[CP 274 CD] Georges Boeuf, Lucien Bertolina; GMEM Works, Abyssi Symphonia, Aller Simple, Retour À Marseille

March 2023; coming in hot on the heels of the initial C.P. "Shorts" offering ([CP 281.01 CD]) covering the GMEM-adjacent "La Page A Musique" LP is this compendium of the two LPs released by the Groupe in the mid-80's, covering the work of composers Georges Boeuf & Luc Bertolina, along with their collaborative OST "Retour À Marseille" (thrown in for good measure) across two discs.

Boeuf's "Abyssi symphonia for Tape" was composed in 1980 & features exactly the sort of reigned-in Concrète grappling that I personally am drawn to; it shares a similar sound-world to the adjacent Pierre Vasseur set ([CP 275 CD]) in the use of pause-pregnancies to jump between quite active synthesized filigree and more subdued sections. The flipside, "Champs", is from 5 years earlier, making it one of the first pieces to utilize the original NED Synclavier I system (there must have been a sympatico between Jon Appleton/Dartmouth & the GMEM as production models didn't his the commercial sector until 1978!)

Both Bertolina's Aller Simple & Vorticosaménte were realized during a marathon stretch at the GMEM on Jan 26 & 27 1985 & feature the cellist Norbert Bordetti; these languorous, stretched-out improvisatory pieces are the yang to Boeuf's more edit-heavy studio wizardry. Finally their collaborative "Retour À Marseille" score from 1980 (incidentally released on the same Invisible / S.C.O.P.A. series as Philippe Doray's "Nouveaux Modes Industriels", [CP 215 CD]) generally fares a more lyrical sway, with flourishes of concrète and diegetic mise-en-scène.

Comes in a "Glossy" six-panel full color booklet w/ detail from all three records, including a 6-page insert w/ the relevant inner-gatefold details & translations of the libretto of each title.