CD – Pogus
‘Maledetto Antiphony VIII’ is a project dating back to second half of the sixties. It is split into two tracks of dissimilar composition, which both experiment with complex interweaving and fascinating symbolic textual expressions within an improvisational framework. The author is Kenneth Gaburo, a radical composer and electronic music research pioneer, who passed away in 1993. In some ways Gaburo anticipated one of the fundamental themes that evolved into so-called “free-form” music (dropping the prevailing academic tradition). In others, he remained a traditionalist, functionally embracing some established formats: duets/quartets, various electro-acoustic manipulations, transfiguring tonalities and vocal timbres using sopranos, altos, tenors and basses. The attention shifts ceaselessly from the meanings to the pure musicality, from concept to technique (extremely artificial, rendered even as paradoxical). It’s a performative display, theatralized and reiterated. For Gaburo, the relationship between voice and music is essential, and something that is seen in both in his academic teaching and his compositions. His aim is to pass through the borders of “tonal”, “serial” and “minimalist” music. This album raises interest, not only in a purely “anthological” sense, but also because it retains meaning to this day, especially when compared to certain electro-acoustic records influence by this composer. This work holds itself up, while the brand new avant-garde suffers, often rooting around structures and ideas more than half a century old.