Cornelius Cardew, Apartment House, Anton Lukoszevieze

This disc collects chamber and solo works written by Cornelius Cardew between 1955 and 1964, played by Apartment House under Anton Lukoszevieze. For many of the pieces it was the first commercial recording. The span runs from pieces of 1955 to the open scores of the early 1960s. In those years Cardew moved from the orbit of Stockhausen towards Cage, before the Scratch Orchestra and his later political turn. Those scores are precise in their notation yet leave a large share of the result to the performer, so each realisation becomes a new piece.

The sessions took place at Gateway Studio in Kingston-upon-Thames on 6 and 7 April 2001, engineered by Steve Lowe. Lukoszevieze plays cello and directs a group that includes Michael Parsons on electronic keyboard, Rhodri Davies on harp, pianists Sarah Walker and Tania Chen, and Dave Smith on prepared piano and melodica. Marco Blaauw plays trumpet in the Three Rhythmic Pieces of 1955, and Alan Thomas plays guitar. The early works, the trumpet pieces and the Second String Trio, last under five minutes each. Autumn '60 and Material appear in two versions each, a reminder that each score allows more than one reading. Memories of You is given by David Ryan on bass clarinet and piano, and Octet '61 for Jasper Johns by Lukoszevieze on cello alone. The notes argue that some of these scores, Octet '61 and Solo with Accompaniment above all, only come alive when the realised material is bound together by spontaneous improvisation. Ryan's booklet essay reads the set as a coherent account of Cardew's approach to indeterminacy, with further notes by Lukoszevieze and Christopher Fox.

Released by Matchless Recordings in 2001 as MRCD 45, a single CD with a detail from the score of Solo with Accompaniment on the cover.