are you familiar with any contemporary composers like john adams, steve reich, phillip glass, richard danielpour, etc? who are they & what is you opinion of their material?
what cd's would you recommend?
Contemporary composers adams,glass,reich...
Not familiar with Danielpour but certainly Adams, Reich, Glass. All come out of the 70s minimalist style (limited range of notes and tempos played in tight, repetitive patterns). Try Drumming for Reich and Music in 12 Parts or Music in Changing Parts for Glass... the earlier stuff is best for both. Adams I've never been crazy for. Another composer along the same lines is Gavin Bryars, who is British. (Bruce, you're in Philadelphia, right? AKA Music should have a decent selection of all of them.) (I have fond memories of seeing the Steve Reich ensemble at the University Museum auditorium in the mid-70s, and Glass at the UofPenn.)
Check out Rainbow in Curved Air and In C by Terry Riley, early minimalist/trance stuff. Riley can be trippier than other minimalists.
My favorite is Morton Feldman: long, slow, spare. His Second String Quartet can last up to 6 hours depending on the interpretation (there are two CD versions of it!).
Check out Glenn Branca and Rhys Chatham... electric guitar ensembles, frequently using just intonation, to create overwhelming vortexes of sound. There's a great Chatham boxed set.
And John Cage, thanks to whom all this and much more are possible. Try his Sonatas and Interludes for Prepared Piano.
Gary
Check out Rainbow in Curved Air and In C by Terry Riley, early minimalist/trance stuff. Riley can be trippier than other minimalists.
My favorite is Morton Feldman: long, slow, spare. His Second String Quartet can last up to 6 hours depending on the interpretation (there are two CD versions of it!).
Check out Glenn Branca and Rhys Chatham... electric guitar ensembles, frequently using just intonation, to create overwhelming vortexes of sound. There's a great Chatham boxed set.
And John Cage, thanks to whom all this and much more are possible. Try his Sonatas and Interludes for Prepared Piano.
Gary
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malcolm
gary,
you are a wealth of info, & i appreciate it. not sure what or where AKA music is. i'm sort of connected to tower records since we have no virgin mega's here. where are you now & did you attend penn or other college back in the 70's?
but you are confirming what i've read & thought...that the earlier stuff from these cats was hippest, especially reich's drumming. plus i've heard of gavin bryars via bassist charlie haden, (i believe).so that's a must, cause it's from charlie haden.
i've heard of terry riley...isn't he an organist?
& like you say, john cage...but not feldman, branca & chatham.
is feldman also a player on his compositions like reich & reily?
i did pick up adams "harmonliehere", & i'm not sure about it. i hear you about adams.
thanks for your time gary.
you are a wealth of info, & i appreciate it. not sure what or where AKA music is. i'm sort of connected to tower records since we have no virgin mega's here. where are you now & did you attend penn or other college back in the 70's?
but you are confirming what i've read & thought...that the earlier stuff from these cats was hippest, especially reich's drumming. plus i've heard of gavin bryars via bassist charlie haden, (i believe).so that's a must, cause it's from charlie haden.
i've heard of terry riley...isn't he an organist?
& like you say, john cage...but not feldman, branca & chatham.
is feldman also a player on his compositions like reich & reily?
i did pick up adams "harmonliehere", & i'm not sure about it. i hear you about adams.
thanks for your time gary.
Bruce--
AKA Music is on 2nd Street just north of Market in Old City. Great indie shop. The "contemporary classical" is wedged under the stairs on a far wall.
Terry Riley is an organist as well as composer. In his early days he supported himself doing lounge piano gigs. There's a recent piano concert disc by him that's really nice. Also, the Kronos Quartet have recorded many things by him.
Yes, Charlie Haden has played on at least one of Bryar's discs. (Bryars started out as a jazz bassist.) I knew Bryars briefly in the early 80s.
I don't think Feldman did much if any recording of his own work. Many of his pieces were written or dedicated to specific performers. There's a wealth of his music available right now. Anything by Aki Takahashi would be a great place to start.
I attended Philadelphia College of Art in the early 70s. Now living in Northern Liberties. Do you work in the Tower on Broad Street? I'm in there all the time.
Gary
AKA Music is on 2nd Street just north of Market in Old City. Great indie shop. The "contemporary classical" is wedged under the stairs on a far wall.
Terry Riley is an organist as well as composer. In his early days he supported himself doing lounge piano gigs. There's a recent piano concert disc by him that's really nice. Also, the Kronos Quartet have recorded many things by him.
Yes, Charlie Haden has played on at least one of Bryar's discs. (Bryars started out as a jazz bassist.) I knew Bryars briefly in the early 80s.
I don't think Feldman did much if any recording of his own work. Many of his pieces were written or dedicated to specific performers. There's a wealth of his music available right now. Anything by Aki Takahashi would be a great place to start.
I attended Philadelphia College of Art in the early 70s. Now living in Northern Liberties. Do you work in the Tower on Broad Street? I'm in there all the time.
Gary
A couple of my favorites are Morton Subotnick for electronic music ('Silver Apples Of The Moon' and 'Touch' in particular) and LaMonte Young (also his one-time collaborators Tony Conrad and John Cale, who also did an album with Riley) for extreme minimalism.
Glen Branca was noted for his electric guitar symphonies in the 1980s. Members of Sonic Youth and other NYC "noise rock" outfits started out as Branca sidemen.
Glen Branca was noted for his electric guitar symphonies in the 1980s. Members of Sonic Youth and other NYC "noise rock" outfits started out as Branca sidemen.
My basses are Rickenbackers. My synthesizers and recording gear are analog.
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malcolm
Doug--
Yeah, LaMonte Young!
Both Branca and Thurston Moore played in Rhys Chatham early ensembles. In the booklet in the Chatham boxed set Chatham describes how Branca learned about alternate tunings and just intonation from him, and then used them in his own ensembles.
Bruce--I work on Independence Mall. PCA 69-73, Sculpture department.
Yeah, LaMonte Young!
Both Branca and Thurston Moore played in Rhys Chatham early ensembles. In the booklet in the Chatham boxed set Chatham describes how Branca learned about alternate tunings and just intonation from him, and then used them in his own ensembles.
Bruce--I work on Independence Mall. PCA 69-73, Sculpture department.
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malcolm
i did pick up reich's "music for 18 musicians". the term "minimal" definitely applies for me. it's a waste of time, musicality & money.hell me & my guitarist can do with two...what reich did with 18...give me a break. there might be one musically dynamic moment on the whole thing.
otherwise it's alot of repetition & real boring.
i don't get the hype (i've read) on this one.
otherwise it's alot of repetition & real boring.
i don't get the hype (i've read) on this one.
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malcolm
gary
man you got that right. so saturday i'm buying @ tower (ne philly),shostakovich's 5th,7th,9th, along with some stravinsky & bartok...and i see a naxos john adams for $7.99.already owning "harmonlehere", my curiosity says get it, and i do...for the last time.with adams, (imo)you at least get some emotion with the repetition.but he shook me off with that "shaker suite" thing. i want some tension, some passion in music.
you would be correct my friend...i am done with minimalism.
man you got that right. so saturday i'm buying @ tower (ne philly),shostakovich's 5th,7th,9th, along with some stravinsky & bartok...and i see a naxos john adams for $7.99.already owning "harmonlehere", my curiosity says get it, and i do...for the last time.with adams, (imo)you at least get some emotion with the repetition.but he shook me off with that "shaker suite" thing. i want some tension, some passion in music.
you would be correct my friend...i am done with minimalism.
Bruce--
With the minimalists, maybe you had to be there...
For my part, I can't go the Shostakovich/Stravinsky/Bartok symphonic route; I'm too aware of how they're manipulating me. But, having said that, I have a wonderful disc by Keith Jarret of Shostakovich's piano preludes and fugues.
As for passion and tension in music, I've been listening to a lot of Jam/Style Council lately, both of which feature the occasional Ric.
Gary
With the minimalists, maybe you had to be there...
For my part, I can't go the Shostakovich/Stravinsky/Bartok symphonic route; I'm too aware of how they're manipulating me. But, having said that, I have a wonderful disc by Keith Jarret of Shostakovich's piano preludes and fugues.
As for passion and tension in music, I've been listening to a lot of Jam/Style Council lately, both of which feature the occasional Ric.
Gary