[CP 286 CD] Paul Arma; Quand La Mesure Est Pleine, Cantate Pour Bande Magnétique, Sept Variations Spatiophoniques

June 2023; coming in hot right at the 18th anniversary (and christening the just a tad behind schedule new 18th anniversary purple/gold foil seals, looking quite nice) is this "Cantata for Magnetic Tape" by the Franco-Hungarian composer Paul Arma, as initially issued in 1970 by the Centre d'Art National Français featuring the voices of Mitsy Kidés, Marcel Champel, & Philippe Lejour resounding the words of poet Michel Seuphor over an increasingly erratic Musique Concrète score. 

"Quand la Mesure est Pleine" ("When the Measure is Full", or "Wenn Das Mass Voll Ist") was composed in 1962 at the Radiodiffusion-Télévision Française (just before its transition to the Office de Radiodiffusion Télévision Française) & seamlessly incorporates a litany of 50s/60s Tape Music techniques into a quite-surprising array of bizarre slown-down prepared piano & found-sound bricolage across its 48-minute runtime. In addition to "Quand", Arma's earlier (1960) piece "Sept Variations Spatiophoniques = Hét Szpaciofonikus Variáció" is included as a 22-minute bonus track, regaling us with further proto tape-mulch, and closing the book on Arma's experiments in the medium during the "Classic Era". 

This Creel Pone replica edition offers the artwork for both LPs across a 6-panel glossy full-color booklet, as well as the two inserts (printed on that nice "laid" stock used for the Ensemble Musica Negativa libretti).