Geschenk des Augenblicks – Gift of the Moment

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Geschenk des Augenblicks - Gift of the Moment
Album Gift of the Moment cover.jpg
Studio album by Hans-Joachim Roedelius
Released 1984
Recorded 1983
Genre Neoclassical new age, new age, ambient
Length47:25
Label Editions EG
Producer Hans-Joachim Roedelius
Hans-Joachim Roedelius chronology
Auf leisen Sohlen
(1984) Auf leisen Sohlen1984		Geschenk des Augenblicks - Gift of the Moment
(1984)		 Wie das Wispern des Windes
(1986) Wie das Wispern des Windes1986

Geschenk des Augenblicks – Gift of the Moment is the eleventh solo album by German keyboardist Hans-Joachim Roedelius, best known for his work with Cluster, Harmonia, and Aquarello.

Hans-Joachim Roedelius German musician

Hans-Joachim Roedelius is a German experimental, ambient and electronic musician and composer. He is best known as a co-founder of the krautrock groups Cluster and Harmonia and for his work in the ambient jazz trio Aquarello.

Cluster were a German experimental musical group consisting of Hans-Joachim Roedelius and Dieter Moebius. They recorded albums in a wide variety of styles across electronic, avant-garde, and rock music, and influenced the development of contemporary popular electronic and ambient music. Cluster was active from 1971 until 2010, releasing a total of 15 albums, including collaborations with Brian Eno, Conny Plank, and Michael Rother. Musician, writer and rock historian Julian Cope places three Cluster albums in his Krautrock Top 50 and The Wire places Cluster's debut album Cluster '71 in their "One Hundred Records That Set The World On Fire".

Harmonia is a Krautrock supergroup from Germany. They formed as a collaboration between Michael Rother of Neu! and Hans-Joachim Roedelius and Dieter Möbius of Cluster and later included the British musician Brian Eno.

Contents

Recording and Release

The piano music which is central to this album was recorded in Roedelius' home studio. Further instrumentation, transfer to multitrack and first mixing took place in late February, 1983 at Lux Mundi studio in Rotterdam, the Netherlands. The pieces were completed at Roedelius' home with the Erpel Portable Studio the following May. The album was finished in October, 1983 at The Hit Box Studio, Vienna, Austria. It was released by Editions EG in 1984 [1] and first reissued on by Editions EG on CD in 1991. It has subsequently been reissued jointly by E.G.Records and Virgin Records in 1997 [2] and was reissued again on both CD and 180 gram vinyl LP by the Bureau B label on January 17, 2011. It is Roedelius' best selling solo album to date. [3] [4]

Piano musical instrument

The piano is an acoustic, stringed musical instrument invented in Italy by Bartolomeo Cristofori around the year 1700, in which the strings are struck by hammers. It is played using a keyboard, which is a row of keys that the performer presses down or strikes with the fingers and thumbs of both hands to cause the hammers to strike the strings.

Multitrack recording

Multitrack recording (MTR)—also known as multitracking, double tracking, or tracking—is a method of sound recording developed in 1955 that allows for the separate recording of multiple sound sources or of sound sources recorded at different times to create a cohesive whole. Multitracking became possible in the mid-1950s when the idea of simultaneously recording different audio channels to separate discrete "tracks" on the same reel-to-reel tape was developed. A "track" was simply a different channel recorded to its own discrete area on the tape whereby their relative sequence of recorded events would be preserved, and playback would be simultaneous or synchronized.

Audio mixing (recorded music) audio mixing to yield recorded sound

In sound recording and reproduction, audio mixing is the process of combining multitrack recordings into a final mono, stereo or surround sound product. In the process of combining the separate tracks, their relative levels are adjusted and balanced and various processes such as equalization and compression are commonly applied to individual tracks, groups of tracks, and the overall mix. In stereo and surround sound mixing, the placement of the tracks within the stereo field are adjusted and balanced. Audio mixing techniques and approaches vary widely and have a significant influence on the final product.

All the music of Geschenk des Augenblicks - Gift of the Moment was composed or co-composed by Roedelius. "Adieu Quichotte", "Troubador", "Gefundene Zeit (Time Regained) " and "Das Sanfte (Mellowness)" were co-composed by Arjen Uittenbogaard, who plays cello on the album. "Wurzeln Des Glücks (Roots Of Joy)" was co-composed by violinist Tjitse Letterie. [1] [5]

Cello musical instrument

The cello ( CHEL-oh; plural cellos or celli) or violoncello ( VY-ə-lən-CHEL-oh; Italian pronunciation: [vjolonˈtʃɛllo]) is a string instrument. It is played by bowing or plucking its four strings, which are usually tuned in perfect fifths an octave lower than the viola: from low to high, C2, G2, D3 and A3. It is the bass member of the violin family, which also includes the violin, viola and the double bass, which doubles the bass line an octave lower than the cello in much of the orchestral repertoire. After the double bass, it is the second-largest and second lowest (in pitch) bowed string instrument in the modern symphony orchestra. The cello is used as a solo instrument, as well as in chamber music ensembles (e.g., string quartet), string orchestras, as a member of the string section of symphony orchestras, most modern Chinese orchestras, and some types of rock bands.

Music

Roedelius biographer Stephen Iliffe described the music of Geschenk des Augenblicks - Gift of the Moment and the effect of the move to Editions EG in his book Painting with Sound: The life and music of Hans-Joachim Roedelius:

His music has grown a bit too sweet (read New Age!)" complained Dag Erik Asbjornsen. But EG Records gives him a wider audience of folk unaware of the Cluster legend, not to mention an independent chart placing between Nick Cave and The Smiths. [6]

The review on the Piccadilly Records website talks about Roedelius' move away from electronic music on this album:

If Lustwandel and Jardin au Fou had seen the process set in motion, this was the album that completed the transition. [...] Roedelius focused on the grand piano, sometimes accompanied by a cello, violin and guitar. Distant echoes of a not so distant musical past could only be detected in the occasional appearance of sparse chords played on a polyphonic synthesizer. The album wore a veil of delicate melancholy: no vibrant folk dances, no colourful carousels, no cheerful melodies. [3]

Track listing

  1. "Geschenk des Augenblicks (Gift of the Moment)" - 4:19
  2. "Adieu Quichotte" - 5:46
  3. "Troubadour" - 5:16
  4. "Kleine Blume Irgendwo (Little Flower Somewhere)" - 2:13
  5. "Ohn' Unterlaß (Continuously)" - 3:50
  6. "Gefundene Zeit (Time Regained)" - 2:00
  7. "Sehnsucht ich will dich Lassen (To be free of Yearning)" - 5:48
  8. "Das Sanfte (Mellowness)" - 3:43
  9. "Tag für Tag (Day by Day)" - 4:30
  10. "Zu Füßen der Berge am Ufer des Sees (At the foot of the mountain by the lakeside)" - 6:35
  11. "Wurzeln des Glücks (Roots of Joy)" - 3:25

Personnel

Notes

  1. 1 2 "Hans-Joachim Roedelius - Geschenk des Augenblicks - Gift of the Moment (Vinyl, LP)". Discogs. Retrieved 2010-12-19.
  2. ↑ "Hans-Joachim Roedelius - Geschenk des Augenblicks - Gift of the Moment". Discogs. Retrieved 2010-12-19.
  3. 1 2 "Roedelius - Geschenk des Augenblicks - Gift of the Moment / Bureau B". Piccadilly Records. 2010-12-13. Retrieved 2010-12-19..
  4. ↑ "Rough Trade Shops". roughtrade.com. Archived from the original on 2011-09-27. Retrieved 2010-12-19.
  5. ↑ "Geschenk des Augenblicks". Allmusic. Retrieved 2010-12-19.
  6. ↑ "Hans-Joachim Roedelius: Geschenk des Augenblicks". Music Arcades (blog). 2008-01-11. Retrieved 2010-12-19..

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References

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