David Beddford / György Ligeti / Arne Mellnäs / Marek Kopelent
Two Poems for Chorus / Lux Aeterna / Succsim / Matka
Deutsche Grammophon (Germany) 1968
137 004 (LP) Promotional copy. White label. Coated sleeve.
sleeve : EX-(wear on corner, one slightly dirt on rear.)
media :EX/EX(some slightly noise.)
An album released in 1968 as part of the Avantgarde series on the prestigious German label Deutsche Grammophon, where ECM founder Manfred Eicher also spent his formative years training in his youth. It features voice-centered compositions by the British composer David Bedford, whose activities ranged widely beyond classical music to collaborations with Lol Coxhill and Kevin Ayers; the Hungarian-born Austrian composer György Ligeti, renowned for his many masterpieces; the Swedish composer Arne Mellnäs, for whom this recording marked his debut on record; and the Czech composer Marek Kopelent, a central figure in the New Music movement in contemporary music. Ligeti’s track on side A2 is particularly striking, with its mesmerizing choral writing that draws the listener in, evoking the sensation of watching a scene from 2001: A Space Odyssey, for which he famously contributed music.
A1: David Beddford “Two Poems for Chorus”
A2: György Ligeti “Lux Aeterna”