Sinfonia Contempora No. 1 "Von Zeit Zu Zeit"

  • 1. Klangbild # 1 17:57
  • 2. Klangbild # 2 31:19
  • 3. Klangbild # 3 13:17
  • 4. Klangbild # 4 5:58


Roedelius turns 60 years of age, and releases his most ambitious statement to date.
Traffic sounds, a cuckoo clock, a malfunctioning synthesiser growls, someone in the next room strumming an acoustic guitar. Roedelius has an owl's ear for the disjunctive sounds of life and collaging them into strange but lovely compositions. On the 67-minute suite of four "Klangbild" (sound paintings - a term borrowed from Edgard Varese) he empties a sonic trash can onto the studio floor and reassembles the fragments into a slowly evolving 'contemporary symphony' that discovers a hidden purpose as it goes along - periodically erupting into bursts of window rattling techno or angelic chorales. Long and often desolate stretches of musique concrete are punctuated by recognisable instruments - piano, guitar, sax, all played with impeccable soulfulness. If the sedentary pace occasionally sags in the middle, the cumulative effective is calming and richly rewarding.

Source: Stephen Iliffe

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