Warner Jepson – Totentanz And Other Electronic Works 1958-1973

I agree with Deanbrierly and I really enjoy this cd and recommend it, but i want to add something quite funny : a cultural différence. Jepson is an American academic composer, but for us in France, what he do looks more like very good psychedelic music, or even pop in one piece. With a sound that kills. Recorded between 1958 and 1973 with great synths: excellent double CD.

This is a fantastic two-disc set of from Warner Jepson, one of the pioneering electronic-sound composers. The collection ranges from late-fifties musique concrete pieces like “The Big Purr” and “Jail Gate Crazy” to the sinister sinewave rumblings of “Bugs at Large” to the eerie galactic sonorities of “Splace.” Many of Jepson’s compositions were written to accompany theater and ballet performances, films and videos, and art gallery happenings. The disc’s showcase piece, “Totentanz,” was commissioned by the San Francisco Ballet in 1967. The music, with its quicksilver changes of mood, tempo and textures, seems to have enchanted and alienated audiences in equal measure. No words can adequately describe this magisterial 35-minute excursion into electronic abstraction. One must simply listen to it, absorb it, experience it. Two more large pieces are on offer: the 20-minute ballet score “The Awakening” and the 25-minute video score “See is Never All the Way Up.” Both are equally revelatory and enigmatic, showcasing Jepson’s ability to conjure dissonant shards of sound that somehow coalesce into compelling sound narratives. The music is but a drop in the bucket of the 100-plus hours of music Jepson created during his time at the San Francisco Tape Music Center, Mills College and The National Center for Experiments in Television. Let’s hope Melon Expander Records sees fit to put out more of these wonders and rarities.