Iannis Xenakis: Jonchaies; Douglas Young: Third Night Journey under the Sea; Rain, Steam & Speed - Leicestershire Schools Symphony Orchestra/Peter Fletcher

KHCD-2012-025DL (STEREO) - Iannis Xenakis: Jonchaies; Douglas Young: Third Night Journey under the Sea; Rain, Steam & Speed - Leicestershire Schools Symphony Orchestra/Peter Fletcher - Xenakis' Jonchaies (plantation of rushes) was commissioned by Radio France in 1977 for L'Orchestre National de France, and is representative of what Douglas Young has described (through Xenakis' compositional technique) as "what we actually hear in music; by what types of musical behavior which are discernable by the ear alone and which engage our interest at all levels". This is music at its most elemental by the engineer/architect/composer who sought to "track down…the mental operations for all music". Douglas Young was greatly influenced by Xenakis' music, as witnessed in the two piece that represent that Young's work. In Third Night,  it evokes an underwater seascape, but also draws on the symbolism of the "Quest " through dark waters, seeking the epiphany of dawn. In  Rain, Steam & Speed, influenced by a painting of Turner, evoking movement, growth and development is accomplished without traditional thematicism. These very difficult works are played with commitment by the Leicestershire Schools Symphony, recorded live in 1982 and transcribed from a Performance LP. Thanks to John Whitmore for supplying materials in preparation of this restoration.