Just out on New Albion
New Albion Records has released two new CDs.
ZIPORYN, EVAN: Typical Music CD (NA 128CD)
“I grew up believing musical boundaries to be porous, flowing into one another: my father playing chamber music and Gypsy violin, my grandmother’s Yiddish chorus, my mother’s Folkways collection, plus the radio, open-minded teachers, and my own garage prog-rock excursions. At age 19 I heard Balinese gamelan, I spent long periods there in the 1980s and started my own ensemble, Gamelan Galak Tika, in 1993. These pieces from the last five years live in the margins, between musical traditions — classical and popular, western and eastern.” — E.Z.SCELSI, GIACINTO: The Art of Song of Giancinto Scelsi CD (NA 129CD)
Mostly works for female voice, performed by Marianne Schuppe (mezzo soprano). The opening “Sauh I-IV” (from 1973, for voice with magnetic tape) features layers of Schuppe’s voice, in impressive, polyphonic style — a great antidote for those of those of us living in fear of the “operatic wail”. “Giacinto Scelsi was one of the most individual voices in the history of music. His music stands outside the schools that responded to world events and exists as a monument to itself — utterly honest and almost indescribable, reminiscent of a statue in Rome but in his case it is a statue of the imagination. Now, a hundred years from his birth, his music is still shocking; almost twenty years from his death, it is nearly fathomable — and clearly music. These songs may have been created by improvisations that have been recomposed and transcribed, and may have begun as recordings of the natural world, or inspired by a series of sounds, Among the musicians Scelsi worked with was the Japanese singer Michiko Hiryoyama, and this collection by Marianne Schuppe is inspired and informed by those pioneering performances in the 70’s. Marianne Schuppe is a very well known vocalist of modern classical and avant garde repertoire throughout Europe. Her technique and intelligence inform an innate ability that allows her to move from ’song’ to ’sound’ to ’speech’ in a lyrical and fluid manner.”