Blog post of pure reason

After a week of allowing ourselves to have a breather and a chance to gather ourselves after last week, I thought it'd be nice to return to a familiar name to this blog to at least bring a smile to everyone. This has turned into a brief return to Rytis Mazulis. I sincerely hope for those reading this blog need no introduction to the work of Rytis (if you do, I must find a way to be more blatant). 


For those unfamiliar with the composer, Rytis Mazulis is one of the most seminal composers of the Lithuanian landscape. He occupies a fascinating space which tapping into intense intellectual drive as well as a complete rejection of the past. His music draws influence from the likes of Conlon Nancarrow, as well as having the same intensive microtonal obsessions of James Tenney and Horatiu Radulescu. Many commentators on Rytis's work label him as a 'super-minimalist', I have two problems with this title; firstly it sounds like a terrible superhero name, secondly because Rytis's work is intensively concerned with canons surely if he is a minimalist, Ockegham must be a minimalist too! Even though Rytis's music does show some of the habits of other minimalists, but to place him in the same field as them is ultimately wrong. 


For those who spotted the terrible pun in the title of this post, today's featured work is Rytis's 'Clavier of Pure-Reason' (1993). The title of this seminal work is an amalgamation of J.S. Bach's Well-Tempered Klavier and Immanuel Kant's Critique of Pure-Reason. This profound obsession with philosophy and intellectualism is another characteristic which separates Mazulis from the American and British minimalists who saw minimalism as an opportunity to renounce intellect. 


The Clavier of Pure-Reason is a very straight forward work. A humble work for 24 pianos or one pianist and electronics, the work layers many canonic adaptations of an original idea and slowly introduces into an violent haze before slowly fading them out. The result is a wacky, almost hyperactive work full of an oddly sadistic sense of humour. The complexity of the layering and the use of the piano has many similarities to Conlon Nancarrow, but to suggest this is pastiche of him would be shortsighted. Ultimately the Clavier of Pure-Reason is like Conlon Nancarrow on a cocktail of speed and red bull, or alternatively like listening to J.S. Bach while overdosing on acid. It is oddly familiar but oddly terrifying. A truly unique work, from a magical composer. Enjoy! 

 

Rytis Mazulis - Canon Mensurabilis

Before I start my usual ramblings, my brief absence has been the combination of having my first visitor from the UK and being knee deep in other tasks. It has allowed me to spend some time thinking about who on earth do I discuss next. It then suddenly struck me, it has to be Rytis Mazulis next. Having been in Vilnius now for three months, I have been able to see the magnitude of Mazulis's cult status. A quiet man, who is regularly found walking up and down the corridors of the academy, from my own encounters coffee is one of the main motivations for Mazulis's wanderings up around the academy.

Rytis Mazulis (1961*) when he was a student studied with Bronius Kutavicius in the M.K. Ciurlionis School of Arts, then went on to study with Julius Juzeliunas in the Lithuanian Academy of Music and Theatre. Mazulis is often described as a 'machinist' composer (not to be misread as 'masochist' composer), for those unfamiliar with the title; 'machinism' supposedly music which ultimately is very mechanic. Ultimately this is kind of true, but tells you nothing about what the music sounds like. I also dislike the title because of its use as an extension of minimalism. This is something that also misses the mark, a significant amount of Mazulis's music is canonic, ultimately a never ending canon, or a perpetually circling canon which is positively medieval, not minimalism.

Rytis Mazulis also often incorporates microintervallic gestures into his music, which is often used to blur the landscape or to simply distort the canon, but always producing hypnotic results. I remember just over a year ago Rytis told me about how when Horatiu Radulescu was in Vilnius, Radulescu kept telling Mazulis off for using microtones in the 'wrong' way.

 I digress, another element of Mazulis's music is the form. Ultimately in Mazulis's works, the form is in one direction, going from start to 'finish'. Inside the music, will be small evolutions and distortions, but never recapitulating in any sort of 'classical' sense. This combined with the hypnotic sounds is one of the many things that drew me to Mazulis's works, they hold you and simply are, there isn't any real extra nonsense on top of it. Any listener can hear the results.

The piece I wanted to show is 'Canon Mensurabilis' written in 2000 for the ensemble 'Ensemble Court-Circuit'. Like the medieval canon, the work is focused on a canon with different voices moving at different speeds. But on top of this Mazulis has some fun fluctuations and distortions running at the same time. Firstly the beat patterns change in patterns of:

(12-6) (10-5) (8-4) (6-3) (4-2) (3-6) (4-8) (5-10) (12-6) (10-5) (8-4) (6-3) (4-2)

This irregular pulsing ultimately distorts all sensation of rhythm as the predictability is constantly distorted. The semi-quaver pulse in the piano feels unrelenting and constant. On top of this the use of microintervals also distorts the soundscape. The piano from C3-B4 are tuned a quarter down. C4-C5 are unchanged, and C#5-C#6 are tuned a quarter up. On top of this the violin and flute (who are with C#5-C#6) play a quarter tone, the clarinet and viola do not play microintervals. The cello (who is within C3-B4) plays a quarter tone up. This combination of microintervals produces 'out of tune' semitonal clashes, which resolve. But always circling. The result is hypnotic and mind boggling, if 60s hippie bands had access to this instead of the sitar they would have had their brains fried.

But enough chit-chat here is the piece:

 Until next time.