Liner Notes
Cat. No. NWCRL349
Release Date: 2010-12-15
David Subke, flute; Donald O'Brien, clarinet; Robert Bloch, violin; Bonnie Hampton, cello; Beverly Bellows, harp; Naomi Sparrow, piano; Lawrence Blackshere, percussion; Richard Felciano, conductor; Nancy Turetzky, flutes; Bertram Turetzky, contrabass; Milton Salkind, piano; Peggy Salkind, piano; The Philadelphia Composers' Forum; Joel Thome, conductor; Eric Rosenblith, violin; Marcy DeCou, cello; Jack Kulowitch, contrabass; Arthur Maddox, piano; Michael Sirotta, David Woodhill, percussion; Romulus Franceschini, electronics; Timothy Mabee, electronic engineer
Crasis represents a response to one of the most powerful acoustical experiences of my life: a performance of a Noh drama by a professional troupe from Japan. The subtle graduations of the wailing voices (wail is such a poor word; we really have nothing to describe such a flexible vocal phenomenon) and the abrupt and cataclysmic explosions on the part of the drummers, interrupting and yet preserving a strange sense of stasis — all these made an intense impression on me. The appropriateness of these materials to an electronic context seemed clear, and I set about writing a work which would be not programmatic but rather an attempt to build a structure in sound whose acoustical materials are derived from the Noh...
Spectra for piccolo, flute, alto flute and contrabass was written for Nancy and Bertram Turetzky in February 1967. The title refers to the broad frequency spectrum which this particular combination of instruments makes possible. The form which the range assumes in the course of the piece is somewhat that of an isosceles triangle, the complete range being heard at the outset, then gradually contracted in the course of the work. In addition, there is exploitation of the variety of timbral and articulative characteristics of these instruments, as well as of their dramatic and expressive qualities — the brilliant beginning of the piccolo, the plaintive end of the alto flute, the contrabass cadenza preceding the final section...
Gravities for piano, four hands, evolves by subjecting its musical ideas to forces of attraction and repulsion in terms of each of the compositional materials involved: duration, harmony, dynamics, and texture. Contrast is achieved through stasis. Dance gestures and certain aural images of electronic music are in evidence (a dancer, after all, is in constant dialogue with gravity . . .)
For some time I have been fascinated by the apparent dichotomy of two modes of being in the universe: the inevitable, quasi-periodic motions of atoms and celestial bodies and on the other hand, and on a more intermediate scale, the actions and rhetoric of man, assertions of his will and thereby his independence, yet inevitably conditioned by the other mode of being and ultimately drawn to union with it. Thus in Chöd two kinds of motion are apparent: those which manifest a pervasive, slow, quasi-periodic movement in which the five C's of the opening structure move in a single convergence to the central C at the end; and those which, like much of the music of the Occident, are tied to more intermediate time-structures (rhythm and phrase) and to instrumental analogies of the expressive capacities of the human voice, with all its attendant implications of ego-manifestation... -Notes by Richard Felciano
This title, originally issued on the CRI label, is now available as a burn-on-demand CD (CD-R) or download in MP3/320, FLAC or WAV formats. CD-Rs come in a protective sleeve; no print booklet or jewel case included. Full liner notes are accessible via the link above.
Crasis represents a response to one of the most powerful acoustical experiences of my life: a performance of a Noh drama by a professional troupe from Japan. The subtle graduations of the wailing voices (wail is such a poor word; we really have nothing to describe such a flexible vocal phenomenon) and the abrupt and cataclysmic explosions on the part of the drummers, interrupting and yet preserving a strange sense of stasis — all these made an intense impression on me. The appropriateness of these materials to an electronic context seemed clear, and I set about writing a work which would be not programmatic but rather an attempt to build a structure in sound whose acoustical materials are derived from the Noh...
Spectra for piccolo, flute, alto flute and contrabass was written for Nancy and Bertram Turetzky in February 1967. The title refers to the broad frequency spectrum which this particular combination of instruments makes possible. The form which the range assumes in the course of the piece is somewhat that of an isosceles triangle, the complete range being heard at the outset, then gradually contracted in the course of the work. In addition, there is exploitation of the variety of timbral and articulative characteristics of these instruments, as well as of their dramatic and expressive qualities — the brilliant beginning of the piccolo, the plaintive end of the alto flute, the contrabass cadenza preceding the final section...
Gravities for piano, four hands, evolves by subjecting its musical ideas to forces of attraction and repulsion in terms of each of the compositional materials involved: duration, harmony, dynamics, and texture. Contrast is achieved through stasis. Dance gestures and certain aural images of electronic music are in evidence (a dancer, after all, is in constant dialogue with gravity . . .)
For some time I have been fascinated by the apparent dichotomy of two modes of being in the universe: the inevitable, quasi-periodic motions of atoms and celestial bodies and on the other hand, and on a more intermediate scale, the actions and rhetoric of man, assertions of his will and thereby his independence, yet inevitably conditioned by the other mode of being and ultimately drawn to union with it. Thus in Chöd two kinds of motion are apparent: those which manifest a pervasive, slow, quasi-periodic movement in which the five C's of the opening structure move in a single convergence to the central C at the end; and those which, like much of the music of the Occident, are tied to more intermediate time-structures (rhythm and phrase) and to instrumental analogies of the expressive capacities of the human voice, with all its attendant implications of ego-manifestation... -Notes by Richard Felciano
This title, originally issued on the CRI label, is now available as a burn-on-demand CD (CD-R) or download in MP3/320, FLAC or WAV formats. CD-Rs come in a protective sleeve; no print booklet or jewel case included. Full liner notes are accessible via the link above.
Music of Richard Felciano
| MP3/320 | $16.00 | |
| FLAC | $16.00 | |
| WAV | $16.00 | |
| CD-R | $21.00 |
A *.pdf of the notes may be accessed here free of charge.
Track Listing
|
Crasis
Richard Felciano
|
Buy
|
|
|
Spectra
Richard Felciano
|
Buy
|
|
|
Gravities
Richard Felciano
|
Buy
|
|
|
Chöd
Richard Felciano
|
Buy
|