Terry Riley at 80: In C + 3
In June 2015 Lost Property presented a concert to celebrate the 80th Birthday of Terry Riley. It was a big success, filling out One Church Brighton, and the programme delivered not only well known compositions by the composer, but also a re-arrangement of his 1968 tape piece, and new compositions inspired by him:
‘In C’ – percussionist Adam Bushell led a 25 piece ensemble to perform this minimalist classic. Written in 1964, it has been performed by ensembles as diverse as The Shanghai Film Orchestra and Acid Mothers Temple. The piece comprises 53 score fragments for an unspecified amount of players – as riffs and motifs overlap the resulting music achieves an ecstatic, transcendent quality.
‘You’re No Good’ – performed by Duncan Harrison. Terry Riley created this piece in 1968 – a 20 minute re-arrangement of The Harvey Averne Dozen’s soul tune ‘You’re No Good’. “Two reel to reel tape machines twisting in and out of sync amongst passages of heavy proto-synth oscillation, ring modulation, tape delay and echo.”
‘Piano Study #1’ – a Riley peice that preceded In C, performed by Asami Nishimura.
‘Octobeast’ – an original composition by Andrew Greaves inspired by Riley’s Persian Surgery Dervishes.
‘Coruscate to Figure’ – Daniel W J Mackenzie premiered a new Riley-inspired composition for organ and violin.
Photography by Agata Urbaniak here. A photo montage of Agata’s images as well as Andrea Shamlou’s has been set to a recording of the In C performance – take a look: