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viewing 1 To 6 of 6 items
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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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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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