Various – Notes From The Underground: Radical Music Of The 20th Century – 4CD Encore Records Ltd

4 CD Box – UK Import

• Notes From The Underground’ showcases landmark recordings which shaped the musical and cultural landscape of the 20th century.

• Including major works like Stravinsky’s ‘Rite of Spring’, ‘Déserts’ by Edgard Varèse, Edith Sitwell’s ‘Façade’, Arnold Schoenberg’s ‘Pierrot Lunaire’, and John Cage’s 1940’s compositions for prepared piano, which were absolutely revolutionary.

Unveiled to the public, these works created a scandal that polarised audiences and sparked furious debate, bordering on serious public disorder. Other works, including Allen Ginsberg’s epic poem ‘Howl’, Miles Davis’ Third Stream interpretation of Rodrigo’s ‘Concierto de Aranjuez’, and ballet music for ‘Parade’, composed by Erik Satie, even entered dangerous legal territory. Despite initial opposition, all cleared the prevailing air and proved to be universal in their influence.

Some, among them, Karlheinz Stockhausen, John Coltrane, Pierre Boulez, Bill Evans, Ravi Shankar, Pierre Schaeffer, Gustav Mahler, Claude Debussy and Charles Ives, were real crusaders; innovators whose concerted musical explorations enabled them to acquire a deeper understanding of their art that would enable them to attain hitherto unknown creative heights.

This presentation also includes music from four radical cinematic productions; Luis Buñuel and Salvador Dalí’s incendiary 1929 surrealist short, Un Chien Andalou, from Lindsay Anderson’s savage attack on the establishment, if Music from Electra by the
Greek composer Mikis Theodorakis and from Patrick McGoohan’s fantastical, highly provocative era-defining political allegory, The Prisoner.

Track Listing:

DISC ONE:
CLAUDE DEBUSSY
1 Prélude à l’après-midi d’un faune (Prelude to the Afternoon of a Faun) – London Symphony Orchestra / Conductor: Pierre Monteux
IGOR STRAVINSKY
Le sacre du printemps (The Rite of Spring) (1913 version) Part One – ‘Adoration Of The Earth’
2 Adoration Of The Earth – Introduction
3 The Augurs Of Spring – Dances of the Young Girls
4 Ritual of Abduction
5 Spring Rounds
6 Games of the Rival Tribes
7 Procession of the Sage
8 The Sage
9 Dance of the Earth
Part Two – ‘The Sacrifice’
10 The Sacrifice – Introduction
11 Mystic Circles of the Young Girls
12 Glorification of the Chosen One
13 Evocation of the Ancients
14 Ritual of the Ancients 15 Sacrificial Dance
Boston Symphony Orchestra/Conductor: Pierre Monteux
KARLHEINZ STOCKHAUSEN
16 Studie 1
PIERRE SCHAEFFER
Two selections from Cinq études de bruits (Five Studies Of Noises)
17 Étude violette
18 Étude noire
JOHN COLTRANE QUINTET FEATURING ERIC DOLPHY
19 My Favourite Things
MUSIC FROM THE PRISONER
A B & C (Episode 3 – On scientific intrusion into the mind)
20 Sidney Torch – Virtuosi Moderne – Off Beat Moods – Part 3 – Dramatic Sustained
FALL OUT (episode 17 – on the exultation of individualism)
21 The Four Lads – Dry Bones

DISC TWO:
EDGARD VARÈSE
1 Déserts (World Premiere, 1954)
Orchestre National de France / Conductor: Hermann Scherchen. Magnetic tape operator: Pierre Henry
DAPHNE ORAM
2 Amphitryon 38
DAPHNE ORAM & DESMOND BRISCOE
3 The Ocean
4 Winter’s Journey (intro) (1958)
PIERRE BOULEZ
5 Sonatine for Flute and Piano
MUSIC FROM UN CHIEN ANDALOU
6 Vicente Alvarez and his Tropical Orchestra – Tango Argentino
MILES DAVIS
7 Concierto de Aranjuez (Adagio) from ‘Sketches Of Spain’
ALLEN GINSBERG
8 Howl

DISC THREE:
DITH SITWELL & WILLIAM WALTON
FAÇADE – An Entertainment (1923)
1 Fanfare
2 Hornpipe
3 En Famille
4 Mariner Man
5 Trio For Two Cats And Trombone
6 Through Gilded Trellises
7 Tango Pasodoble
8 Scotch Rhapsody
9 Lullaby For Jumbo
10 Fox-trot
11 By The Lake
12 The Man From A Far Countree
13 Jodelling Song
14 Country Dance
15 Black Mrs. Behemoth
16 Popular Song
17 Polka
18 Waltz
19 Four In The Morning
20 Something Lies Beyond The Scene 21 Sir Beelzebub
RAVI SHANKAR
22 Kafi-Holi (Spring Festival of Colours)
MIKIS THEODORAKIS
23 Electra Suite No. 9
ORNETTE COLEMAN QUARTET
24 Kaleidoscope
LUCIANO BERIO – CATHY BERBERIAN
25 Thema (Omaggio a Joyce) for voice and tape
LES TROUBADOURS DU ROI BAUDOUIN
MISSA LUBA – A mass sung in pure Congolese style
26 Kyrie
27 Gloria
28 Credo
29 Sanctus
30 Benedictus
31 Agnus Dei
OLIVIER MESSIAEN
32 Quatuor pour la fin du temps (Quartet for the End of Time) 8: Louange à l’immortalité de Jésus (Praise to the immortality of Jesus)
BILL EVANS TRIO
33 My Foolish Heart

DISC FOUR:
GUSTAV MAHLER
1 Symphony No. 5 in C-sharp minor IV. Adagietto – Sehr langsam New York Philharmonic Conductor: Bruno Walter
JOHN CAGE Four Sonatas (for Prepared Piano)
2 Sonata VII
3 Sonata IV
4 Sonata II
5 Sonata III
Maro Ajemian: piano
ERIK SATIE Parade (Ballet Suite)
6 Prélude du rideau rouge (Prelude of the Red Curtain)
7 Prestidigitateur chinois (Chinese Conjurer)
8 Petite fille Américaine (Young American Girl)
9 Ragtime du paquebot (Ragtime of the Passenger Steamer)
10 Acrobates (Acrobats)
11 Suite au prélude du rideau rouge (Continuation of the Prelude of the Red Curtain) French National Radio Orchestra / Conductor: Manuel Rosenthal
ARNOLD SCHOENBERG Pierrot Lunaire, Op.21 (1912) / Part 1
12 Mondestrunken
13 Colombine
14 Der Dandy
15 Eine blasse Wäscherin
16 Valse de Chopin
17 Madonna
18 Der kranke Mond
Helga Pilarczyk: speaker. Conductor: Pierre Boulez
CHARLES IVES
19 Piano Sonata No. 2, Op. 19 ‘Concord, Mass III. The Alcotts
John Kirkpatrick: piano
ALI AKBAR KHAN
20 Raag Chandrakauns – Alap & Gat