Before and After Ambient, Part 1

Episode 110
Before and After Ambient, Part 1
Playlist
Erik Satie, “Vexations” (1893-94), First, we will hear two piano versions (1 and 4) of this short work that was intended to be played repeatedly in one sitting 840 times in succession. The piano version was performed by Jeroen van Veen on the album Satie, Complete Piano Music (2016 Brilliant Classics). Then, we will hear an electronic version by Bhutan from Vexations (2016 Venado). Argentinean group Bhutan realized this electronic version of the Erik Satie piece in 2016. I thought it would be fitting to open the program with this because Satie’s was one of the first works to be recognized in recent times as a kind of proto ambient composition. Satie preferred the term “furniture music” and thought that it would be suitable for background sound during a dinner party. The Bhutan version, realized in electronic instrumentation, is a fitting bridge of the old and the new when it comes to ambient compositions.
John Cage, “In A Landscape” (1948) from In A Landscape played by Victoria Jordanova (2007 Arpaviva Recordings). This early Cage work was originally arranged either for piano or harp. It is very much the interpretation that makes this akin to ambient music. I selected this version for electric harp because it maintains the original’s sense of suspended time and energy. I also like William Orbit’s version but he took the orchestration to greater lengths and transforming it into something not so ambient. There is also a really quiet piano version by Stephen Drury which remains true to Cage’s original intent of being “soft and meditative” with “resonances” being sustained by depressing both pedals throughout the performance. But I included this version for electric harp by Jordanova because it is more in tune with the electronic nature of the music we feature in this program.
Morton Feldman, “Projection 1” (1950) from Arne Deforce, Yutaka Oya, Patterns In A Chromatic Field (2009 Aeon). Cello, Arne Deforce; Piano, Yutaka Oya; composed by, Morton Feldman. This is an acoustic work by Feldman (I couldn’t find any electronic renditions) but I include it to draw similarities to the work of Harold Budd, also a pianist. In fact, Feldman was a long-standing favorite of Budd.
Raymond Scott, “Sleepy Time” from Soothing Sounds for Baby, Volume 1 (1964 Epic). This legendary work is from a set of electronic and ambient records that Scott produced in the early 1960s as background music to help babies go to sleep. The electronic music was produced with his own creation, the Electronium, a from-scratch built custom synthesizer that combines electronic sequencing with tone generation and various filters.
Eliane Radigue, “Vice - Versa, Etc. (Mix 1)” (1970) from (2013 Vice - Versa, Etc.). Processed tape reorder feedback. Realized at the composer's studio in Paris. Premiered in 1970 at Galerie Lara Vincy in Paris, on the occasion of a group exhibition. The stereo synthesis presented here was made in Lyon at Studio Fluorescent between 2010 and 2011 by Emmanuel Holterbach. Produced, composed, recorded using feedback by Eliane Radigue. Originally conceived as a sound installation, using several reel-to-reel tape players controlled through a mixing desk. The tapes could be played at different speeds, either forward or backward, right channel only, left channel only or simultaneously. The audience could create their own mix.
Teresa Rampazzi (N.P.S.), “Environ” (1970) from Musica Endoscopica (2008 Die Schachtel). Created in 1970, this work represents a kind of reproduction in electronic sound of an ambient environment, peppered with noise and even voice. Rampazzi was a pioneering female composer of electronic music who founded the N.P.S. (Nuove Proposte Sonore) group and studio, where this was realized.
Harmonia, “Hausmusik” from Harmonia (1974 Brain). Recorded and produced June - November '73 in the Harmonia home studio. Guitar, Piano, Organ, electronic percussion, Michael Rother; Organ, Keyboards, Guitar, electronic percussion, J. Roedelius; Synthesizer, Guitar, electronic percussion, D. Moebius.
Brian Eno, “Discreet Music” (excerpt) from Discreet Music (1976 Obscure). Synthesizer with Digital Recall System, Graphic Equalizer, Echo Unit, Delay, Tape, Brian Eno. Brian Eno (b. 1948) worked with tape delay much in the manner defined by Oliveros for I of However, he expressed a somewhat indifferent attitude toward the outcome. He described the realization of Discreet Music (1975): “Since I have always preferred making plans to executing them, I have gravitated toward situations and systems that, once set into operation, could create music with little or no intervention on my part. That is to say, I tend toward the roles of planner and programmer, and then become an audience to the results.” Eno’s composition consisted of a diagram of the devices used to generate the music. His approach was identical to that of Oliveros except that the sound material was specifically melodic and he did not modify or interact with the sound once the process was set in motion. The result in Discreet Music is the gradual transformation of a recognizable musical phrase. These 10 minutes are excerpted from the beginning of the extended work lasting 31 minutes.
Brian Eno, “Through Hollow Lands (For Harold Budd)” from Before and After Science (1977 Island). Bass, Paul Rudolph; Vocals, Bell, Mini-Moog, CS80, AKS synthesizers, piano, guitar, Brian Eno. This is one of the only tracks that I would consider to be ambient from this album.
Robert Ashley, “Automatic Writing” (excerpt) (1974–79) from Automatic Writing (1979 Lovely Music). This work was much talked about when it was released on record by Lovely Music Ltd. in 1979. Ashley wrote it over a five-year period after having just come back from his self-imposed exile from composing in the early 1970s. He performed it many times in various formative stages with the Sonic Arts Union before finally committing it to disc. It does indeed have a vocal, but it is also imbued with quiet, ASMR kinds of sounds that mesmerize. The basic musical material of Automatic Writing was the spoken voice, closely miked, uttering what Ashley characterized as “involuntary speech”: random, seemingly rational comments that might not make sense at all, depending on the context in which they were heard. These 10 minutes are excerpted from the beginning of the extended work lasting 46 minutes.
Sri Dinesh, “Le Chant Des Étoiles” from Para Symphonie (1978 Alain Grima). French album of music to accompany meditation. It consists largely of short, repeated organ patterns and falls within the frame of mind for which ambient music was intended.
Brian Eno, “2/2” from Ambient 1: Music for Airports (1978). Engineer, Conny Plank (yes, the producer of Kraftwerk). Composed, conceptualized, produced and engineered by Brian Eno.
Theresa Rampazzi, “Atmen Noch” (1980) from from Musica Endoscopica (2008 Die Schachtel).
Conrad Schnitzler, “Control B” from Control (1981 Dys). Edition of 1000 copies. An electronic work by Schnitzler, who played the devices, produced, and recorded the music.
Opening background music: Brian Eno and Peter Chilvers, Bloom 3.2 (10) (2014 Opal Ltd.). Bloom is a generative music application that composes ambient music. This recording was made using Bloom running in “Classic” mode on a Macbook Pro running Ventura 13.5.2.
Opening and closing sequences voiced by Anne Benkovitz.
Additional opening, closing, and other incidental music by Thom Holmes.
See my companion blog that I write for the Bob Moog Foundation.
For additional notes, please see my blog, Noise and Notations.