| $14.62
back in stock as of
december 22nd, 2010
first in stock on
november 28th, 2007
threads:
modern-composition
electro-acoustic-composition
1970s-electronic
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| | | new world (usa) #nw 80237 cd paul chihara / chou wen-chung / early kim / roger reynolds “from behind the unreasoning mask” compact disc - roger reynolds - from behind the unreasoning mask (17:13) 1975
- paul chihara - ceremony ii (”incantations”) (6:33) 1974
- chou wen-chung - suite for harp and wind quintet (6:45) 1950
- earl kim - earthlight (15:06) 1973
| | ... mainly for the title piece; roger reynolds’ “interplay between a four-channel tape and live performers (trombone, two percussionists)” ... |
| | new world press release... |
| clearly influenced by varese’s concept of "pure sound," the four works on from behind the unreasoning mask privilege the exploration of sound as a means of musical expression. in the 1970s, the integration of new vocal and instrumental techniques and, sometimes, electronic sound sources into the composer’s vocabulary broadened the tonal, textural—and, consequently—expressive palette immeasurably.
roger reynolds’s (b. 1934) from behind the unreasoning mask (1975) presents an interplay between a four-channel tape (at first sparse, but becoming a dense sonic tapestry) and live performers (trombone, two percussionists) who respond in diverse ways both to the prerecorded sounds and to each other.
paul chihara (b. 1938) dedicated ceremony ii (incantations) (1974) to flutist paul dunkel, and it is the agile cadenzas and decorative melodies of the flute that dominate the work. by contrast, the two cellos tend to move in regular rhythms, and the percussionist adds washes of cymbal and vibraphone color.
chou wen-chung’s (b. 1923) beautiful five-movement suite for harp and wind quintet (1950) is based on chinese melodies and is a work of shimmering colors and calligraphic delicacy.
the final work, earl kim’s (b. 1920) earthlight (1973) is subtitled "romanza for violin con sordino, high soprano, piano, and lights," with a text adapted from several works of samuel beckett. kim’s subtly inflected music explores the coloristic and textural possibilties, both vocal and instrumental, primarily in the upper register, to create a muted but intense monodrama.
martha potter, violin
merja sargon, soprano
earl kim, piano
timothy eddy, fred sherry, cellos
paul dunkel, flute
miles anderson, trombone
stephen taylor, oboe
virgil blackwell, clarinet
frank morelli, bassoon
stewart rose, french horn
tom rainey, richard ritz, roger reynolds, percussion
...
from behind the unreasoning mask presents an interplay between a four-channel tape (at first sparse, but becoming a dense sonic tapestry) and live performers who respond in diverse ways both to the prerecorded sounds and to each other. imitation, contradiction, and independence (even between the percussionist's hands, or the breath- and hand-impulses of the trombonist) variously guide the three performers in an evolving strategy for penetrating the growing authority of the tape. the work is carefully notated, but there are improvisatory details. the trombone part is a veritable dictionary of special techniques recently made possible on that instrument.
the four-channel tape is the metaphoric “mask” of the title behind which the performers act. the forceful, prerecorded events that define the tape are arranged in precisely measured time patterns that, in general, accelerate or retard during the course of the work, constituting a system of reference cues for the performers. widely spaced in time, these prerecorded attacks — electronically modified instrumental sounds — are meant to evoke a kind of "unreasoning" monolithic authority, sometimes imitating, sometimes contrasting with, the live sounds. |
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