Track 5 (11:07)
Psalm of These Days IV for clarinet, reader, and tape (1978)/Edwin London “is a cycle of five works written between 1976 and 1980) for various combinations, approaches, dispositions, and colorations of voices and instruments. Utilizing biblical texts, but loosely inspired, also, by ideas drawn from a reading of William James’ The Varieties of Religious Experience, this network of compositions tries to render, with (one hopes) some irony apparent, a series of religious postures either experienced and/or observed by the composer in a picaresque hejira through and to sundry spiritual states of sorts (from Once-Born Kazoo, Mass. in EVenTs of sham pain, ill and all, as well as Philly Childs-play mantra on the fly to the resurrected vocal bands of Believeland, Oh.--CLAP CLAP.)
Psalm of These Days IV, coming as it does after the turbulence of the cycle’s centerpiece, sets about forming an aura of meditation. The performers are awarded a grand degree of freedom in establishing the extent to which they commit themselves spiritually and/or or musically. Also, the work acts as bridge to the eventual descent back to the ‘public domain’ described in the concluding segment, Psalm of These Days V.” EL

The work consists of a realization of a sheet of suggestions accompanied by a tape provided by the composer. The reader, may, it is suggested, translate the Psalm (47:6) into other tongues and dialects to which Scripture has been translated, in this case, a live performance from 1988, Childs recites sixteen languages other than English. The tape is “manipulated” by University of Redlands Audio Engineer, Scott Vance. The clarinet, instructed to “strike and accord” with the tape, uses random-finger combinations throughout, and circular breathing.
Edwin London has taught at Smith College, The University of Illinois, and, as chairperson of the department of music, Cleveland State University. He studied with P.G.Clapp, Philip Bezanson, Luigi Dallapiccola and Darius Milhaud.

Psalm of These Days IV for clarinet, reader, and tape (1978)/Edwin London

Track 6 (10:29)
Echoes, for clarinet and tape (1974)/Olly Wilson “is based on a continuous interaction between the clarinet and the electronic sound source which share common pitches, timbres, and musical gestures, while simultaneously developing a larger musical shape. The work contains three organically related sections which gradually evolve from one to the other in one continuous movement. The entire tape portion was generated electronically at the University of California Berkeley Electronic Music Studio. Commissioned by Drs. Childs and Rehfeldt for the series New Music for clarinet and Friend, the work has also been recorded by Phillip Rehfeldt on the CRI label.” OW
A leading proponent of African/American styles, Olly Wilson’s teachers include Robert Wykes, Robert Kelly and Phillip Bezanson. He is Emeritus Professor of Music and former Chairman of the Department at UC Berkeley.

Echoes, for clarinet and tape (1974)/Olly Wilson

Track 7 (11:35)
Underworld (For clarinet and tape)(1984, 1989)/Glenn Hackbarth “uses text segments drawn from the Cocteau film Orphée. Primarily phrases of abstract poetry, these are sent to Orphée from the underworld by the dead poet Cégeste and broadcast to Orphée on the radio of a Rolls Royce. The remainder of the tape consists primarily of manipulated piano-interior sounds with some synthesized sound as reinforcement.” GH
Glenn Hackbarth teaches on the faculty of Arizona State University in Tempe. He holds a doctorate in composition from The University of Illinois.

Underworld (For clarinet and tape)(1984, 1989)/Glenn Hackbarth

Track 8 (11:49)
Three Pieces for Clarinet and Piano (1975)/David Maslanka “are thoroughly contrastive in mood and pace, the first one working through the supple and complex interweaving of melodic material in a variety of rhythmic cross-relations, and the outgoing lyricism of the third piece moving gradually into a thinner, more diatonic, and highly evocative dissolving conclusion. Detailed vertical relationships between the parts are not vital in the aggressive and powerful middle piece; each performer executes his highly demanding material almost completely independent of the other.” DM
David Maslanka attended the Oberlin Conservatory and Michigan State University, receiving from the latter both the M.M. and Ph.D. degrees. He has taught at the State University of New York and at Sarah Lawrence. He has received numerous composition awards and fellowships.

Three Pieces for Clarinet and Piano (1975)/David Maslanka

Track 9 (9:00)
Phil s Float (1974)/Ron Pellegrino “is designed to be performed either by clarinet alone, with clarinet and synthesizer, with clarinet and a special tape that was prepared in real time by the composer, with clarinet and film, or combinations of the above. Synchronization of the various parts, although sometimes specified, is for the most part flexible according to the flow of music. The film was made using Lissajou figures.” RP

The present version uses a tape prepared by the composer.
Ron Pellegrino took composition degrees from Lawrence University (B.M.) and the University of Wisconsin (M.M. and Ph.D.).While on the faculties of Ohio State University and Oberlin Conservatory he developed and propagated the idea of real-time composition in multimedia events including electronic and acoustic music, lasers, film, video, body movement, etc. Since 1972, as a free-lance composer/performer based in the Bay Area of California and North Texas, he has presented solo and collaborative events throughout North America, Europe, and South America.

Phil s Float (1974)/Ron Pellegrino

Track 10 (2:52)
The Redlands Codex (1977)/Daniel Lentz. “Presented as two wall hangings, The Redlands Codex (Barney’ s “Clasula” and “Phil’ s Gymel”), for unspecified wind and keyboard instrument, was written in Medieval style and is pure in form.” DL

Daniel Lentz is a freelance composer residing in Santa Barbara. He teaches/has taught at UCSB and, at Arizona State West in Phoenix.

The Redlands Codex (1977)/Daniel Lentz

Track 11 (15:58)
Sunshine lunchh, & like matters (1983)/Barney Childs. “The texts for Sunshine lunchh, & like matters (for bass clarinet and reader/percussionist) are to be chosen by the reader/percussionist. The present version includes poems by John Newlove, Yvor Winters, and my students Jon Arakaki and Gabe Arquilevich, and a number of prose citations that I thought workable. The closing vocal passage is directly from Edward German’s setting (1902) of the Kipling poem. As for the title, I‘ve always been pleased by the doubling of “h” in the orthography of certain Asian languages. And who doesn’t enjoy an outdoor lunch? As an epigraph, there is a line from Charles Darwin: ‘My mind was a chaos of delight.’” BC

Sunshine lunchh, & like matters (1983)/Barney Childs

Track 12 (10:08)
Antiphon II (1974)/Michael Horvit “was written for Phillip Rehfeldt and Barney Childs. It is the second on a series of works which combine solo performances with electronic tape, others being for saxophone, piano, violin, organ and marimba. The work is in two movements: Atmospheres and Moto Perpetuo. It is based upon a twelve-tone row but is freely tonal, particularly the jazzy second movement. Atmospheres, as its tile implies, is concerned primarily with color. It opens with the row presented polyphonically on the tape alone. A dialogue follows between the tape and the clarinet during which they respond to each other, first the clarinet, then the tape, leading the way. Out of this grows a highly ‘atmospheric’ section, arching higher and higher until the uppermost limits of the tessitura are reached. After remaining on this plateau for a moderate span, the music gradually descends returning to a brief restatement of the opening material. Molto Perpetuo is built around a rhythmic ostinato. Jazzy in style, the clarinet and tape take turns with soloistic ‘rides.’” MH

Antiphon II (1974)/Michael Horvit

Track 13 (6:46)
Spirit Puck for clarinet and percussion (1974)/Peter Racine Fricker. “This miniature
tone poem is conceived as a portrait of the character from Shakespeare’s A Midsummer Night’s 
Dream, and is constructed in a free rondo form, with extremely varied tempos and dynamics. Puck is an excitable, vivid individual, volatile and quick-moving, but also given to meditation, and this piece reflects all these aspects of his nature.” PRF
Bruce Anderson, percussionist.

Spirit Puck for clarinet and percussion (1974)/Peter Racine Fricker

Track 14 (17:05)
Ran. I.X. (clarinet and tape) (1976)/Victor Saucedo. “An algorithm was used to generate musical processes and a score on the IBM 360 computer at Southwestern College. The first part of the title, RAN, refers to the random number generator used in a subroutine to define parameters, i.e., rhythms, modes of execution, dynamics, etc. Limited dimensions were placed on the parameters and specific distribution curves applied to insure compatible melodic contours, rhythms, and dynamics between the final computer composition and the clarinet.

I.X., a variable name for the values that are transferred from the subroutine to the main program, initiates distinct random number generation sequences. As the value of I.X. changes so does the random number sequence and subsequently the parameter definition, i.e., the general outline of the composition. The program, with the set values for I.X., then, is the essence of the clarinet part.

The outer portions of the composition were realized on two sound-generating systems. Tape sections 1, 4, and 6 were realized at the Artificial Intelligence Lab at Stanford University utilizing the Music System MUS 10 and a PDP 10 computer. Section 6 makes use of ‘foldover’ as a compositional device. By creating a sum of sines of up to 20 partials and applying these wave forms to fundamentals in the high frequency range, the ‘foldover’ effect results, whereby the higher partials turn around about 5000Hz., thus creating complex spectra. Although they were not part of the computer program, clarinet muliphonics (chords) emulate these distinct timbral qualities.

The middle tape cadenza was realized primarily on the Arp 2600 Synthesizer. The remaining tape sections were realized at the Center for Music Experiment using the Timbre Tuning System and a PDP 11 computer. Sections 2, 3, and 11 make use of random-note generation and complement the random notes generated by the IBM 360/22 for the acoustical
instrument. The clarinet-like computer generated sounds at the end of the composition were computed first on the IBM 360, according to the above mentioned algorithm. The resultant score was then transcribed for clarinet and the Timbre Tuning System. One computer was used for parameter definition, and the other for the realization.
In this music the ‘dynamic rhythm’ and reiterative melodic concepts of Amerindian music have been diametrically transformed and modulated as complements. The result is a duality similar to the duality concept of clarinet multiphonics versus computer multiphonics, or clarinet random notes versus computer random notes, or even the idea itself of using an advanced technique such as the computer to generate primitive concepts associated with mystic ritual.” VS

[N.B.] Additional works in the series, not recorded here, are: Warren Benson, Prelude and Postlude (1989); Marshall Bialosky,Tetra-Music (1982); Harold Budd, In Delius’ Sleep (1974); Stephen Chatman, Gossamer Leaves (1981); Tom Cleman, For Clarinet and Piano (1974); Paul Cochran, Drone Fantasy (1974); David Cohen, Ceremony (1981); Christopher Hobbs, Rites of Passage (1982); Jonathan Kramer, Renasence (1974); Wendell Logan, Duo Exchanges (1976); Alexandra Pierce, Buffalo Bill (1978); John Donald Robb, Triangulum (1978); Michael Sahl, Memorial (1978); William O. Smith, Soliloquy; Larry Solomon, The Great Learning (1988); and John Steinmetz, Odiepundle VI (1980).

Phillip Rehfeldt

Popular tracks