Ivo Malec!

snyprrr · March 01, 2012, 07:39:51 PM

I've got a great big hard on for Ivo Malec, whom some say in the successor to Varese:

http://www.ivo-malec.fr/

I have two awesome discs on Timpani, of newer works, that reveal an astounding orchestral palette, and an application of musics that sounds a bit like Varese-meets-Xenakis's cheerier cousin! There are a few discs available UK, and with that, I believe, one can have all of Malec, which will fit so nicely next to all of Varese!

Here is Vibrafonietta:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zE_d9kHvl1o

Malec also is an electro/acoustic pioneer:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nLWAcLTAYVY

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hsvqESWgrAk

The Timpani discs aren't up on YT, but they are ESSENTIAL for those in the know, especially the one with Exempla. I really can't describe what a revelation Malec is, but I followed Arturo Tamayo and the Luxembourg band from their great Cycle of Xenakis, and they led me blindly here. I remeber hearing the name vaguely, but these discs go a great long way to establing Malec's credentials. The UK cds come pretty much all his old music from the '60s, which, for those who don't know, might be as big a revelation as Scelsi,...mm... maybe, just maybe.

HIGHEST XX RECOMMENDATION

Archaic Torso of Apollo · March 02, 2012, 12:55:07 AM

Quote from: snyprrr on March 01, 2012, 07:39:51 PM
I've got a great big hard on for Ivo Malec,

Well, you do have an, er, picturesque way of expressing your enthusiasm.

I've never heard of the guy, but you make me want to check him out (musically I mean)

UB · March 02, 2012, 04:38:52 AM

I am surprised that anyone even knows about Malec let alone starts a thread about his music. There is some more of his music available for downloading here. Between that and the YouTube posting above, you can get a pretty good idea of his range of music. I especially like his Arco I for solo cello which is almost romantic sounding at times.

snyprrr · March 02, 2012, 05:26:17 AM

Quote from: UB on March 02, 2012, 04:38:52 AM
I am surprised that anyone even knows about Malec let alone starts a thread about his music. There is some more of his music available for downloading here. Between that and the YouTube posting above, you can get a pretty good idea of his range of music. I especially like his Arco I for solo cello which is almost romantic sounding at times.

Ahhh,... all is NOT in vain!!

And, keep in my, I spent a LOT of time trying to come up with a better rhyme, to no avail, haha!!

Yes, there is a lot of his stuff up. I'm so glad we have you on board. Hopefully 'petrarch' & 'someguy' will answer the call.

snyprrr · March 02, 2012, 05:27:06 AM

Quote from: Velimir on March 02, 2012, 12:55:07 AM
Well, you do have an, er, picturesque way of expressing your enthusiasm.

I've never heard of the guy, but you make me want to check him out (musically I mean)

Hey, I thought long and hard about that!

snyprrr · March 02, 2012, 05:28:27 AM

Quote from: UB on March 02, 2012, 04:38:52 AM
I am surprised that anyone even knows about Malec let alone starts a thread about his music. There is some more of his music available for downloading here. Between that and the YouTube posting above, you can get a pretty good idea of his range of music. I especially like his Arco I for solo cello which is almost romantic sounding at times.

Here is Arco 11:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UP8sb1mJiwI&feature=results_main&playnext=1&list=PLA4EB8C84130236EE

UB · March 02, 2012, 10:12:50 AM

I can not find any recording of his music composed before 1963. I wonder if it was all withdrawn or just it has never been recorded anywhere. I have only come across one or two of his works on any webcasts...obviously he is not very popular today

Snyprr, have you heard his cello concerto "Arc-en-cello" from 2000? It seems to be the last piece he has written and is available on CD or download and I am tempted to get it but wondered if you have heard it what you thought about it...

In reading his bio I found that he taught Edith Canat de Chizy, Denis Dufourt, Philippe Hurel, Philippe Leroux and Gerard Pesson - I am most familiar with the music of de Chinzy and Pesson. From what I remember Pesson's music has a lot in common with his teacher.

snyprrr · March 02, 2012, 11:26:42 PM

Quote from: UB on March 02, 2012, 10:12:50 AMI can not find any recording of his music composed before 1963. I wonder if it was all withdrawn or just it has never been recorded anywhere. I have only come across one or two of his works on any webcasts...obviously he is not very popular today

Snyprr, have you heard his cello concerto "Arc-en-cello" from 2000? It seems to be the last piece he has written and is available on CD or download and I am tempted to get it but wondered if you have heard it what you thought about it...

In reading his bio I found that he taught Edith Canat de Chizy, Denis Dufourt, Philippe Hurel, Philippe Leroux and Gerard Pesson - I am most familiar with the music of de Chinzy and Pesson. From what I remember Pesson's music has a lot in common with his teacher.

I admit the cello concerto and vocal work are still in the wrapper,... I was waiting for snow, and there's been NONE yet! The vocal work is 40mins., the CC 20mins. I can tell you that the VC on the other disc is very interesting indeed, and, there is a long lost Erato CD which contains a bass concerto and other works. I'd get both Timpani discs,... ok, I'll see if I can convince myself to crack it open.

de Chizy has a Timpani disc also (on YT),... and I feel that I'd pick her over Betsy Jolas, if there was a choice (she's just more me; Jolas seemed a bit 'standard', and perhaps not as evocative as I has hoped?). Also, I think it's Denis Dufour, not with the 't'; I thought there was an interesting E/A piece on YT (Reve Lisse, is that it?). Also, I had that fancy Accord disc of Hurel: I kept the Murail and sold the Obst and Hurel (those Accord discs are legion!). I need to look up Leroux.

Pesson has just recently popped up on the radar courtesy of... is it the Neos or Aeon label? Also, I listened to some piano tracks from the cd with the reliable Alberti (his Castiglioni is great), but I don't know how impressed I was with the 'guiro' piece. Surely there is enough Pesson on YT to hear something substantial. Curious.

I'll say that those Dusapin 'Solos' also have some of that Malec edge.

Do you have the Timpani de Chizy disc?

UB · March 03, 2012, 05:15:41 AM

I find it hard to compare Jolas and de Chizy because to me they represent two different generations of music so I tend to just enjoy both of them as themselves. Actually I do this with most composers that I enjoy. Since you mentioned her I pulled up her 1978 Stances for piano and orchestra. It is lean and for some reason reminds me of Feldman without sounding like any of his piano works that comes to mind.

I do have the de Chinzy Timapani cd but I have not listened to it in years. What piece to you like best on it? Do you have her Alive for string quartet. As far as I can tell it was the last work she has produced and it dates back to 2003. I wonder why she has stopped writing?

Dusapin's Solos are a great set to listen to one after another and hear the direction he is taking. Do you know he's Medeamaterial? It is the work that got me collecting him.

I have a lot of Pesson and recently got more piano pieces from this French broadcast that you can still hear through their podcast. They seem to me to be pretty typical of his lean sound. Even in his orchestral or ensemble pieces he does not seem to like to use any really bold or thick sounds. Other than a chamber opera the longest piece I have from him - Aggravations et Final - runs only a little over 16 minutes.

snyprrr · March 03, 2012, 08:18:57 AM

Quote from: UB on March 03, 2012, 05:15:41 AMI do have the de Chinzy Timapani cd but I have not listened to it in years. What piece to you like best on it? Do you have her Alive for string quartet. As far as I can tell it was the last work she has produced and it dates back to 2003. I wonder why she has stopped writing?

Dusapin's Solos are a great set to listen to one after another and hear the direction he is taking. Do you know he's Medeamaterial? It is the work that got me collecting him.

I have a lot of Pesson and recently got more piano pieces from this French broadcast that you can still hear through their podcast. They seem to me to be pretty typical of his lean sound. Even in his orchestral or ensemble pieces he does not seem to like to use any really bold or thick sounds. Other than a chamber opera the longest piece I have from him - Aggravations et Final - runs only a little over 16 minutes.

I only heard the string (orchestra) piece from de Chizy, but it had that kind of Xenakis 'movement' to it, or something. I was impressed.

And no, that HM disc of Medea (Dusapin),... the cover scared me away, haha!!

Ahhh... now I have a bug to go a'searchin' for stuff!

UB · March 03, 2012, 09:05:35 AM

Quote from: snyprrr on March 03, 2012, 08:18:57 AMI only heard the string (orchestra) piece from de Chizy, but it had that kind of Xenakis 'movement' to it, or something. I was impressed.

And no, that HM disc of Medea (Dusapin),... the cover scared me away, haha!!

Ahhh... now I have a bug to go a'searchin' for stuff!

That is what posting and reading on these boards do to you...I think it brings out the hunter/gather gene in us. Good Luck

UB · March 03, 2012, 11:56:36 AM

Would you like to keep this a Malec thread and start a new one for Canat de Chizy? Your got me listening to her music and there is a lot there to talk about. Do you know her Les Rayons du jour for viola and orchestra ? I must say I forgot how much I liked it and so I am listening to it for the third time trying to put into words why. As Ned Rorem wrote once...the problem with writing about music is that you have to use words and I do not do that very well.

snyprrr · March 05, 2012, 06:54:27 PM

Quote from: UB on March 02, 2012, 10:12:50 AMSnyprr, have you heard his cello concerto "Arc-en-cello" from 2000? It seems to be the last piece he has written and is available on CD or download and I am tempted to get it but wondered if you have heard it what you thought about it...

Haha, I said I was waiting for snow to play this, and I had no idea, but as soon as I put the cd in the car player!!!...

God works in mysterious ways!

Just listened to Arc-en-cello. Hmm, it's a very compelling piece, 28mins., so it has plenty of time to do what he wants to do, which is, explore sonority. There are busy sections all the way down to some very introspective solo passages. Only at the end do I get that 'Grand Old Man' feeling, but, at that point, we look back on the whole concerto, and see that, yes, it feels like a summing up. It almost has the feeling of a requiem; it certainly is more drawn out than the pieces on the other cd, so it made me feel differently than what I might have been expecting (ah, those expectations!). I can't really think of anything to compare it to, though Ligeti's '60s concerto pops into my head. I suppose it's good that I din't get the whole thing the first time: it's a substantial piece and should make one listen: a true medition on/for cello.

The cantata is 45mins. long,... I'm going to have to find a special time for that.

snyprrr · January 24, 2014, 12:38:55 PM

bump for general French avant garde

lescamil · January 24, 2014, 09:15:25 PM

Not to rain on the pun parade, but Malec is pronounced as "mah-lehts", not as "ma-lek". So, yeah, sorry, but the joke doesn't quite work.

As for the music, but sorry, nothing to add yet. Will give some a listen.

snyprrr · January 25, 2014, 05:42:01 AM

Quote from: lescamil on January 24, 2014, 09:15:25 PMNot to rain on the pun parade, but Malec is pronounced as "mah-lehts", not as "ma-lek". So, yeah, sorry, but the joke doesn't quite work.

As for the music, but sorry, nothing to add yet. Will give some a listen.

Malec in My Wallet?

snyprrr · March 03, 2018, 01:40:24 PM

Stravinsky, Messiaen, Xenakis, Malec

Mandryka · November 23, 2024, 01:50:20 AM

https://motuscompagniemusicale.bandcamp.com/album/ivo-malec-oeuvres-pour-orchestres-et-formations-de-chambre

This has some very fine things on it - Dodecameron for example.

@steve ridgway

T. D. · November 24, 2024, 04:08:09 PM

I once had this twofer on INA-GRM. It was pretty good, but I sold it (for a handsome amount) during a cull.

RIP...I'd forgotten he passed away in 2019.

In response to some ancient posts: Malec was Croatian, the "c" pronounced as "ts". The recording I cited above has two works (Reflets and Dahovi) composed before 1963.

Mandryka · November 25, 2024, 02:03:00 AM

I think Triola and Luminetudes are rather good, esp Triola.