Anthony Braxton Creative Orchestra Music 1976 ANTHONY BRAXTON Creative Orchestra Music 1976 Arista AL 4080 (LP) This disc represents my first opportunity to have compositions for large ensemble available on record and I am grateful to the many people who have made this possible. All of the compositions on this record were composed for this particular date and represent a cross-section of my work in this area. I refer to this medium as Creative Orchestra Music both as a means to seperate this activity from my work in notated Orchestra music and also because I feel the phrase Creative Orchestra Music best describes this medium. For to understand what has been raised in the progression of creative music as it has been defined through the work of the Ellington- Hendersons-Mingus's-Colemans-etc., is to be aware of the most significant use of the orchestra medium in the past hundred years (and some). It is difficult if not impossible for me to write about how I see by work in creative music, for I have never felt that words are meaningful when aplied to creativity—and yet something has to be written—for many of the mis- conceptions that surround creative music are still with us today. For that reason I have written briefly on each composition with the hope that even a structural analysis can give the listener some idea as to how I conceived the compositions which comprise this record. I would also like to thank the musicians on this record. I consider myself fortunate to have had the chance to work with these people. Who else would have played this music with so little rehearsal time (the average rehearsal time for each composition was a little more than two hours) and nobody had seen the music in advance. Anthony Braxton Summer, 1976 [NOTE: graphic title replaced by "{No. XX}" below.] Piece One Composition {No. 51} utilizes the concept of rotation as this applies to structural pivit points (ie: brass against reeds) and was conceived as a structure which could function in a traditional context. The elements in this composition would have to do with linear gravalic weight and/or a motific germ factor (ie: applied as a functional characteristic and/or basis for extension) in the brass section. This version was structured for three soloists and also employs each soloist in three structural variations of the solo format (ie: traditional extension-forms- collective). Piece Two Composition {No. 56} is a condensed version of my work in the open-ended improvisation format. The basic considerations utilized in this composition would best be understood by experiencing both the interrelationship of events and the pulse-flow that determines how these events will be approached. The distinguishing properties of this composition would most certainly be use of space and texture (for I have long been concerned with the functional space of the improvisor in both the large and small medium). This composition represents then my involvement with process for the infra-structure of creative improvised music in this medium. page 1 of 2
