Edition Telemark

Joe Jones: Solar Music at Sierksdorf, Ostsee
Hans Essel: Zeitfalten

Maciunas Ensemble: 1976

catalog no. 314.07
LP  2015

sold out

The Maciunas Ensemble was founded in 1968 by Dutch musicians and sound artists Paul Panhuysen, Remko Scha and Jan van Riet. It has existed ever since, though having gone through a number of membership changes until today. The group's intention was to realize the piece "Music for Everyman" by Fluxus initiator George Maciunas which they interpreted as allowing boundless freedom in the sounds being produced. The group met at a regular basis, usually improvising on a number of instruments that were at hand. Every session was recorded. Before playing, they listened to the recording of the previous session and discussed it. No rehearsing or fine-tuning of pre-conceived material took place. To the view of Paul Panhuysen, their method of making music is closely linked with the oral tradition of folk music.

This LP edition features two pieces, both recorded on December 19, 1976, and never released before on any format. Here, the group comprised Paul Panhuysen, Remko Scha, Jan van Riet, Leon van Noorden and Hans Schuurman.

"This music is literally polyphonic – a composition of multiple voices. The members of the ensemble do not engage in virtuoso playing. Although each may go down his individual path, no one attempts to outdo the others in exuberant soloing. Their approach to improvisation bears none of the hallmarks of jazz. It is a group effort. They operate as a band in the anthropological sense: a small, mobile, and fluid social formation without clear-cut leadership." (from the liner notes by René van Peer)

Edition of 250 copies. Special edition of 50 copies containing a hand-made letterpressed print by Sappho Panhuysen.

Side A
1976
Side B
Stille Nacht, Heilige Nacht