Watched DVD Of Diva - Still Good After All These Years

Watched a DVD of Jean-Jacques Beineix’s 1981 film Diva last night. This was a kind present from Chris & Anne Edwards. It still had the same power as before and hasn't really aged. Remember seeing it with David Hay Jones back at Aston Triange film theatre back at University. The music is memorable with an aria from Catalani's La Wally.

LINKS:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Diva_(film)

Anneke Scott Plays At Magnatune's John & Jan Buckman's House In Covent Garden

Last night's recital at John & Jan Buckman's house in Covent Garden, London saw Anneke Scott and Kathryn Cok play Beethoven and Mozart, among other early 19th Century virtuosic horn music on period instruments. Anneke plays the natural horn and is frequently principal horn with The English Concert and Freiburg Baroque and has also performed with The Academy of Ancient Music, Concerto Copenhagen, English Baroque Soloists, Europa Galante, The Kings Consort, The Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment, and the Orchestre des Champs Elysees. (photos: John Buckman above, Katheryn Cok above left, Anneke Scott above right)
Anneke and I talked about myself writing a piece for natural horn and electronics with laptop for her to perform. She has played contemporary pieces a few years ago and has played with the London Sinfonietta, the UK's main exponent of contemporary classical music.
Hornist Ian Stott came along to the recital and we chatted to violinist Pavlo Beznosiuk.
John Buckman owns Magnatune, a prominant download record company that specialises in classical music.

Links:
Anneke Scott
http://www.annescott.com
Magnatune
http://www.magnatune.com
Pavlo Beznosiuk
http://www.aam.co.uk
London Sinfonietta
http://www.londonsinfonietta.org.uk/home/home.html

Andi Spicer Writing Work For Midi Wind Controller & Laptop To Be Performed By Julien Feltrin At All Ears Festival In London

Started writing work for midi wind controller and synthesizer for woodwind specialist Julien Feltrin to be performed at the All Ears Contemporary Music Festival In London in September. The piece will be in three parts and will use the Yamaha WX5 wind controller and VL70-m virtual acoustic tone generator synthesizer. The provisional title is 'The Anthropic Principle' and will also use a Apple G4 laptop running MAX/MSP, Reason and Logic software.
To quote Wikipedia: In cosmology, the anthropic principle in its most basic form states the truism that any valid theory of the universe must be consistent with our existence as carbon-based human beings at this particular time and place in the universe. In other words, "If something must be true for us, as humans, to exist, then it is true simply because we exist." Attempts to apply this principle to develop scientific explanations in cosmology have led to some confusion and much controversy.

Links - All Ears Contemporary Music Festival:
http://at.orpheusweb.co.uk/forum/concrt.htm
Yamaha WX5 Midi wind controller
http://www.saxophones.co.uk/Yamaha%20WX5.htm

Concert Of Percussion Music At Brighton Fringe - Duo To Consider Playing Some of Andi Spicer's Pieces

Adam Bushell and Tom Norrell played a interesting concert of percusison music by contemporary composers at the Brighton Festival Fringe, including some pieces from local composers. Barry Mills had a world premiere of his 'Walking In the Rain' and other premieres were from Johanna Strachan, Chris Gander. Barry's work typically diplayed his pastoral touch and fine eye for delicate detail in evoking a landscape.
South African composer Michael Blake had his African music-inspired '38A Hill Street Blues' performed. Michael has now moved back to South Africa after spending a number of years in Sussex, England and is quietly establishing quite a reputation for himself both back home and in Europe. Michael kindly organised a concert of my work in Johannesburg at the Bassline in Melville in 2003. The concert then included a work by the talented South African electronic music composer Dimitri Voudouris, who organised the continent's first electronic music festival in 2005.
Among more established composers, the duo played Iannis Xenakis's Rebonds - Movement B was one of the highlights of the concert. Kagel's 'Rrrrrrrr' (movements from) contrasted nicely with the understated Howard Skempton pieces 'Lament' and 'Air Melody'.
Had a chat with Adam and Tom and we talked about myself writing a percussion piece for the duo. Oli Mayne from the Brake Drum Assembly was also among the audience. Nice to share a pint with Barry Mills, his wife and Oli in the Cricketers pub afterwards.

Links:
http://web.onetel.net.uk/~barrymills/
http://www.bardic-music.com/Blake.htm
http://www.michaelblake.newmusicsa.org.za/
http://www.ciweb.com.ar/Kagel/index2.php
http://www.iannis-xenakis.org/english/index.html
http://www.musicnow.co.uk/composers/skempton.html
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dimitri_Voudouris

New Music Brighton Concert By Talkestra Plays Harrex, Mills, Finnissey, Graebner

New Music Brighton put on a concert Thursday evening of contemporary classical works written by local composers in Brighton. Here a picture (left) of Michael Finnissey and Barry Mills who had pieces played by Talkestra , directed by the excellent Steve Dummer (clarinet). Barry's evocative Piano Trio was played as was Patrick Harrex's beautifully-shaped 'Colloquy'. Ed Hughes' Quartet ended the evening. A hard-hitting cello-led piece, Elegy, by Ric Graebner was the highlight for me.

Links:
(http://www.newmusicbrighton.co.uk/)
(http://www.michaelfinnissy.info/)
(http://web.onetel.net.uk/~barrymills/)
(http://www.talkestra.com/)
(http://www.talkestra.com/steved.html)
(http://www.patrickharrex.co.uk/)
(http://www.edwarddudleyhughes.com/)

Paolo Giudici's Thesis Installation With Soundscape by Andi Spicer At London's Royal College of Art

Paolo Giudici (http://www.usodimare.com/) starts his marathon 8-hour performance at the Royal College of Art today. I've provided the soundscape for the installation. Here some explanation from his programme notes:

Performance (on a weekday, from 9 am to 5 pm, eight hours with short interruptions and a lunch break) in a soundscape: ANDI SPICER, The Bridge of Perati, 2006 for manipulated voice (Paolo Giudici) and electronics. With six CD players, sound system, two desks, two chairs, desk lamp, one writing mat, two letter trays, one paper bin, A4 paper, one fountain pen, one framed photograph (S.Ten. Nevio Artioli, 1941).

My mother's cousin, Second Lieutenant Nevio Artioli, 253rd Company, 3rd Battalion "Val Chiese", 6th Alpine Regiment, 2nd Alpine Division "Tridentina" fell in Belogorje (Russia) on the 20th December 1942, a few days after his twenty-second birthday. "Raising the alarm he saved his company but was shot by a sniper," it was said. Of the 220,000 soldiers sent by Mussolini to support and share Hitler's invasion of the Soviet Union 100,000 never came back from the front or the prison camps. It counts as the most tragic military defeat in Italian history.
In 1952 he was awarded an honorary degree by the University of Trieste, where he had begun to study economy before joining the army in September 1940, shortly after Italian intervention in the war.
In 1992 his remains were repatriated and buried in his hometown Tarvisio (Italy). I was as old as him, writing my tedious thesis in logic. I was invited to take part at the official ceremony at the war memorial of Redipuglia, but refused to go. I believed he should have been left near the bight of the Don, where he had rested the past fifty years. I believed no ceremony should indirectly celebrate a war of aggression. A few months later I decided to leave my country for good.
Today I dedicate this performance to Nevio as a form of later and private remembrance. More importantly, going through photos and letters forgotten in the basement, I can see something of my life as a student and soldier reflected in his. Something of his Italy reflected in mine at a turning point in history.

Two desks are facing each other. On one desk there is an audio mixer connected to six CD players and one amplifier with four speakers placed on the flour to mark off the space of the performance. The performer enters the space at 9 am of a working day whistling "Sul ponte di Perati". He switches on the sound system and starts playing a choice of the six CDs in Random Play

He then sits at the other desk, switches on the light, takes a sheet of paper from the left letter tray and starts writing "Il mattino ha l'oro in bocca". This is the Italian translation of the German proverb "Die Morgenstunde hat Gold in Munde" (literally: "The morning hour has gold in its mouth") but has also been used as Italian translation of "All work and no play make Jack a dull boy". The performer continues to replay different CDs and to rewrite the sentence, introducing limited elements of variation. With the passing of the day the sentence appears to gradually consume its own meaning.
Finally, the performer puts the fountain pen back into his pocket, switches off the light, takes the written sheets from the tray and throws them into the bin. He then does the same with the CDs, switches of the sound system and leaves.

Paolo Giudici, THESIS (2006)
A performance in a soundscape by Andi Spicer

is taking place within:

INTERVENTIONS/SPECULATIONS/FUCK-UPS
Installation and Performance work by MA Photography, RCA

Hockney Gallery, Royal College of Art, Stevens Building, Jay Mews Entrance
Thursday 18th May 2006, From 9 am to 5 pmI wish to thank Andi Spicer for preparing this ghostly soundscape essential to the performance. He recorded me while singing or reading "Il ponte di Perati" a WWII Alpine Troops song, censored by the fascist regime for its black realism. He then manipulated and mixed the recordings to create several tracks grouped in six CDs. He finally asked me to play the tracks using the random play mode of the players but making decisions on which combination of CDs to play. To quote Werner Meyer-Eppler: "aleatoric processes are such processes which have been fixed in their outline but the details of which are left to chance."

Invited To A Concert Of Natural Horn Music Played By Anneke Scott And Given By John Buckman

John Buckman, the founder of download music company Magnatune (www.magnatune.com) , invited me today to a concert of natural horn and piano music at his house in Covent Garden. John is wonderfully supportive of his artists on the Magnatune label. The evening concerts are usually very interesting and include many distinguished guests. Anneke Scott is playing the natural horn (www.annekescott.com). As a native of Birmingham (like myself) and a horn player (like myself), we have much in common. I've met her before at John's music evenings, although I've never heard her play.

Artist James de Villiers Gets In Contact

My good friend James de Villiers (www.111.co.za) got in contact today via email. James and I have worked together quite a lot on shows and installations when I was in living in Johannesburg, South Africa. He's recently had a show at the Godart Gallery in Joburg. Left is Enigma Variation 2.
Below is a review of the exhibition from the Financial Mail:
'The French term Nature Morte is a particularly apt description of De Villiers' still lifes: skulls, rotting fruit - especially pomegranates and pears - and bread, dead fish and chipped bowls are reminiscent of 17th-century Dutch vanity paintings, reminding us that death is the inevitable end for all things. He applies religious symbols to a post-Christian world, while the mostly black backgrounds accentuate the sombre mood. A rare blue sky turns out actually to be a painting within a painting. But don't be put off: he paints well. While the impact en masse may be depressing, individually the pictures are intriguing, even inspiring, and thought-provoking.'

A Man Without Qualities & Michael Nyman

Reading Robert Musil's Man Without Qualities, now halfway through the second volume (English edition). A strange journey through the subconcious and intellectual dialogue. It peels away the conceit of culture in an unmerciful manner. Listened to Michael Nyman's Drowning by Numbers on my iPod coming into London this morning. Ritual - Musil, Nyman, Vivaldi, espresso coffee.

Links:
(http://www.musilmuseum.at/)
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_Musil)
(http://www.michaelnyman.com/)

Here a recent picture of me in South Africa, near the Botswana border

It was a warm night and the insects were buzzing. The gin and tonics helped too. It was nice to get back to Africa and the warmth and wildness. We lived there for seven years and it was hard to come back to the UK. Also left behind many good friends, including the very talented James de Villiers (www.111.co.za) Above a picture of me on safari camp and another with James, in his studio.

Writing reviews on Richard Barrett compositions/CD

Writing some nice reviews on composer Richard Barrett http://www.ump.co.uk/barrett.htm. Wonderful stuff. His publisher very kindly sent me the scores to help me unravel the music. Dense, beautiful stuff. Recomend a listen. Prefer the smaller ensemble stuff to his large-scale Vanity work for large orchestra.

Paolo Giudici visits the Spicer household to discuss his new installation at the Royal College of Art In London

Italian artist/photographer Paolo Giudici (http://www.usodimare.com/) came last Sunday to talk about his show at the Royal College of Art in London. I'm writing a soundscape for the performance on Thursday 18th May at the RCA. This a multi-media performance for photography/performance and soundscape. It will last 8 hours. Photos to follow. The installation is based around the death of his relative on the Eastern Front in WWII, who was a member of the Alpini Julia regiment. It's an antiwar piece that uses Paolo's voice to evoke the past by singing an Italian war song, Sul Ponte di Perati - here the link to the lyrics: (http://ingeb.org/songs/uncorodi.html).

The soundscape uses electronically manipulated voice and electronics using MAX/MSP, (http://www.cycling74.com/products/maxmsp) Reason, Audacity software and Zoom Studio 1201 multi-effects, Apple G3 laptop and Fostex multitracker 380s. This will be played through 6 DVD players in live performance at the RCA with aleatoric interjection from 5 of the DVD players using a shuffle setting.

Paolo's work Venexia is above left and right is Zodiacus

Julien Feltrin & Brake Drum Assembly - In Action At Brighton Festival

This is the second year that I've had pieces played at the Brighton festival fringe in the UK. Two new pieces were premiered - 'Euclid Alone' for Paetzold Great Bass Recorder, Tenor Recorder and Electronics, French Horn and Percussion ensemble; and 'Bird' for solo vibraphone and electronics. Bird was perfomed by the excellent percussionist Oli Mayne.

'Click Language' and 'Baobab', both for percussion quartet were also played by the Brake Drum Assembly (www.brakedrumassembly.co.uk).
If you're interested in downloading my pieces as MP3s - click here www.ampcast.com/AndiSpicer

My work 'Euclid Alone' is essentially a vehicle for extended technique on the Paetzold Great Bass recorder, (http://www.vonhuene.com/paetzold_square.cfm) although it does have a section for tenor recorder. The Paetzold is usually used in early music, but is well suited to contemporary music due to its ability to generate a large number of multiphonics. These sounds are augmented with live electronics, controlled by Julien Feltrin during performance. African and world influences also permeate the composition.
Euclid Alone takes its title from the poem 'Euclid alone has looked on Beauty Bare' (http://www.the-athenaeum.org/poetry/detail.php?id=80) by the American poet Edna St. Vincent Millay. (http://www.sonnets.org/millay.htm) The piece has a strong emphasis on surface detail and sound as music, but is also strongly geometric in proportion. The poem stresses the pure beauty of geometry and proportion particularly in abstraction.

Julien Feltin is currently a professor at the Royal College of Music in London (http://www.rcm.ac.uk/prof.asp?display=professors&link=702) and has studied both at the Sorbonne in Paris, and the Conservatorium Van Amsterdam (under Walter van Hauwe); as a contemporary recorder musician, he has performed with the Endymion ensemble in London, and the Asko and Schoenberg ensembles in Amsterdam, and he has been a prize-winner in the Gaudeamus competition (Amsterdam), Krakow Contemporary Music Competition, and the Haverhill Sinfonia Competition. His talents are in constant demand throughout Europe.

Oli Mayne is currently the age of a long playing record and has been involved in music for longer than he cares to remember. Past glories include playing bass and vibraphone in a pop band which was 'big in Germany', and appearances at the Royal Albert Hall and the South Bank in London. His current activities encompass contemporary music, free improvisation, big bands, singer-songwriters and experimental pop outfits.