Ondřej Galuška, Ian Mikyska, Radim Hanousek, Vojta Drnek - MiniMa Vol​.​1 (May 2021 Ma Records)

MiniMa is a new edition by Ma Records, introducing four new albums. Although the music is aesthetically diverse, we believe all the albums are linked by a common element, which we have called MiniMa. Each of the records demands a slightly different type of listening and concentration. Each of the artists approaches the flow of time differently. We strongly believe listening to the entire MiniMa edition will be a complex aesthetic experience.

Ligeticitations are first of all “citations” of recordings of works by the composer György Ligeti. Excerpts of various length are taken out of the original music and subjected to a kind of “close reading”. At the same time, a certain “licitation” is taking place: a negotiation regarding the musicality of individual elements – themes, sounds – which were not meant to appear on their own.

Strings, Water, Leaves, Air is a collection of real-time compositions, each of which was created under the influence of a different kind of tea. They are an invitation to stillness; to perceive their gentle nuances of taste and sound. By layering several steepings and instruments, a new blend is created – between improvisation and structure, time and timelessness, sound, taste, and fragrance.

Escape wass created by layering the home recordings of the participating musicians (ESCAPE I) and by mixing the Portuguese field recordings with a studio quartet of musicians responding independently of each other to different sonic materials (ESCAPE II). The result is a collage of improvised and composed music, field recordings, and electronics.

Lullabies are songs that ring out through our souls before we fall asleep. That is, when our souls are at their most open, most sensitive, most vulnerable. The short but intense EP Lullabies presents the unexplored sonic possibilities of the accordion, developed from a close connection between the player and the instrument. 

1. Ondřej Galuška - Ligeticitations 1: Intro 02:30

2. Ondřej Galuška - Ligeticitations 2: Chamber Concerto 05:43

3. Ondřej Galuška - Ligeticitations 3: Étude 2 - Corde à vide 03:00

4. Ondřej Galuška - Ligeticitations 4: 6 Bagatelles for Wind Quintet 04:44

5. Ondřej Galuška - Ligeticitations 5: String Quartet No. 1 03:48

6. Ondřej Galuška - Ligeticitations 6: Chamber Concerto: Calmo, sostenuto 05:10

7. Ondřej Galuška - Ligeticitations 7: Poème symphonique 04:29

8. Ondřej Galuška - Ligeticitations 8: Lux Aeterna 04:52

9. Ondřej Galuška - Ligeticitations 9: Outro 02:09

10. Ian Mikyska - 1. Eight-Year Liu Bao – 4. 1. 2021 05:58

11. Ian Mikyska - 2. Shui Xien Wuyi Oolong – 17. 12. 2020 06:36

12. Ian Mikyska - 3. Qilan Wuyi Oolong – 26. 12. 2020 05:02

13. Ian Mikyska - 4. Millenium Liu Bao – 18. 12. 2020 05:18

14. Ian Mikyska - 5. Lang He Shu Pu-erh – 30. 12. 2020 06:23

15. Ian Mikyska - 6. Mengku Gushu Sheng Pu-erh – 20. 12. 2020 04:02

16. Ian Mikyska - 7. Golden Tippy King Shu Pu-erh – 3. 1. 2021 08:24

17. Ian Mikyska - 8. Ali Shan Oolong – 17. 12. 2020 06:38

18. Radim Hanousek - ESCAPE I (acoustic) 09:26

19. Radim Hanousek - ESCAPE II (mix) 27:00

20. Vojta Drnek - 1. Doss Down 03:54

21. Vojta Drnek - 2. Insomnion 02:42

22. Vojta Drnek - 3. Stars Fading 04:20

23. Vojta Drnek - 4. The Lullaby Of Birdland 03:48

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Ondřej Galuška - MiniMa: Ligeticitations (May 2021 Ma Records)

As the title suggests, Ligeticitations are first of all “citations” of recordings of composer György Ligeti’s works. Excerpts of various length are taken out of the original music and subjected to a kind of “close reading”. At the same time, a certain “licitation” is taking place: a negotiation regarding the musicality of individual elements – themes, sounds – which were not meant to appear on their own. Is a decontextualized quotation of music still musical? Can these elements form a new composition? Do they somehow contain other possibilities of continuation and connection? To what extent is this a random process and to what extent is it limited by the possibilities of the original composition?

What is at play in these licitations, each of which employs a different strategy, are not only the compositional implications and possibilities of the elements. There is also a dialogue between the style and soundscape of the original pieces (determined by the use of classical instruments recorded at a certain time in a certain space) and the techniques of current music production. The use of studio effects in manipulating the space and time of sound, its reverb, pitch, timbre and morphology adds another layer of expression absent in the original material.

Samples in Ligeticitations are not simply rearranged, looped or juxtaposed. Rather they are layered to form a kind of “meta-composition” which compresses a longer composition into a shorter time span or many compositions into a single piece. (Prof. Jo Ellen Jacobs claims that if musical composition is the structuring of time, then the repetitiveness of popular music is literally a waste of time. Ironically, one can save even more time thanks to studio techniques used by popular music.)

Ligeticitations are mostly assembled “manually”, i.e. without the use of a tempo grid. Although the editing still takes place on a computer, the result is much more organic as is the case when working with tape and scissors. The compositions were in part created for the modern dance performance S dovolením! by the SPOLK dance troupe. The show should premiere in the Ponec theatre in Prague in July 2021. 

1. Ligeticitations 1: Intro 02:30

2. Ligeticitations 2: Chamber Concerto 05:43

3. Ligeticitations 3: Étude 2: Cordes à vide 03:00

4. Ligeticitations 4: 6 Bagatelles for Wind Quintet 04:44

5. Ligeticitations 5: String Quartet No. 1 03:48

6. Ligeticitations 6: Chamber Concerto: Calmo, sostenuto 05:10

7. Ligeticitations 7: Poème symphonique 04:29

8. Ligeticitations 8: Lux Aeterna 04:52

9. Ligeticitations 9: Outro 02:09

Author: Ondřej Galuška

Mastering: Ondřej Ježek

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