Persian Surgery Dervishes
Encyclopedia
Persian Surgery Dervishes is a minimalist recording of two live solo electric organ concerts, the first held in Los Angeles on (18 April 1971) and the second in Paris on (24 May 1972), by avant-garde minimalist composer Terry Riley
(see also "A Rainbow in Curved Air
" and "In C
" inter alia). The two very different performances of the same composition "Persian Surgery Dervishes" are meant to show the importance of improvisation in Riley's music. Riley plays a modified Yamaha electric organ tuned in just intonation
.
The original double-record version was released by legendary French label Shandar
, then republished by Mantra Records, first, and Dunya Records later. There existed also a single-record version, also on Shandar, containing just the Paris concert, which had been sponsored by the label itself.
Parts of this album served as soundtrack for a French film released in 1973, named "La chute d'un corps" and directed by a renowned French columnist, :fr:Michel Polac.
Performance One - Los Angeles, April 18, 1971
Part 1 20'45"
Part 2 22'00"
CD 2
Performance Two - Paris, May 24, 1972
Part 1 25'00"
Part 2 22'45"
Composition and improvisations:
Terry Riley (Electric organ + feedback)
Terry Riley
Terrence Mitchell Riley, is an American composer intrinsically associated with the minimalist school of Western classical music and was a pioneer of the movement...
(see also "A Rainbow in Curved Air
A Rainbow in Curved Air
A Rainbow in Curved Air is the third album by experimental music and classical minimalism pioneer Terry Riley. Through the use of overdubbing, the composer, a keyboard virtuoso, plays all the instruments on the title track: electric organ, electric harpsichord , dumbec , and tambourine...
" and "In C
In C
In C is a semi-aleatoric musical piece composed by Terry Riley in 1964 for any number of people, although he suggests "a group of about 35 is desired if possible but smaller or larger groups will work"...
" inter alia). The two very different performances of the same composition "Persian Surgery Dervishes" are meant to show the importance of improvisation in Riley's music. Riley plays a modified Yamaha electric organ tuned in just intonation
Just intonation
In music, just intonation is any musical tuning in which the frequencies of notes are related by ratios of small whole numbers. Any interval tuned in this way is called a just interval. The two notes in any just interval are members of the same harmonic series...
.
The original double-record version was released by legendary French label Shandar
Shandar
Shandar was a French record label specializing in avant-garde material that did seminal work during the 1970 releasing, among others, recordings by Albert Ayler, Karlheinz Stockhausen, Steve Reich, Sunny Murray, Philip Glass, Charlemagne Palestine, La Monte Young, Alan Silva, Pandit Pran Nath,...
, then republished by Mantra Records, first, and Dunya Records later. There existed also a single-record version, also on Shandar, containing just the Paris concert, which had been sponsored by the label itself.
Parts of this album served as soundtrack for a French film released in 1973, named "La chute d'un corps" and directed by a renowned French columnist, :fr:Michel Polac.
List of tracks
CD 1Performance One - Los Angeles, April 18, 1971
Part 1 20'45"
Part 2 22'00"
CD 2
Performance Two - Paris, May 24, 1972
Part 1 25'00"
Part 2 22'45"
Composition and improvisations:
Terry Riley (Electric organ + feedback)