I know I had some tracks on albums I picked up in the 80's (got rid of vinyl long ago, so these are mostly forgotten, especially of flute with electronics. It seemed kind of MOR avant-garde to me at the time, not that there's anything wrong with that.
Do any of his "serious" works sound anything like this, or like nervous angular longhair jazz in general?
Yes they do!
From the 1960s through early 2000s, Kupferman had typically blended jazzy syncopations with dodecaphony. He created his own personal 12-tone row which he labeled as "Infinities", if my memory is correct. I own most of the soundspells CDs (perhaps around 30 of 'em).
Also check out (if you can) the 1964 BLACK LIKE ME with Kupferman had done. Only one of his film score had a soundtrack album: 1963's HALLELUJAH THE HILLS on the Fontana label (a comedy).
From the 1960s through early 2000s, Kupferman had typically blended jazzy syncopations with dodecaphony. He created his own personal 12-tone row which he labeled as "Infinities", if my memory is correct. I own most of the soundspells CDs (perhaps around 30 of 'em).
Not quite ready to invest in 30 CDs. Which 20 would you recommend for starters?
Thanks for bringing Meyer Kupferman to my attention. He was kind of outside my scope (not having scored enough horror films shown on the telly between 1973 and 1976), but I was fascinated by the pieces I've just explored.
I know that nothing exists in a vacuum, so I was trying to relate it all to my small universe of knowledge, and I must say I was reminded a lot of Leonard Rosenman. Zardoz spoke of "jazzy syncopations with dodecaphony" - those shifting textures and chordal rumblings reminded me of REBEL WITHOUT A CAUSE and things like that.
And the piece that Sean posted ("Jazz Symphony Movement 1") had me stumped for a while. It was awfully like something I'd heard before. So I was thinking "What IS that?"... shifting textures embellished with little aleatory (or not) doodlings... really compelling stuff, even without a visual hook, or even a frame of reference, and suddenly it came to me. I got my frame of reference! When the sax came in I went "Wait! THE PHANTOM OF HOLLYWOOD!" It's on FSM's great TV Ómnibus, and it's by Leonard Rosenman.
Sometimes I feel like a fish in the old joke - you know, two fish are swimming around in the bowl having a chat (as they would), and one asks the other, "Do you believe in God?", to which the other replies, "Sure I do. Who do you think changes the water?"
So I know that I'm not really getting a total grasp on this by relating Meyer Kupferman to a TV Movie score from 1974, but it's my own way of getting some kind of angle on things. There's a whole world out there.
By the way, anybody know what happened to ToneRow? He'd be all over this thread if he were still around.
Not quite ready to invest in 30 CDs. Which 20 would you recommend for starters?
I would recommend around 5 for starters. When I looked into my inventory, I own about 25 (not 30) of those SoundSpells Productions CDs so I can recommend 5 albums for starters.
I would recommend around 5 for starters. When I looked into my inventory, I own about 25 (not 30) of those SoundSpells Productions CDs so I can recommend 5 albums for starters.
First and foremost, I recommend the Jazz Symphony and Challenger on CD104. This was the first Kupferman CD I purchased during the mid-1990s; his Jazz Symphony has been with me for 20 years now and I listen to this most frequently.
Other suggestions follow:
CD110 : Wings of the Highest Tower (this is one wild piece ); unfortunately it's paired with a bulky piano concerto called "The Moor's Concerto" which is not as impressive as its disc companion
CD114: again, the main program (Hexagon Skies) is outdone by the 2nd bill on the disc which is the 1964 "Infinities Projections" that commenced Kupferman's formal tone row which formed the basis of many of his subsequent compositions.
CD120: Three Faces of Electra (1995) is a highlight (this is perhaps my 3rd favorite Kupferman opus and CD)
CD125: Winter Symphony (1997) plus the 1998 flute concerto "Concerto Brevis" - both great and yielding overall a most satisfactory album.
the final offerings in these volumes of Kupferman are both double-CD sets; I recommend either or both depending on one's budget. CD135 has his Tuba Concerto and his 2002 "Into the Breach" whilst CD136 has his 1986 "And Five Quartets" as a highlight along with 2003's (the year of his death) "Invisible Borders".
I would recommend around 5 for starters. When I looked into my inventory, I own about 25 (not 30) of those SoundSpells Productions CDs so I can recommend 5 albums for starters.
By the way, anybody know what happened to ToneRow? He'd be all over this thread if he were still around.
Ha! I think I know the answer to this!
TR updated his change in email address which prompted FSM's system/server to issue a new password which was never confirmed - so TR's account profile got locked.
TR has been reincarnated as Zardoz (one of his favorite 100 films )
By the way, anybody know what happened to ToneRow? He'd be all over this thread if he were still around.
Ha! I think I know the answer to this!
TR updated his change in email address which prompted FSM's system/server to issue a new password which was never confirmed - so TR's account profile got locked.
TR has been reincarnated as Zardoz (one of his favorite 100 films )
Zardoz has spoken!
I knew it, but I didn't want to out you without your permission. Welcome Zardoz! You have been renewed!
Yes, a belated welcome to Zardoz. I see that you have not updated your profile pic from your previous incarnation (some bloke with a terrible combover - maybe Freddie Jones or Anthony Burgess or somebody blustery like that), but your taste in music seems exactly the same as that TR guy.
To satisfy your curiosity, Graham, that image is of composer Maurice Ohana.
Ohana was a 20th century composer of abstract/concert music. I doubt FSMers would know about him; Ohana scored only 1 feature film (an Egyptian film called Goha) and 3 short films from the 1960s. His film music is not available, but after his death in 1992 there have been a considerable amount of his compositions released on CDs via classical music labels.
Ohana defies classification (regarding his ethnicity/nationality/aesthetics, etc.)
He was born on Gibraltar and as such was considered as a British citizen. His ancestral lineage was Spanish and Jewish. His language and cultural leanings was French. His music was based upon scales and intervals from northern Africa.
His music is also difficult to describe. It's not really Spanish in character. His discography is mostly from French labels. African aspects dominate.
Mr. Watt might be interested in Ohana's "Livre des Prodiges" in YouTube ...
Thanks for the Ohana link, Zardoz. I liked it. Yes, clearly copied from Goldsmith's ALIEN. How these so-called "intellectual" concert hall composers get away with it is beyond me, yet when someone like Goldsmith paraphrases Bartok, the elitist snobs call him a Hollywood hack.
Same happened when Edgard Varese-Sarabande copied Goldsmith's PLANET OF THE APES for one of his insufferable pseudo-intellectual "pure music" exercises in mere noise, or when Gustav Holst-Lagerhausen lifted directly from Williams' STAR WARS for his childish "Planets Episode 4: The Mars Bar Sweet".
); unfortunately it's paired with a bulky piano concerto called "The Moor's Concerto" which is not as impressive as its disc companion