Kagel: Music for Renaissance Instruments; 1898

Mauricio Kagel composed amp;1898 to commission from Deutsche Grammophon to celebrate the 75th anniversary of the company. Taking as his inspiration the unstable nature of very early recording techniques and the odd instruments used to make early records -- such as the brass-horn-endowed Stroh violins -- Kagel sought to create a work that said something about the historic confluence between the advent of recording in Europe and the gradual dissolution of Western tonality. He also added a children's chorus, but the children do not sing; they chatter, chuckle, and chant at certain points, which adds an element of sinister surreality to the piece, which is evocative, dreamlike, and cinematic. amp;1898 contains some of Kagel's most relentlessly stinato-based writing, alternating with restrained sections rich with tension and irony, and nowhere does he shy away from nostalgic elements or the special qualities of his arcane choice of instruments. When the resultant LP rolled off the shelves in 1973, many European critics were quick to inform Deutsche Grammophon that they had wasted their money on Kagel. Even some of Kagel's strongest adherents insist that this work is among his worst, and in a general sense Kagel's worklist is crowded with nearly as many failures as glories. Nevertheless, there are many who believe that amp;1898 is one of Kagel's greatest achievements, an alien musical world all to itself realized with the same kind of brutish effectiveness and directness that would typify a short story by Franz Kafka or Bruno Schulz. It is also unquestionably influential; amp;1898 is the direct ancestor to the post-modern ilent film score as exemplified by Alloy Orchestra, Timothy J. Brock, and some others. The filler is amp;Music for Renaissance Instruments (1965-1966), as recorded in 1967 by the ollegium Instrumentale, an arly music ensemble including René Clemencic and Edward H. Tarr. This was an importance piece for Kagel, as it afforded the first hearing of his music for many in the United States by way of a Deutsche Grammophon LP also featuring his amp;Match für drei spieler (1966). amp;Match, not included here, was created for the soundtrack of a humorous experimental film featuring Siegfried Palm and Christoph Caskel as dueling cellists; without the visuals, it was hard for many to get the joke. However, amp;Music for Renaissance Instruments was another matter. While it was clear that old instruments -- barely known to the average listener of the time -- were in use, just how did Kagel achieve such unearthly and alien effects with them? In composing amp;Music for Renaissance Instruments, Kagel used a technique similar to his orchestral amp;Heterophonie (1958-1961); however, the resultant score was more determinate than in the earlier piece. amp;1898 is more or less completely determinate, and that is a reason why this reissue package is such a valuable and intelligently conceived one for Kagel, as these works exist on either side of the main dividing line of Kagel's technical development as a composer. amp;1898 is one of the best recordings Deutsche Grammophon ever made of anything; these antique instruments were originally designed to facilitate recordings and maintain ample amounts of "phonogenic" quality; Deutsche Grammophon's engineers played that card to its full advantage. Without regard to the amp;1898's many critics, it appears that everyone involved in this project was equally dedicated to making it right. Whether you love it or hate it, amp;1898 is unquestionably essential Kagel, and for that matter so is amp;Music for Renaissance Instruments. If you really want to experience the music of Mauricio Kagel and understand something about what makes it different, this is the place to start. ~ Uncle Dave Lewis, All Music Guide