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Founding work of minimalism, Music with Changing Parts is a piece with free instrumentation. The musicians choose which part to play among the 8 staves of the score. At each indicated cue, the musicians can change part, which produces an abrupt change of instrumentation. While the music is based on a melodic material limited to a few notes that are repeated in patterns that expand or contract, the changes in orchestration refresh the listening experience by producing sonic contrasts. These techniques at work in Music with Changing Parts, written in 1970, will lead Philip Glass to renew his language and move from the monochromatic works that precede it to more dramatic works such as music in 12 parts and especially the opera Einstein on the Beach. When Philip Glass began rehearsing the piece, he was surprised to hear long notes when everything was written in eighth notes. After making sure that none of the musicians were playing held notes, he realized that the fact that the same notes were played by all the instruments in the ensemble produced, through a psycho-acoustic effect, a harmonic substrate of resonant frequencies. He then decided to add to the score the possibility of playing long notes to reinforce this effect. For this recording, we chose to record first the eight notes, then the long notes in re-recording. This utopian version, with each musician playing short and long notes at the same time (!), illustrates the minimalist aesthetic that plays with our perception and allows us to reconcile opposites and cultivate the apparent paradox of a music that moves forward without Moving and changes constantly while remaining the same. Dedalus Ensemble Founded in 1996 by Didier Aschour, Dedalus is a musical ensemble associated with the GMEA - Centre National de Création Musicale d'Albi-Tarn._Specializing in open-instrumentation scores, Dedalus is organized as a collective in which arrangements, orchestrations, and interpretations are developed collaboratively._Their repertoire ranges from classics of minimalism (Tom Johnson, Philip Glass...) to commissions from composers, and also includes recreations of works by unclassifiable artists (Moondog, Brian Eno...). Defying traditional categories, the ensemble performs conceptual and sensitive music that is radical and captivating, subtle and powerful. Dedalus performs in France, Europe and North America: Roulette (New York), Café Oto (London), Angelica (Bologna), Sacrum Profanum (Krakow), Philharmonie de Paris, Huddersfield Contemporary Music Festival, Bozar (Brussels), L'Auditori (Barcelona), Darmstädter Ferienkurse, Festival d'Automne à Paris... Didier Aschour, guitar, artistic direction Alexandra Gimal, voice Amélie Berson, flute Denis Chouillet, keyboard Sakina Abdou, alto saxophone Barbara Dang, keyboard Pierre-Stéphane Meugé, soprano & barytone saxophones Stéphane Garin, vibraphone, glockenspiel

Philip Glass / Dedalus Ensemble – Performing Philip Glass: Music with Changing Parts

A visceral, reflexive set from drummer Steve Noble and trumpeter Gabriel Bristow, recorded at OTO in April 2022. Stepping in for Tashi Dorji, who'd had to cancel his tour, Bristow more than matches the Bhutanese guitarist's intensity, summoning a freewheeling melodicism that combines undeniable technical skill with full-throated breath work and exuberant runs that soar over the rousing fervency of Noble's drumming. For those still in need of proof of Noble's status as one of the all-time-great British drummers (and really, if so, where have you been?), look no further. Noble's distinctive style is in full effect here, an instinctual percussive tour-de-force that covers an incredible amount of ground whilst never seeming to be anything less than utterly suited to the moment. At times the back and forth between the two musicians builds to such a clamorous pitch that it seems that the whole thing must tumble over, but both artists seem able and willing to push on to greater heights. At others, there's a ruminative thoughtful quality to the interplay that evokes the charged semi-silences of the films of the Quay brothers. There's an overarching drive and vitality to the duo's reciprocity, and at times there's enough swing going on here to conjure Jaan Pehchan Ho. But the pair also give each other enough space to breathe, with the set's 40 minute running time punctuated by miniature solo sections that seem to act like deliberate inhales before the next giddy ascension. Through it all, snippets of Albert Ayler's phantom phrases coil and wreathe in new variations that tip the hat without getting bogged down in too much reverence. This is no amber-coated act of jazz preservation, but a living, breathing performance imbued with the spirit. -- Recorded by Chris PentyMixed by Otto WillbergMastered by Oli Barrett

Gabriel Bristow & Steve Noble – Ghost Exercises

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