Roger Reynolds:
”Ping” (1968)
For Piano, percussion, flute, 35 mm slide projections, 16 mm film by the composer, quadraphonic electronic sounds, and live electronic processing
Performed by Roger Reynolds, Karen Reynolds, and Hiroshi Kumagi
Available on this compact disc of three works by Roger Reynolds
Iancu Dumitrescu
”Medium III” (1983)
For solo contrabass
Performed by Fernando Grillo
Available on the Edition Modern 1001 compact disc
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To me, both of these works seem to come at the ears from some sort of distant unknown enigmatic viscous bubbling world and draw you near with some unmistakable magnetic pull.
After hearing and reading a lot of Roger Reynold’s more recent works I first came to “Ping” expecting something similar to the post-dodecaphonic shattered hyper-structuralist esthetic that I had come to know in compositions like “Whispers Out of Time,” “Personae,” “Variations,” and “The Angel of Death.” However, the nearly perfectly prolonged bowed gongs in the beginning of “Ping” immediately signaled a different approach. Not to give away the surprises of what I’ve read to be improvised instrumental playing, but I think that the long approach to “Ping’s” horrifying and dramatic climax is one of my favourite stretches of time in Roger Reynold’s music. It’s kind of a shame that the work meanders for so long afterwards although I’m sure that piece loses a lot when missing its visual component.
Embarrassingly, it took me about four listens to realize that this Dumitrescu piece is for solo contrabass. Without reading the information beforehand I initially presumed that it was for an ensemble of at least two percussionists who bow gongs and two contrabasses. Now that I know this work is only for contrabass, I find it far more impressive. Also, since I’ve worked with a number of contrabass players and come to know how difficult it can be to write for this typically heavy and lugubrious instrument, I find the fact this work is alternatively so dramatic and contemplative to be quite a feat.
thanks for posting ‘Medium III’ –this track was my introduction to Dumitrescu.
one correction — the piece is not performed by Ion Ghita, but rather by Fernando Grillo — the piece was composed for him, and is almost unthinkable without him. His solo album ‘Fluvial’ shows his range of technique.
(I downloaded the mp3 just to confirm that this wasn’t another performance — that would have been a score on par with that amazing performance of Grisey’s ‘Partials’ you posted several months back.)
I love mp3′s and the freedom from preconceptions of listening that results from only having the file… must have been fun to discover that this was a piece for solo contrabass… but there’s no substituting for the liner notes of physical copies, especially now that the music distribution consists mainly of online advocacy. Got to be careful with the names!
Thanks much for these consistantly fascinating mp3′s.