Ussachevsky+Luening '50s electronic +Bergsma CRI SEALED

$

32

Vladimir Ussachevsky+Otto Luening: A Poem In Cycles And Bells (1954 for tape recorder and orchestra); Suite From "King Lear" (195? for tape recorder) / Ussachevsky: Piece For Tape Recorder (1956) / William Bergsma: The Fortunate Islands (1947-56 for string orchestra)

label & cat. no.:
CRI 112 pressed in:
USA date:
undated format:
LP condition:
Vinyl: (sealed)
Cover: ex (sealed; back has some faint moisture stain spots) description:
Impossible-to-find still-sealed original of this essential late 1950s or early 60s lp with pioneering electronic works from the earliest period of American experimentation in the medium of tape music, featuring lush abstract atmospheres of tape-manipulated, hand-spliced, and heavily reverberated piano, flute, percussion, and vocal sounds as well as purely electronic tones. Suite From King Lear, "a howling ascent of grotesque and noise-infused chords with splashes of impressionistic color," was made to accompany an Orson Welles stage production; this track has never been reissued on any other cd or lp. Piece For Tape Recorder involves "extensive blending of timbres, transposition of pitches, and a careful control of dynamic properties." A Poem In Cycles And Bells adapts the earlier tape pieces Sonic Contours and Fantasy In Space into a larger orchestral work that is one of the first ever to have "the tape recorder used as a solo instrument." All were realized at the Columbia-Princeton Electronic Music Center, and this lp is probably the earliest commercial release of work from that studio.

artist info from album notes:
Ussachevsky was born a Russian-Manchurian prince but fled to the US after the communist revolution; while teaching at Columbia he was placed in charge of maintaining their newly acquired tape recorder, which he began experimenting with as a compositional tool in the early 1950s. He was influenced by Edgard Varese and Roger Sessions, taught Charles Wuorinen and Ilhan Mimaroglu, and co-founded the Columbia Princeton Electronic Music Center where he pioneered electronic music along with Luening, Bulent Arel, Milton Babbitt, and Mario Davidovsky. Luening was a flutist and electro-acoustic composer who studied under Jarnach, Andreae, and Busoni; he taught Charles Dodge, Charles Wuorinen, and John Corigliano, co-founded the revered CRI record label, and pioneered early electronic music with Ussachevsky at the Columbia-Princeton Electronic Music Center. Ussachevsky and Luening, along with John Cage, Earle Brown, Raymond Scott, etc., were among the first Americans to experiment with electronics in the 50s and 60s; their work parallels that of musique concrete composers like Pierre Schaeffer, Pierre Henry, Luc Ferrari, Bernard Parmegiani, Francois Bernard Mache, and Francois Bayle, and other europeans such as Gottfried Michael Koenig, Herbert Eimert, Rune Lindblad, Dick Raaijmakers, Tom Dissevelt, Henk Badings, and Karlheinz Stockhausen. Bergsma studied under Howard Hanson. Check out my other items for more avant garde/experimental, early electronic/electroacoustic, psych, 20th century classical, and artist records. US Shipping - Media Mail is $5.00 for 1-2 single records, then $0.65 for each additional; Priority Mail is also available but pricing depends on zipcode (you can check eBay's calculated shipping price at the bottom of this page); other expedited shipping options and insurance are all available on request. Combine multiple items to save on shipping.
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