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Mendelssohn Collaged, Book 1

by The Erratic

supported by
Patrick Fitzgerald
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  • For this release I am selling the original collages from which Mendelssohn Collaged, Book 1 is derived. There are 53 collages in total, but 3 of them are on the back of another page, therefore there are 50 pages available (3 of you may end up with two collages). Each page is a unique, original artwork, signed and numbered. I will be selling them in order, so the first person to buy one gets page 1, and so on. Unframed. Approximate dimensions: 200mm x 275mm. I will post them flat in cardboard reinforced envelopes.

    Includes unlimited streaming of Mendelssohn Collaged, Book 1 via the free Bandcamp app, plus high-quality download in MP3, FLAC and more.
    ships out within 3 days
    edition of 50 

      £25 GBP or more 

     

1.
Mendelssohn Collaged, Book 1, Pages 1-13 Simultaneously 01:28
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2.
Mendelssohn Collaged, Book 1, Pages 1-13 Sequentially 10:42
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3.
Mendelssohn Collaged, Book 1, Pages 14-26 Simultaneously 01:01
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4.
Mendelssohn Collaged, Book 1, Pages 14-26 Sequentially 08:28
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5.
Mendelssohn Collaged, Book 1, Pages 27-39 Simultaneously 01:16
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6.
Mendelssohn Collaged, Book 1, Pages 27-39 Sequentially 10:30
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7.
Mendelssohn Collaged, Book 1, Pages 40-53 Simultaneously 01:16
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8.
Mendelssohn Collaged, Book 1, Pages 40-53 Sequentially 08:02
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about

This album began by finding a book of piano scores by Mendelssohn in a second hand book shop. I took the book home and turned the scores into collages in such a way that the collages could still be read (with a degree of leniency on behalf of the reader) as musical scores. I utilised primarily circles, squares, and triangles in the collages, and attempted to ensure that all the staves lined up and that, as much as possible, each page of collaged score remained in a single key. Of course, this was impossible, and errors invariably made their way into my scores. But this is part of the process of composition. I then set about looking for a pianist competent (and tolerant) enough to attempt to play the scores. I failed in my search. Where is David Tudor when you need him? After my failure I considered my next step for a while and eventually, after a quick search online, found an app designed to read and play photographed scores in order to help people learning a piece of music to get an idea of how it is supposed to sound. I photographed my scores and let the app do the rest. One of the joys of the app is that if it reads something it can't understand, rather than complaining "this isn't a real score. What are you making me do?" the app simply skips to the next bit it does understand and carries on. This adds another filter to the composing process, the performer's interpretation of the composer's score. It is not perfect. For example the app is very limited when it comes to dynamics (for dynamics the app's only variable is volume, so I turned that feature off as it was rubbish) and it found it impossible to read variations in tempo in my scores, so they are all in the same tempo. But other than this the app does a reasonable job of interpreting my collaged scores. If anyone listens to this album, is intrigued by the ideas behind it, and knows of a pianist who may be willing to attempt a more refined version with me, then please get in touch. Meanwhile, here is my rather crude, but fun, first effort. The original pages of collage are available to buy on my Merch page. I am currently working on a second book, refining my techniques from lessons learnt producing this first book, to minimise errors and create more usable scores.

credits

released October 6, 2023

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The Erratic Buxton, UK

Genre-less Experimental Music and Sounds.

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