Petr Kotik - The Plains at Gordium

$25.00

Petr Kotik Talujon 2000s 2020s Percussion First Release

Description

The Plains at Gordium is a work by Petr Kotik, whose pioneering work as founder and leader of the S.E.M. Ensemble has been a stalwart champion of the Avant-Garde from its inception, at the Center of the Creative and Performing Arts, SUNY/Buffalo, in 1970 to present day.

Well-loved recordings by the S.E.M. Ensemble (Julius Eastman: Femenine, The Entire Musical Work of Marcel Duchamp, Morton Feldman: For Philip Guston) are easy to find. That has not been the case for Kotik's own music. This beautiful recording of a relatively recent work by Kotik provides a beguiling, labyrinthian entry into Kotik's own musical vision.

Press

Over 54 minutes the rhythmic emphasis tilts, shuffles and slants in a manner that is strangely compelling, despite the duration and skeletal form of this piece. Had Sun Ra and his Arkestra descended into the middle of The Plains At Gordium they would undoubtedly have settled in and kept step, finding themselves on congenial terrain.

The Wire

Liner Notes

"The Plains at Gordium", Notes by Petr Kotik

September 03, 2021

Track List

LP TRACK LIST

A. The Plains at Gordium (27:13)

B. The Plains at Gordium (26:47)

℗ 2004 Srajer Publishers (ASCAP)

Credits

Talujon is Ian Antonio, David Cossin, Matthew Gold, Tom Kolor, Michael Lipsey, Matt Ward
Recorded May 2018
Engineered and Mixed by David Cossin
Digital Mastering by Rob Friedman at littlelife studio
Vinyl Master and Cut by Lupo

Cover image: Jan Kotík "Plocha III" (1964, oil on canvas), private collection, New York, Photo by Kevin Noble
Design by Robert Beatty

About Petr Kotik

Petr Kotik is a composer, conductor, and flutist. According to Kotik, he composes through a process determined by chance and intuitive steps. Since the early 1980s, his editing process includes a computer-generated chain of events based on Andrey Markov's probability sequences.

Kotik studied flute at the Conservatory and Music Academy in Prague. He studied composition privately in Prague with Valdimír Šrámek and Jan Rychlík, and at the Music Academy in Vienna, Austria with Karl Schiske, Hans Jelinek, and Friedrich Cerha. From 1969 to 1972, Kotik served as a Creative Associate at the Center of the Creative and Performing Arts at SUNY Buffalo. Kotik founded the new music ensemble Musica viva pragensis and the QUaX Ensemble, both based in Prague. In 1970, he formed the S.E.M. Ensemble. In 1999, Kotik founded the Ostrava Center for New Music, which in 2001 began to produce the biennial Ostrava Days Institute and Festival. In 2005, Kotik founded the international chamber orchestra Ostravská banda as the resident chamber orchestra at Ostrava Days.

Petr Kotik Artist Page

About Talujon

Described by the New York Times as possessing an “edgy, unflagging energy”, Talujon has committed itself to the growth of contemporary percussion music through diverse performance, commissioning, educational, and outreach activities.

Highlights of Talujon’s recent engagements include appearances at the Brooklyn Academy of Music’s Next Wave Festival, Bang on a Can Marathon, Carnegie Hall, ISSUE Project Room, Miller Theatre, and New York Historical Society. International performances include Taipei’s Lantern Festival and Italy’s Sound Res Festival. In addition to its diverse performance schedule, Talujon has conducted residencies, clinics, and master classes at institutions across the US. Collaborators include Dewa Alit, Nick Brooke, Chien Yin Chen, Alvin Lucier, Eric Moe, Steve Ricks, Ralph Shapey, Henry Threadgill, Ushio Torikai, and Julia Wolfe.

Talujon partners with New York City Public Schools and the Midori and Friends organization to produce educational programming across New York City’s five boroughs. The ensemble’s playing can be heard on the Cantaloupe, Tzadik, Unseen Worlds, New World, Bridge, Albany, and Capstone record labels.

Talujon Artist Page