Atonal Meditations

Compositions for a Mixed Orchestra, Vibraphone, Piano and Voice. (Some of the pieces, contained in this album, are also included in the album "August Symphony"). The following info is printed on the jewel case tray of this album: Atonal Meditations 1. STARRY SKY. Virtuoso Etude-Introduction for Piano Played by Constellations and Nebulae 3' 15" 2. MORNING IN A PARIS SUBURB. Symphonic Fantasy. Adagio Moderato with Bells and Reflections 6' 36" 3. SPRING PRELUDE to the Impossible Scherzo 3'28" 4. IMPOSSIBLE SCHERZO. Super-Virtuoso Prestissimo for Piano, Impossible for a Human Performer 2' 36" 5. APRIL ETUDES, part 1. Largo Espressivo 6' 56" 6. APRIL ETUDES, part 2. Prestissimo Prestissimo 2' 51" 7. WAVES ARE DANCING. Symphonic Fantasy with Sea Waves Playing Super-Virtuoso Party 3' 34" 8. JERUSALEM. Andante Molto Appassionato. Tragic feelings of a Jew, visiting XX Century Jerusalem 7' 22" 9. MAGIC GARDEN. Andante Cantabile with Sirens and Heartbeat 8' 27" 10. STRANGE LITTLE ANIMAL. Virtuoso Etude-Dance for Tail, Paws and Piano 4' 03" 11. SIRENS AND MOCKINGBIRDS. Etude-Miniature for Voices, Orchestra and Piano 1' 14" 12. TWO JAZZMEN. Virtuoso Allegro Agitato for Two Pianists Teasing Each Other 4' 30" Two Fragments of August Symphony 13. INTRODUCTION 11' 01" 14. SLOW MEDITATION IN ATONAL COLORS 9' 28" STYLE: Classical-contemporary atonal compositions with elements of impressionism and expressionism. MOOD: Philosophical, ironic, tragic, calm, very emotional, excited, observational, playful. INSTRUMENTS, applied using a computerized music studio: Mainly traditional for a symphonic orchestra. The piano party sometimes involves sonoric and super-virtuoso elements. INFLUENCES: Scriabin, Shostakovich, Rachmaninoff, Prokofiev, Debussy, Ravel. Meditations and Esoterica. COMPOSER AND PERFORMER: Andrew Gleibman Fractal Art image: Courtesy of Junpei Sekino Bar-code The following explanation is printed on the inner side of the leaflet: The Art of Improvisation and Modern Music Many great improvisers are known in music history. Bach, Mozart, Beethoven, Paganini, Liszt, Rachmaninoff... It is hard to know whether a small or a large part of their improvisation activity was published in the form of music notes. A musical performance is playing ON an instrument, according to a previously composed plan, while an improvisation is playing WITH an instrument, just like a small child plays with its voice. The child tries and admires the sounds without any plan, sometimes discovering their features which only this child can conceive. The art of improvisation is more ancient than the art of composition. The most perfect instrument in the world -- human voice, and many artificial instruments have appeared long before the invention of music writing. Paradoxically, the epoch of Renaissance caused a decline of the improvisation culture, which was developed during millenniums. Musical writing has ousted the improvisation just like a manufacturer has ousted the creative trade of an artisan. In order to understand what was lost in this ousting, imagine, for a moment, that the art of oil-painting would be entirely ousted by the art of gravure! Today the art of improvisation is retained in a few music genres including jazz. The interest towards a musical improvisation is growing. Computerized instruments are used for storing, encoding and editing the performance of the improvisers. All the presented compositions are extracted from the original author’s improvisations on a Rolland piano instrument, connected to a computer. This is similar to tape-recording. Some new expressive elements are obtained from the stored improvisations by re-timing, re-orchestration, re-articulation, re-arrangement etc. The computer performs the music according to the scripts created and stored in this way. Some pieces contain super-virtuoso elements that a human musician cannot perform. Other pieces retain unchanged the original mood of the improviser, related to his philosophy and reflection of reality.