MUSICA  CONIUNCTA  3

This is the third collection of pieces that derive from a concept and a project that I name Musica Coniuncta. The present album follows a first one – ‘Musica Coniuncta – Bach to Cage through Gamelan’  published by Yantra in 2014 – and a second one  ‘Musica Coniuncta – Young Bali Gamelan’  published in 2019.

In the concise notes attached to the first album, we read that the idea about ‘musica coniuncta’ originated quite a few decades ago, suggested by a serendipitous happening. I had recorded two pieces from the radio at different times and, in order to save tape space, the pieces were recorded in mono on the adjacent tracks at start of a two-track tape. Only at some later time I realized two things. First, the pieces had the same duration. Second, and more important, they sounded incredibly well fused when played together, which would naturally happen listening to the tape in stereo mode. The latter discovery was so startling that I refrained from doing anything about it, as if I had been given a mysterious gift or sign that was not to be investigated. Many years later I timidly began to try intentional operations of the kind, saw that they could work in certain circumstances, so I decided to consider it a permanent concept-project, at any time open to register hints that appeared worthy of elaboration. The Musica Coniuncta album of 2014 includes the original serendipitous combination of the two pieces (Ligeti’s ‘Lontano’ and Stockhausen’s ‘Stop’).

‘Active listening’ is probably at the roots of the inclination to intervene to change, add, and combine in various possible ways on existing pieces of music. Arrangements and re-creations have been widely analyzed by the philosopher/musicologist Peter Szendy (b. 1966) in his book “Listen: A History of Our Ears”.

John Noise Manis
2021

 

NOTE –
Concerning the pieces and excerpts of already published music used in the present release (as well as in the two previous albums) attempts have been made to get permission to use them. Such attempts have not produced responses, and in general they do not produce results. The production of the present release is at any time ready to receive possible requests from the legitimately interested parties.

 

Track 1 9:47     DARK ANGELS

George Crumb  ‘Dark Angels’
Sounds from Balinese Ceremonies
Animal sounds

 

Track 2 3:24     PANGKUR SATIE

Macapat Pangkur  Nyi Cendaniraras
Erik Satie  ‘Gymnopedie no. 1’

 

Track 3 1:58     MIJIL DEBUSSY

Macapat Mijil  Nyi Cendaniraras
Claude Debussy  ‘Sirènes’ (Nocturnes)

 

Track 4 3:56     MENESE NGOREK BAIK

Kodok Ngorek at Mangkunegaran
José Menese (Puebla de Cazalla)  ‘Tona y Martinete’

 

Track 5 11:25  AROUND AN OSTINATO OF HAVERGAL BRIAN

Havergal Brian
John Cage
Sounds of Gamelan Degung
I Putu Suta Muliartawan (Jo)
Central African Xylophones
Morton Feldman
David Bedford
Nyi Yayuk Sri Rahayu  from gendhing Budheng-Budheng

 

Track 6 1:28     SELONDING DAPHÉNÉO

Erik Satie  ‘Daphénéo’
I Nyoman Partha Gunawan  ‘Gendhing Rejang Gucek’ saih sadi

 

Track 7 2:36     DISTANCE FOR INSTANCE – WITH ENDAH

A fleeting one-shot collaboration across continents during Covit 19
I Putu Gede Sukaryana (Balot) setting the impro base
Simone Mor adding guitar, percussion, and title
J.N.M. providing the amazing voice and song of Endah Laras

 

Track 8 8:28     BREATHE PLAY SING SLURP – FOUR SOLITARY PERFORMERS

Ruth Anderson  ‘I Come Out of Your Sleep’
Somei Satoh  ‘A Gate into the Stars’
Giacinto Scelsi  ‘Taiagarù’  voice of Michiko Hirayama
Manis

 

Track 9 3:36     ANGLIR RIVER

Nyi Cendaniraras  from gendhing Anglir Mendhung
Brian Eno  ‘Asian River’

 

Track 10    2:48     MANDULPATI LENTO

Nyi Cendaniraras  from gendhing Mandulpati
Howard Skempton  ‘Lento’

 

Track 11    6:38     LET ME DRIP HANDEL

George Frideric Handel  ‘Lascia ch’io pianga’
Giacinto Scelsi  ‘Ho’ and ‘Sauh’
Nearly empty heating-fuel tank

 

Track 12    2:00     MEGATRUH R STRAUSS

Macapat Megatruh  Nyi Cendaniraras
Richard Strauss  ‘Metamorphosen’

 

Track 13    1:38     PANGKUR VIVALDI

Macapat Pangkur  Nyi Cendaniraras
Antonio Vivaldi  ‘Concerto 2 Mandolins RV 532’ Andante

 

Track 14    2:50     SANTICAIRO 1

Santiswara bawa at ISI Surakarta
‘Les flûtes de la campagne égyptienne’ courtesy of Sono Cairo label

 

Track 15    3:04     SANTICAIRO 2

Santiswara bawa at ISI Surakarta
‘Les flûtes de la campagne égyptienne’ courtesy of Sono Cairo label

 

Track 16    4:38     SANTISWARA PLUS

Santiswara session at ISI Surakarta
Daniel Lentz  ‘Lascaux’
Gnawa drums
Water gamelan

 

Track 17    2:22     UYGHUR VOX CLAMANTIS

Invective of the Uyghur
Morton Feldman’s 12-note/chord punctuation

 

 

Text of Satie’s ‘Daphénéo’ –

Dis-moi, Daphénéo, quel est donc cet arbre
Dont les fruits sont des oiseaux qui pleurent?
Cet arbre, Chrysaline, est un oisetier.
Ah! Je croyais que les noisetiers
Donnaient des noisettes, Daphénéo.
Oui, Chrysaline, les noisetiers donnent des noisettes,
Mais les oisetiers donnent des oiseaux qui pleurent.
Ah!…

 

YANTRA PRODUCTIONS
john.noise.manis@gmail.com