A deconstruction of Dennis Johnson's November by legendary artist Lustmord and renowned classical pianist Nicolas Horvath.
Written for solo piano in 1959, November is the first example of minimalist music composition and was the inspiration for La Monte Young's The Well-Tuned Piano (1964). The 66 minute piece is a collaboration between Lustmord and Nicolas Horvath, in which they reduces Johnson's original November to its core element and place it in a landscape of complimentary sound. The Fall echo's November but with further resonance.
Active since 1980, born of the original “industrial” scene of the period, Brian Williams (Lustmord) is an iconic Welsh
electronic and
industrial musician, sound designer and film score composer, widely credited as the originator of the “dark ambient” genre.
With its own distinctive approach, blurring the line between music and sound design, Lustmord's work has featured in 45 motion pictures including The Crow and Underworld and also in video games, television and commercials. Lustmord scored the music for Paul Schrader's movie First Reformed. While Lustmord is often credited for creating the “dark ambient” genre there is much more nuance to its work than what that label implies. The music is not dark, but is a light that shines into and upon the darkness. Notable collaborations amongst many include Tool, Melvins, Jarboe,
John Balance of
Coil, Clock DVA, Chris & Cosey, Paul Haslinger, Karin Park and Robert Rich.
An unusual artist with an unconventional résumé, pianist and electroacoustic composer Nicolas Horvath is known for his boundariesless musical explorations. Horvath is both an enthusiastic promoter of contemporary music—he has commissioned numerous works (including no fewer than 120 as part of his Homages to Philip Glass project in 2014) and collaborated with leading contemporary composers from around the world, including
Alvin Lucier, Mamoru Fujieda, Jaan Rääts,
Alvin Curran and Valentyn Silvestrov—and a rediscoverer of forgotten or neglected composers such as
Moondog,
Julius Eastman, Nobuo Uematsu, Germaine Tailleferre, François-Adrien Boieldieu, Hélène de Montgeroult, Jean Catoire, Karl August Hermann...
