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LCD 2033CD
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1994 release. William Duckworth's post-minimalist reworking of hymns from the famous 1854 edition of the eponymous hymn collection, one of the staple sources for shaped-note singing. It's a translation from a naive (if complex) church tradition into a form and texture conscious concert medium, an exploration of processes inherent in the original hymn but not developed there. Performed by The Gregg Smith Singers; assisted by The Rooke Chapel Choir of Bucknell University.
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LCD 2031CD
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1990 release. Originally released on Lovely Music in 1983. William Duckworth's Well-Tempered Clavier of minimalism. Elegant studies in proportion and sonority, beautifully played by pianist Neely Bruce. Each prelude grows from a single rhythmic figure, uses modal harmonies, raga-style drones, and Medieval melodic outlines, and captures a particular but relatively brief mood, whether meditative, dance-like, or song-like. Duckworth's shifting, modal patterns unfold in a specially reverberant universe created by sustaining (with weights) certain of the keyboard's lowest notes. With pace and duration perfectly controlled, the preludes progress from sweetness to pungency with an elegiac inevitability.
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LCD 2032CD
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1987 release. Whereas all of his previous compositions were fully notated, William Duckworth wanted to take advantage of alto saxophonist Michael Swartz's improvisational skills. Basic units of material, melodies both traditionally and graphically notated, are to be repeated according to a 31-part Fibonacci-based structure. To preserve spontaneity of performance within a work that requires extensive rehearsal, the performer is strictly limited to one daily reading of the score over a 30-day period. Swartz gives a very colorful and thoughtful reading in a solo version (recorded on the 31st day). An "ensemble version", created by over-dubbing seven readings of the score, makes perfectly clear both the formal structure and the freedom which manage to co-exist in this work which is ultimately a collaboration of equal partners.
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