TAKE 7 + 1
02 July 2011 – Schott’s Recital Room, London

 

End, from Living Room Music – John Cage

End is the fourth movement of Living Room Music which John Cage wrote in 1940. The whole piece consists of four movements, with the outer two movements To Begin and End written exclusively for “any household objects or architectural elements”.
John Cage (1912-1992) was an American composer, a pioneer of aleotoric and electronic music. He was one of the leading figures of the post-war avant-garde. Critics have lauded him as one of the most influential American composers of the 20th century.

Standard Slowly Squared – Paul Burnell

Standard Slowly Squared has three movements. The first movement is a false reminiscence of a1970s jazz/easy listening piece with a standard chord sequence and melody. The second movement slowly spreads out the chord sequence over 3 minutes and the third movement subjects the melody to an angular rhythmic process – rather like filtering a musical memory.

Sigma 2 for vibraphone and piano – Derek Foster

In 1977, I wrote Sigma Variations for Sigma Trio (flute, clarinet and vibraphone). The opening 2-note idea had been given by Hugh Wood in the Morley College composition class for us to write a theme on.
In 2009, I took Variation 3 from it (basically the theme, with chordal accompaniment) and used this as the opening and, varied, as the closing section of this new short piece.

Moonshine – Ann Wolff

The music reaches for the skies to spread its sounds in the shortest possible time ever.

Piece for 4 Pianos – Morton Feldman

There seems to have been a tradition of multi-piano works in New York in the 1950s. Stefan Wolpe (Feldman’s teacher) wrote Enactments for 3 pianos in 1950-3. John Cage’s Music for Piano 4-84 (1953-6) can be performed by ‘any number of pianists’ and his Winter Music (1957) is for ‘1-20 pianists’. Feldman himself wrote 5 Pianos in 1972. In Piece for 4 Pianos all the instruments start together and have the same material, but the beats are not coordinated, and they may drift apart (or back together again).
Morton Feldman (1926-1987) was born in New York. A major figure in 20th century music Feldman was a pioneer of indeterminate music, a development associated with the experimental New York School of composers also including John Cage, Christian Wolff, and Earle Brown. Feldman’s works are characterized by notational innovations which he developed to create his characteristic sound: rhythms which seem to be free and floating; pitch shadings which seem softly unfocused; a generally quiet and slowly evolving music; recurring asymmetric patterns. His later works, after 1977, also begin to explore extremes of duration.

Take 7+1 – Deborah Broderick Edwards  (View score)

… with apologies to Dave …

OneTwoThree – Ann Wolff

Each piano plays its part in building the music, adding more and more contributions to the total, and leading finally to a joint and united ending.

time folds (2011) for ensemble and video – Kerry Andrews

beautiful, slow, silent,
liquid, vapour, liquid,
purity, ambiguous, condition,
imperfect, matter, spirit

time folds is based on the above twelve words from a paragraph on distilling from The Periodic Table by Primo Levi. These words were used in an image I made [Red Earth (for PL)]. The words and the ‘ox-plough’ shape in it are the basis for this new piece. The music and the video were made at the same time, as two parts of the same piece.

December 1952 – Earle Brown

“…to have elements exist in space…space as an infinitude of directions from an infinitude of points in space…to work (compositionally and in performance) to right, left, back, forward, up, down, and all points between…the score [being] a picture of this space at one instant, which must always be considered as unreal and/or transitory…a performer must set this all in motion (time), which is to say, realize that it is in motion and step into it…either sit and let it move or move through it at all speeds…[coefficient of] intensity and duration [is] space forward and back.” EB
Earle Brown (1926-2002) was a major force in contemporary music and a leading composer of the American avant-garde since the 1950s. He was associated with the experimental composers John Cage, Morton Feldman, and Christian Wolff who, with Brown, came to be known as the New York School.

Children’s Song No. 1 – Chick Corea

Children’s Songs is an album of 20 keyboard pieces released by Corea in 1983.
Here, no. 1 is adapted for violin and vibraphone.
Chick Corea (born 1941) is one of the most prolific composers of the second half of the 20th century. He has cut a wide stylistic swath, from straight ahead jazz to avant garde, from children’s songs to hard-hitting electric fusion to grand orchestral collaborations. A 17-time Grammy winner, including a Latin Grammy, an NEA Jazz Master, and winner of numerous other international recognitions, the brilliant pianist-composer and bandleader is a tirelessly creative spirit and has been a true innovator and significant influence on the genre of jazz and beyond.

One Red Rose That I Mean – Captain Beefheart

One red rose that I mean is a song from the Beefheart album Lick my decals off baby from 1970. Played here is a version for violin and vibraphone.
Captain Beefheart (1941-2010), born Don Glen Vliet, was an American musician, singer-songwriter and artist best known by the stage name Captain Beefheart. His musical work was conducted with a rotating ensemble of musicians called The Magic Band, active between 1965 and 1982. Noted for his powerful singing voice with its wide range. Van Vliet also played the harmonica, saxophone and numerous other wind instruments. His music blended rock, blues and psychedelia with free jazz, avant-garde and contemporary experimental composition.

Tread on the Trail – Terry Riley

Terry Riley’s best known piece is probably In C which was written in 1964. Less well-known, and written just one year later, Tread on the Trail is dedicated to the jazz saxophonist Sonny Rollins. The piece is comprised of five melody lines which the performers play in unison and in free canon. The 2001 revision of Tread on the Trail includes a drone option and a variation for the fourth melody line.
Terry Riley was born in California in 1935. He was involved in the experimental San Francisco Tape Music Centre with Steve Reich and Pauline Oliveros. During the 1960s were the famous “All-Night Concerts”, during which Riley performed mostly improvised music from evening until sunrise. When he finally wanted a break, after hours of playing, he played back looped saxophone fragments recorded throughout the evening. For several years he continued to put on these concerts, to which people came with sleeping bags, hammocks, and their whole families.