PRICE:
$11.50
IN STOCK
ARTIST
TITLE
Partitas for Long Strings
FORMAT
CD

LABEL
CATALOG #
XI 122CD XI 122CD
GENRE
RELEASE DATE
4/14/2015

2021 restock; 1998 release. Voted one of the top 50 records of 1999 by the writers and critics of The Wire, Partitas for Long Strings is the first album in 12 years to document Paul Panhuysen's work with long string installations. Included with the CD is a 32-page booklet which details the history of Paul Panhuysen's work with installations through pictures and text. "Since 1982 Panhuysen has created over 200 such installations, playing the strings with his fingers, connecting them to pianos, letting them vibrate in the wind, always changing, always finding new sounds, and doing so with a particularly good sense of how the strings should look, and how they should relate to the architecture around them" --Tom Johnson. "Two aspects were of central interest to him: different tunings and density of sound. He made an installation in the large space of Het Apollohuis, stretching four strings lengthwise and attaching them to the wooden wall on the far end, which served as a resonator. He did not use automatons or electric amplification. He played the strings by brushing them, walking back and forth at an even pace. His aim was to make his playing as continuous and even as possible. For each partita he recorded his playing four times, superimposing these recordings over each other and listening to the earlier recordings over headphones whilst playing. The total sound of each partita is produced by sixteen strings. The three partitas differ in the systems according to which the strings are tuned. These tunings can be regarded as the score for each piece. In 'Partita I' all strings are tuned to the same pitch. In 'Partita II' and 'III' each string is tuned differently, and after each take they were tuned to new pitches... The result is a considerable difference in overall texture between the three pieces." --René van Peer