Tracklisting:
Sondern die Sterne sind's
1-01. ...Sondern Die Sterne Sinds [1] (5:15) 1974-1976
1-02. ...Sondern Die Sterne Sinds [2] (6:56) 1974-1976
1-03. ...Sondern Die Sterne Sinds [3] (7:13) 1974-1976
1-04. I Remember A Bird (15:46) 1976
1-05. Metaboles I (8:32) 1976
Dokumentationsreihe Des Österreichischen Komponistenbundes #20
2-01. Hoshi Für Fünf Blasinstrumente Und Tonband (28:27) 1974-1975
CLB512 / Wind Um Ein Grab / Klagelied / Quartett
2-02. CLB512 (12:22) 1983
2-03. Wind Um EinGrab (14:43) 1983
[CP 106 CD] Klaus Ager; Sondern die Sterne sind's +
2021 reédition of this totemic mid-period C.P. chestnut, augmented with a second disc including the (only) other two Electro-Acoustic pieces of Ager's issued in the LP era: the 29-minute "Hoshi Für Fünf Blasinstrumente Und Tonband" (from "Dokumentationsreihe Des Österreichischen Komponistenbundes #20;" composed during 1974 & 1975) & the 13-minute "CLB512" ("for Klarinette Und Computergeneriertes Tonband, recorded 12 October 1986.") along with the bonus of the 15-minute "Wind Um EinGrab" (3 Lieder mit Vor-, Nach- Und Zwischenspielen Nach Texten von W. Zrenner for Flute, Guitar, Percussion and Soprano, recorded 19 February 1985) now offering 100 minutes of Ager's Electro-Acoustic music!
Creel-pro of this mid-70s Aulos LP, with Klaus Ager’s three-part “Sondern die Sterne sind's” - recorded in the “Computer Music” studio at EMS Stockholm from 1974-1976 as well as the Electronic Studio at Salzburg’s “Hochschule Mozarteum” - slowly unfolding over the A-side & two shorter chamber pieces, “I Remember a Bird” for clarinet, trombone, guitar, piano, percussion, and tape & “Metaboles i” for clarinet, violin, cello, and piano on the other.
Rising from a whisper, the first movement of “Sondern” slowly builds from a sustained bell-sound - with cymbal harmonics interjected into the electronically-created syntax - into fairly head-compressing mid-range drone. This recedes & the gorgeous second movement kicks in, rife with more enharmonic relationships between the tones beating slowly in & out of phase before a slightly crispy wave of analogue tones ushers in & brings a subtle, bubbling rhythm.
Finally, sparse, feedback-oriented “Ringing” synthesized bird-song takes a few minutes to clear the air before a big, pulsating wall of screaming high-res filter smear & augmented pulse-wave stasis bring in a big ‘ol miasma of electronic drone. This whole piece has the energy of Gunner Møller Pedersen & Roland Kayn’s extended work, albeit edited down for a more palatable, session-able length; it’s a great slab of electronic drone-sound that seems to have slipped through the cracks un-checked - kudos to Mr. P.C. C.P. for the unearth.