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Another Timbre

ciderglider said:
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?
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I will stick my neck out a bit further than Graham. The AT catalogue is not representative of contemporary music in general. It is representative of Simon Reynell's personal tastes, which are as Graham has explained above. You may not be familiar with most of these composers because most are little known. Many survive thanks to university posts. There are huge gaps in the catalogue, some of which are much better known composers who have recorded on mainstream labels. This is not a criticism, just an observation of fact.


Actually, that last bit of what I wrote doesn’t make any sense at all.:rolleyes: There would only be huge gaps in the AT catalogue if it was meant to be representative of contemporary music in general. However, I can’t see why a label couldn’t be more representative of contemporary music in general if that was the intention (like Wergo for example).
 
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Just remembered it was Cardew, not Feldman, that I saw Tilbury perform at Huddersfield in 2008 or 2009. I went out of curiosity as I'd never seen Cardew performed. Don't think I knew who Tilbury was at the time. I vaguely recall the programme was a sort of sampler of Cardew. Afterwards Tilbury gave a long talk in a stuffy classroom about Cardew (I think he'd just published the biography). Used to have some interesting little discussions about new music on Wigwam back then with someone who I believe had studied piano at Huddersfield...

Anyways, terrific label Another Timbre. Slowly working my way through the superb Philip Thomas/Feldman set.
 
Yes I have a recording of him playing some Cage like early Cardew pieces which I downloaded from Cafe Oto. Some of the scores leave a huge amount to the performer’s discretion.
 
Yup, there were a couple of pieces for prepared piano that could have been Cage. Cardew's name used to crop up in NYC back in the day. He's one of these many composers in contemporary music who gets talked about a lot more than performed or listened to. During the talk after the recital, Tilbury recounted this conspiracy theory that Cardew had been knocked off by one his conrades, which seemed slightly less implausible than MI5.

Saw Rzewski play four hands in (old) York some years ago too. Must have been no more than a dozen people in the audience.
 
mandryka said:
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.
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What is the recording? It just shows as a red X on my browser.
 
Graham H said:
Brian Olewnick’s blog Just Outside is well worth reading for Another Timbre, Wandelweiser and Confront associated artists:

http://olewnick.blogspot.com/
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Drifting off - thread.....

Thanks for the link. It led me to another of his blogs and this fabulous passage of writing:

"All-knowing music dudes (AKMDs) will tell you it was because of the influence of then-couple Buckingham and Nicks, but I would suggest that the AKMD perspective is tainted by the “enormously popular” part of the equation. AKMD’s are all too often incapable of admitting, for example, that Miley Cyrus has a fantastic singing voice or that Justin Timberlake has some tight jams. Some AKMD’s can’t even bring themselves to enjoy The Beatles or Prince, although they’ll say they recognize what’s good about it, because they simply cannot like music with broad popular appeal.

Fleetwood Mac started as a good—sometimes great—band in the mold of a bunch of other British blues bands in the 1960s and, in the 1970s, transformed into a band making music not quite like anything anyone had made before and playing it with remarkable musicianship. And remarkable musicianship and innovative music are what AKMD’s ordinarily flock toward. Unless it’s enormously popular, that is."

Brilliant!

http://frombirdtocage.blogspot.com/

Back to thread:

Reading this earlier in the week reminded me that I never did get round to buying a copy of Feldman's Piano box set so I put in an order. It arrived today with a lovely personal message from Simon and is playing now. I'd got some other Feldman recordings - Rothko Chapel and Coptic Light - but there is something about the recording and sound world of this that makes it rather special.

I'm going to go back through the thread and check out some of the other recordings mentioned.
 
kjb said:
Thanks for the link. It led me to another of his blogs and this fabulous passage of writing:
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Brian is an excellent writer. He went through a phase a number of years ago of reviewing his LP collection A-Z, as this represented an earlier, jazzier phase in his life. I messaged him to mention not only do we share a birthday, but also very similar taste and LP collection.

His biography of Keith Rowe is also worth reading.
 
Just a bump for the label - email update for those on the mailing list yesterday.
Have a look at the website for new releases, but I'll try to post some links in the next day or so.

If not on their mailing list - it costs nothing to be kept informed and potentially educated in, and ntertained and challenged by, new modern clasical
 
I’ll just mention this CD which I’ve been really enjoying, particularly the piece by Sarah Hughes

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http://www.anothertimbre.com/goldsmiths.html
 
This last week I’ve been catching up listening to Julius Eastman, prompted by the release of Feminine by the 0&Aum Grand Ensemble on the Sub Rosa label. I have the early 1974 S.E.M. Ensemble with JE at the piano on order, but has anyone heard the Apartment House version on AT? I was a little put off by the synthesiser bass underpinning the 0&Aum version, not entirely convinced by it, and was wondering if anybody had listened to all three versions?

Beautiful, free-range minimalist piece btw.
 
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Graham H said:
This last week I’ve been catching up listening to Julius Eastman, prompted by the release of Feminine by the 0&Aum Grand Ensemble on the Sub Rosa label. I have the early 1974 S.E.M. Ensemble with JE at the piano on order, but has anyone heard the Apartment House version on AT? I was a little put off by the synthesiser bass underpinning the 0&Aum version, not entirely convinced by it, and was wondering if anybody had listened to all three versions?

Beautiful, free-range minimalist piece btw.
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I have the Apartment House, it is beautifully recorded, I particularly appreciated Kerry Yong on piano. I haven’t heard Eastman’s own recording but I have heard Ensemble O - the Apartment House strikes me as more refined, meticulous and delicate, less earthy and spirited: Apartment House play like English gentlemen! I haven’t heard Eastman’s own recording, I may correct that soon.
 
mandryka said:
I have the Apartment House, it is beautifully recorded, I particularly appreciated Kerry Yong on piano. I haven’t heard Eastman’s own recording but I have heard Ensemble O - the Apartment House strikes me as more refined, meticulous and delicate, less earthy and spirited: Apartment House play like English gentlemen! I haven’t heard Eastman’s own recording, I may correct that soon.
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The original recording arrived last week. Beautifully packaged and presented with informative essay, but the documentary recording - possibly from cassette - is so poor it really gets in the way of the music. Difficult to make out which instruments are playing at times.

The Apartment House sounds interesting, I’ll have to invest. Sounds like the most interesting of the three.
 
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