TRACK DETAILS FOR THE ALBUM CHROMOSPHERE

TRACK 1 - CHROMOSPHERE - for 5 instrumentalists & tape - Pert 27.20

Suntreader - recorded in concert at the  Queen Elizabeth Hall, London. Morris Pert - Drums, Percussion, Acoustic Piano. Peter Robinson - Electric Piano, Clarinet, Organ, Percussion. Neville Whitehead - Electric Bass, Percussion. Paul Buckmaster - Electric Cello, Acoustic Piano, Percussion.  Martyn Ford - Electric French Horn, Percussion.

Chromosphere was completed in September 1973, and was written for the composers performing group Suntreader. Although composed for only five players plus tape, the work is of symphonic proportions, and is very much concerned with the organic development of melodic, rhythmic and harmonic material. A feature of the work is the cellular freedom within the overall structure. Form and linear development are fully pre-determined, whereas vertical alignment of smaller scale events, within each section is not. After the electronic tape sets up the initial atmosphere, there follows a section which develops various melodic fragments (dominated by the vibraphone and later the electric piano). Gradually cymbal sounds appear and take over the piece untill all players are playing metal instruments. Next, drum sounds eventually take over. After this, the central climactic section of the piece developes, in an extremely ferocious way, all the rhythmic and melodic material heard so far. This suddenly starts to break up, and the tolling bell leads into the next “movement”. This features an acoustic piano ostinato over which the electric piano and small percussion carry on a conversation. The last section of the piece is very tranquil and diatonic, fading eventually into a return of the tape sounds, which themselves recede into the distance. In simple programmatic terms the work can be envisaged as a journey out to the chromosphere (the violent, incandescent, inner envelope of gas which surrounds the sun, and is only seen at total eclipse) and, afterwards, to more peaceful regions far beyond.   M.P.

TRACK 2 - HEAVEN'S SONG

2, Heaven’s Song - for pre - recorded tape - Pert 11. 26

All instruments, composed, played and recorded by Morris Pert

An electronic piece composed and recorded in 2008 using sampled and real instrumental sounds plus pure electronics. A four note theme is introduced at the beginning, developed and returned to at the end - a simple arc form .

TRACK 3 - DORIAN TERILAMENT

Dorian Terilament - for 3 players - Powell 11.30

Come to the Edge - Studio recording Robin Thompson - Lowrey Organ, Hohner Pianet, VCS3, Soprano Sax Andrew Powell - Bass Guitar, Lowrey Organ, VCS3Morris Pert - Drums, Vibraphone

DORIAN TERILAMENT  - When I went up to King’s College Campridge to read music I was pleased to discover that they had just appointed their first composer-in-residence that year, and that he was someone whom I had met and whose music I enjoyed - Roger Smalley. We did several performances together during my first two years, then the College appointed Tim Souster as the next composer. Roger and Tim announced that they wanted to form a group to perform “live electronic” music,and they wanted me to join, together with a student from the Royal Academy of Music called Robin Thompson. The group, called Intermodulation, gave several first performances of works by Stockhausen and Terry Riley, and we all wrote for the group as well. After I left Cambridge, and Robin the Academy, we decided to form a group playing “progressive” rock music incorporating ideas from “live-electronic” music and other of our influences. We auditioned several drummers and were on the point of abandoning the project when we met Morris Pert, who was not only a superb drummer, but also a composer who shared our interests in contemporary and oriental music - Come to the Edge was formed.I had written a piece for Intermodulation called Terilament, which was for electric organ and amplified piano. I decided to use the same basic concept to write a new piece for Come to the Edge, which I called Dorian Terilament. The work starts with a drone on D, the root note of the Dorian mode : a pattern played by our VCS3 synthesiser breaks in, and the drums, organ and bass guitar make thier entries and build towards the main theme, which is in 11/8, is played by the organ,and developed at length, becoming increasingly intense. The first section of the work is brought to an abrupt halt by the entry of soprano sax, which is played into a “tape delay” system which involved two tape recorders placed several feet apart - the first machine recorded what was being played, and the second machine played it back a set amount of time later, depending on how far apart the machines were positioned. The second section of the workis more contemplative in nature, the opening drone recurs at the end of the work and dies away slowly.                              

This program note © 2009 Andrew Powell.

TRACK - 4 ULTIMATE DECAY

THE ULTIMATE DECAY - for pre-recorded tape.

Tape played, recorded and produced by the composer. Taped voices - Karen Jenses, Linda Hirst, John Porter, Simon Grant (Electric Phoenix)

“The Ultimate Decay” was commissioned by the vocal group Electric Phoenix for the 1978 St. Bartholomew’s Festival of 20th century music with funds from the Arts Council of Great Britain. This original version was for tape,four voices and percussion. The new version recorded here is for tape alone.The textural impetus for the work comes from man’s attempted answers throughout history to the scientific reality of death and decay, not only organic but also on the inorganic level, since recent advances in nuclear phsyics have revealed that even the most stable particles are very likely to return to thier simplest non-material pure energy state, ultimately cooling and diffusing into an almost non-existant rare faction.Texts, used are wide-ranging - a Pyramid text of about 2,200 B.C., Taoism, witchcraft lore, the Bible, the Rig Veda, the writings of Seneca, Lucretius and Thomas Traherne and texts from current nuclear physics - many of which are transformed electronically during the course of the work. The comparison in particular of some of the writings of Lucretius (99-55 B.C.) whose model was the philosophy of Epicurus, and modern cosmological models is particulary striking. For the composer these became the textural nodal points around which the others revolved. Instrumentally the sound material ranges from dense organ clusters to tinkling bell sounds, from native drum rhythms to synthesised, purely electronic sound. Vocally, the declamation of texts is treated with various forms of echo-repeat, reverb, ring-modulation, multi-tracking etc. A broad formal breakdown of the work is as follows. The piece begins with a massive block of organ sound lasting several minutes. After ferocious drum interuptions this is snuffed out and a passage of dialogue emerges. This eventually disappears into waves of low-frequency sound. A second gentle dialogue leads into a section of delicate bell sounds interrupted by continuous tremolos on a gu-zheng (a Chinese stringed instrument). Several layers of intoned text then emerge, and a distant soprano melody leads to the main climactic section of the piece - a pulsing drum and percussion rhythm which is eventually joined by the organ sounds from the opening developing and resolving from dense clusters to an open diatonic texture. Eventually this wall of sound begins to ease joined by high-pitched synthesiser sounds.    

Special thanks to : Ian Campbell and Hans Butt for their continued support and hard work.

My good friend and fellow musician Andrew Powell for track 3

Martyn Imrie of V. & I. for trying to keep me in order and get the job done !

This album is dedicated, with love, to Jeannie Pert.

  Tracks 1 & 4  © Josef Weinberger London

  Track 2         © Vanderbeek & Imrie

  Track 3         © Just Notes Ltd. (PRS) Hatfish Music Ltd.   

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