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viewing 1 To 17 of 17 items
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LP
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HOL 125LP
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Mediterranean Music Water (Mare nostrum in moedium terrae) Op. 203, a never before issued tape composition, belongs to a body of work embarked upon during the 1980s and '90s connected to Sicily, the other most notable and available being Op. 201 L'Essere Umano Errabando, La Voca Errabando, issued by The Henning Christiansen Archive in 2020. These works were an extension of Ursula and Henning Christiansen's meeting and befriending the Sicily based couple Carlo Quartucci and Carla Tatò, with whom they regularly visited and collaborated. Like its predecessor, the aforementioned Op. 201, Mediterranean Music Water Op. 203 is a conceptualization of abstract theatricality at the connection of place and its relationship to the sea. Performed by Ursula Reuter Christiansen and Henning Christiansen and recorded at a small performing arts theatre in Erice, Sicily -- Teatro Gebel Hamed -- during December of 1991, the abstract for this work reads: "In the morning (after the storm), on the beach. The sea has thrown some things on the beach. Blue light -- some mist? On the ground. Ursula's slides on the wall. Henning is rolling from the background of the stage slowly, very slowly, towards, in a fish net. I come in looking for the things the sea has left and discover him. I roll him out of the net, he's nearly dead, and try to get life in him. Light in the background in rainbow colours. Ursula wears a partlett dress, as a siren." These images lay a foundation and context for the sounds that emerge over the album's two sides, a fascinating conjunction between the power of water and the human spirit. Through the processing of heavy delay and reverb, we encounter the howling utterances of violin tones, vocalizations, and countless unplayable instrumental and non-instrumental sound sources, gathering in a vast and sprawling serious of sonorous expanses that seem to echo the power, movements, and myths tied to the Mediterranean.
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LP
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HOL 106RE-LP
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"I have worked together with sheep before," says Henning Christiansen, introducing the performance he did in front of the Brucknerhaus in Linz in July 1988. But this time he went beyond, building a "Concert-Castle" with hay blocks where thirty sheep could perform music. Another time the animals -- Christiansen's obsession and passion -- become the musical instruments used for his compositions. Schafe statt Geigen (Sheep Instead of Violins, 1988) and "Verena" Vogelzymphon (Bird Symphony, 1990) first appeared as a small CD edition issued by Galerie Bernd Klüser in 1991. Both works, each one occupying a full side of this LP edition, extend from one of Christiansen's long standing conceptual strategies -- deploying recordings of animals as stand-ins for musical instruments, sheep and birds respectively. While each work allows these sources to take the natural lead, at times masquerading as field recordings, both feature subtle tonal and electronic interventions by the composer, creating strange and brilliant compositions which shift the terms and subjects of music as they were long understood. Accompanied by a twenty-page booklet featuring drawings and texts by Henning Christiansen, as well as pictures of the performance by René Block.
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5CD BOX
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HC 005CD
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Music for a tragedy/play, Penthesilea (tragedy in 24 scenes), by director Carlo Quartucci, playwright: Heinrich von Kleist. First performance at Teatro Olimpico, Rome, Italy, on November 8, 1986. This four-and-a-half-hour audio work heavily expands on the foundation laid out for Rosenfest in 1984 as featured on the double-LP release (HC 004LP). This lavish five-CD set presents the full backing tape prepared for the performances at Teatro Olímpico, Rome in 1986 as directed by Carlo Quartucci (the live recordings of the performances remain elusive to this day). The most ambitious project Henning undertook, the Penthesilea project is also one of the most successful as it explores the numerous experiments and techniques he had developed throughout his creative life culminating in this ambitious and significant work. Unheard until now and required listening now. The full narrative of Kleist's text unfolds as an audio excursion for the mind to wander. An audiobook presented as sound. The field recordings featured in Rosenfest recordings are featured alongside a wealth of new sonic environments. Horses trot, a boxing match is treated with electronics creating an otherworldly atmosphere. In the piece "XIII XIV" you encounter moments of Henning's early classical works only to subside in a valley of gentle machines clacking amongst a whispering ghost melody. Elsewhere a thumping proto-techno beat tramples on the once trampled snow we heard in the Rosenfest recordings, a rustic squeak acts as a horn solo, onwards, the wind gets fiercer, the narrative intensifies... Op. 176 Penthesilea is presented as a deluxe five-CD box set with 32-page, full color booklet featuring writings by Villy Sørensen, Mark Harwood, Werner Durand, and Henning Christiansen. The set is all housed in a sturdy slip case with original artwork (by Henning Christiansen, scores and performance photos. All material copyright The Henning Christiansen Archive with the exception of the watercolour paintings in HC5 copyright Edition Block.
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2LP
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IDL 017LP
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2020 release. Two of Henning Christiansen's tape works from the 1980s, Peter der Große op. 174 (1986) and Gudbrandsdal op. 178 (1987), are now released for the first time by the Institute for Danish Sound Archaeology. Originally composed for different contexts -- "Peter der Große" as the score for a German radio feature and "Gudbrandsdal" for a performance in collaboration with Joseph Beuys and later Bjørn Nørgaard -- the two works stand out in Christansen's extensive and many-faceted oeuvre by employing almost entirely electronic sounds. "Peter der Große" involves electronic instruments like synthesizer and a crackle box, while "Gudbrandsdal" employs a more minimal approach and aesthetics through the heavy use of echo effects and manipulation of the tape speed. Both of the tape works carry a heavy atmospheric tone and are set in a largely electronic sound world. Two absolutely enthralling and immersive pieces of tape music, now available for the first time.
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2LP
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HC 004LP
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Beautiful, haunting, and somber, this double-LP presents the entire recording from Henning Christiansen's Heinrich von Kleist tribute at Rene Block's Rosenfest festival, Berlin, 1984. The Reality Is A Ghost In My Mind (first LP) is a work that unfolds patiently with a mix of field recordings; wind, bird song and the sound of snow being crushed underfoot all unite in a foreboding atmosphere. In Penthesileas Höhle (second LP) features electronic treatments to the original field recordings found on The Reality Is A Ghost In My Mind, a representation of psychological reorientation perhaps? A deep ground tone (or "root" as Henning calls it) leads the listener through a variety of realistic and unrealistic environments. As Henning says in his essay reprinted on the back sleeve: "Then comes a section where the field recordings of the sea, the storm, birds, cars and other things, are built together so that the realism of these sounds become unreal. For example, the cars drive into the sea and the birds are singing within the storm. When you hear footsteps in the show, it's Kleist sneaking past Deutsche Schauspielhaus. When you hear a deep, human sleeping noise, it's Achilles sleeping. When you hear hammering it's the weapon smith working. When you hear a stone being thrown it means the unanswered question: 'Who threw the first stone?' These recordings lead to the finale where Carla Tatò's haunted vocals into her singing mournfully along with Jan Tilman Schade's violoncello and tuba, then a chainsaw appears." A previously unreleased project of Henning Christiansen, monumental in scope, traversing years, countries and now, formats. Pentheseila is one of the most ambitious works in the entire Henning Christiansen oeuvre. A large-scale work from the mid-eighties based on the play of the same name by Heinrich von Kleist (1808). Both Henning and his widow, Ursula Reuter Christiansen, were enthusiastic about Kleist's text, both making works around the themes within this portent text. Henning Christiansen first developed a work around this text for the Rosenfest festival performed in Berlin in 1984. Rosenfest was curated by René Block and featured a variety of composers presenting works in response to Kleist's work including Robert Ashley, "Blue" Gene Tyranny etc. Henning formulated a composition utilizing tape, field recordings, voice, soprano, and violoncello alongside the homemade instruments of Werner Durand. The live presentation was then expanded upon and first performed two years later at Teatro Olímpico, Rome on the November 8th, 1986 as directed by Carlo Quartucci. Along with the five-CD set (HC 005CD) sharing the four and a half hour backing track prepared for the Teatro Olímpico performance in Rome in 1986, these releases make up a substantial overview of one of the most significant works in the entire Christiansen canon. Includes writings Ursula Reuter Christiansen and Henning Christiansen and artwork by Ursula Reuter Christiansen. Small excerpts of these works previously appeared on one of the 7"s in the Rosenfest Berlin 1984 catalog (Berliner Künstlerprogramm des DAAD) and the compilation CD Ghosts And Monsters: Technology And Personality In Contemporary Music (1999).
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CD
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HC 006CD
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Previously unreleased Henning Christiansen work from 1984. A dedication to George Orwell. Someone he was very fond of. In 1977 Henning visited the USSR only to become a staunch anti-Stalinist. A pro Trotskyite who, when visiting the USA, also saw Big Brother watching the US in the same way in the USSR through media and the journalists that worked for each side to manipulate the masses. Henning painted his ear green that year because he wanted to listen to nature and not the media and politicians. Performed at the Møn Musikfestival in the green ear year, 1984 with his first son, Esben, a local celebrity for his work in rock music. Encountering this performance people were very upset that Esben was not playing the rock music he was known for resulting in them setting fires and yelling at our trusty duo throughout the performance. Henning and Esben continued until the end. This was the last performance Esben did, he never played rock music or performed again after this. The radio piece here was recorded on the Christiansen family farm on Møn and the also the local surroundings on Møn. Version 1. Esben and Henning Christiansen action tape First performed 11-12:00 duration: 44 min. Version 2. Esben and Henning Christiansen radio version duration: 43 min. 45 sec. finished the 11th of October 1984 culture and society department Danish Radio Broadcast in Danish Radio Program 1. 25.12.1984.
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2CD
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HC 007CD
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The Henning Christiansen Archive present a collection of previously unreleased "classical works" by Henning Christiansen, a large part of his oeuvre which has remained out of sight, until now. This 2CD compilation encompasses a variety of stylistic approaches written in the years from 1963 to 1988.
"This collection gathers music by Christiansen targeted on (in one sense or another) the concert hall. All the recordings presented here are previously unreleased. The majority of publicly available Christiansen recordings have focused on music related to dramatic works, soundtrack works, music made for and within artist performance and tape music. This time, Christiansen as composer is truly at the forefront. His voice is always recognizable even as his expressive range is surprisingly broad; his approach ranges from the conventional to the radical. Any niggling concert-hall questions about craft are settled, yet at the same time he continues to question the role of form and genre in music." --from the liner notes written by Ben Harper.
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LP
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HC 003LP
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The third release on The Henning Christiansen archive label features a previously unreleased work from 1991. "The Wandering Human Being - The Wandering Voice", as the title suggest is a piece for voice and features Carlo Quartucci, Carla Tatò, Ursula Reuter Christiansen, and Henning Christiansen. Ursula and Henning met the couple Carlo Quartucci and Carla Tatò through the curator Johannes Gachnang on a visit to Genazzano in Italy 1983 and became close friends, collaborating on a variety of projects, most notably on Carlo and Carla's epic adaptation of Heinrich von Kleist's play Penthesilea. "The Wandering Human Being - The Wandering Voice" came about from a conversation between the four of them whilst on a beach on the island of Møn in the eastern sea in Denmark, looking south. Here they all laughed at the realization that on the other side of Europe in this direction was Sicily where Carlo and Carla lived. The island Sicily, The island Møn. As Henning says: "The human-being was wandering from sea to sea." Henning saw no difference in their way over life "over there" and mused on the means of which we cross over oceans and move around facilitating awareness of the same family of human being. People from islands meet people from islands and they can all look across vast waters and laugh together. Human-basic-technology This conversation and collective realization of the simplicity of it all lead to this work which is one of the finest in Henning's vast catalog. L'essere Umano Errabando La Voce Errabando is a mantra for four voices, the sound of the ocean, a PVC tube, effects, and wind instrument. The piece moves in an organic hypnotic fashion lulling and rolling, ebbing and flowing over the two sides of the record. Rudimentary phrases in various languages interlope and weave a mystical music, as primitive as it is "contemporary". "The Wind, The Stars" are repeated over in random untrained fashion. The two couples from different countries weave voices, words and language into a common sonic fabric which eradicates identity, the idea of "national," the idea of country, the idea of difference. Unlike anything else in Henning's output, L'essere Umano Errabando La Voce Errabando is a calm and meditative work which rolls along two sides wrapping the listener in a random melancholic meditative mantra. Only Henning Christiansen could summon such haunting, beautiful, gothic music carved from political hope.
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LP
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HC 002LP
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The second release on The Henning Christiansen archive label is a compilation of four works from 1967-1972 including a poem set in a bath, an unknown musical work, the musical backdrop to a horse sacrifice and a soundtrack to a school play. What binds these works together alongside the period when written is their basis in "song" and some traditional "musical" elements. What separates it them from said tradition is that they were composed by Henning Christiansen. "Op. 41 BADET" is a simple work featuring three elements: Charlotte Strandgaard reading her poem "Badat" (The Bath), Henning playing melodica, and the sound of water splashing in a bath. The result is an unusual and evocative lo-fi setting to the resigned nature of the reading. Not a lot is known about "Kom Frem For Satan" (Come Forward Satan). Possibly a soundtrack of sorts? It certainly carries that mood with jazz-inflicted interludes, melodic organ moments all interlaced with the diegetic sounds of cars, footsteps, gunshots, etc. The result comes across like a gangster tinged musique concrete radio play. "Min Død Hest" was previously released as a single-sided 10" under the name "Hesteofringen", here restored under its correct name. "Min Død Hest" (My Dead Horse) was written to accompany the Bjørn Nørgaard performance "Hesteofringen" (The Horse Sacrifice) on January 30th, 1970, one of the most notorious performances in Danish art history. Featuring a poem written by Lene Adler Pedersen, this is a recording made after the performance with Lene Adler Pedersen singing, accompanied by Christiansen on piano (as opposed to the green violin he used in the performance), "Min Død Horse" is a beautiful haunting fragile song laden with metaphor, a sad lullaby is as simple and unusual as anything in Christiansen's output. "Op. 72 Bondeføreren Knud Lavard" is the soundtrack to a school play performed on at the Fanefjord School on the island of Møn, Denmark, where he lived, in 1972. Another surprising work in Christiansen's oeuvre the six pieces that make up this work shift between the sinister and sweet, often in the same track. Falling within the same period Henning made the soundtrack to The Executioner, "Bondeføreren Knud Lavard" mixes the melancholic romantic mood of that soundtrack whilst deep organ chords, military drumming and an acoustic guitar solo (played by Henning's first son Esben Christiansen) all make an appearance.
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2LP
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BOX 004LP
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Co-release with The Henning Christiansen Archive. In November 17, 2019, a six-hour performance was undertaken in the car park of The Box gallery in Los Angeles as a part of the Henning Christiansen/Ursula Reuter Christiansen exhibition, THEY WON'T SURVIVE WITHOUT THE BIRD SONGS. Thørbjorn Reuter Christiansen, son of Ursula and Henning, developed a timeline for the performance which was essentially designed to encompass a contemporary community of like-minded artists that spans generations and continents. The resulting performance included archival recordings taken from the H.C. Archive, which houses a vast collection of compositions, scores and correspondence of the late Christiansen. This limited-edition double-LP collects edited highlights from the day capturing the unique and somewhat unsettling atmosphere provoked by a diverse range of performances. Thørbjorn Reuter Christiansen developed a new action where he performed a sound piece on iconic instruments of Henning's alongside recorded sounds of his father. "The New Sound of the Living Dead": Bjørn Nørgaard presented two new iterations of some of his historical actions; Homage to Henning and Joseph, Manresa, a piece he first collaborated on with Henning Christiansen and Joseph Beuys at Galerieleri Schmela in Düsseldorf in 1966, and The Cake, a live construction of a monolithic yet impermanent sculpture meant to decay over time. Along with this he did a reading of a new piece of writing, "The Origin of the Future". Mai Dengsøe Hansen performed "EURASIENSTAB fluxorum organum op. 39", a piece for organ that Henning scored and used as the soundtrack for the film Eurasienstab, with Joseph Beuys. The BOX gallery founder Mara McCarthy, along with her father, the notorious Los Angeles artist, Paul McCarthy and Chiara Giovando performed "Knock Harder", a 20-minute improvisation that loosely recalls "Knocking", a sound scape Henning used repeatedly throughout many of his own compositions. Chiara and Mara can be heard singing and playing a selection of small instruments, while Paul methodically slammed the back door of the gallery with a piece of scrap 2x4 pinewood -- a kind of dedication to the monotony of Fluxus. Mark Harwood, the founder of experimental label Penultimate Press, performed an improvised musical protest incorporating fire, rhythm, and chaos alongside field recordings of the civil unrest in Chile that he collected occurred just prior to the opening of this exhibition. Ultra-deluxe set; two LPs held together with a printed rubber band, four large full-color double-sided art cards documenting the performances, a substantial booklet/catalog about the exhibition and a large poster featuring a drawing by Paul McCarthy made during the performance; edition of 500 copies.
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2LP
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HOL 108LP
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Holidays Records presents Henning Christiansen's Stone-song. Stone-song is a one-hour performance presented in 1990 at the 8th Biennale of Sydney (The Readymade Boomerang: Certain Relations in 20th Century Art) where time is being scanned and animated by matter and where the genius of Henning Christiansen (with fellow artist Bjørn Nørgaard and Ken Unsworth, to whom this performance is dedicated) establish a deep dialogue with the nature (of sound) watching the time, stone on stone, being at the same time actors and audience of its ephemeral and violent manifestations. What time is it? Is it what time? Time is it what? Released in collaboration with the Henning Christiansen Archive.
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LP
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PP 035LP
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Second in a series of two previously unreleased soundtracks Henning Christiansen made for the films made by his partner and collaborator Ursula Reuter Christiansen. Den Røde Skov ("The Red Forest") was Ursula's second film made in 1986. In stark contrast to the exquisite romantic melancolia of their first collaboration, The Executioner (PP 034LP), Den Røde Skov resides as one of the wildest recordings in the entire Christiansen catalog. Aligned more with works like the legendary collaboration with Nam June Paik and Joseph Beuys, Abschiedssymphonie (1988), Den Røde Skov unfolds as a delirious and demonic audio exhibit, at once deeply eccentric and utterly enthralling. Featuring the exceptional sound work of Ernst Kretzer and contributions from Ursula Reuter Christiansen, Addamaria Reuter Christiansen, Bjørnstjerne Reuter Christiansen, Carla Tató, and Werner Durand this is a rich tapestry of sounds, voice, and obtuse atmospheres drifting from the deeply meditative to the outright hysterical. Remastered by Giuseppe Ielasi from the original master tapes sourced from the Henning Christiansen Archive. Comes in a full-color gatefold sleeve incorporating a full-sized eight-page booklet with a selection of striking images from the original film; Red vinyl; Edition of 500.
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LP
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PP 034LP
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First in a series of two releases unveiling the previously unissued soundtracks made for the films of Ursula Reuter Christiansen by her partner and collaborator Henning Christiansen. The Executioner ("Skarpretteren") is Ursula's first film from 1971 and is now considered one of the most important works of early Danish feminist art. A highly praised recent show at the Statens Museum for Kunst in Copenhagen highlighted the pertinent themes and ongoing urgency which lies within this bold symbolic work. The exquisite score is one of the key neo-romantic works in Henning's far reaching output. A deeply melancholic set of vocal based works which place the listener deep within the tension and despair of Ursula's themes. This unique vinyl presentation also features nature sounds recorded for the film on the island of Moen along with surprising works that defy anything else in Henning's output. Assembled from the original master tapes sourced from the Henning Christiansen Archive by Mark Harwood. Remastered for vinyl by Giuseppe Ielasi. Comes in a reverse board sleeve with printed gloss inner sleeve featuring a host of images from the film; sorrowful black vinyl; Edition of 500.
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LP
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IDL 006LP
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Restocked, last copies. The Institute for Danish Sound Archeology and the Museum of Contemporary Art in Roskilde, Denmark present a reissue of the most enigmatic and rare of Danish artist and composer Henning Christiansen's albums Satie I Høj Sø. Originally released in 1977, the album collects five central works from Christiansen's neo-romantic period in the 1970s. This completely overlooked and virtually unheard period in Henning Christiansen's oeuvre contains perhaps his most fascinating and beautiful works. For ten years, from 1969-79, Christiansen turned his back to the art scene and made a very unorthodox artistic decision: To leave behind "art for arts sake", fluxus, and the concretist art music, that he had invented in the 1960s. Instead he created a music that was a positive vision for the future. A music that would make it "sing" inside the listeners -- and by changing them would change the world. A convinced communist, Christiansen created wonderful joyous waltzes and dancing melodies that set to bring about a revolution -- both an inner and an outer revolution -- by believing in the good in the world and by having hope for a bright future. Now, with the re-release of Satie I Høj Sø the music can make it sing inside us again. "Art should be such, that the People believe in themselves" --Henning Christiansen, journal entry, 1971. Carefully remastered from the original master tapes; 180 gram vinyl; High gloss cover; Henning Christiansen's own program notes for the music in both Danish and English -- 16-page booklet with never-before-seen pictures and a new in-depth article about Christiansen's works from the 1970s in Danish and English.
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10"
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HOL 111LP
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On January 30, 1970 Henning Christiansen and Bjørn Nørgaard -- a figure nearly as radical as Christiansen himself -- hit the Danish national consciousness when a large portion of the Danish population watched a TV broadcast performance piece in protest of the Vietnam War. Hesteofringen ("The Horse Sacrifice", 1970) features the work "Min Døde Hest Opus 55" ("My Dead Horse", 1970) for piano, voice, and violin (green), a beautiful haunting fragile song featuring a poem written by Bjørn Nørgaard; performed by Lene Adler Pedersen, accompanied by Nørgaard and Christiansen on piano and (green) violin. Laden with metaphor, this beautiful, sad lullaby is as simple and unusual as anything in Christiansen's output. Previously unreleased. Embossed lettering; Edition of 350.
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2CD
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PP 031CD
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Op.192 Umwälzung - Fluxorum Organum 1990 Eurasienstab Ist Immernoch Angelpunkt is a previously unissued work by Henning Christiansen from 1990. Around the formation of the European Union, Henning approached his original Eurasienstab organ recordings from 1968 as a platform to remold a vast amount of audio he made over the subsequent years This special two-CD release comprises two different mixes of Umwälzung that were made for Werner Durand in 1990 to be used as backing tapes for a performance at Ballhaus Naunynstrasse in February 1990. Umwälzung is unique in Henning's output as it resides in a more contemporary landscape positioning itself more as a "mix" than a stand-alone recording -- one which retains the skewered sensibility that only Henning could conjure. The two-hour long versions of Umwälzung are haunted with tape hiss, weird interference, and a deeply melancholic aura that moves from the original Eurasienstab organ recordings through to the somewhat hysterical 180 Hammer Blows Against War Monkeys , resulting in an epic and hypnotic excursion. Presented here in full cooperation with the Henning Christiansen estate. Comes in a mini-album gatefold sleeve; Edition of 500.
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7"
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PP 702EP
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Two previously unreleased works from the late Danish composer, musician, publisher, artist, and Fluxus actionist Henning Christiansen. "Rødhætte" (1985) is a rendition of Little Red Riding Hood featuring Ursula Reuter Christiansen as narrator. All the hallmarks of Henning's unique approach to music/sound appear as the tale goes deeper into the depths of animalistic frenzy. "Ruinmusic" (1984) inhabits the last breath off the piano housed within the former Marienborg Manor. Prior to the destruction of the estate, Henning Christiansen played a final haunting melody before the instrument was dumped down in the dirt. Artwork by Ursula Reuter Christiansen; Edition of 500.
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