"Following on from our popular primer A Young Person's Guide to the Avant-Garde, LTM now offers a comprehensive overview of American avant-garde music in the 20th century.
Commencing with early pioneers Charles Ives and George Antheil (including the celebrated, Futuristic Ballet Mechanique of 1924), this chronological double disc collection also includes pieces by emigre arrivals in the New World such as Leo Ornstein, Dane Rudhyar and Edgard Varese, as well homegrown composers including Henry Cowell, Carl Ruggles and Roger Sessions.
The second half of this double disc set offers works by a number of even more modern modernists, notably Morton Feldman, Harry Partch and the immortal John Cage, whose groundbreaking Sonatas and Interludes for prepared piano is presented in its entirety.
With a generous playing time of 140 minutes, this fascinating double CD set comes with an illustrated booklet featuring detailed historical notes."
- samples -
Disc 1
1. Charles Ives : Central Park in the Dark (1906)
2. Leo Ornstein : Suicide in an Airplane (1913)
3. Henry Cowell : Dynamic Motion (1916)
4. George Antheil : Sonata Sauvage (1922/23)
5. Carl Ruggles : Angels (1922)
6. George Antheil : Ballet Mecanique (1924)
7-10.Dane Rudhyar : Tetragram #8 (Primavera)(1928)
11.Edgard Varese : Ionization(1929-31)
12.Roger Sessions : From My Diary (Poco Adagio)(1940)
13.Morton Feldman : Piece For Four Pianos(1951)
Disc 2
1-19. John Cage : Sonatas and Interludes (1946-48)
20. Harry Partch : Ulysses at the Edge (1955)
21. Brion Gysin : Recalling All Active Agents (1960)
Notes
Dates of composition appended to the track titles:
1-1: 1906; 1-2: 1913; 1-3: 1916; 1-4: 1922/23; 1-5: 1922; 1-6: 1924; 1-7 to 1-10: 1928; 1-11: 1929-31; 1-12: 1940; 1-13: 1951; 1-15: 1938; 2-1 to 2-19: 1946-48; 2-20: 1955; 2-21: 1960
1-3 This performance [...] was recorded in 1963.
1-6 This version [...] was recorded in 1955.
1-13 Recorded 1959.
2-1 to 2-19 This recording [...] dates from 1950.
Compiled [...] for LTM (2012). Design and packaging [...] at Aleph Studio.
The movements of 'Tetragram #8 (Primavera)' (1-7 to 1-10) are unnamed in the release tracklist.
The titles, however, are mentioned on the LTM web site.
