Another Timbre TimHarrisonbre
at56x6 Wandelweiser und so weiter
A 6-CD box set of music in, around or near that of the composers in the Wandelweiser collective.
sleeve notes - including roundtable discussion with Antoine Beuger, Michael Pisaro, Dominic Lash and Philip Thomas
Interview with Stefan Thut Interview with Sam Sfirri
Sold out of physical copies of the Wandelweiser und so weiter box set,
but you can still order downloads from our Bandcamp page here
1 Sam Sfirri natural at last (2010) realisation #1 7:51
Neil Davidson – guitar & objects, Rhodri Davies – harp, Jane Dickson - piano, Patrick Farmer – amplified objects / open CD players, Dimitra Lazaridou-Chatzigoga – zither
2 Antoine Beuger Lieux de Passage (2008) 26:16 youtube extract
Jűrg Frey – clarinet + Angharad Davies – violin, Phil Durrant – electronics, Anton Lukoszevieze – cello, Radu Malfatti – trombone, Lee Patterson – amplified objects, Philip Thomas - piano
3 Manfred Werder 2011(4) 9:43 youtube extract
Anett Németh – recording, instruments, objects
4 Sam Sfirri natural at last (2010) realisation #2 4:45
Angharad Davies – violin, Phil Durrant – electronics, Jűrg Frey – clarinet, Anton Lukoszevieze – cello, Radu Malfatti – trombone, Lee Patterson – amplified objects, Philip Thomas – piano
5 James Saunders various distinct spatial or temporal locations (2011) 1:48
Simon Reynell – coffee carton
6 Radu Malfatti Heikou (2010) 27:46
Angharad Davies – violin, Phil Durrant – electronics, Jűrg Frey – clarinet, Joseph Kudirka – double bass, Anton Lukoszevieze – cello, Radu Malfatti – trombone, Lee Patterson – amplified objects, Philip Thomas – piano
The six discs:
CONFLUENCES
CROSSCURRENTS
1 Sam Sfirri the undulating land (2010) 5:12
NMC Chamber Ensemble: Jason Brogan – electric guitar, Bill Carson – acoustic guitar, Jared Sinclair – flute, Kim Larson – clarinet, Ron Wiltrout – percussion, Sam Sfirri - melodica
2 John Cage Three2 (1991) 9:14 youtube extract
Simon Allen, Chris Burn & Lee Patterson - percussion
3 Pierre Borel / Johnny Chang / Derek Shirley Etchings (2012) 20:28
Pierre Borel – alto saxophone, Johnny Chang – viola, Derek Shirley – double bass
4 Phil Durrant Sowari for Ensemble (1997) 12:35
Phil Durrant – electronics, Lee Patterson – amplified objects & processes, Philip Thomas – piano
5 Michael Pisaro fields have ears (3b) (2010) 30:29 youtube extract
Set Ensemble: Angharad Davies - violin, Patrick Farmer - electronics, Sarah Hughes - piano, Daniel Jones -electronics, Dominic Lash – double bass
DRIFTS
1 Antoine Beuger ‘t’ aus ‘etwas (lied)’ (1995) 9:12
Parkinson Saunders: Tim Parkinson & James Saunders – voices
2 Stefan Thut Vier, 1-12 (2010) 21:14 youtube extract
Angharad Davies – violin, Julia Eckhardt – viola, Dominic Lash – double bass, Stefan Thut – cello
3 Jason Brogan Ensemble (2010) 9:14
crys cole, Jamie Drouin, Lance Austin Olsen & Mathieu Ruhlmann – electronics
4 James Saunders with the same material or still, to vary the material (2011) 8:54
Neil Davidson, Rhodri Davies, Jane Dickson, Patrick Farmer & Dimitra Lazaridou-Chatzigoga – bowed objects
5 Manfred Werder 2 ausfűhrende (seiten 357-360) (1999-) 30:00
Parkinson Saunders: Tim Parkinson & James Saunders – organ pipes
EDDIES
1 Stefan Thut Many, 1-4 (2009) 5:02
Set Ensemble: Angharad Davies - violin, Bruno Guastalla - cello, Sarah Hughes - zither, Daniel Jones -electronics, Dominic Lash – double bass, Tim Parkinson - piano, David Stent – guitar, Paul Whitty – harmonium
2 Improvisation #08.01.12 16:25 youtube extract
Neil Davidson – guitar & objects, Rhodri Davies – electric harp, Jane Dickson – piano, Patrick Farmer – amplified objects / open CD players, Dimitra Lazaridou-Chatzigoga – zither
3 Sam Sfirri for the choice of directions (2010) realisation #1 9:21
Brogan Sfirri: Jason Brogan – shortwave radio, Sam Sfirri - melodica
4 Taylan Susam for maaike schoorel (2009) 5:48
edges ensemble, director Philip Thomas
5 Dominic Lash for five (2010) 12:10
Set Ensemble: Angharad Davies - violin, Bruno Guastalla - bandoneon, Dominic Lash – tabletop acoustic guitar, Tim Parkinson – melodica, David Stent - guitar
6 Jűrg Frey Time Intent Memory (2012) 25:58
Angharad Davies – violin, Jűrg Frey – clarinet, Sarah Hughes – zither, Kostis Kilymis – electronics, Dominic Lash – double bass, Radu Malfatti – trombone
7 Sam Sfirri for the choice of directions (2010) realisation #2 5:01
Neil Davidson – guitar & objects, Rhodri Davies – harp, Jane Dickson – piano, Patrick Farmer – pitch pipe, Dimitra Lazaridou-Chatzigoga - zither
UNDERTOWS
1 Jűrg Frey Circular Music No.2 (2012) 14:44 youtube extract
Angharad Davies – violin, Phil Durrant – electronics, Jűrg Frey – clarinet, Anton Lukoszevieze – cello, Radu Malfatti – trombone, Lee Patterson – amplified objects & processes, Philip Thomas – piano
2 Manfred Werder 2008(6) 4:56
Anett Németh – recording, instruments, objects
3 Jűrg Frey Un champ de tendresse parsemé d’adieux (4) (2011) 19:58
edges ensemble, director Philip Thomas
4 Taylan Susam for sesshū tōyō (2008) 11:34 youtube extract
Angharad Davies – violin, Phil Durrant – electronics, Joseph Kudirka – double bass, Anton Lukoszevieze – cello, Lee Patterson – amplified objects & processes, Philip Thomas – piano
5 Michael Pisaro Descending Series (1) (2009) 28:39
Philip Thomas – piano + sine waves
UPWELLINGS
1 John Cage Prelude for Meditation (1944) 1:13
Philip Thomas – prepared piano
2 Sam Sfirri little by little (2010) realisation #1 9:55
Stephen Cornford, Robert Curgenven, Ferran Fages, Patrick Farmer, Alfredo Costa Monteiro & Lee Patterson – electronics
3 Angharad Davies Cofnod Pen Bore / Morning Records (2011) 9:10
Neil Davidson – guitar & objects, Rhodri Davies – electric harp, Jane Dickson – piano, Patrick Farmer – amplified objects / open CD players, Dimitra Lazaridou-Chatzigoga – zither
4 Sam Sfirri natural at last (2010) realisation #3 9:00
Neil Davidson – guitar & objects, Rhodri Davies – harp, Jane Dickson – piano, Patrick Farmer – amplified objects / open CD players, Dimitra Lazaridou-Chatzigoga – zither
5 Sam Sfirri little by little (2010) realisation #2 7:47 youtube extract
Set Ensemble: Angharad Davies - violin, Bruno Guastalla - cello, Sarah Hughes - zither, Daniel Jones – electronics, Dominic Lash – double bass, Tim Parkinson - piano, David Stent – guitar
6 John White Drinking and Hooting Machine (1971) 8:09
edges ensemble, director Philip Thomas
7 Sam Sfirri little by little (2010) realisation #3 6:58
Angharad Davies – violin, Phil Durrant – electronics, Jűrg Frey – clarinet, Anton Lukoszevieze – cello, Radu Malfatti – trombone, Lee Patterson – amplified objects, Philip Thomas – piano
8 Anett Németh eine unbedeutende aussage (2012) 7:18
Remix of a recording by the Set Ensemble (Bruno Guastalla - cello, Dominic Lash - piano, Sarah Hughes, Simon Reynell & David Stent - objects)
9 Eva-Maria Houben von da nach da (2005) 19:41 youtube extract
Angharad Davies – violin, Phil Durrant – electronics, Lee Patterson – amplified objects & processes
Reviews
“In his essay ‘After Modernism’, Morton Feldman suggested that close attention to the work of Mark Rothko could produce “a sensation that we are not looking at the painting, but the painting is looking at us”. Comparably, the quiet, often beautiful music of the loose-knit Wandelweiser collective seems to place attentive listeners under a kind of scrutiny. That may explain why so many reflective words have proliferated around this music; why these composers, whose work is so restrained in character and absorbed with silence, feel the need to supplement it with text. Historical accounts, aesthetic statements and technical descriptions form an extensive gloss to Wandelweiser’s subdued sounds, in printed interviews, on websites, in notes issued with CDs.
Wandelweiser und so weiter (Wandelweiser and so on) includes new realisations of pieces by well-established figures, such as Michael Pisaro, Jűrg Frey and Antoine Beuger, who has been at the hub of the collective since 1992. There’s welcome exposure for works by younger members, including Sam Sfirri, from South Carolina, and Taylan Susam, from The Netherlands. John Cage and John White are accommodated as precursors, and there are vital contributions from sympathetic outsiders, including London based improvisors Angharad Davies and Phil Durrant, and Annet Németh, a self-taught composer working with “sounds of everyday life and those of a fragile nature”. Each composer brings their own perspective, unexpected instrumental resources – Sfirri’s duet for shortwave radio and melodica is indicative – and imaginatively nuanced structures, yet these six CDs sound aesthetically consistent and thoroughly engrossing.
In a booklet that accompanies the music there’s a discussion between producer Simon Reynell, Beuger, Pisaro, cellist [sic] Dominic Lash and pianist Philip Thomas. They mull over the implications of this creative alliance between Wandelweiser members and practitioners of post-Reductionist improvisation. There’s talk of shared horizons and disparate backgrounds, an expanded range of sonic possibilities with the advent of the improvisors, different approaches to listening and issues of interpretation, the status of the score and the pivotal role played by trombonist Radu Malfatti. The thought-provoking chatter ceases once the music starts. I’m reminded of starlings, voluble when perched, yet in flight virtually silent aside from the flutter of wing-beats and the whirr of their twists and turns. Certainly Wandelweiser music has less in common with effusive birdsong than with the threshold sounds made by bodies in motion.
In the booklet, Pisaro endorses the image of a flock to describe the way these musicians have come together. He also approves of Reynell’s pun on the meaning of sound, finding the image of “a narrow passage of water between the mainland and an island” useful for evoking “the often hard-to-parse internal changes in the music”. Reynell’s wordplay extends to the titles of individual discs: ‘Confluences’, ‘Crosscurrents’, ‘Drifts’, ‘Eddies’, ‘Undertows’ and ‘Upwellings’. As with a flock of birds, forming fabulous and unpredictable shapes within its own limits, this watery language suggests various forms of musical mobility contained within boundaries established by the composers. Whatever else may be said, this is music that moves.”
Julian Cowley, The Wire, February 2013