Iannis Xenakis - Synaphai / Aroura / Antikhthon (Headline/Decca - Head 13)

Actually learning about the lives of artists can be quite enlightening when listening and trying to understand their works. Iannis Xenakis can be named as a primary example for this case. He is a well known contemporary classic music composer who has developed unique techniques while trying to create the sound textures of his desires. He has tried different kind of perspectives. It is now I can understand from where and how these techniques and perspectives were coming from.

Xenakis was primarily an architect. He fought during WWII only to be sentenced to death which has led him to escape prison and endure a long exile period in France. For over 15 years, he worked as an architect and cooperated in important projects. However, he was directed by his desires to move into music and this is the point where everything started to get interesting altogether.

Due to the naturalistic movement in architecture, he was applying natural textures in architecture and this was also his starting point. Textures are the first thing you hear and see and thus must be the most important aspects of perception. Xenakis was heavily involved in trying to create naturalistic textures in electronic and symphonic music with the help of pitch, rhythm, timbre alterations and repetitions. These repetitions can hardly be called a wink at minimalist classical music since the general structure of the compositions and the repetitivity of these repetitions are technically too different from that style.

This record includes three works of Xenakis from 3 close dated stages of his life where Xenakis was during his search for the self explaining textures in modern music. In Synaphai irregular repetitions coincide with the continuous vibration mainly arousing from the piano. Aroura is the more naturalistic of the three compositions and includes the sound textures of nature. Xenakis tries to envision fields, woods, the sea and other natural textures that can be seen via repetitions of certain notes and timbres. Considering the current level of textures which appear in modern compositions and works, these early sound forms are a joy to listen as they provide insiders information on how it all developed. Antikhton is the last composition which is actually composed for a ballet piece. Here Xenakis delves into the textures of space, earth, sun and the other planets while contemplating the whole universe. Space is also another sound form he uses in order to give the full meaning to the composition and this is another important aspect of the era Xenakis composed this piece.

We have seen similar compositions from the likes of John Cage and Toru Takemitsu. Interestingly even though we call all these compositions with easy tagging as experimental, yet actually they should have been called futuristic instead. Space was not something they were craving for. We need space now and these compositions are sketching out what we actually need from our lives today.

To buy this record:

@ Discogs
@ Music Stack
@ Ebay

Various Artists – Columbia - Princeton Electronic Music Center (Finnadar - QD 9010)

Columbia-Princeton Electronic Music Center is an institution (Part of both universities) which most of Early Electronic Music devotees are extremely familiar with. It is more like on par with Darmstadt and Juillard music school. Well this already explains the significance.

The center was officially founded in 1959 with the support of Rockefeller foundation. Started as a one studio and shortly it developed into five studios due to excessive demand. The first people to start working and experimenting in the studio were the faculty members Milton Babbitt, Otto Luening and Vladimir Ussachevsky. Later on other composers started to flock with names like Bulent Arel, Mario Davidovsky, Tzvi and Ilhan Mimaroglu.

The album is made up of 6 compositions from the early cooperating composers, but the works are from a 20 year period. Due to this and due to the general idea of experimentation, the collected works are quite different both in terms of style and characteristics. However, they can understandably be categorized as Early Electronic Music. Of course during the early periods, experimentation was at its peak with new sounds and equipment being brought in.

The main differences between the compositions occur based on the composition years as well as techniques and equipment being used for these compositions. For instance Ussachevsky's composition "A Piece For Tape Recorder" was recorded in the late 1950's whereas Smiley's "Eclipse" was close to 20 years later. This evidently made some drastic changes in the style and other main criterias. It can even be said that Smiley's should not be added into the same category as the other ones, but hey, who says life is fair. It found it's way into the selection and based on the composition itself, it has the place.

Another important name for me is Bulent Arel and I didn't have a chance to listen his composition "Stereo Electronic Music No. 2". It has a more depressive outlook, but given his previous works as well, this work can very much be appreciated based on it's structure and layers. Pitch alterations as well as repetitions and sudden smoothness followed by percussions and more hectic climaxes create a feeling of flowing while keeping the element of surprise always in hand. This work was commissioned by the Columbia-Princeton ECM itself.

I may have mentioned it before, but I find no stress in pointing again, listening to the early works of any kind of genre is a tricky thing. Experimentalism is of course in and of itself never boring while Early Electronic Music always reminds the listener modern time techniques, structures and melodies. Even though it seems like we have travelled throughout the music world ages since 1970s, we may not be that far away as we think. I just remember having reviewed Takemitsu's record which is not that different from today's electro acoustic/drone works. The only point was that it was written 50, performed 35 years ago.

Duke Ellington - Jazz Violin Session (Atlantic - SD 1688)

Duke Ellington is one of Jazz's greatest names and he is truly a diversified player who has opened a world of possibilities to future Jazz players. There are really limited number of Jazz giants who has not mentioned his name as one of their idols.

Duke Ellington has made a huge amount of records and played in unaccountable number of concerts. When he went to a city to have a big concert with his band, he arranged smaller concerts in their free days just to create some extra for regular fee players as well as create a "real" feeling during their shows. It is really hard to find a man who can be this much of a giver and this much of a concert-oholic.

This is the record of a session which was recorded in Paris in 1963. Unfortunately the first ever release was on Atlantic records 2 years after his death. He made himself extremely clear in his critics saying that the music was a little different than the mainstreamer's likes and therefore never released. It is obviously evident that he has enjoyed this session and the sound that they have created.

Actually not to create a misunderstanding, violin was pretty much always a part of Jazz, but it is hard to say it was very well recognized. The main issue here should be noted as it has a milder sound unlike the trumpet, the saxophone or the bass. I'm not even mentioning drums of course. However, after amplifiers got their share of the deal, violin's sound became more evident.

This record features a violin trio which is composed of 2 violins and a viola. The viola is played by Svend Asmussen, a Danish violin player. Moreover, the contrasts in the techniques of the two other violinists, Stephane Granelli and Ray Nance create the real felling that is flowing throughout the tracks.

There are some standards on this record as well as some more harder to come by songs. All in all, listening to it gives a feeling of freshness, smoothness and joy. This will surely be one of the records that I'll turn back to play quite often when I'm in need of listening something "real".

Luciano Berio - Swingle II – A-Ronnie / Cries Of London (Headline/Decca - Head 15)

After maintaining an important collection of early electronic music on the floor of my living room for some time while expecting a clearance of mind to listen, I will be reviewing and sharing a couple of records from this lot. The first one is to be the work of probably the most famous Italian composer of this era, Luciano Berio.

Berio, born in 1925, studied in various schools including the mother of all Darmstadt and was a member of the composition faculty of Juillard, the mother of a lot of contemporary composers. He also headed Electro-Acoustic department of IRCAM in Paris. One person does not get to this level without being regarded as one of the best of his era.

This record dating back to 1976 includes the performances of A-Ronne and Cries Of London by the composer. These scores are made up mainly of human voices. They are vocalizations of the poem A-Ronne by Edoardo Sanguineti and several poems (I don't know the origin) based on the idea of changes of expression or meaning based on the vocalization of the person reading/talking. To be more precise, Berio wanted to capture and show the effects of vocal gestures with the basis on musical structures.

A-Ronne withholds elementary melodies as well as intonations and noise while the vocalization if free of form. Moreover, the A-Ronne poem appears to be translated into 4 languages, Latin, English, French and German, with 1 line in 1 language form. The poem is repeated several times during the piece with starting from the beginning till the end. The free formed speeches are the main harmonies forming the piece.

Cries Of London is based on comparably more understandable vocals by the listener based on the structural differences with A-Ronne. It can easily be acknowledged as operatic vocalization and is based on eight voices. It is the re-worked version of the original 1974 score which was written for the "King's Singers". In this piece (Or rather 7 short pieces), the musical structure can be grasped easier than A-Ronne due to the main differing fact that the A side was less based on music. The texts are made up of the well known selling slogans of the street sellers of Old London.

Berio's works on this record are unique in terms of their structures and quite enhancing in terms of vocalization and it's uses. It should not be mixed with today's acapella groups since the structure behind these works are immensely based on classical or pop compositions while this one is based on free floating vocalizations with musicality left to stand on the corner, watching in awe.

Om Kalsoum - El Ahaat (Sono Cairo - SC.22 152)

Here is a woman who has been "The Star of the East". She is also called the "Fourth pyramid". She has been an inspiration from such diversified artists like Maria Callas, Bob Dylan, Jah Wobble, and Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan.

It is not enough to explain her greatness that commercial microphones are not capable enough to withstand the strength of her voice. The strength of her vocal chords was extremely diverted to her exceptional command of them with the result being utterly touching and moving pieces of Arab literature being mended into musical structures. Ahmed Rami has been her collaborator in this sense with helping her to perform the poems of Omar Khayyam as well as Ahmet Rami's own poems.

Unfortunately I was unable to find the meaning of El Ahaat. I tried several translators to no good. The song is originally 41 minutes and 55 seconds and divided into two parts to be pressed on vinyl. It is extremely romantic in terms of the performance of Om Kalsoum with strength giving more way to calmness and soothing. It is not hard to imagine her on stage with her famous handkerchief in her hand, standing in front of he orchestra and being applauded by thousands who are witnessing live her monthly Thursday concert for the Egypt radio. Even though it is quite hard to find her recordings, you can still find a way to acquire them one by one (If you are a fan of Om Kalsoum, try Ebay.fr since Americans and British people seem to be a little less interested in her than the French).

I have many of her albums as mp3s and flac, but listening her on vinyl gives the true feeling. This is not something motivational. If you ever lay your hands on one of her records and listen it raw and fresh, you'll get what I'm trying to say.