NoNaMe :: Tibor Szemzö - Tractatus (1995)

Год/Year: 1995
Стиль/Style: avantgarde (?)
Страна/Country: Hungary
Формат/Format: MP3
Качество/Quality: CBR 320 kbps
Размер/Size: 88 MB
Tibor Szemzö's website

Don't let yourself get fooled by the reference to Wittgenstein... this is very listenable and rather sounds like a gentle lullaby...

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Tibor Szemzö — Tractatus (1995)
Leo Records, CD LR 227

“Duration of this recording is 30 minutes and 33 seconds. Our original plan was to have another long piece on this CD, but having listened to the final mix of "Tractatus" it became obvious to us that this piece of music is totally unique. It should stand on its own.” — Leo Feigin

1. Tractatus (30:33 min)

Composed and played by Tibor Szemző

The text and piano fragments are taken from "Tractatus Logico-Philosophicus" and "Vermischte Bemerkungen" by Ludwig Wittgenstein

Narrators:
Ayako Harada – Japanese / Francisco Gózon – Spanish / Rozalia K. Szemző – Slovak / Harald Quendler – German / Tillmann J.A. – Hungarian / Josef Bruckner – Czech / Caroline Bodóczky – English

plus:
2. Sub-Carpathia '38 (7:12 min)
Tibor Szemzö — syntheziser
The track uses recordings of "Doina" by S. Kosch and "Di Boyberiker Khasene" by Di Boyberiker Kapelye.
Recorded and mixed in 1990 at Mirage Studio by L. Hortobágyi & T. Szemzö.
Originally composed for the film "Private Hungary" by Péter Forgásc.
Taken from the compilation "Looking East. Hungary", Erdenklang 1991.

Скрытый текст

"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

Источник: http://nnm.ru/blogs/vespucci/tibor_szemz246_tractatus_1995/