Salt Lake Electric Ensemble

Perform Terry Riley's In C

Label: SLEE Country: USA

"Few pieces of music straddle the divide between cultural artifact, radical manifesto of musical intention, and wide popularity like Terry Riley's In C. Riley, American performer and composer (b. 1935), has pursued many avenues both in notated works and performing pure improvisation. While coming relatively early in his career, In C remains his most well-known work. Written and premiered in 1964, it sounded a clarion call for a new musical language many critics and listeners would define as Minimalism. Certainly the circumstances of the premiere performance (held November 4th, 1964 at the San Francisco Tape Music Center) resonate with the zeitgeist of the burgeoning counterculture; a light show was projected along to the music, and audience members were invited to sit or stand in the venue and freely reposition themselves during the performance. Coming during a time of turbulent cultural and artistic change, In C pointed the way for many of the main practitioners of minimalism, including Steve Reich (who participated in the premiere as a performer), Philip Glass, and John Adams. Critic Janet Rotter called it "the global village's first ritual symphonic piece."

Salt Lake Electric Ensemble deliver a fresh take on "In C" by using the musical instruments of our time, laptop computers. Made up of a broad array of local visual artists and musicians, the performers of SLEE take advantage of a tonal palette and rhythmic precision offered by modern technology. Adding the drive of a live percussion section and interpretive video art, this interpretation of "In C" will be sure to appeal to fans of experimental rock, electronic/dance, and New Music."-S.L.E.E.

""In C" is a piece of music written by Terry Riley in San Francisco in 1964. It is often referred to as an early example of Musical Minimalism.

The music is remarkably simple in concept. Each performer plays from a sheet of music with 53 short musical phrases. The performers repeat each phrase an undetermined number of times before moving on to the next in the sequence. Through careful listening, the performers try to create a communal sound, where no one voice dominates any other.

One unique characteristic on "In C" is the amount of freedom given to the performers by the composer. The performers choose the instruments to be played, the tempo, the loudness of softness of the music, and the length of the performance. Because of this, no performance of "In C" will ever sound quite the same as another.

The SLC Electric Ensemble began work on this project in June, 2009. After performances at Captain Captain art studios, The University of Utah, The Tower Theater, and the Dada Factory, the Ensemble began recording sessions.

This recording is based on a February 3, 2010 recording of laptop performers. Percussion and acoustic instruments were then added over the course of a few months."-from the liner notes