Browse by Artist: SCELSI, GIACINTO

Artist:	SCELSI, GIACINTO
Title:	Giacinto Scelsi
Label:	EDITION RZ (GERMANY)
Format:	CD
Price:	$20.00
Catalog #:	RZ 1014CD

2002 release. Features 6 works, dating from 1961-1990. "Pranam I En souvenir de la perte tragique de Jani et Sia Christou" (für Stimme, 12 Instrumentalisten und Tonband, 1972); "Anagamin Celui qui choisit de revenir ou pas" (für 12 Streicher, 1965); "Quattro pezzi su una nota sola" (für Kammerorchester, 1959); "Quartetto n. 4", 1964); "Okanagon doit être considéré comme un rite et, si l'on veut, comme le battement de c?ur de la Terre für Harfe" (Tam Tam und Kontrabaß, 1968); "Quartetto n. 2" (1961). "For Giacinto Scelsi, music was above all a manifestation of the energy of sound in the making. Since the early 1950's, at the latest, the idea of sound as a cosmic force, rooted in the Indian notion of music, had become fundamental to his thinking -- from then on, tones and sounds were for him phenomena whose 'depth' had yet to be experienced. Rooted in these assumptions as well is Scelsi's belief that he as subject must completely withdraw, surrendering himself to that which endeavors to free itself through him."

Artist:	SCELSI, GIACINTO
Title:	The Piano Works 1
Label:	MODE
Format:	CD
Price:	$15.00
Catalog #:	MODE 092CD

Performed by Louise Bessette (piano). "This marks not only the first volume in Mode's new Scelsi edition, but also the initial disc of the traversal of his piano works. Written in 1939, Scelsi's 'Second Sonata' was premiered by Yvar Mikhashoff in London (1979). Marking a new compositional direction, Scelsi suspended thematic development and frequently introduced various kinds of repetitions: reiterated single tones, chords, and patterns, often suggesting the sounds of bells or Oriental gongs. Scelsi characterized 'Ttai' as 'a succession of episodes alternately expressing Time and Man, as symbolized by cathedrals or monasteries, with the sacred sound of Om'. Emphasizing the suite's calm, meditative and mysterious character, Scelsi wondered if this piece should be played at concerts at all, and advised in its preface: 'This suite should be listened to and played with the greatest inner calm. Nervous people stay away.' It features low contrasting musical material, repetitive elements, stationary tones and chords, and blurred sounds due to the frequent use of both pedals. The music manifests both constant flow and inertia, and since Scelsi rarely used bar-lines, it seems to unfold in an almost unrestrained manner."

Artist:	SCELSI, GIACINTO
Title:	Music For High Winds
Label:	MODE
Format:	CD
Price:	$15.00
Catalog #:	MODE 102CD

"Ixor" (1956, for clarinet), "Suite" (1953, for flute + clarinet), "Pwyll" (1954, for flute), "Tre Pezzi" (1954, for Eb clarinet), "Rucke di Guck (1957, for Piccolo + oboe), "Preghiera per un' ombra (1954, for clarinet), "Ko-Lho" (1966, for flute + clarinet), "Three Latin Prayers" (1970, for Eb and A clarinet). "This recording presents pieces for woodwind instruments played solo or in duo. The majority date from the 50's, when Scelsi abandoned his classical and 12-tone training to undertake a relentless and solitary quest toward the interior of musical sound. The listener will notice elements such as conflicting harmonic centers, sustained notes, brief frenetic passages, tempo changes by section, and tremoli, that are reinforced by constant dynamic activity, to create a characteristically heady, non-static quality."

Artist:	SCELSI, GIACINTO
Title:	The Piano Works 2
Label:	MODE
Format:	CD
Price:	$15.00
Catalog #:	MODE 143CD

Performed by Stephen Clarke, piano. "Mode's Scelsi Edition continues with the second volume devoted to his piano works, consisting of two works from different periods in Scelsi's oeuvre. 'The Suite No. 2' is one of the earliest of Scelsi's published piano works. A highly virtuosic and expressive work, this Suite receives its first recording here. Written in 1955, 'Action Music' is among Scelsi's last piano works. 'Action Music' was premiered by Geoffrey Douglas Madge in 1986 in Darmstadt. The title 'Action Music' points to the high energy and physical and gestural elements of the music. The work's vigorous character is underscored by predominantly fast tempi and directions for playing, including violento, con fuoco, martellato, fragroso (deafening!) and come percussione. In 'Action Music' the performers are asked to play the piano in unusual ways by using their palms parallel to the keyboard, and employing fists and forearms to perform single pitches, chords, clusters and glissandi."

Artist:	SCELSI, GIACINTO
Title:	The Piano Works 3
Label:	MODE
Format:	CD
Price:	$15.00
Catalog #:	MODE 159CD

Performed by Aki Takahashi, piano; 2005 recordings. "Giacinto Scelsi (1905-1988) wrote one of the largest sets of piano music in the 20th century. Scelsi was a virtuoso pianist, and even his most experimental compositions in this genre show a marked pianistic conception. Largely ignored during much of his life, Scelsi was basically only 'discovered' in the 1980s. Though a recluse in his later years, there were some artists who worked with Scelsi and gained special insight into the spirit of his compositions. Renowned contemporary music pianist Aki Takahashi was one of these musicians. The program Ms. Takahashi has selected for this recital is largely made up of works which she prepared with the composer. It includes one of Scelsi's greatest piano pieces, the Quattro Illustrazioni -- a tour-de-force of exotic, erotic illustrations depicting the different incarnations of Vishnu. Also available on surround-sound DVD."

Artist:	SCELSI, GIACINTO
Title:	The Orchestral Works 2
Label:	MODE
Format:	CD
Price:	$15.00
Catalog #:	MODE 176CD

"The first recording of his 32-minute grand cantata 'La Nascita del Verbo.' Steeped in chromaticism, with hints of Scriabin and a sea of percussion, 'Nascita' boasts a vast double fugue (one of the most imposing in the history of music) and a forty-seven voice canon in twelve keys. This work, 'truly written in blood,' left Scelsi 'in a deplorable state, afterwards he stopped composing for several years. One of Scelsi's infamous pieces are the 'Quattro Pezzi (su una nota sola).' Ear piece is limited to one pitch with micro-fluctuations of sound (vibratos, slurs, spectral changes, tremolos...). Because of the nearly total abandonment of harmonics, the listener concentrtates on new sonorous subtleties, on the orchestra's timbre as a whole. In 1966, he completed the ferocious, tormented, complex 'Uaxuctum.' The myths and mysteries of this Mayan city is reflected in Scelsi's compositional process: new instrumental and vocal techniques (breathing noises, nasal sounds, muted or inhaled gutturals...), rhythmic incantations, a petrified flow of time. Few woodwinds, a string section consisting of six double basses, lots of brass, and, in addition to a timpanist, no less than seven percussionists! Hi-resolution 48khz/24-bit recording."

Artist:	SCELSI, GIACINTO
Title:	The Works For Double Bass
Label:	MODE
Format:	CD
Price:	$15.00
Catalog #:	MODE 188CD

Performed by Robert Black. "This disc contains the first complete recordings of Scelsi's music for double bass. Volume 7 in Mode's acclaimed Scelsi Edition. Scelsi's infamous 'KO-THA I, II, Ill' -- for string instrument played lying on its back in a percussive manner -- is presented for the first time in an adaptation from the original for guitar by legendary bassist Fernando Grillo. Robert Black, internationally known as one of the leading bassists of our time, has also collaborated or performed with a diverse number of musicians from DJ Spooky to Meredith Monk to Cecil Taylor, and is a regular member of the Bang On A Can All-Stars."

Artist:	SCELSI, GIACINTO
Title:	The Art of Song of Giancinto Scelsi
Label:	NEW ALBION
Format:	CD
Price:	$15.00
Catalog #:	NA 129CD

Mostly works for female voice, performed by Marianne Schuppe (mezzo soprano). The opening "Sauh I-IV" (from 1973, for voice with magnetic tape) features layers of Schuppe's voice, in impressive, polyphonic style -- a great antidote for those of those of us living in fear of the "operatic wail". "Giacinto Scelsi was one of the most individual voices in the history of music. His music stands outside the schools that responded to world events and exists as a monument to itself -- utterly honest and almost indescribable, reminiscent of a statue in Rome but in his case it is a statue of the imagination. Now, a hundred years from his birth, his music is still shocking; almost twenty years from his death, it is nearly fathomable -- and clearly music. These songs may have been created by improvisations that have been recomposed and transcribed, and may have begun as recordings of the natural world, or inspired by a series of sounds, Among the musicians Scelsi worked with was the Japanese singer Michiko Hiryoyama, and this collection by Marianne Schuppe is inspired and informed by those pioneering performances in the 70's. Marianne Schuppe is a very well known vocalist of modern classical and avant garde repertoire throughout Europe. Her technique and intelligence inform an innate ability that allows her to move from 'song' to 'sound' to 'speech' in a lyrical and fluid manner."

Artist:	SCELSI, GIACINTO
Title:	Tre Canti Popolari + Due Componimenti Impetuosi
Label:	SUB ROSA (BELGIUM)
Format:	2CD
Price:	$17.00
Catalog #:	SR 302CD

2CD collection which re-releases two previous Sub Rosa CDs Tre Canti Popolari (SR 051CD, 1992) and Due Componimenti Impetuosi (SR 063CD, 1995), now remastered and with a new design. This is the vocal and piano music of visionary Italian composer Giacinto Scelsi (1905-1988). Performed by: Marianne Pousseur, Lucy Grauman, Vincent Bouchot, Paul Gerimon, Georg Alexander Van Dam, Jean-Paul Dessy, Jean-Luc Fafchamps, and Johan Bossers. Scelsi will always be known as an atypical composer. Throughout his life, he carefully stepped away from the obligatory musical currents (dodecaphonism, serial music etc.), using his fascination with tone and pure sound and asceticism to create naked, painful music on which silence has no appeasing effect. Extremely secretive (refusing to be photographed or even to sign his name), resolutely focused on mysticism, maybe converted to Buddhism, Scelsi has left a body of work that remains little known. However, his work is perhaps some of the most beautiful and uncompromising works of our time. He had no mentor, no pupils, but he did shed a lasting light on upholders of spectral music, verifying that sound is the cosmic force underpinning everything. Vocal and piano pieces that submit to the eternal tone.

Artist:	SCELSI, GIACINTO
Title:	Trilogia - Die drei Lebensalter des Menschen
Label:	THOROFON (GERMANY)
Format:	CD
Price:	$18.00
Catalog #:	CTH 2480CD

Performed by Jessica Kuhn, cello. "Cellist Jessica Kuhn received her musical education in Germany and the USA, where her teachers included Wolfgang Mehlhorn, Eldar Issakadze and Zara Nelsova. She took her postgraduate performance diploma under Natalia Gutman. Jessica Kuhn has made solo and chamber music appearances in a number of European countries and in the USA. She lives in Munich. Jessica Kuhn is especially interested in modern, 20th Century music and contemporary works. This CD of Giacinto Scelsi's Trilogia is the second recording of the complete work, the first being the acclaimed recording made by Frances-Marie Uitti and the composer himself. 'Ask Havasi' by Franghiz Ali-Zadeh is recorded here for the first time."

Artist:	SCELSI, GIACINTO
Title:	Suono Rotundo
Label:	WERGO (GERMANY)
Format:	CD
Price:	$22.00
Catalog #:	WER 6672

"Scelsi would have celebrated his 100th birthday in January 2005. This disc is an homage to the great composer, and brings us closer to understanding his art by taking up his principles of self-effacing improvisation and dressing them up in individual clothing. It is a living homage in the sense that it tries to get close to Scelsi, but only to play freely in a very personal way. The three well-wishers are Michael Kiedaisch (percussion), Stefano Scodanibbio (double bass) and Michael Svoboda (trombone). Mike Svoboda remarks, 'The improvisations should sound like composed music, with well-rounded form, a clear concept and balance. We played an improvisation, and then we pursued a promising idea.'"

Artist:	SCELSI, GIACINTO
Title:	Canti Del Capricorno
Label:	WERGO (GERMANY)
Format:	CD
Price:	$24.00
Catalog #:	WER 6686

Performed by Michiko Hirayama (voice), Ulrich Krieger (saxophone), Mathias Bauer (double bass), Jürgen Grözinger (percussion), Roland Neff e (percussion). "Michiko Hirayama was the sole inspiration for Scelsi's twenty-part cycle Canti del Capricorno, written between 1962 and 1972. To this day the Japanese singer is a unique performer of this spiritual yet energy-filled work for solo voice, with instrumental accompaniment for certain songs: This is Hirayama's second recording of the work for Wergo and is the first of the complete version. Accompanied by Jürgen Grözinger and his ensemble, Hirayama claims, at age 82, to have found the 'right' path of interpretation."

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