3 Compositions (1977 - 2003) & The Movement of People Working (CN 1986; JP 1989) | Phil Niblock

Event information

SOUND//SPACE Performance
3 Compositions (1977 – 2003) and The Movement of People Working (China 1986; Japan 1989) | Phil Niblock
SUNDAY 01 July | 8-10pm | F2 Hall
£10 (includes film screening)

Phill Niblock is a key minimalist artist, working from 1968 with an investigation into constructing musical material and the relationship of acoustically produced sound to its recorded playback. Kyle Gann has referred to Niblock as the “master of the gradual slow surprise”. His work, again in Gann’s words, “deals in exact frequencies working almost like a mathematician or perhaps with an affinity to visual conceptual art”. It is generally thick, dense and layered, made with adjacent sustaining tones originally played on conventional instruments. He records these minute pitch differences and overlaps and multi-tracks them. In order for the resulting clouds of high frequency harmonics to be heard, playback must be very loud, and in a sense Niblock ‘plays’ the architectural container of the room as the acoustical frame, and as he explains: “The music has to do with acoustics. It has to do with architecture, because it changes drastically depending on the architecture. It has to do with the way in which its reproduced, so the playback sound system is very important.” In this sense both the sound and space become extremely physical in their activated presence. Another aspect of Niblock’s performances is the relationship between sound and vision. Starting his career as a filmmaker, Niblock often includes films or videos of traditional manual labour - whether weaving or preparing food – and this is a correlation to Niblock’s own construction of sound complexes, and yet their juxtaposition brings into question the whole notion of soundtrack and synchronicity.

Pieces in this concert will include three works Sweet Potato for 2 Bass clarinets and pre-recorded basset horns Twelve Tones for Contrabass, and Disseminate for live performers and pre-recorded orchestra, and films made in China and Japan in the 1980s. Inspired by Morton Feldman, La Monte Young and John Cale, Niblock’s work continues to influence a new generation of musicians. The V22 space will provide an excellent opportunity to hear and see Niblock’s music and films as they should be experienced, within the particularity of a distinct architectural framework.

Performed by:
David Ryan: clarinets
Ian Mitchell: clarinets
Alison Blunt: Violin
Dominic Lash: contrabass
Joe Zeitlin: cello

phillniblock.com
david-ryan.co.uk

NOTA BENE Releases by the artists will be available in-store!

sound-space-store.co.uk