Customer Reviews

Metamorphosis / Linear Contrasts

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I am very interested in the music on this CD composed by Vladimir Ussachevky (1911-90). According to the notes, his was the earliest to be labeled "tape music" which came to be applied to his work performed on 22 November 1952 at the Museum of Modern Art in New York City, US. The tape pieces on this CD date from the late 1950's at the Columbia Princeton Center. The notes provide a biography of the composer who lead an astounding life. He was born in what is now [China | Mongolia | Russia] (pick your politics) until around 1930 when he and his mother (sproing, details are sketchy ;D) appeared in Southern California, US. Important information about each piece helps establish a point of reference. This makes the package approachable and a good starting point for those interested in tape music of the mid-twentieth century. WIRELESS FANTASY may appeal to radio affecionados. It was commissioned by the De Forrest Pioneers, a group of early radio buffs and researchers. The piece is meant to evoke the early period of radio communication by using wireless code as a primary sound source. TWO SKETCHES was produced with an early form of what became MIDI. The music is quirky, delightful and entertaining. It certainly is electronic music, even so, it is music with a soul. Beyond a cognitive interest, there exists a captivating emotional content which I feel is important to music. The final two works on this CD make extensive use of the human voice. If you are interested in a pioneer of tape music or in truly experimental electronic music, I feel this is essential listening for you.

I was fortunate enough to have met the composer in 1977 in New York. He had been something of a guiding artistic spirit to me and a coterie of other avant-garde minded musicians of the late 1960's who were fascinated by the "musical" qualities of his sounds. But the special pieces on this disk are clearly the choral works. Among them Ussachevsky, who I hope in time becomes better known, set to music some of the Enuma Elish, the ancient Sumerian creation hymn from which the Biblical creation hymn in Genesis originates. I asked him if it was Latin. "No," he said, "Babylonian." There are phrases here of such unearthly beauty that I know of no other music quite like it. An understanding of the sources of Techno and other electronic music must include familiarity with Ussachevsky's contributions. I'm grateful that they have been preserved for the ages, perhaps.