Customer Reviews

Riley: In C (25th Anniversary Concert)

5 star:		(5)
4 star:		(0)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

Terry Riley's minimalistic masterpiece "In C" is, admittedly, an extremely experimental piece of work. It is a supreme example of music for its own sake, music that doesn't express anything other than itself. It should be noted that it also expresses itself very very well.

"In C" allows our imagination to soar, because it doesn't know its limits. Here is a piece which, in its natural version, is merely fifty-eight measures. That such a talented ensemble can make it last a little over 76 minutes, keeping the listener entranced the entire time, is yet another accolade of this piece.

It is truly marvelous to hear such creativity captured on compact disc, and yet, it happens much too infrequently. This is truly a collector's item for fans of Riley, minimalism, or simply great music. It is limitless, boundless, and marvelously original.

When asked whether he has a favorite performance of "In C," Riley told composer William Duckworth: "...the one that really surprised me was the 25th anniversary one we did in San Francisco... [I]t...has an epic quality, because there were 34 musicians. When I heard the tape, I was really impressed. Even with orchestras, it had never had the epic quality it does with this performance" (from TALKING MUSIC, interviews by William Duckworth). Although Terry Riley always credits his friend La Monte Young as the original "minimalist" (specifically Young's "Trio for Strings" -- see the Duckworth interview), it was Riley's "In C" that put this new approach on the map. Steve Reich referred to his early work as "pattern music," and that is as good a description of "In C" as any -- Reich played in the first performance in 1964, and it was a crucial influence. This live performance is amazing, with the Kronos Quartet among the ensemble members, and featuring jazzy saxophone passages that bring to mind Riley's debt to John Coltrane. This is spiritual music. Listen to Terry Riley (again, from Duckworth) on his music:

"I feel it's my field to try to create magic in sound. Magic in the sense of transcendence of this ordinary life into another realm. An awakening, you know. To use music to try to awaken ourselves."

I would actually prefer to give this 76 minute recording of 'In C' a 4 1/2 star rating, but I guess 5 will do. It is long, but that is the main reason I bought this version. As with many live recordings, the home listening experience would have been better if the record company had left off the long applause after a long pause at the end. As to the performance itself, it starts off a little shaky, but quickly finds its feet, and once it's on its way, I love the sheer joy of music-making exuberantly displayed by the 30-something musicians, its crescendos and decrescendos, it themes and variations floating in and out. Although it seems that some listeners quickly get enough of this, I have put this disc on repeat more than once, and don't really understand how some can get bored by this eventful, complex production. I wish I could find more like this one!

I haven't listened to Riley's In C since the early half of the seventies when I owned an LP version. I just bought a copy of the In C 25th Anniversary Concert and am listening to it for the first time. I've listened to 58 of the 76 minutes and so far it's been 58 minutes of blissful, joyous sound. Ah.

This recording provided me probably the best musical experience of my life yet. It's pure ecstasy and delight. It's only long if you're not enjoying it.

I can understand though why some people would dislike this work. Not everyone likes free jazz, not everyone likes contemporary erudith music, not everyone likes "In C". I wonder if they "understand" the work though...

At terryriley dot com there's a 10:33 minutes excerpt of this work. It's probably good to listen to this before buying it, although, as any excerpt, it does not show the magnificience of the work it is taken from.

This is one LOOONG drawn out version of "In C." (76:20) Twice I've listened to this tedious version. Once I was wondering how much longer will it take by checking out track index on the display of the CD palyer. The other time I press stop halfway through so I could take a break, then continued the next day. I noticed that several seconds after "In C" finally finishes, there was an applause. Made me wonder if, at least, some people were clapping because they were relieved that this is finally over. I decided to sell it to someone who may not mind this LOOOONG drawn out version. I prefer shorter versions on the 1968 recording on CBS and the 1998 Bang-On-A-Can recording. Consider one of THEM (or both), especially if you're not familiar with "In C."

I generally like Terry Riley's music, Persian Surgery Dervishes is great; but this one fails miserably.

Some composers begin with an interesting concept but fail in the execution of the piece. This selection was stillborn from the beginning.

Here's the premise: Riley provides a series of brief passages, and the performers play them all in the order written, repeating them as often as THEY want - each musician deciding on the fly how often to repeat a passage. They play as they see fit, soft or loud, slow or fast.

Ultimately 'In C' becomes an exercise in vanity. (Talk about a player's self-centeredness!) This particular recording takes forever to end, it fills the entire CD; and when thankfully it does end there's a LONG stretch of applause. I applauded too because my suffering had ended.

I've heard lots of music - lots. I've suffered through much, but this particular album is the worst music I've ever heard.