Label: Amgen

作曲家自身が頑なに演奏する事を拒否し続けていた、今回が初出となる歴史的音源!!ミュージック・コンクレートの創始者らに師事しながらも、チベット仏教に深く関係した唯一無二のスタイルで超深淵な持続音作品を提示し続けてきた重鎮コンポーザーEliane Radigue。彼女の最も古い作品として知られる、フィボナッチ数列を用いたグラフィックスコア作品[Asymptote Versatile](1963-64年)が遂に録音ブツとして初の音源化!! Radigue自身がコンサートでの演奏を頑なに拒否していた作品だった為、まさに歴史的偉業と言って良い快挙なリリースであり、本作にはハダースフィールド現代音楽祭で披露された世界初演のライブを収録。過去にも彼女の作品に参加している超ベテランハープ奏者Rhodri Davies率いるアンサンブルが演奏を担当、彼女の美学を忠実に実践してきた"Occam Ocean"のソリストたちも多数参加した最強の名演。



Xavier Charles: clarinet
Angharad Davies: violin
Rhodri Davies: harp
Julia Eckhardt: viola
Bertrand Gauguet: alto saxophone
Susan Geaney: bass flute
Dominic Lash: double bass
Thierry Madiot: bass trombone
Aonghus McEvoy: guitar
Hannah Miller: french horn
Ailbhe Nic Oireachtaigh: viola
Carol Robinson: bass clarinet

Composed by Éliane Radigue.
This is a live concert recording of the world premier performed at the Huddersfield Contemporary Music Festival.
Recorded by Simon Reynell at Huddersfield Town Hall, on the 26th of November 2023.
Mixed and mastered by Sam Grant.
Design by Anna Peaker.
Produced by Rhodri Davies.

Amgen presents the historic recording of Éliane Radigue's Asymptote Versatile (1963-64), widely recognized as the oldest surviving composition by the pioneering French electronic music composer. This monumental work was performed for the very first time at the Huddersfield Contemporary Music Festival on November 26, 2023, marking a truly historic event as Radigue had resolutely refused permission for this work to be presented in concert - until now. The legendary composer referred to her 1960s works as "propositions sonores," rather than compositions, and this piece is the only one she kept from that formative period. The graphic score comprises logarithmic curves devised from the Fibonacci sequence, superimposed over sheets of additional notation, to be performed as sustained tones by up to four groups of acoustic instrumentalists spanning the full range of the audible spectrum.

Asymptote Versatile sows the seeds of Radigue's exploration of long durational forms, bridging a 50-year gap between the school of composers she met in 1960s New York and her 2011-onwards OCCAM OCEAN series, where she composes for individual instrumentalists. Convened by Rhodri Davies, this exceptional ensemble features many of the OCCAM soloists who have worked closely with Radigue, steeped in the aesthetics and methods of her practice: Xavier Charles (clarinet), Angharad Davies (violin), Rhodri Davies (harp), Julia Eckhardt (viola), Bertrand Gauguet (alto saxophone), Susan Geaney (bass flute), Dominic Lash (double bass), Thierry Madiot (bass trombone), Aonghus McEvoy (guitar), Hannah Miller (french horn), Ailbhe Nic Oireachtaigh (viola), and Carol Robinson (bass clarinet).

Radigue herself reflected on the work's origins: "I was young when I composed the Fibonacci suite. I was in New York at that time… During this period of my life I was very interested in mathematics and for this piece I constructed a logarithmic spiral. It is to do with the infinitesimal; the ever-changing, until its destruction in the dance of constant change. […] In one's interpretation, it's important to stay flexible, to avoid rigidity. You can think of the piece as your asymptote … but you are free, it is important to remain free."