PALESTINE, CHARLEMAGNE - Four Manifestations On Six Elements

"2015 remastered version of Alga Marghens 2010 reissue of the Sonnabend Gallerys 1974 limited edition double LP. Presented in digipak sleeve with full-color 12-page booklet including two essays, originals score, and visual materials relating to the composition. Alga Marghen presents the fifth installment of its Golden Research Charlemagne Palestine archive series: Four Manifestations On Six Elements, one of Palestines most well-known works. In 1973 the Sonnabend Gallery in New York commissioned Palestine to make Four Manifestations On Six Elements. Two Perfect Fifths, a Major Third Apart, Reinforced Twice" (1973) is an electronic piece that deals with the search for the essence of timbre -- sound color -- through exploration of the inert chemical activity in the overtone series of tone fundamentals. This genre of Palestines work is akin to a kind of sound alchemy, blending elements over and over again in search of the Golden Sound: the essence of the chord or harmonic structure itself. In "One + Two + Three Perfect Fifths, in the Rhythm 3 Against 2, for Piano" (1973), Palestine uses the resonant Bösendorfer piano to create a more lively and complex variation of tones, intervals, overtones, and rhythms. "One Fifth" evolves by reinforcing the fundamentals of a fifth with their higher octave. Each performance of this work is different, as Palestine reinterprets these simple elements and listens within them for variations of amplitude, mixture, and inertia at the moment of the performance. "One + Two Fifths" deals with the way a rhythmic sonority sounds when the sustain pedal of the piano is not used, thus focusing on its rhythmic aspect. Gradually, by adding the sustain pedal, the external rhythmic pattern begins to internalize, becoming an inert part of the whole timbral fabric -- a piece expressing the struggle for dominance between rhythm and timbre. In "One + Two + Three" a third fifth is added -- variations of melody and sonority reinforcements culminating in a rhythmic deceleration process. "Sliding Fifths for Piano" (1972) is an impressionistic version of the three fifths used in the entire work. The continuous liquid waterfall of pure romantic piano sound and color is an homage to Debussy, Ravel, and Monet. "Three Perfect Fifths, a Major Second Apart, Reinforced Twice" (1973) is the complexification and continuation of track one. A pure and sonorous phenomenon.." - Alga Marghen.