Christian Mason's Playlist
A winner of the 2015 Ernst von Siemens Musikstiftung Composer Prize, Christian Mason is a London-based composer and co-artistic director of the Octandre Ensemble. Recent recordings with Carolin Widmann, Klangforum Wien, DSO and Bamburger Symphoniker will appear on a forthcoming portrait CD, to be released in November on Col Legno. Recent performances include 'Layers of Love' by Tokyo Sinfonietta, 'Sympathetic Resonance' an Alla Breve commission for Orchestre National de France, and 'Open to Infinity: A Grain of Sand' for Ensemble Intercontemporain and London Sinfonietta, commissioned by Lucerne Festival and BBC Proms for Pierre Boulez's 90th Birthday. Next year will see collaborations with the Korean Music Project, Ligeti Quartet, Francoise-Green piano duo, London Sinfonietta, Ensemble Modern, Asko/Shönberg Ensemble and Remix Ensemble.
photo © Manu Theobald
Charles M. Bogert – Sounds Of North American Frogs (1957)
A whole album rather than a single track, I know, but any moment of this wonderful collection of field recordings serves to remind that lots of the best music pre-existed our species… Not to mention the inimitable explanations given by Charles M. Bogert, with a voice almost as distinctive as the frogs he’s talking about.
Songs Of The Humpback Whale (1970)
Apparently Humpback Whales have their own musical culture which exhibits evolution over time, and interaction (i.e. exchanging/learning tunes) between different migratory groups. While seafarers may have heard their songs for hundreds of years, this record brought them to a wider public consciousness. What a shame we can’t invite them to the Southbank…
Ensemble Organum & Marcel Peres -
Chants De L'Eglise De Rome, Periode byzantine - Hec Dies, quam fecit Dominus
Preceding the ‘Gregorian Chant’ with which we are more familiar, the deep drones and melodic inflections of this ‘Old Roman Chant’ seem to achieve a gentle effortless ecstasy in which I’d gladly spend an eternity.
Tenores di Bitti "Mialinu Pira" - Milia vattu sa Trota
If you want to hear perfect perfect 5ths, this is the way they do it in Sardinia…
Ay-Kherel - The Music of Tuva - Tool
And this is how they do it Tuva…
Giacinto Scelsi - Anahit
Full of otherworldly yearning, this piece - dedicated to the ancient Egyptian goddess of beauty Anahit (Venus) - was among Scelsi’s pieces ‘composed’ by recording improvisations on the Ondiola.
Del Shannon - Runaway
Scelsi’s approach to the Ondiola was maybe more original, but Del Shannon probably had more fun recording this brilliant little Ondiola solo - who needs electric guitars anyway?
Horatiu Radulescu - String Quartet No. 5 ‘before the universe was born’
30 moments, each lasting a minute, and each a world unto itself… If you can get hold of the score it’s nice to follow the various quotations from Lao-Tzu, even if you don’t quite understand what they mean.
The Beatles - Because
Because it’s just what you need after half an hour of Radulescu.
Claude Vivier - Trois Airs Pour un Opera Imaginaire
Probably my favourite Vivier piece; I don’t know what he intended, but I wish it could have become a full blown opera.
http://smcq.qc.ca/smcq/en/oeuvres/228/94.php
Patrick Watson - Lighthouse
Another Canadian with a great sense for emotive melody. And because it has a lovely musical saw solo half way through.
Sinan Savaskan - Symphony No. 2 ‘The Age of Analysis’ (1997)
The beautiful serenity of the first movement - full of warmth but with melancholic under-tones - gives way to a wild dance, brim-full of rhythmic vitality, fragments of remembered melodies, and general joie de vivre. I’ve listened to this recording countless times. Now, I just want to hear it played live.
Billie Holiday - The Man I Love
Her voice makes you melt.
J. S. Bach - Violin Sonata No.4 (Largo) [on theremin]
Bach never heard his music on piano, and he never heard it on theremin either, but when you hear Pamelia Stickney you don’t worry about whether it’s authentic.
J. S. Bach - Prelude in G minor BWV 930
Perfect late-night listening on endless repeat…