| $19.66
back in stock as of
october 3rd, 2008
first in stock on
july 15th, 2003
threads:
contemporary-classical
minimalism-drones
shandar
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| | | new tone (italy) #nt 6742 cd charlemagne palestine “strumming music” compact disc | | click the play button to hear an excerpt of "strumming music" |
| much like the garlo disc, this and the terry riley set below are two other perennials ... this being palestine’s most well-known work, and arguably his best. finally back in stock after being sold out for two years !!!
just an unbelievably great long trance-inducing solo piano piece, rife with overtone clusters, composed and performed by mr. palestine. if you had to pick one entry point into his sound-world (a middle ground between adult-child overtones/stuffed animals and the ‘serious’ avant-gardes), i’d recommend this one uncategorically ... |
| | new tone press release... |
| charlemagne palestine is probably the less known, and the most legendary, among the great masters of the american minimal music, but he is not, for this reason, less important.
differently from la monte young ,terry riley ,steve reich and philip glass charlemagne palestine, after a first phase of intense research to definite the musical language that in the late seventies will be called minimalism, preferred to dedicate his creativity in the visual arts field presenting very personal installation with exhibition in many important galleries getting a very successful response. this choice cut him out of the musical world, his carrier as pianist and composer was interrupted and he never succeeded in getting the public recognition his musical activity deserved.
it exist in the world very few recordings and records by palestine, strumming music is probably his first cd. luckily in the recent past palestine is rethinking about the music and is preparing a coming back; among other works he is completing a string quartet for kronos quartet.
the music consists of a single track of approximately 45 minutes per solo piano played by palestine. a composition very strong and intense, the acoustic sound of the piano, thanks to a great technique and a very strong physical force, becomes the sound of an entire orchestra full of harmonics.
from the historical point of view gives the opportunity to discover the music of one the pioneer of the minimal music. it is the reprinting, in cd format, of palestine's most known composition: strumming music, originally issued in the contemporary composer series of shandar records . the packing, as before for the reprinting of terry riley - persian surgery dervishes - nt 6715 and steve reich - four organs - newtone rdc 5018 respect completely the original one, just one thing has been added a joan la barbara review of a live performance of strumming music of 1975.
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charlemagne palestine was born in brooklyn, new york in 1945. his formal education includes music and art high school; mannes college of music; the new school for social research and new york university. from 1964.1970 he was carillonneur at saint thomas church, nyc. he was composer in residence at new york university and has taught at california institute of the arts ano nova scotia college of art. his works have been performed all over the united states, canada and europe. apart from his music he is also known for his body~art, video and purely visual works
strumming music is a work developed over the past five years utilizing a note alternation technique with the sustain pedal of the piano constantly depressed. this technique allows the undampened strings to resonate and compound with each other creating complex mixtures of pure strummed sonority and their overtones. no electronics or special tunings are utilized; only the finest instrument available to day, the rolls royce of pianos, “bosendorfer" of vienna, all of mr palestine's piano works have been composed especially for this marvelous instrument.
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strumming music
charlemagne palestine
the idea warehouse
22 reade st.
ny
the idea warehouse space was quite dark at 9.00 sunday night, setting a quiet mood for charlemagne palestine's performance of his «strumming music». several red lights illuminated the bosendorfer piano, adorned with the teddy bears, monkeys and cognac bottles, which has become charlemagne ~trademark. (solo performance is a lonely experience;~ the extreme highs and fears can be fully appreciated only by oneself and private comfort can come from many sources.)
charlemagne appeared in the red-lit space, dedicated the series of concerts to his brother, howard sue palestine who died recently, clarified that the microphones inside the piano were only to record the concert, and turned off the remaining red lights, leaving the space lit only by light from the street and scattered cigarettes.
beginning with a single tone, played as softly as possible and then adding the fifth above, palestine began playing a slow tremolo on the open fifth, varying the pressure attack on the keys to make some notes stronger and to bring out differences in tone color and timbre, giving a sound spectrum spread from bright and metallic to soft, rich and round. the particular sound qualities of this instrument are an important part of the music and palestine accentuated its tonal idiosyncrasies, making us conscious of the texture and shape of sound as it flowed in waves from piano, and reminding us how much music comes from 2 tones. (it is our language which is inadequate, not our music).
someone in the~ corner began to dance and others gave in to this impulse throughout the evening, most of them choosing to spin. i noticed the shadow patterns on the ceiling caused by the street lights shining through the window panes and was reminded of light-shapes from my childhood. (i thought of marina zazeela's lacey design projections from last year's kitchen dream house and decided they now seemed inadequate approximations city nightlights.)
keeping the persistent rhythm intense and steady, palestine added tones gradually dealing with sound clusters rather than melodies and acoustic properties rather than traditional rules of harmony and rhythm. added tones appeared as voices or distant horn calls, all created by the piano and variation of physical weight on the keys. (palestine deals with body control as part of the music~ arm strength is needed for duration and muscles spasms and tension are used to vary intensity and tempo.) he is concerned with the beauty of sound, almost as an object, and his audience is duly enthralled. performacne seems the most abstracts of arts, existing as it does in the very present tense. a piece may be repeated but will never be exactly the same in any two performences. it is an experience a performer shares with an audience - the enactment of a particular piece )in this case music, of music) which can be altered by the state of the performer's mind and the quality of decisions made each time it is re-enacted.
joan la barbara
april 17, 1975
special thanks to lorenza peregrini, carol parkinson, harvest works, steve reich, bosendorfer piano company |
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