Secret Geometry
Liner Notes   Cat. No. NWCR707     Release Date: 1996-01-01

Aleck Karis, piano

All of the composers on this recording except Joji Yuasa have been associated with the Columbia-Princeton Electronic Music Center at Columbia University, and share those aesthetic values that developed primarily in academic institutions on the American east coast after World War II. Milton Babbitt (born 1916) was a significant driving force in the genesis of synthesized music in the early days of the Columbia-Princeton Electronic Music Studio, composing the first extended work for synthesizer in 1961.

Mario Davidovsky (born 1934), whose Synchronisms series for performer(s) and electronics have become the non plus ultra of works in the medium, began his association with the studio in 1960, ultimately serving as its director until 1994. Arthur Kreiger (born 1945) has been connected with the studio as a student, technician, and teacher for twenty-three years, during which time he has produced a body of twenty- five works remarkable for their aesthetic and technical accomplishment. James Primosch (born 1956) studied with Mario Davidovsky at Columbia and received his doctorate in composition from the institution in 1988. He is now director of the Presser Electronic Music Studio at the University of Pennsylvania.

These four composers have treated the electronic apparatus as a means through which to create a new, timbrally versatile instrument that can function on its own, or, as is especially the case with Davidovsky, Kreiger and Primosch, can be used to alter and extend the sounds and capabilities of the conventional instruments or voices with which it interacts. These composers use electronics to create detailed, finely shaped, multi-timbred and motivically-oriented music.

 

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. Liner notes are accessible via the link above.

Aleck Karis

Secret Geometry

MP3/320 $9.99
FLAC $9.99
WAV $9.99
CD-R $9.99
CD-Rs come in a protective sleeve; no print material or jewel case included.
A *.pdf of the notes may be accessed here free of charge.
   Liner Notes



Track Listing

Synchronisms No. 6
Mario Davidovsky
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Fantasy
Arthur Kreiger
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Secret Geometry: I. Variations
James Primosch
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Secret Geometry: II. Nocturne
James Primosch
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Secret Geometry: III. Toccata
James Primosch
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Reflections
Milton Babbitt
Buy
Towards "The Midnight Sun"
Joji Yuasa
Buy