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Post by jk on Mar 27, 2021 17:19:45 GMT -5
While poking around for information on the English composer John Tavener (1944–2013) for the choral topic, I stumbled across a work Tavener has described as "the supreme achievement of my life and the most important work I have ever composed". Written in the early years of the new millennium and premiered in mid 2003, The Veil of the Temple calls for seven solo voices (soprano, 2 tenors, 2 baritones and 2 basses), a 140-voice 4-part mixed choir, organ, Indian harmonium, duduk (an Armenian double-reed woodwind instrument), Tibetan horn, Tibetan temple bowls, gong, tubular bells, tam-tam, synthesizer and brass. The work is extremely well documented (see the three links below). Describing the abridged concert version, compiled on a double CD from the first three full-length performances (two of them overnight) in London's Temple Church, Brian Keeble writes (on p. 34 of the CD notes, see lowest link): " The Veil of the Temple: The All-Night Vigil was commissioned for the Round Church of the Temple in London, and conceived and executed on an unprecedented scale; its performance lasts some eight hours. The present version has been prepared by the composer and lasts about three hours." That abridged version can be heard complete on YouTube. The performers are: Steven Layton (conductor) Patricia Rozario (soprano) James Vivian (organ) The Choir of the Temple Church, London The Holst Singers Members of the English Chamber Orchestra From it, this is cycle VIII, movement VIII: "New Jerusalem – Upanishad Hymn": en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Veil_of_the_Templewww.stephenlayton.com/sir-john-tavener-1944-–-2013www.stephenlayton.com/sites/default/files/server_files/user/vottbooklet.pdf
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Post by jk on Feb 7, 2022 6:08:16 GMT -5
In terms of length, John Cage's Organ2/ASLSP (As Slow as Possible) is peanuts compared to some of the Bull of Heaven stuff. Still, 639 years is not to be scoffed at. The piece began on 5 September (the composer's birthday) in 2001 and is scheduled to end on that day in 2640. Please read the linked wiki page before proceeding. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/As_Slow_as_Possible Yesterday I went to YouTube to see if footage of the latest change, which was two days ago (see the list on the wiki page linked above), had been uploaded. It hadn't. (I see there was a livestream of the event, since discontinued.) I did find this though. As one commenter suggested, it would make a great ringtone!
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Post by jk on Apr 24, 2022 8:05:02 GMT -5
Thirteen hours is the wink of an eye compared to many if not most of the candidates in this thread but in view of its nature Ballet Royal de la Nuit is pretty long -- and not just for the dancers. "The libretto was written by Isaac de Benserade (1613–1691) and the music was composed by Jean de Cambefort (c.1605–1661), Antoine Boësset (1587–1643), Louis Constantin (1697–1779), Michel Lambert (1610–1696), Francesco Cavalli (1602–1676), Luigi Rossi (1597–1653) and a number of other composers whose names are no longer known."[ Source] (Note that Wikipedia stops at three composers' names.) To continue from the same source, slightly tweaked: "In February 1653 a long and extravagant feast was held in the Louvre in Paris with, as its centrepiece, the dancing of a 15-year-old Louis XIV. Cardinal Mazarin staged this marathon event (it lasted more than 14 hours) that took place in the presence of the French aristocracy, European ambassadors and also citizens of Paris to confirm the power of the new king. Louis XIV danced the role of the Sun King during the Ballet Royal de La Nuit, and was subsequently known by this nickname for the rest of his reign. "The French Ensemble Correspondances led by Sébastien Daucé released a CD box-set in 2020 with a recording of a remake of the Ballet Royal de La Nuit. This long work is divided into four veilles (acts or night watches) and concerns the nocturnal activities of both man and the gods. It culminates in a grand ballet during which the sun rises in the form of the Sun King." From that box set, this is the "Ouverture" that opens part one: The full list of 101 recorded pieces can be heard here. I can only assume there were interludes and maybe some of the pieces were repeated as there's no way this would fill 13-plus hours. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ballet_Royal_de_la_Nuit
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jay
Kahuna
Posts: 246
Likes: 153
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Post by jay on Apr 24, 2022 20:31:53 GMT -5
At one point this song was actually recognized by the Guinness book of world records as the longest conventional song ever.
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Post by jk on Apr 25, 2022 4:03:09 GMT -5
At one point this song was actually recognized by the Guinness book of world records as the longest conventional song ever. Nice! Thanks, Jay. This helps to put things in perspective. So many of the very very long tracks have only their length to fall back on. No one's going to listen to a low grumble for an hour, let alone twenty-four, particularly once it's clear it's not going to do anything else. Chris Butler's song is no longer than a Bruckner symphony and eminently listenable. Looking at his wiki page, I see CB invited all comers to collaborate on an extended version of "The Devil Glitch". This eventually exceeded three hours!
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Post by jk on Jun 13, 2022 15:40:37 GMT -5
While exploring the delights of late 20th-century electronic music, I came across this epic work by the French composer Éliane Radigue (born 1932): "In the late 1980s and early 1990s, she devoted herself to a singular three-hour work. Perhaps her masterpiece is the Trilogie de la Mort, of which the first part kyema Intermediate states follows the path of the continuum of the six states of consciousness. The work was influenced as much by the Bardo Thodol (aka The Tibetan Book of the Dead) and her meditation practice, as by the deaths of [her former guru in Tibetan Buddhism] Tsuglak Mawe Wangchuk and of her son Yves Arman. The first third of the Trilogie, 'Kyema', was her first recording to be released on Phill Niblock's XI label." [ Source]
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Post by jk on Jun 14, 2022 2:16:11 GMT -5
This lucky find clarifies some of the spottier information in the previous post:
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