Another Timbre
- Thread starter Vinny
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droodzilla
pfm Member
Great label, based in Sheffield, not far from where I live. Simon Reynell, the label manager (it's a one man band, as far as I can tell) is a great guy to deal with, and a socialist too.
I'll be buying the latest batch of releases and a few more besides, to plug gaps in my collection.
I'll be buying the latest batch of releases and a few more besides, to plug gaps in my collection.
Graham H
pfm Member
Great label run by a true pioneering spirit (an ex BBC and now freelance sound engineer). The Feldman piano box set and the two pianos double CD are essential IMO. I also particularly like the work of Jurg Frey and Michael Pisaro, but there are plenty of other gems to be discovered.
The world needs individuals like Simon, otherwise so much of this music would go undocumented.
The world needs individuals like Simon, otherwise so much of this music would go undocumented.
mandryka
pfm Member
This is my favourite Another Timbre recording, I think - it really is a revelation, it was the recording which set me off on a long and I think rewarding exploration of Cage’s number pieces
http://www.anothertimbre.com/cagetwo2.html
http://www.anothertimbre.com/cagetwo2.html
Graham H
pfm Member
Thanks for that. I’m familiar with many of the number pieces, but the detail of this one had passed me by. Excellent, informative interview - must get around to ordering a copy.
mandryka
pfm Member
This is an interesting one, because it shows a side of Feldman which predates the notorious extreme long form music, but which is still rather meditative. Friends of mine, a few friends, say it’s their favourite Feldman recording, though personally I don’t share their opinion - I think it’s worth hearing.
This was my first Another Timbre CD. I love Laurence Crane’s music and this was my introduction to it, so it means a lot to me
I heard some music by Cassandra Miller for the first time in a concert a couple of years ago, and slowly I’ve been exploring stuff by her since, on Another Timbre. Process music really but she’s got personality. Here’s one of the CDs
http://www.anothertimbre.com/millerozomer.html
This was my first Another Timbre CD. I love Laurence Crane’s music and this was my introduction to it, so it means a lot to me
I heard some music by Cassandra Miller for the first time in a concert a couple of years ago, and slowly I’ve been exploring stuff by her since, on Another Timbre. Process music really but she’s got personality. Here’s one of the CDs
http://www.anothertimbre.com/millerozomer.html
mandryka
pfm Member
Mark Knoop is just an outstanding musician I think.
Graham H
pfm Member
Agreed, as are Philip Thomas and John Tilbury. All leaders in their field in terms of interpretation IMO.
I recorded Rhodri Davies playing e-bow harp under Laurence Crane’s direction in the mid naughties - not quite sure which piece of LC’s it appeared in - possibly on the 1992-2009 Chamber Works if it was used at all.
You may also be interested to know that Chris Cutler is hosting John Tilbury’s private library on the ReR site. I was recently involved in supplying an extant live recording of JT playing Feldman’s For Bunita Marcos - quite different to his earlier studio version and about ten minutes longer. Very beautiful and well worth hearing.
mandryka
pfm Member
I have a concert recording of Tilbury playing For Bunita Marcus in 2007 which is very good. And I recently finished his biography of Cornelius Cardew.
Have you heard him playing For John Cage with Darragh Morgan?
I only know Rhodri Davies through Occam’s Ocean. Just found this
https://soundcloud.com/laurence-crane/single-harmony-for-rhodri-davies
Have you heard him playing For John Cage with Darragh Morgan?
I only know Rhodri Davies through Occam’s Ocean. Just found this
https://soundcloud.com/laurence-crane/single-harmony-for-rhodri-davies
Graham H
pfm Member
The CD playback component in that recording could well be the e-bow part we recorded. Interesting piece.
Rhodri has just released a CD recreating ( i.e. he built) a very early harp - tracing the instrument’s evolution and history. I haven’t heard it yet, but it sounds like a very interesting project, typically Rhodri.
I haven’t heard the JT/Darragh Morgan version of For John Cage yet, thanks for the recommendation - I have a bit of catching up to do. Autumn/Winter lockdown will be the perfect opportunity.........
Not sure if it has been mentioned yet, but during lockdown Simon put together some excellent playlists of the Another Timbre catalogue on Bandcamp. I’m sure they are still available, and well worth investigation.
ciderglider
pfm Member
I see it's about 1000 pages long, and by all accounts heavy going, so well done. Cardew seems like an interesting character, but I don't think I could spend 1000 pages with him. I admire him for being honest enough to admit that avantgarde music is elitist, and subsequently abandon it. I tried to order Cardew's book "Scratch Music" in the early1980s, and the bookseller, who was quite a plummy sort of chap, announced that CC was a relative. Unfortunately he never managed to get hold of the book, which had gone OOP.
mandryka
pfm Member
No, I don't think so. The book's special because John Tilbury knew him, worked and played with him. And clearly loved him, loved the music he was pioneering.
About 10 years ago I went to The Great Learning at St Mary's Islington, a two day event, a very good feeling.
Tryant
pfm Member
I've seen Tilbury play Feldman a few times -- at HCMF some years ago, and more recently at Cafe Oto. I'm not a fan of Tilbury, but he's done a great service in recording and performing Feldman. It's incredible that he's still at it.
Despite the apparent simplicity of Feldman -- the quiet drawn out notes, the silences -- it is not easy listening. New audiences coming to Feldman expecting ambient, repetitive minimalism or some sort of New Age struggle with it. It's very demanding on both the listener and the performer. The mostly young-ish audience at Cafe Oto was restless and fidgety in their squeaky folding wooden chairs during the performance of For Bunita Marcus. I was sat in the back with an old friend from NYC. A couple of people in he front were nodding off, a few walked out in the middle. The outside street noises -- passing scooters, people talking -- were also distracting. Although my friend liked the way the extraneous noises added to the experience, I thought it was a terrible space for such quiet and uncompromisng music.
Despite the apparent simplicity of Feldman -- the quiet drawn out notes, the silences -- it is not easy listening. New audiences coming to Feldman expecting ambient, repetitive minimalism or some sort of New Age struggle with it. It's very demanding on both the listener and the performer. The mostly young-ish audience at Cafe Oto was restless and fidgety in their squeaky folding wooden chairs during the performance of For Bunita Marcus. I was sat in the back with an old friend from NYC. A couple of people in he front were nodding off, a few walked out in the middle. The outside street noises -- passing scooters, people talking -- were also distracting. Although my friend liked the way the extraneous noises added to the experience, I thought it was a terrible space for such quiet and uncompromisng music.
Graham H
pfm Member
I couldn't agree more with you.
What is it about Tilbury's playing of Feldman that you don't like or not convinced by? Some are of the opinion there is no other, and Feldman himself was very complimentary when he heard him. I'm asking out of genuine interest, not to start an argument.
Tryant
pfm Member
Hi Graham, that’s a hard question to answer. Tilbury is a consummate interpreter of Feldman’s piano works and an authority on the subject. He has also played an important part in keeping this music alive over the decades. Some better known younger concert pianists today like Marc-André Hamelin owe him a debt of gratitude. Who could possibly criticise him on his technique. He plays Feldman flawlessly. Consummate interpreter that he is, Tilbury sat himself down at the piano at Café Oto without saying a word, played the whole piece from start to finish without a break, and left without saying a word. The style is as austere and uncompromising as the music and leaves me a bit cold. He comes across as aloof and detached from the audience. Should it be performed differently? Maybe he was terrified of getting shouted down by some feminists. Who knows? I wonder if Aki Takahashi used to make the same impression.
mandryka
pfm Member
I think late long form Feldman is more reliable at home than in concert just because there are less distractions. Apart from the extraordinary valedictory Piano, Violin, Viola and Cello I’ve kind of lost interest a bit in the music recently, if I listen to Feldman it’s to earlier shorter music.
Tilbury’s style in late Feldman, especially on the first recordings, the set called All Piano, could be a bit brusque IMO, and at first I was at a loss to see what the fuss was about myself. The later recordings less so, and of course in chamber music there’s more than one player’s ideas in operation.
Feldman was complementary about many people, here’s the man himself on performances of Triadic Memories in Goodby to Eighth Street. I’d be interested to see what he said about Tilbury.
This is a Tilbury recording I’ve been listening to quite a bit recently
Tilbury’s style in late Feldman, especially on the first recordings, the set called All Piano, could be a bit brusque IMO, and at first I was at a loss to see what the fuss was about myself. The later recordings less so, and of course in chamber music there’s more than one player’s ideas in operation.
Feldman was complementary about many people, here’s the man himself on performances of Triadic Memories in Goodby to Eighth Street. I’d be interested to see what he said about Tilbury.
This is a Tilbury recording I’ve been listening to quite a bit recently
Graham H
pfm Member
With so many distractions I’d agree that live performance of Feldman can be arduous - as much for the performer as the audience. From my experience of Cafe Oto I wouldn’t have thought it was an ideal venue. I remember listening to John Tilbury performing in what was effectively a large soundproofed studio space with a small audience, and although it was pin drop quiet John’s leather jacket creaked all the way through. Annoyed the hell out of me.
Unfortunately I can’t find the reference of Feldman commenting on JT’s playing, I’m working from memory. It was part of an article that I may have read from CD liner notes, or possibly it appears in Cornelius Cardew - A Reader.
After reading Feldman’s comments above, I’m going to revisit Takahashi’s recordings. Thanks for that, it’s a long time since I read Give My Regards........
Unfortunately I can’t find the reference of Feldman commenting on JT’s playing, I’m working from memory. It was part of an article that I may have read from CD liner notes, or possibly it appears in Cornelius Cardew - A Reader.
After reading Feldman’s comments above, I’m going to revisit Takahashi’s recordings. Thanks for that, it’s a long time since I read Give My Regards........
ciderglider
pfm Member
Apart from Cage, Feldman and Laurence Crane, I'm not familiar with the composers recorded by Another Timbre. Do they tend to come from a particular school, or is it a representative picture of contemporary music in general?
Graham H
pfm Member
I’m not sure a representative - or comprehensive - picture of contemporary music could be described or covered by a singular label, but what I would say is that many of the composers represented on AT have been informed - to some degree or other - by Feldman, Cage, The New York School, SME, AMM and improvisation (or certainly its lower case - or more intimate - aspects).
Here is a fairly recent interview with Simon Reynell from the AT website:
http://spazio-concept.it/another-timbre-intervista-simon-reynell/