Terry Riley: In C; Liang: Music of a Thousand Springs; Zen (Ch'an) of Water

Shanghai Film Orchestra (Performer), David Mingyue Liang (Composer), Terry Riley (Orchestra, Composer) | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Performer: Shanghai Film Orchestra
• Orchestra: Terry Riley
• Composer: David Mingyue Liang, Terry Riley
• Audio CD (January 23, 1992)
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: Celestial Harmonies
• ASIN: B0000007WF
• Also Available in: Audio CD  |  Audio Cassette  |  Vinyl  |  MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (12 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #318,535 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)
  • #82 in Music > World Music > Far East & Asia > China

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com

There is no doubt about composer Terry Riley's position in the history of 20th-century music. When his watershed composition In C was recorded in 1964, very little of its ilk was available. In C is a pulsating exploration of musical tones, all of them surrounding a riveting repetition of a C note on the piano. To simplify the event, its debut was the formal birth of minimalism. While Riley's original CBS recording has strong charm, and bragging rights as first-on-the-block, one measure of a piece's greatness is its translatability. To this end, Celestial Harmonies presents the Shanghai Film Orchestra on traditional Chinese instruments playing the piece. Percussive, lilting, and thick with energy, Shanghai is monumentally faithful to Riley's designs, loping and looping the segments brilliantly and utilizing the Chinese instruments' pitches to the advantage of the composition. --Andrew Bartlett

Product Description

Terry Riley's In C, one of the most influential compositions of the past quarter century, has been played by almost every conceivable combination of instruments; however, the Shanghai Film Orchestra's version ranks as one of the most exciting and exotic interpretations. It marks the 25th anniversary of the piece, and represents the first time a Western new music piece has been recorded in China. In C is a rhythmic, energetic work, but it also echoes the mystical, embroidered music of the Near East and India. By staying in or around the key of C, this 1964 work creates a model sound that can be seen as a forerunner of today's minimalist and world music styles.

The Shanghai Film Orchestra plays this contemporary Western work on traditional Chinese instruments. The tuning is different, and the tone colors of the ancient Chinese bells and strings lend a new vibrancy to the piece. The construction of this version is equally striking. Instead of following the score straight through, earlier parts are brought back and woven into a tapestry of sound even more mesmerizing than Riley's original recording.

The talented Chinese-American composer, David Mingyue Liang, contributes two works that extend the orchestra's range to include the ethereal sounds of bowed vibes and the haunting resonance of China's only complete set of mangluo gongs. This remarkable recording, the result of a cultural openness in China, proves that the East and West have much to say to each other.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

18 of 20 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Repetition _and_ chance, April 3, 2000

By 

DAC Crowell - See all my reviews

This review is from: Terry Riley: In C (Audio CD)

Ting, ting, ting, ting, ting, ting, ting, ting...that's how this starts, with a drumming pulse on the top Cs on a piano. Then gradually, a whole tapestry of interlocking sounds starts to unfold, and you're slowly getting immersed in 'In C'. You don't really listen to this piece; the effect is much more like that aforementioned 'immersion', as the very gradual shifting of the patterns is more like organic growth, instead of the architectural jumps and skips found in Philip Glass or Steve Reich's works. How this is accomplished is by the use of a very selective variant on chance processes; since performers aren't given direct instructions on when to change from one ostinato to the next, this slow, 'oozing' shifting occurs, and it's quite fascinating (as opposed to what one reviewer here seems to think). It's certainly not an easy work to wrap your head around, unlike Glass, etc, but both the music and the ideas behind it are most rewarding. A critical work.

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Still the Best Recording, December 29, 2005

By 

L. Zajicek "ArtIsLove" (San Diego, CA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Terry Riley: In C (Audio CD)

Minimalism has produced five masterpieces: Philip Glass' "Music in Twelve Parts" and "Einstein on the Beach," La Monte Young's "The Well-Tuned Piano" (good luck finding that one!), Steve Reich's "Music for 18 Musicians," and Terry Riley's "In C." Although there are several recordings of "In C", each with a different orchestration, this one is probably still the best recording after all is said and done. (I only wish Mr. Riley would make a much longer recording, AT LEAST two hours long.)

5 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Minimalist Masterpiece!!!!, September 29, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: Terry Riley: In C (Audio CD)

This is one of the first of the "minimalist" movement. Though it is hard to "HEAR" It is wonderful to "LISTEN" to. Every fan of the minimalist movement should atleast listen to this recording. I would say this recording is "essential". Highly recomended.