Kagel: Music for Renaissance Instruments; 1898

{$Mauricio Kagel} composed {&1898} to commission from {@Deutsche Grammophon} to celebrate the 75th anniversary of the company. Taking as his inspiration the unstable nature of very early recording techniques and the odd instruments used to make early records -- such as the brass-horn-endowed Stroh violins -- {$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. {&1898} contains some of {$Kagel}'s most relentlessly {ostinato}-based writing, alternating with restrained sections rich with tension and irony, and nowhere does he shy away from nostalgic elements or the special qualities of his arcane choice of instruments. When the resultant LP rolled off the shelves in 1973, many European critics were quick to inform {@Deutsche Grammophon} that they had wasted their money on {$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 {&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 {$Bruno Schulz}. It is also unquestionably influential; {&1898} is the direct ancestor to the post-modern {silent} film score as exemplified by {$Alloy Orchestra}, {$Timothy J. Brock}, and some others. The filler is {&Music for Renaissance Instruments} (1965-1966), as recorded in 1967 by the {Collegium Instrumentale}, an {early music} ensemble including {$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 {&Match für drei spieler} (1966). {&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, {&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 {$Kagel} achieve such unearthly and alien effects with them? In composing {&Music for Renaissance Instruments}, {$Kagel} used a technique similar to his orchestral {&Heterophonie} (1958-1961); however, the resultant score was more determinate than in the earlier piece. {&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. {&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 {&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, {&1898} is unquestionably essential {$Kagel}, and for that matter so is {&Music for Renaissance Instruments}. If you really want to experience the music of {$Mauricio Kagel} and understand something about what makes it different, this is the place to start. ~ Uncle Dave Lewis, All Music Guide