hermann nitsch “eighth symphony • for choir, orchestra, and noise orchestra” double compact disc set

• eighth symphony (1) (21:28)
  
• eighth symphony (2) (21:26)
  
  
• eighth symphony (3) (20:44)
  
• eighth symphony (4) (20:51)

tochnit aleph press release...

hermann nitsch - eighth symphony - 2cd-box, tochnit aleph ta093 recordings of the first performance of hermann nitsch's 8th symphony (for choir, orchestra, and noise orchestra). composed by hermann nitsch. performed june 25th 1990 at the mak museum für angewandte kunst, vienna by ensemble 20.jahrhundert, hugo distler chor, blasorchester der wiener e-werke, wolfgang mitterer (synthesizer). first issued as a double-lp by the cortical foundation, usa, in an edition of a mere 185 copies in 2001. comes in big double-disc jewelcase with all new artwork including 2 posters with credits, photos, a part of the score, and the text 'die gigantische symphonie' by günter brus. günter brus the gigantic symphony hermann nitsch is looked upon as the true successor of the great masters of symphony: beethoven, bruckner, and mahler. he draws from scriabin's, schoenberg's, and webern's experience, however, comes up with different conclusions than their (sanctioned) successors. that is to say: nitsch disregards webern's analysis of music. unlike others he does not attempt to advance atonal music with methods that since long should be handed over to science and technical realms (e.g. stockhausen). nitsch ignores any attempt to investigate the core of the construction of webern's music. he does know it well though and starts where others don't react at all; at lust, rot (disintegration) and death, poison and madness, fragrance and temperature, the fluid, the excess. to him the intricate structure of a symphony is not accidental play with traditional forms, it's necessity. a symphony is s o u n d (and complete). nitsch draws material from a number of epochs, mostly though from late romanticism and expressionism. unlike those who don't want to let go of the past, nitsch uses material that pertains to today's interests rather than adhering to structures established before. theater and music cannot be left in the hands of specialists only. a new generation has to grow. nothing is gained by performances of some puny imbeciles. these warmed-up-versions of dadaistic rage are no good if the goal is to leave the current stagnation in theater and music behind. the staging of a nitsch performance requires something that is completely missing in today's karajans and bernsteins: what is called for is rather exact knowledge of where liberation and expansion (really) takes place. maybe they struggle all the way to the primal scream (which should be given a chance to erupt) but get stuck midways as the expressionists whimpering with clammy (inhibited) souls. freud is like an oxygen frenzy (rush) for these tenors. few set out to work on scriabin's fragrance and color prophecies. i see a legitimate expansion of scriabin's mystery play in nitsch's symphonic and theatrical work. nitsch does not make the mistake to turn scriabin's demands into dogma. he doesn't allow himself (run danger) to separate scriabin from history like a fatherly patron the way it happened to webern and his successors (epigons). nitsch didn't run into scriabin like a lost son but as somebody who clearly knew his own goals and was capable to integrate sriabin's visions into his own work. in london, 1966, nitsch was called the "bruckner of the happening". he succeeded so radically in breathing new life into the great symphony which was said to be dead that it will soon turn popular, short sighted hodge podge views on the "history of music" completely upside down. günter brus 1969 (translation hans j. schacht)

“inventionen ‘98 • 50 jahre musique concrète” double compact disc set

• unsuk chin - allegro ma non troppo (13:32)
  
• patrick kosk - icebice (11:10)
  
• werner cee - berlin indoors (slow motion) (10:17)
  
• françois donanto - sept jours (10:38)
  
• robin minard - 4 räume (14:58)
  
• wolfgang mitterer - ululu 1 (14:05)
  
  
• francis dhomont - phonurgie (cycle du son, 4) (12:32)
  
• erik mikael karlsson - intensities and interludes (12:26)
  
• trevor wishart - two women - four voiceprints: siren (3:23)
  
• trevor wishart - two women - four voiceprints: facets (2:34)
  
• trevor wishart - two women - four voiceprints: stentor (2:22)
  
• trevor wishart - two women - four voiceprints: angelus (5:55)

edition rz press release...

ed. rz 10009/10 2cd (parallele 9/10) inventionen '98: 50 jahre musique concrete compositions by chin, kosk, cee, donato, minard, mitterer, dhomont, karlsson, wishart