Gerard Pape

Composed between 1993-97, this second volume of works by Gerard Pape on Mode continues his richly darkly dramatic style with new compositional turns. Born in Brooklyn, now living in Paris, Pape is the director of the Atelier UPIC, an electronic music studio utilizing the unique UPIC computer developed by Iannis Xenakis, since 1991. While a resident of Ann Arbor, Michigan he ran Sinewave Studios, a state of the art New Music and Electronic Music studio and organized of the annual TWICE Festival of New Music, featuring composers such as Berio, Cage, Crumb and Xenakis.

The performers on this disc are a veritable who’s-who of European New Music specialists. Pape sites these compositions as influenced by Xenakis, Giacinto Scelsi and Julio Estrada. Indeed, they combine the power of Xenakis with the microtonal explorations of Scelsi. All works, with the exception of Le Fleuve, interact the performers with vivid use of electronics and/or tape, many composed on the UPIC computer.

The evocative texts range from Samuel Beckett to Clive Barker. Battle is a scene from Pape’s upcoming opera based on Barker’s Weaveworld, to be premiered in France in 1999.

Two Electro-Acoustic Songs: Janet Pape, soprano; Cécile Daroux, flute; Gerard Pape, tape & sound projection
Le Fleuve du Désir: The Arditti Quartet; Gerard Pape, tape
Monologue: Nicholas Isherwood, bass; Gerard Pape, tape & sound projection
Battle: Vox Nova; Gerard Pape, tape
Makbénach: Daniel Kientzy, saxophone; Ensemble 2e2m conducted by Paul Mefano; Gerard Pape, tape & sound projection