Octavian Nemescu - Metabizantinirikon, Trisson, Sonatu(h)r (1992 compi, rec. 1986-1990)

By request, an hour of shimmering, mindwarping tape-based spectral music, which, when I discovered it three years ago at the sadly-no-more Spook City USA, caused a Big Bang in my listening habits that led to at least a half-dozen other Romanian composers (see links below).  One of those other composers I went so crazy for that they're about to get their 14th post here on Wednesday.  For today though, very happy to bring back into circulation this 1992 CD of Octavian Nemescu's music, which was originally released as a 1991 LP with just the first two tracks.

Nemescu, born 1940 in the Moldavian city of Pașcani, has been active from the 60s to today, and revisiting his discogs page was a handy reminder that there's still a good few releases I must get hold of.  This compilation starts with Metabizantinirikon for saxophone (the great Daniel Kientzy) and magnetic tape, produced at IRCAM in 1986.  Intended to evoke the Byzantine era via its landscapes and bird & insect life, Kientzy's lead lines float over the buzzing and fluttering of the tape-manipulated electronics for a beautifully meditative 20 minutes.

The other two pieces are purely electronics/tape.  Trisson (1987) was commissioned by and recorded at GMVL (Groupe de Musique Vivante Lyon), and Nemescu recommends that it be listened to outdoors, on a spring or summer night.  The vast rumbling soundscape that underpins Trisson brings Eliane Radigue to mind for me, but the whole track is nowhere near as minimalist; the gently pinging melodies are perhaps closer to David Behrman.  After an ear-ringing finale, it fades out and it's time for the CD-only track Sonatu(h)r, composed in 1986 and mixed 1990 at the GMEB (Experimental Group from Bourges). 

As in the first track above, in Sonatu(h)r Nemescu is interested in the dynamic between human cultures and natural animal timbres, and again recommends outdoor, rural listening at dusk in springtime.  The shrill high tones escaping from my earphones in the office one lunchtime made someone ask what the hell I was listening to - Sonatu(h)r is definitely a deep-clean for the brain, and the most strikingly alien piece among an hour's worth of phenomenal, otherworldly sounds.  Massively recommended.

link
pw: sgtg

Previously posted at SGTG: Split CD Nemescu/Cazaban
Other posts featuring Daniel Kientzy: 
Berio, Stroe, Stockhausen etc
Gerard Pape
Niculescu, Marbe, Vieru
Rotaru, Taranu etc