Now available on vinyl for the first time: zeitkratzer's critically acclaimed interpretations of groundbreaking compositions by James Tenney. Listen & Fly !
Includes unlimited streaming of Alvin Lucier via the free Bandcamp app, plus high-quality download in MP3, FLAC and more.
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Compositions by JAMES TENNEY:
1. Critical Band 17:34
2. Harmonium #2 20:04
3. Koan: Having Never Written A Note For Percussion (DL bonus track) 10:25 (NOT ON VINYL, only CD & download)
PRESS COPIES available at dense promotion !
zeitkratzer directed by Reinhold Friedl
Burkhard Schlothauer - violin
Anton Lukoszevieze - violoncello
Ulrich Philipp - doublebass
Reinhold Friedl - piano
Maurice de Martin - percussion
Frank Gratkowski - clarinets
Hayden Chisholm - saxophone
Matt Davis: trumpet
Hilary Jeffery - trombone
recorded live at Philharmonie Luxembourg, Luxembourg, October 3, 2009
recorded and mixed by Ralf Meinz and Reinhold Friedl, produced by Reinhold Friedl
James Tenney’s music has been part of zeitkratzer’s repertoire for almost a decade. This CD presents a new recording of Critical Band – Tenney’s late classic – with maximum clarity. Also included is the first recording of Harmonium #2. Both works demonstrate the remarkable power and resplendent sharpness which Tenney achieved by composing with pure tunings. Koan: Having Never Written A Note For Percussion for tam-tam completes this CD with an orgiastic listening experience in the form of a huge crescendo on this wonderfully simple instrument - from whispering to singing, culminating in shrill roaring and blustering – and it’s dark decay.
Tenney’s music as a sensual sound adventure!
Reviews
The intelligence of the ensemble’s interpretations evinces their long-term engagement with these complex pieces, as well as a willingness to interrogate and re-examine them, just as the in-the-moment decisions the work demand clearly marries well with the individual member’s backgrounds in improvisation. The rigour and discipline they collectively bring to these compositions make both discs utterly enthralling, from start to finish.
The Wire Magazine, UK, 04/2010
si cela doit produire une telle qualité de jeu, une telle renaissance aux compositeurs "old school" on ne peut que en demander plus.
Revue et Corrigée, F, 09/2010
executed with dutiful precision, permeated by a sort of inimical imperturbability
Touching Extreme, I, 06/2010
ein Faszinosum, dessen Puls und Sog schwer zu widerstehen ist
Bad Alchemy, D, 3/2010
For those unfamiliar with
either of these modern American composers, their performance of three of Tenney’s ‘swell pieces’ is probably the best place to start
Rockarolla, UK, 04/2010
Das ist berauschend, ein minimalistisch kreisender Sog, in dem Avantgarde und Schönheit nicht als Gegensätze gedacht werden.
Testcard, D, 05/2011
The epithet sounds flippant and self-defeating, all the more so given how absolutely contemporary Tenney’s works sound here, due in no small part to the power and skill of the ensemble’s interpretations.
The Wire Magazine, UK, 04/2010