#4589, Ambient Chamber Music
Hear unusual deployments of chamber instruments for an ambient effect in music by German composer/percussionist Sven Helbig, Polish duo of pianist Hania Rani and cellist Dobrawa Czocher, Finnish violinist and vocalist Meriheini Luoto, plus American composer Joseph C. Phillips Jr’s large ensemble work for meditative silence, Vipassana.
Listen to some of the new record, Skills, from German composer and multi-instrumentalist Sven Helbig. It’s music between hymn and melancholy, which combines three French horns, tuba, and the Mondeana String Quartet, in addition to Helbig on percussion. Then, hear music by violinist and vocalist Meriheini Luoto, based on Finnish folklore about metsänpeitto, getting lost in the forest, and where one can “be transported into another reality; one where the forest is timeless, reversed and distorted.” (Bandcamp liner notes.)
Also, there’s music by American composer Joseph C. Phillips Jr. from his immense work, "Vipassana," which calls for an expanded Numinous ensemble of 25 instrumentalists and singers. Vipassana, incidentally, is a type of meditation that seeks spiritual clarity and insight through silence. Hear part 2, “Stillness Flows Ever Changing” a river of soundwhich aims to reflect that essence of that quietude in music.
Hear music from the late Icelandic composer Jóhann Jóhannsson, his work “IBM 1401: A User’s Manual” based on early 1970’s recordings of Iceland’s first mainframe by his father, who maintained the computer. Plus, listen to music for two duos - Polish pianist Hania Rani and cellist Dobrawa Czocher, from their 2021 record, Inner Symphonies, and a Nordic ambient jazz-ish collaboration between veteran Finnish musicians Tapani Rinne (saxophone, clarinet) and Juha Mäki-Patola (synthesizers, piano, organ, guitar) and their album, Open, due in March 2022. - Caryn Havlik
Program #4589, Ambient Chamber Music (First Aired 2/03/2022)
ARTIST: Sven Helbig
WORK: Induction [3:55]
RECORDING: SKILLS
SOURCE: Modern Recordings
INFO: https://svenhelbig.lnk.to/Skills
ARTIST: Hania Rani, Dobrawa Czocher
WORK: Malasana [5:22]
RECORDING: Inner Symphonies
SOURCE: Deutsche Grammophon 4860600
INFO: deutschegrammophon.com
ARTIST: Sven Helbig
WORK: Immersion [5:09]
RECORDING: SKILLS
SOURCE: Modern Recordings
INFO: https://svenhelbig.lnk.to/Skills
ARTIST: Meriheini Luoto
WORK: Metsänpeitto II [8:24]
RECORDING: Metsänpeitto
SOURCE/INFO: meriheiniluoto.bandcamp.com
ARTIST: Jóhann Jóhannsson, City of Prague Philharmonic Orchestra; Mario Klemens, conductor
WORK: Part 4: IBM 729 II magnetic tape unit [7:18]
RECORDING: IBM 1401- A User's Manual
SOURCE: 4AD #2609
INFO: 4ad.com
ARTIST: Joseph C. Phillips, Jr.'s Numinous
WORK: Joseph C. Phillips, Jr.: Vipassana, 2. Stillness Flows Ever Changing [11:57]
RECORDING: Vipassana
SOURCE: Innova Recordings
INFO: innova.mu
ARTIST: Tapani Rinne & Juha Ma ki-Patola
WORK: Distant [2:32]
RECORDING: Open
SOURCE: Hush Hush Records, due March 12
INFO: hushhushrecords.bandcamp.com
