Name: The Works
Brand: Alvin Curran

Bonus disc

Bonus disc: No

Catalogue number

WELLE101

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Colour

Black

Colour details

Discogs ID

Format multiplier

Download code

Download code: No

Rough Trade Exclusive

Rough Trade Exclusive: No

Extended format

Extended format: No

Format detail

Format Music US

Limited edition

Release date

2021-06-25

Signed copies

Signed copies: No

Supplier US

Forced Exposure

Tax rate US

Sales:8.875

UPC / Barcode

769791973626

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Total Cap

Black LP

Artist

Alvin Curran

Genre US

Modern Composition

Label US

Our Swimmer

Alvin Curran, born on December 13, 1938 in Providence, is an American composer and co-founder of Musica Elettronica Viva. Known for his "concrete music" compositions, Curran incorporates electronics and environmental sounds into his works. His innovative approach to music has earned him a place among the most influential composers of our time.

Curran's unique style draws inspiration from a diverse range of sources, resulting in captivating and thought-provoking compositions. He pushes the boundaries of traditional music by incorporating electronic elements and utilizing everyday sounds to create immersive sonic experiences.

With a career spanning several decades, Alvin Curran has left an indelible mark on the world of contemporary music. His contributions have influenced many artists including François Bayle, Vladimir Ussachevsky, David Behrman, Pauline Oliveros, Robert Ashley, Bernard Parmegiani, Luc Ferrari, Morton Subotnick, Christian Marclay, Arnold Dreyblatt, Tod Dockstader, Phill Niblock,
Deep Listening Band,
Ellen Fullman,
Alvin Lucier,
Karlheinz Stockhausen,
Ingram Marshall,
Morton Feldman,
Terry Riley,
and Éliane Radigue.

The Works - one of the most famous pieces by brilliant American composer Alvin Curran - was not created by will and direct purpose but, as the composer himself states, as a “providential accident” which is to say quite organically. Combining piano and voice with found sound and a custom-built Serge modular synthesizer, “The Works” is a slowly developing piece where space and ambient tape are eventually overtaken by raga-esque chanting and frenetic piano playing, where synthesizer washes become full-on workouts all leading to a coda where the listener is “finally carried off on the wheels of the Berlin U-Bahn.” 

Curran - whose initial training and musical education was as a pianist - had been living in Roma, Italy, in the mid-‘70s returning to his roots and performing regularly in cocktail lounges on Via Veneto. It was this return to piano and vocals that became the genesis for The Works. In relearning the piano, a five-note “motive” took hold. Added to this was “a recording I had made of our 14 year old dachshund Caspar just before he died. It was, in fact, a love song which he persisted in singing all day after meeting a lovely bitch in heat in Piazza Navona. This I knew would be the beginning of the piece.” As the piece expands further the listener will hear “cows munching grass, the Rome-Florence express train, a horse-fly caught against a window pane, my footsteps approaching a Roman fountain and later going up the steps of my old studio, cicadas, an Amsterdam calliope, a tin can being kicked, and a series of sounds from La Serra di Lerici.” Though “The Works” has been performed in many incarnations over the years, it’s this performance - captured on February 24, 1980, and originally released that same year by the short-lived Italian avant-garde label Fore - that is the definitive version, and one of the finest recordings ever made by the celebrated composer.

The Works

Music US