CLARENCE BARLOW (b.1945): Ludus Ragalis for Piano (Hermann Kretzschmar), 4 Pieces for Player Piano (Clarence Barlow), Çogluotobüsisletmesi for 4 Pianos (Irmela Roelcke, Kretszchmar, Jürgen Kruse, Benjamin Kobler).

Catalogue Number: 11K114
Label: Cybele
Reference: 960.308
Format: CD
Price: $19.98
Description: Ludus was composed over a long period of time, a project that stemmed from Barlow's realization of the concordance between certain Indian ragas and western scales. Accordingly, this is a cycle of preludes and fugues - in major keys, going around the circle of fourths - quite conventional in layout and structure. The four unconnected pieces for player piano are more typical examples of what Barlow has come to be known for, involving complex mathematical extrapolations from graphic or linguistic sources into patterns of musical notes. The results have a somewhat Nancarrowish feel to them (Estudio Siete incorporates a paraphrase of a Nancarrow study). The multi-layered polyphony of Çogluotobüsisletmesi, with four completely independent streams of music running independently in stringent co-ordination, gains in transparency and precision what it loses in its monumental aspect, freed from the demands of performance by one pianist in this version for four pianos. The instruments are identically retuned to allow the microintervals called for in the score; each pianist is assigned one of the work's four 'layers' of material. SACD hybrid.