the castle

digital version of invisible birds super limited release

the castle at cöthen (1717-1723), bonus cd for ingenting's 2012 release lost beyond telling, originally released as an edition of 11. moments from ingenting and j.s. bach treated by matthew swiezynski

text and melody initiated by the reformer martin luther and his wittenberg colleagues

  
* the castle at cöthen (1717-1723) *
excerpt from the limited edition cd portion of the special edition lost beyond telling

constructed and edited by matthew swiezynski & the capellmeister in cöthen

using source material originally constructed by ingenting kollektiva
and originally mastered by taylor deupree
image by tarrl lightowler

"long, complex, emotionally charged pieces using a wide variety of techniques, including strong contrasts in instrumentation, dynamic level, texture, mode and key, repetition scheme, melody, harmony, rhythm, and occasionally even metre."
from malcolm boyd's oxford composer companions : j.s. bach (on chaconne, text by natalie jenne & meredith little)

for the limited edition, we have decided on an edition of 10 for $150 each
edition will include :

• a drawing by matthew swiezynski (40 minute drawing listening to fragments of night)
• photographic portfolio
• the cd * the castle at cöthen (1717-1723) *
• a small booklet
• synthetic horse hair fabric around the standard edition
• other items of interest, all enclosed in a lovely box

this limited edition of 11 will be the first of 3 different releases spread over the next year, more details to follow.

please email to reserve a copy at : invisiblebirds (at) gmail (dot) com

lost beyond telling

samples from the cd portion of the forthcoming oiseaux invisibles release :

everything is abyss (baudelaire), excerpt

ingenting kollektiva 

lost beyond telling : fragments of night as envisioned by johannes d'église, church mouse.

(ib006 - cd + dvd - 2012, forthcoming, also available in artist edition of 8)

material from ingenting kollektiva, ingmar bergman, and j.s. bach, modified and transformed by johannes d'église & matthew swiezynski, and mastered by taylor deupree.

titles taken from :
baudelaire, bonnefoy, prospero, messiaen, jaccottet, stamelman, ashbery, and d'église

images by tarrl lightowler

sarabande

images from linda schwarz: music pictures - verlag hermann schmidt - 2001
that includes a fine rendering of
j.s. bach's cello suites by julius berger

ciaccona, the musical thought

nathan milstein playing the ciaccona

various recordings of j.s. bach's chaconne

from sonaten und partiten für violine solo (bwv 1004)
aka les sonates et partites pour violon seul
sonatas and partitas for solo violin
sonate e partite per violino solo
completed in cöthen, 1720

- nathan milstein - angel records/emi - 1954-1956
- joseph szigeti - vanguard classics - (recorded) 1955, (edited) 1962
- arthur grumiaux - philips - 1961
- henryk szeryng - deutsche grammophon - 1968
- sándor végh - auvidis valois - 1971
- nathan milstein - deutsche grammophon - 1975
- gidon kremer - philips - 1980
- itzhak perlman - emi - 1990
- christoph poppen - ecm - 2001 (2 versions)
- rachel podger - channel classics - 2002
- gidon kremer - ecm - 2002
- john holloway - ecm - 2006
- maya homburger - maya - 2008

(link removed)

the work "survives in an autograph fair copy dated 1720 with the title 'sei solo a violino senza basso accompagnato libro prima'. several copies, including one by anna magdelena bach, evidently derive directly from this autograph but some incorporate remarkable discrepancies and variants, notably that by j.p. kellner (1726), thus leaving much for scholars and performers to contemplate." from oxford composer companions: j.s. bach edited by malcolm boyd - oxford university press - 1999

a bit like a music of music boxes; stemlets and flowerets

images from the making of the pré by francis ponge
university of missouri press - 1979
translated by lee fahnestock

image 1 - from book jacket
from three prints of grasses - buc'hoz
image 2 & 3 - a bit like a music of music boxes; stemlets and flowerets - harpsichord cadenza - johann sebastian bach
image 4 - 13 july evening (night of 13 to 14) 3
image 5 - first typing, 19 january 1961
image 6 - like the neck of the beauty with the necklace - "the hunt of the unicorn"

the making of the pré may best be described as a poetic manuscript in which francis ponge develops his poem le pré (the meadow).
- from the jacket

(discovered in the library of the printer and book designer jack stauffacher)
((more to come as i spend more time with this book))

14 words whose enunciation lasted 5 seconds

classic books (number 3):

exercises de style by raymond queneau, editions gallimard 1947 (1958 translation by barbara wright)

in a bus of the s-line, 10 metres long, 3 wide, 6 high, at 3 km. 600 m. from its starting point, loaded with 48 people, at 12.17 pm., a person of the masculine sex aged 27 years 3 months and 8 days, 1 m. 72 cm. tall and weight 65 kg. and wearing a hat 35 cm. in height round the crown of which was a ribbon 60 cm. long, interpellated a man aged 48 years 4 months and 3 days, 1 m. 68 cm. tall and weighing 77 kg., by means of 14 words whose enunciation lasted 5 seconds and which alluded to some involuntary displacements of from 15 to 20 mm. then he went and sat down about 1 m. 10 cm. away.
57 minutes later he was 10 metres away from the suburban entrance to the gate saint-lazare and was walking up and down over a distance of 30 m. with a friend aged 28, 1 m. 70 cm. tall and weighing 71 kg. who advised him in 15 words to move by 5 cm. in the direction of the zenith a button which was 3 cm. in diameter.
precision (page 37-38)

(permutations)

in the introduction to the 1963 edition, queneau explains that the idea for the exercises came to him in the 1930s, after he and his friend michel leiris had attended a concert at the salle pleyel where bach's the art of the fugue had been played. what particularly struck queneau about this piece was that, although based on a rather slight theme, its variations "proliferated almost to infinity." it would be interesting, he thought, to create a similar work of literature.
(from barbara wright's notes for the 1981 american paperback edition)