Composers Concordance Records third release in partnership with the International Street Cannibals 'solo-duo-trio-quartet-quintet, the chamber and electronic Music of Gene Pritsker' features works for solo cello, violin and cello duo, a trio for cello, bass clarinet and electric guitar, Credit System of Truth for string quartet and a quintet for baritone and string quartet. Sixty second electronic works separate each chamber composition.
Composer/guitarist Gene Pritsker has written over three hundred ninety compositions, including chamber operas, orchestral and chamber works, electro-acoustic music, songs for hip-hop and rock ensembles, etc. All his compositions employ an eclectic spectrum of styles and are influenced by his studies of various musical cultures. The New York Times described him as "...audacious...multitalented." The New Music Connoisseur, described Pritsker as dissolv[ing] the artificial boundaries between high brow, low brow, classical, popular music's and elevates the idea that if it's done well it is great music, regardless of the style or genre. Raul dGama Rose writes in All About Jazz: Barring the obvious exceptions, much of 21st century composition appears to be thinning in significance, but this might be about to change. Gene Pritsker is one of a very spare handful of composers effecting this change.
REVIEWS:
"These pieces are captivating. The epitome of good will, the chamber and electronic compositions on this disc are enjoyably bold, muscular, and complex. I will be listening to them over and over. So, I hope, will you. " ... " Gene Pritsker grafts soliloquy onto theory, exploring and producing one wild, anti-Freudian recording. He explores the unforeseen collisions of interests that unfold in the space between the soliloquizing subject and the audience members who are witnesses to the soliloquys."
Douglas McNair, Chamber Music Today Jan. 2011 read full
The musicians for this event are The International Street Cannibals Ensemblefeaturing Dan Barrett - cello, Michiyo Suzuki - bass clarinet, Greg Baker - guitar, Charles Coleman - baritone. Zentripetal Duo; Lynn Bechtold - violin and Jennifer DeVore - cello and
the Sweet Plantain String Quartet, Eddie Venegas & Romulo Benavides - violins, Orlando Wells - viola, David Gotay - cello
Cover design , photo and art work by Astrid Steiner
Recorded at: Pencil Factory Studios aka Studio 420 , The Players Theatre, NYC and St. Matks Church
1. What Occurred In The Light, Goes On In The Dark
(work #155. 2000)
Dan Barrett - cello Recorded at Pencil Factory Studios
2. A Tribal Second (work #315. 2007) Electronic
3. C17H21NO4 (work #190. 2001)
Zentripetal: Lynn Bechtold - violin, Jennifer DeVore - cello
Recorded at Pencil Factory Studios
4. A CaSampella (work #333. 2008) Electronic
5. Poem #1
(Reflections in sound on the poem:
'Elegy for Jane' by Theodore Roethke) (work #255. 2004)
Michiyo Suzuki - bass clarinet, Greg Baker - electric guitar,
Dan Barrett - cello
Recorded live at St. Marks Church on the Bowery, NY
6. Inside (work #295. 2006) Electronic
Credit System of Truth (work # 211. 2002)
7. Quarter note - 120
8. Quarter note - 98
9. Quarter note - 60
10. Quarter note - 140
Sweet Plantain String Quartet:
Eddie Venegas & Romulo Benavides - violins,
Orlando Wells - viola, David Gotay - cello
Recorded live at The Players Theatre NY
11. Sip (work # 273. 2005) Electronic
12. We Call Upon The Earth (work #50. 1995)
Charles Coleman - baritone, Sweet Plantain String Quartet
13. Healing Paradox (work #355. 2009)
Electronic
14. In Memory of Giampaolo Bracali (work #307. 2007)
Composer/guitarist/rapper Gene Pritsker has written over three hundred ninety compositions, including chamber operas, orchestral and chamber works, electro-acoustic music, songs for hip-hop and rock ensembles, etc. All his compositions employ an eclectic spectrum of styles and are influenced by his studies of various musical cultures.
He is the founder and leader of Sound Liberation; an eclectic hiphop-chamber-jazz-rock-etc. ensemble who have released a cds on Col-legno and Innova Records. Genes music has been performed all over the world at various festivals and by many ensembles and performers, including the Adelaide Symphony, The Athens Camarata, Brooklyn and Berlin Philharmonic. He has worked closely with Joe Zawinul and has orchestrated major Hollywood movies.
The New York Times described him as "...audacious...multitalented." Joseph Pehrson, writing in The Music Connoisseur, described Pritsker as dissolv[ing] the artificial boundaries between high brow, low brow, classical, popular musics and elevates the idea that if it's done well it is great music, regardless of the style or genre. Raul dGama Rose writes in All About Jazz: Barring the obvious exceptions, much of 21st century composition appears to be thinning in significance, but this might be about to change. Gene Pritsker is one of a very spare handful of composers effecting this change.
Organizations he is associated with include: Composers Concordance, Absolute Ensemble, The International Street Cannibals and the Austrian Outreach Festival. Some of Gene Pritsker's music is published by: Falls House Press, Gold Branch Music, Periferia Sheet Music & Calabrese Brothers music and recorded by: Col Legno, Enja, Eutrepe, Wergo, Innova and Capstone record labels.
The International Street Cannibalswere conceived by Director Dan Barrett, and are steered by co - directors Gene Pritsker and dan Cooper They're a collection of instrumentalists, singers, composers, dancers, puppeteers and visual artists. Among the players are instrumentalists from The Metropolitan Opera, Lincoln Center Chamber Players, The Orchestra of St. Luke's, The STX Ensemble, The American Ballet Theater, the New York City Opera, Mostly Mozart, and The Absolute Ensemble, among others. The Cannibals give much emphasis to presenting newly composed works, and part of the function of the group is to present those composers whose influences and philosophy are rich and various.
Nobody bridges the gap between generations or musical genres like SWEET PLANTAIN, a refreshingly new string quartet. Artfully fusing the western classical traditions in which they were trained with the hip-hop, jazz improv, and Latin rhythms on which they were raised, their original writing and live shows educate and entertain. Separately hailing from the South Bronx, New Jersey and Venezuela, together these musicians give voice to a sound that is contemporary, multicultural and very New York.
Zentripetalhas performed recitals and programs at Galapagos in DUMBO, the Goethe Institut NYC, the Roerich Museum, the Players Theatre, and the Renee Weiler Concert Hall at Greenwich House. Zentripetal will be performing debuting new works and performing pieces from their upcoming cd due to be released in the early fall.
Violinist Lynn Bechtold has appeared in recital throughout the U.S., Canada, Holland, and Switzerland. An advocate of contemporary music, she has worked with composers such as Gloria Coates, George Crumb, John Harbison, and Morton Subotnick, and has premiered works on the Princeton Composers' Series and Composers Concordance. In 2001, she gave the premiere of "Violynn," a work for violin and electronics written for her by Alvin Lucier.
Cellist Jennifer DeVore has appeared at Lincoln Center, Merkin Hall, Zankel Hall and Weill Hall and at the Musicorda, Yellow Barn and Spoleto festivals. Groups she has played with include the Brooklyn Philharmonic Orchestra, Ensemble Pi, the Jose Limon Dance Company, and the Metamorphosen Chamber Orchestra. Heralded as "one of the most exciting voices in New Music" (The Wire), the works of Lei Liang have been described by The New York Times as "hauntingly beautiful and sonically colorful." The recipient of a Guggenheim Fellowship and an Aaron Copland Award, Commissions/performances have come from the New York Philharmonic, Heidelberger Philharmonisches Orchester, Taipei Chinese Orchestra, Meet the Composer, Chamber Music America, the Arditti and Shanghai Quartets.
Composers Concordance Records presents thematically related recordings of modern music produced with the latest developments in studio precision. CCR is developing new concepts of what an album can be, bringing new music and new mediums together to a new level of cross genre transcendence. Our goal is simple:
...good music recorded well, pushing the boundaries of sound and composition.
'A Tribal Second'. I recorded myself playing a wooden flute that reminded me of a rather primitive sound. I then proceeded to surround the flute riff with various world percussion and rhythmical loops. Its as if you were passing a ritualistic ancient observance, but it was only in your hearing range for a second. You go on your way and the tribal celebration continues.
In 'What Occurred In The Light, Goes On In The Dark' I was interested in writing counterpoint for the cello. The main melody gets treated as a fugue subject, without really becoming a full fledged fugue. The material of the last section is first hinted at in the first slow section laid between the cracks of counterpoint, it is then fully developed to the end when the first melody comes back to climax the work to its finish.
In 'A CaSamppella' I take samples of voices from various cultures and combine them to create a cohesive electronic composition lasting 60 seconds. I create grooves from snippets of voices and layer melodies taken out of contest from longer vocal lines.
'C17H21NO4' is the chemical compound for cocaine. This piece attempts to capture musically the feelings and sentiments of the drug. It's fast paced, reoccurring, euphoric, distracted. etc. There are sections of reflections where the second main melody appears. The melody os from a chorale composition of mine called Herbert's Peace, based on a George Herbert Poem.
'Inside' consists entirely of sounds produced by playing inside the piano. I opened up my beat up upright and recorded as many sounds I could think of making inside it. Including harmonics, scrapes, glissandos, muted strings with pedal and without, etc. I put these sounds into my computer and started affecting them and arranging them until I felt I created a coherent composition. I hope I have succeeded in making a lucid piece of music inside the span of 60 seconds and staying inside the piano.
The material in 'SIP' entirely consist of sounds made by my son Sebastian Izzy Pritsker when he was one year old. I recorded sounds of contrasting moods and manipulated them to give a one minuet over view of various timbres that emanate from a toddler.
The great American philosopher William James talks about a 'Credit System of Truth' in which we take for granted the knowledge of the world around us. For instance as a child you learn what a car is, what it looks like, what it does, what its made of, etc. So, every time you see a car you do not need to re examine all these aspects,you use a credit of truth to know about all cars what you learned about the first. I found this fascinating and made it a challenge for myself to translate this sentiment into music. In my string quartet a melody is repeated many times but each time its reality is a bit different, you think you know this melody at one point but the music around it and its structure are always mutated a bit to challenge your credit system of truth.
'Healing Paradox". I took a pre existing recording of a piece for string quartet and electronics called 'Paradox'. I chose a few string elements (melodies, long notes, licks) and I build a new piece using this material. I was doing this for a tv commercial for a product called Nexium, the commercial was titled 'What Heals You'. In the end I went a totally different direction for the ad, but I liked what I did with the strings and how I manipulated them to form a new piece, I added a few more elements and came up with a one minuet electronic composition titled 'Healing Paradox'.
'We Call Upon The Earth'
Based on a poem from the Chinook Indians. The Music centers around a melody sang by a little girl from Yeji, Ghana in West Africa. Intertwined with Gospel Music and preacher like shouting, this piece goes through various sections outlining the rhythm of the poem.
- Gene Pritsker
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Gene Pritsker
Composer
soundliberation_nyc.rr.com
http://www.genepritsker.com/
Composers Concordance Records
Label
Composersconcordancerecords_gmail.com
http://composersconcordancerecords.com/
International Street Cannibals
Performer
http://streetcannibals.com/
Zentripetal
http://www.wix.com/violynn/zentripetalduo
Sweet Plantain
http://www.sweetplantain.com/
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