J. K. Randall's compositions include Mudgett: monologues by a mass murderer (1965); Lyric Variations for violin and computer (1968); and the score for the feature length film, Eakins (1972). He is the author of Compose Yourself: a Manual for the Young.
The feature-length film, Eakins, is a production of Windmill Films, produced with a grant from the Dietrich Brothers Americana Corp,, directed and photographed by Christopher Speeth. The film explores the life and more than 100 works of Thomas Eakins, the Philadelphia artist who won (he wrote), "misunderstanding, persecution and neglect" through his interest in the nude human figure.
Robert Ceely writes:
"Elegia 1964 was composed in Milano, Italy at the Studio di Fonologia at RAI. From October 1963 until May 1964 I worked off and on at the Electronic Studio connected with the Italian Radio in Milano. My first electronic music composition (Stratti) was composed that Fall. While working on it, November 22 came and went and from that Friday until the following Sunday my American anger and sorrow seemed to focus on the city of Dallas. Elegia began as Musak For Dallas; it ended with a long mournful coda which seemed more the piece I needed to write. The elegy is for a lost time which I now view a bit differently but which I still think changed so many events and people.
"The name Mitsyn comes from the title of the computer program MITSYN: Multiple Interactive Tone Synthesis which is a computer- aided system designed for notated sound synthesis and music composition with an emphasis on control of the timbre of the sound."
Alfredo Del Monaco's Electronic Study II (1970) contains two short sections mainly focusing on the relationship between duration and tone-color. All sounds were produced through the electronic media but using a wide range of individualized attacks, durations, shapes or contours, interrelated according to aperiodical entrances within carefully timed sections, and applied to a same tempo unit. The sound material was originally derived from only four electronic sources: sine, square, pulse and white noise generators, and transformed into compositional materials through electronic procedures of modulation.
Metagrama (1969-70) was especially composed for the Venezuelan choreographer-dancer Sonia Sanoja. Its sound material was entirely derived from her voice reading of the poem Hacia el refugio axial y diferido by Alfredo Silva Estrada. No sounds were generated through the electronic media. The first section of the piece makes a considerable use of Spanish phonemes and syllables derived from the poem itself, recreating an abstract language, but maintaining the original expression of the reading voice. The second section emphasizes words and segmented sentences of the poem overimposed on the previously transformed material. This signifies somewhat the opposite techniques of composition: transformation and "collage" of the same elements. In the first instance, the original material is questioned and transformed; in the second, this material—either original or transformed —is not furtherly questioned and it is presented on different levels of simultaneous and successive ways of over- impositions.
This title, originally issued on the CRI label, is now available as a burn-on-demand CD (CD-R) or download in MP3/320, FLAC or WAV formats. CD-Rs come in a protective sleeve; no print booklet or jewel case included. Full liner notes are accessible via the link above.
Randall, Ceely & Del Monaco: Electronic Music
| MP3/320 | $13.00 | |
| FLAC | $13.00 | |
| WAV | $13.00 | |
| CD-R | $13.00 |
A *.pdf of the notes may be accessed here free of charge.
Track Listing
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Music for the Film, "Eakins": Schuylkill I
J.K. Randall
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Music for the Film, "Eakins": Schuylkill II
J.K. Randall
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Music for the Film, "Eakins": Portraits I
J.K. Randall
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Music for the Film, "Eakins": Portraits II
J.K. Randall
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Mitsyn Music
Robert Ceely
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Elegia
Robert Ceely
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Electronic Study No. 2
Alfred Del Monaco
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Metagrama: I. -
Alfred Del Monaco
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Metagrama: II. -
Alfred Del Monaco
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