DroneFest #3: Recordings from Composition 1960 by La Monte Young, Halfslaap III part 2 from Machinefabriek + Fox String Quartet and Conscience of Sound by James Fulkerson.
1. La Monte Young. Composition 1960. 19:15.
2. Machinefabriek + Fox String Quartet. Halfslaap III part 2. 10:37.
3. James Fulkerson. Conscience of Sound. 30:46.
Recorded on 22/23 November 2015 in Tivoli/Vredenburg by Wijnand de Groot.
During the 24-Hour Dronefest violinist Bas Wiegers, trombonist Koen Kaptijn and pianist Nora Mulder played pieces by James Fulkerson and La Monte Young.
In Conscience of Sound by Fulkerson the music moves imperceptibly from one sound to another. The smallest scale is stretched to insane proportions and fills the space with nothing but sound.
La Monte Young is the drone composer par excellence. During Le Guess Who? sounds his Composition 1960. It is the longest composition with the least notes. There are two, and the only clue is ‘to be held for a long time. "
Rutger Zuydervelt, his artist name is Machinefabriek, wrote a new composition for string quartet and electronics, commissioned by Gaudeamus. Zuydervelt has been experimenting lately with more permanent structures, from which his work Halfslaap II (for violin and electronics) has emerged. Gaudeamus challenges Zuydervelt to taking it a step further. Zuydervelt recreated Halfslaap II into a version for string quartet and electronics: Halfslaap III. Fox String Quartet, led by cellist Martin Fox, does not work with a fixed score, but can apply nuances and dynamics in the piece. Musicians are thus just as much the composer as Zuydervelt himself.
