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the hands of caravaggio
 |
MIMEO/John
Tilbury |
Personnel:
Keith
Rowe: guitar, electronics
Kevin Drumm: guitar, analogue synthesizer
Phil Durrant: software granular samplers and treatments
Thomas Lehn: analogue synthesizer
Kaffe Matthews: computer
Jérôme Noetinger: electroacoustic devices
Gert-Jan Prins: electronics, FM modulations, radio
Peter Rehberg: computer
Marcus Schmickler: digital synthesizer, computer
Rafael Toral: guitar with analogue modular system
Markus Wettstein: amplified metal garbage
Cor Fuhler: inside piano
John Tilbury: piano
Track listing:
1. The Hands of Caravaggio (49:24)
articles & reviews
Keith Rowe's choice of album title and cover art referencing the great
Italian painter Caravaggio (1573 - 1610), his stated intention that this
concert (recorded in Bologna on May 20th 2001) could be considered as
"a concerto for piano and electronic orchestra with John Tilbury",
and the inclusion on the Erstwhile website of articles by Tilbury himself
and Michael Graubart on the history of the concerto all invite us to come
at these 49 minutes of music more from the direction of (contemporary)
classical music than with any predetermined assumptions relating to the
culture of improvised music. Pianist Tilbury is, after all, one of the
world's finest performers of new music, having released benchmark recordings
of major works by Cage, Cardew and Feldman, and the sensibility he brings
to his improvised work with AMM has more in common with British and American
Experimental music than it does with a "tradition" of free improv
piano playing deriving essentially from free jazz.
At the heart of the concept of the classical and Romantic concerto is
the idea of creative friction between soloist and orchestra, on a macro
(formal) or micro (motivic) level, in conjunction with the idea that the
work should be a showcase of sorts for the soloist's virtuosity (hence
the tradition of incorporating a cadenza). Tilbury's mastery of the piano
may be evidence, but there are several lengthy passages where his contributions
are subsumed into the surrounding sonic plasma rather than engaging the
other musicians in contrapuntal dialogue. As such, "The Hands of
Caravaggio" has less to do with the piano concerto as we know it
from Mozart, Beethoven, Schumann, Brahms and Chopin and more in common
with the baroque concerto grosso. A second pianist, Cor Fuhler, plays
a kind of continuo (on inside piano), while the remaining eleven members
of the Music In Movement Electronic Orchestra (a veritable Who's Who of
electroacoustic improvisation: Keith Rowe, Thomas Lehn, Phil Durrant,
Kaffe Mathews, Peter Rehberg, Kevin Drumm, Markus Wettstein, Marcus Schmickler,
Gert-Jan Prins, Rafael Toral and Jérôme Noetinger) cocoon
the pianists in a dense weave of electronic sound. Despite the considerable
thickness of texture (Tilbury joked with the other musicians before the
performance: "In one second you guys can eliminate me once and for
all," to which Jérôme Noetinger responded: "Less
than a second.."), the 49-minute span of music is eminently listenable
and, from a formal point of view, surprisingly traditional: a slow crescendo
and accumulation of material leads to climactic passages starting at about
13' and gently subsiding (after around 27') into an elegiac coda (about
40'30") and slow fadeout. Of course, apart from Tilbury's florid
virtuosity and crystalline arpeggios, it's almost impossible to tell who's
doing what: the concert itself was apparently fraught with technical problems
(with the sound system and Tilbury's piano), and several of the participants
expressed reservations about the performance at the time. However, as
Erstwhile had already slated the project for release even before the concert
ever took place (a rather risky strategy in my opinion, but one perfectly
in accord with Jon Abbey's daring vision of his own label), it fell to
Marcus Schmickler to go through the tapes and mix and master the final
product. The fact that "The Hands of Caravaggio" is MIMEO's
most coherent and impressive album to date is due in no small part to
his ten days of painstaking work.
- Dan Warburton, paristransatlantic.com
The Hands
of Caravaggio was recorded last year at Angelica, Festival Internazionale
Di Musica in Bologna. The performance marked a unique collaboration between
new music pianist John Tilbury (of AMM) with the now legendary MIMEO ensemble.
MIMEO (Music In Movement Electronic Orchestra) is something of a who's
who of experimental improv. Its current members are known as much for
their solo works and various collaborative efforts as their work as a
single unit. They are: Keith Rowe, Kevin Drumm, Phil Durrant, Thomas Lehn,
Kaffe Matthews, Jérôme Noetinger, Gert-Jan Prins, Peter Rehberg,
Marcus Schmickler, Rafael Toral, Markus Wettstein and Cor Fuhler. They
perform on a variety of instruments and electronics, including Cor Fuhler's
inside piano (a central figure in the piece), guitars, computers, electroacoustic
devices, samplers and metallic objects. Added to their ranks is a sharp,
piercing performance by John Tilbury on piano. The performance is a tempestuous
fluctuation of moods and textures, from quiet and tranquil sections to
dizzying and intense crescendos. The piece seems guided by a collective
vision, yet composed of such dissident elements (acoustic/electronic,
tranquil/explosive). It's an intoxicating and challenging set, one that
defies easy description and presents a new context for the term "concerto."
If you visit the Erstwhile Records website, you'll find four short but
insightful commentaries on a number of ideas related to this project;
on the history of the concerto, the dichotomy of conflict versus cooperation,
on Caravaggio (providing a loose theme for the work as well as the basis
for the cover artwork), on collective versus individual direction in large
ensemble pieces. Be sure to check it out.
- Richard di Santo, Incursion