Год/Year: 1993
Стиль/Style: avantgarde (maybe for the ones who otherwise don't like avantgarde?)
Страна/Country: Hungary
Формат/Format: MP3
Качество/Quality: CBR 192 kbps
Размер/Size: 78 MB
Tibor Szemzö's website
Difficult to categorize work by Hungarian artist Tibor Szemzö. "The Conscience" starts with a strange story, than the album gets even stranger...
Tibor Szemzö — "The Conscience" (1993)
Leo Records/BBS Foundation, CD LR 185
1. Skullbase Fracture (1984)
(text by P. Havliček) for narrator and TV, chamber ensemble and Gipsyband
2. Optimistic Lecture (1988)
(In memoriam Miklós Erdély) concertino for record player and mixed ensemble
3. The Sex Appeal of Death (1981)
(In memoriam Tibor Hajas) for child narrator, chamber ensemble and tape
50:19 min
Mixed Ensemble
László Szegedi — piano (1), Kinga Székely — piano, celesta, Gergely Ittzés — flute, Gellért Tihanyi — clarinet, bass clarinet (2), Balázs Arnót — bassoon, Zoltán Holb — horn, Tamás Tóth — electric bass, Balázs Papp — vibraphone, glockenspiel, Zsolt Romos — flute and piccolo (2), Mihály Borbély — clarinet (2), Mihály Farkas — piano (2), Sándor Rigó — alto sax, Ferenc Kovács — trumpet, Gyula Tóth — electric guitar, Kornél Fekete Kovács — flugelhorn, László Göőz — trombone, Pál Kalmusz — baritone sax, Péter Magyar — drums (2), Lajos Gyenge — cymbals, Ágnes Apró — viola (3), Vilmos Búza — doublebass, László Fazekas — drums (3), P.G.Havlicek — narrator (1), Tarina Szemző — narrator (3), Tibor Szemző — speaker (2) and conductor
Danubius String Quartet
Mária Zs. Szabó — 1st violin, Adél Miklós — 2nd violin, Enikő Nagy — viola, Ilona Ribli — cello
Jenő Oláh Gipsyband
Jenő Oláh — violin, Gábor Váradi — viola, Gyula Maka — bass, Ferenc Birkás — clarinet, János Rigó — cimbalom
Trio Lóránd
Marcel Lóránd — vocal solo
Recorded at Hungarian Radio Studios
"The Conscience" is a departure from Leo Records' usual celebration of contemporary jazz and improvised music. lt consists of three narrative chamber compositions by the Hungarian composer Tibor Szemző. Each piece combines music with spoken text and delights in playing off a variety of musical and literary discourses against each other.
"Skullbase Fracture" (1984) uses a text by P.G. Havlicek which skillfully and humorously interweaves medical, metaphysical, political and detective discourse to equally absurd and plausible ends. Szemző's music moves effortlessly from chamber romanticism to the Jeno Oláh Gipsyband's rendering of a popular Hungarian tune, dripping with sentimentality. A fascinating combination, it has to be said, lasting for about half an hour. Those who enjoy the intertextual conundrums of Borges, Greenaway and Robert Ashley should have a field day here.
"Optimistic Lecture" (1988) opens with a canonic form reminiscent of Steve Reich's phase patterns and develops into a large, funky, swing activity akin to George Russell's Living Time Orchestra. This is combined with a recording of the jewish cantor Marcell Lóránd, and a spoken text which is synchronized with the principal theme, note for syllable. Szemző's control of these elements is superb and everything fits together to produce a complex, joyous unity. Finally, "The Sex Appeal Of Death" (1981) has its child narrator (Szemző's daughter Tarina) reading, at snail's pace, from an essay by Tibor Hajas; literally slithering from one syllable to the next with a lugubrious string quartet and percussionist in attendance. Although the work is atmospheric, lt ultimately falls short of its august aspirations, nevertheless, it's hard not to admire the audacity and imaginative scope of these compositions. Try to give them a hearing.
Chris Blackford,
The Wire, June 1993
* * *
This recording by Hungarian composer Tibor Szemző succeeds on many leveIs. On a musical level, the performances by the variety of contemporary ensembles are hauntingly beautiful and the intonation of the spoken word elements provide a soothing and effective balance to the dream-like sounds of the strings and winds. Once the listener takes in the content of the narrative an entirely different listening experience begins to take place.
The first piece "Skullbase Fracture", offsets the music of a chamber ensemble and a gypsy band with some very strange tangential prose concerning a skullbase fracture.
The second piece, "Optimistic Lecture" is incredibly thought provoking in its juxtaposition of a Jewish Prayer. "Our Father, our King! We pray thee, turn us not back empty from thy presence." With an existential discussion of post-neo-avant-garde behaviour, 'Man must realize that he is responsible for his own life and fate and must insist upon this responsibility beyond all limits.' The music accompanying these two elements is equally powerful in its contradictory interplay.
The third and final piece "The Sex appeal of Death", an essay discussing how Western civilization has erased the death experience from its consciousness, is read by a young child. A heavy experience indeed.
If the audio content of this CD isn't thought provoking enough, there are complete liner notes on the three pieces as well as an analytical discussion providing one interpretation of this collection of compositions. The recording s main power is its ability to both intrique and challenge the listener simultaneously.This is certainly not difficult music and is a must for those who like their art with a heavy dose of intellectual stimulation.
Jan Danzig
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