorganger Koyaanisqatsi (1983), mijn persoonlijk manifest, Nietige Vernietigende Mens vs. Almachtige Natuur. In verschillende opzichten is Naqoyqatsi wel een soort ‘vervolg op’: hetzelfde proc√àd√à om de Boodschap over te brengen (het associ√éren van beelden) en de zeer herkenbare muziek van Philip Glass, een zuivere pastiche van zijn eigen score voor Koyaanisqatsi. Wat vooral opvalt aan deze nieuwe Qatsi is z’n veel modernere look, regisseur Godfrey Reggio filmt niet meer louter bestaande landschappen en toestanden, om ze dan op het ritme van de muziek te vertragen of te versnellen, hij voegt er nu ook (te) veel computeranimatie en digitale filtering toe, zodat niets nog echt lijkt. het probleem van deze flitsende opeenvolging van beelden is de Boodschap.

Naqoyqatsi betekent voor de ondertussen tot de wortel uitgeroeide Hopi-indianen evenveel als ‘Beschaving van Geweld’, een interessante tegenstrijdigheid dus. Koyaanisqatsi betekent ‘een wereld uit balans’, zoals duidelijk bleek uit de beelden: de enorme macht van de natuur, contrasterend met de mierenhoop die de mensheid is, opeengestapeld in metropolen met spaghettivormige snelwegen en een technologie die stilaan boven onszelf begint te stijgen. Met de nieuwe ligt dat heel wat moeilijker, het is allemaal abstracter, het thema komt er niet meteen uit, we zien afwisselend beelden van baby’s, digitale codes, schapen, atleten, vervallen gebouwen, oorlogstuigen, nieuwsbeelden, voetbalsupporters, merknamen die door het beeld flitsen, en dat alles moet ‘Geweld’ voorstellen.

Veel idee√én dus, maar weinig consistentie. Toch, het blijft een trip van jewelste, goed om de psychonautische mens een tevreden “wow, far out man” te laten uiten.

Jan Devries

De Morgen, 11/12 januari 2003

the first album i bought from uri caine was the goldberg variations. i was drawn to it for three reasons: 1. it were the goldberg variations / it was bach 2. it stood in the jazz section 3. the winter & winter sleeve design

i like bach. in the late seventies/early eighties i used to visit my then recently divorced godfather, who at the time owned a turntable and some 15 LPs. four of which were bach, and he used to put on the toccata and the goldberg variations a lot (don’t know the performer though).

btw when i say turntable, it was a vast piece of furniture, more like a sideboard, that included the turntable, radio (actually wireless seems a more appropriate word in the context) and the loudspeakers

anyway, i’m rather fond of the goldberg variations; i have a great glenn gould edition and the marvelous dmitry sitkovetsky transcriptions for strings, and i’ve been lurking at the ‘new’ gould release (a state of wonder –read the very positive review by simon barrow; i’ll probably give in and buy it this saturday)

but this version was in the jazz section. what the heck? i had a brief listen, and couldn’t believe what i heard. these are not the goldberg variations. this isn’t even bach. sitkovetsky’s were transcribed for strings, but undeniably bach’s goldberg variations. these were not. still i took it home, and it didn’t leave the cd player for a week.

and now there’s beethoven. the diabelli variations. i am not familiar with the orginal work (if anybody can suggest a solid release…) but i already know i like what uri caine has done (and i did recognize bits from the 9th). it’s jazzy, playful, exciting. it’s probably paraphrasing and retelling (a story) but adding emphasis and colour. it’s just that bit, that detail, that reconfirms your interest in classical music and jazz. it’s eclecticism at its best.

[ bach – goldberg variations ]

Sony Classical – Glenn Gould: amazon uk

Nonesuch – transcriptions by Dmitry Sitkovetsky: amazon uk | us

Winter & Winter – Uri Caine: amazon uk | us

A State of Wonder – Glenn Gould: amazon uk

[ beethoven – diabelli variations ]

Winter & Winter – Uri Caine: amazon uk | us

[ uri caine website ]

uhoh. not good. i’ve yet to read a good review of the movie, and this cd review isn’t going to be any better.

if you ask me, a big waste of both glass’s and yo-yo ma’s talents. of course the album is a re-hashing of the main philip glass theme (the one that features on almost every album, from la belle et la b‚àö√ßte through the secret agent, to the string quartets), but that in itself shouldn’t be a bad thing. glass has proven he can do wonders with it.

however, the music seems like somebody’s taken that theme, and has been running it through all kinds of electronical devices to see what effects they can come up with. at its best it’s solo cello, but at its worst it’s a bad imitation of already a really bad pop song.

glass can say in the notes

my instinct was to balance the quite startling effect of the synthetically composed images with a sound world of ‘natural’ timbres.

unfortunately the ‘synthetic’ feeling overrules any ‘natural’ perceptions that might have been intended, and even the nice ‘voice’ of the cello (notice how, all of a sudden i’ve been using quotes).

the notes (both by glass and by reggio) keep droning on about how ‘acoustic’ the music is, about the ‘human’ aspect and the ‘forces of nature’. don’t be deceived, if this is the fruit of a 25 year effort to write this score, then please, he shouldn’t have bothered.

okay. so you have to be patient. but so do i. i placed my order with amazon a little over a week ago, and i’ve only just now received a message that ‘my items have been shipped’ when they arrive is another matter. esp. in this holiday season.

so i’m waiting for glass’s early voice, and a descent into the maelstrÀÜm, and reich’s tehillim / the desert music. delivery estimate: december 27-january 8. sigh.

meanwhile i got adams naive and sentimental music, which i ordered from the fnac (don’t hold your breath, i think it’s a bad album), and i noticed they now have glass’s new naqoyqatsi, which i’ll probably get saturday or monday. (btw the fnac is cheaper than if ordered from amazon –unfortunately they can’t order everything, such as the items from glass’s orange mountain music label)

if i’m a bit slow in updating, it’s because i’m doing some research. i’d intended for this week to be soundtrack week, so i’m digging up and (re)listening to some favourites. i’ll skip the obvious, and exclude michael nyman, wim mertens and philip glass, but the list includes jocelyn pook, eleni karaindrou and tan dun. also, the list probably will not include what’s referred to as soundtrack composers (such as john williams)

meanwhile here are a few sites of interest: soundtrackcollector, filmtracks, soundtracknet, soundtrack express (listed in no particular order)

a brief technical interlude. the rss feeds for december.org have been updated to produce valid rss 1.0 and 2.0, thanks to the guidelines of the internet archive (link found via jonathon delacour)

and while i was at it, i’ve reinstated some of the 2001 entries (thanks to the wayback archive)