KAGEL, MAURICIO - TRANSICION II / PHONOPHONIE (CD)

'Transicion II': for piano, percussion & 2 magnetic tapes (1958-9). 'Phonophonie': 4 melodramas for two voices & other sound sources (1963-64). 'Transicion II' was an early exploration of what 'live electronics' are now being used to achieve. The score is in individual pages which can be placed in any order by the performers. Repetition of any of the musical material is not allowed -- instead, as the players continue to perform in the present, the tapes can recall music already played. In addition, the tapes can be manipulated to change timbre and frequencies in order to make recognition of the original sounds impossible. For this recording, the modern technology of live electronics is used in place of the analogue tape loops. This allows the electronic technician to become an actual third performer -- creator of the 'tapes' and in charge of the sound direction. "'Phonophonie' is intended to be the portrait of an anonymous 19th century singing actor, captured at the moment of his vocal decline...", to quote Kagel. Conceived as a melodrama, the singer reacts with the other sounds as well as having to rapidly switch between four roles: the singer, the mimic, the ventriloquist and, in addition, the deaf-mute. The dramatic function of this dissociation is redefined over the course of a lengthy series of schizophrenic dialogues and 'trialogues' between the persona of the singer and his disconnected parts."