Celestial Excursions, by Robert Ashley

Celestial Excursions

by Robert Ashley

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	1.	Characters 05:10
	2.	Alcohol 02:36
	3.	Mr. or Ms. or Mrs. N 05:56
	4.	Love Letter Part 1 01:48
	5.	Bruno Part 1 03:26
	6.	Love Letter Part 2 01:48
	7.	Bruno Part 2 01:52
	8.	Subaru 01:48
	9.	Raoul 06:09
	10.	Goodbye Walnut 04:07
	11.	The List 00:12
	12.	Asylum/Depression 03:33
	13.	Asylum/What About the Kids? 02:24
	14.	Asylum/Baguette 01:44
	15.	Asylum/Love That Stuff 01:09
	16.	Asylum/I Had It and I Lost It 00:42
	17.	Asylum/Before What? 00:24
	18.	Asylum/Recent Attendance 00:40
	19.	Asylum/After All the Stuff 01:00
	20.	Asylum/Ghosts 01:52
	21.	Asylum/It's Got To Be a Secret 00:50
	22.	Asylum/It's Only Fun 00:26
	23.	Asylum/I Like Q 00:50
	24.	Asylum/Good Idea 01:02
	25.	Asylum/Never on Your Mind 01:50
	26.	Asylum/It's Almost 10 O'Clock 07:07
	27.	Asylum/Ordinary Man 00:14
	28.	Asylum/Years of Desire 00:58
	29.	Ozzie Smith 01:33
	30.	Prelude to Therapy 05:57
	31.	Therapy 07:09
	32.	Prelude to Nightmare 06:31
	33.	Nightmare 07:55
	34.	Prelude to Grandmother 04:40
	35.	Grandmother 05:49
	36.	Prelude to Yes, I Know 04:27
	37.	Yes, I Know 05:44

about

Following the ground-breaking work, Dust, godfather of experimental opera Robert Ashley returns with Celestial Excursions. Ashley's endeavor explores remarkably uncharted territory -- the kind of language that is common among "old" people who talk all the time or not at all, to anyone passing by or to themselves. The opera premiered at the Hebbel Theater in Berlin, before coming to The Kitchen for its U.S. premiere in April 2003. Celestial Excursions delves into the wild intermingling of reminiscence, regret, love, nightmare, old sayings, and songs on the radio -- all seemingly to no purpose, except for the operatic end of relentless speed and precision in ensemble singing and the possible stage magic inherent in illusion, hallucination, and a physically changed state of the senses. The opera's originality lies in a use of a new vocal technique Ashley has built over the last 20 years, which enables several stories to be heard at the same time. In an intricate vocal system, a principal voice is "chased" by other voices whose parts rotate in sequence in a given order. The result of this technique creates a complex jungle of voices, delivered with an extraordinary rhythmic intensity rarely heard in ensemble singing. As for all of Ashley's latest works, the orchestra music of Celestial Excursions was composed in the computer-synthesizer studio. All the voices and the orchestra (on multi-track tape or on disc) are processed again during the concert in order to match the sound of the opera to the performance space. And for this release, Ashley went back to the studio with live recordings to rework the piece, extending the orchestra in the final act.

Personnel: Sam Ashley, Thomas Buckner, Jacqueline Humbert, Joan La Barbara, Robert Ashley - singers; Joan Jonas - choreography; Robert Ashley and Tom Hamilton - electronic orchestra; Tom Hamilton - mixing and live electronics; "Blue" Gene Tyranny - piano; David Moodey - lighting design; Cas Boumans - technical coordination/sound system engineer; Melanie Lipka - stage manager.

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released July 15, 2005

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about

Robert Ashley New York, New York

A distinguished figure in American contemporary music, with an international reputation for his work in new forms of opera and multi-disciplinary projects. Ashley's recorded works are acknowledged classics of language in a musical setting. He pioneered opera-for-television. ... more

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