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September 16, 2010
'I tell you that's IRMA herself'
Tom Phillips is best known for his 'half-a-life's work' 'A Humument', described as 'a treated Victorian novel.' He has been painting and drawing on the pages of W.H. Mallock's 1892 novel 'A Human Document' since 1965, an activity resulting in texts, paintings and the book itself (now in its fourth edition). The results are hard to describe, although once seen are hard to forget. Phillips also mined 'A Humument' for the libretto and score of his opera 'IRMA' (the characters Grenville and Irma come from 'A Human Document', although according to Phillips, the main character of 'A Humument' has, over time, turned out to be one Bill Toge.)Here is Phillips' description of his opera:
'The score takes the form of a large sheet with prose directions (each a treated fragment of the novel) for the libretto, the mise en scéne and the sound vocabulary of the piece, together with instructions, performance suggestions and a group of melodies. It is to be thought of as the surviving elements of a lost work whose performance tradition is unknown. Realisation of the opera involves the ordering and piecing together of these fragments into a performable work; as an archeologist might reconstruct a possible coherent pot from shattered shards."
The two recordings of 'IRMA' posted here represent two possible outcomes and occasioned a minor dispute between the parties involved in their making. Gavin Bryars' 1977 recording for Brian Eno's short-lived Obscure Records is described as 'An Opera by Tom Phillips – Music by Gavin Bryars – Libretto by Fred Orton'. The style is very similar to Bryars' well-known works 'The Sinking of the Titanic' and 'Jesus' Blood' (recorded around the same time for the same label.) The roles are sung in pointedly non-operatic style: Grenville by the composer Howard Skempton and Irma by Lucy Skeaping. High-cultural references to Wagner and Brahms coyly concealed in bright clean diatonic minimalism. Originally released on LP, this 'IRMA' makes good use of the 'two-act' A-side/B-side division – an important structural device of the classic pop records of the long-playing era. (Side One is all sea and glockenspiels; Side Two somewhat darker with strings and foam.) This not-so-simple song cycle should have 'crossover' appeal for fans of Brian Eno's 'Taking Tiger Mountain (By Strategy) and the Beach Boys. It's a peculiarly moving experience and as a document of early-70s art-pop production alone it is essential.
The 1988 recording on Matchless by the improvising group AMM is entirely different. AMM normally work without written music, although they do have a repertory of graphic and instruction scores (Cardew's 'Treatise', of course, but also works by Cage and Wolff.) The AMM approach to 'IRMA' eschews the intermediary of a 'realisation'. Those familiar with the group's music will recognize it here – free-floating shards of sound that bear little resemblance to improvisation in the jazz sense. The only reference to song form is an unforgettable moment when Keith Rowe's transistor radio picks up several seconds of the Neil Diamond hit 'Song Sung Blue'. Phil Minton and Elise Lorraine sing in quasi-operatic style. Rather than resulting in a setting of Phillips' text, the worlds of 'IRMA' and 'AMM' go their separate ways, trailing behind them a human document that sounds remarkably like a 40s Hollywood melodrama overheard from the television in the other room.
Although Tom Phillips appears on both recordings, he considers the AMM recording to be the 'definitive' version. Here is his oddly-worded statement:
'Although there are some haunting moments in the (Obscure Records) performance, the music seems to have lost some of its character, smoothed out as it is to fit the Bryars aesthetic. The slightly patronizing tone of the sleeve note and the fact that Bryars billed himself ... as 'the composer' did not help me to avoid the impression that this 'IRMA' ... was somehow 'inauthentic'. Since it followed the general rules of the score this recording (for all that I participated in it and despite its featuring musicians as distinguished as Howard Skempton) led me to the regretful conclusion that, among the infinitude of feasible 'IRMA's, versions might occur which were simultaneously correct and unfaithful.'
I recently stumbled upon a CD-R copy of the Obscure 'IRMA' and was smitten like a kitten; I lost no time in tracking down the AMM recording. As I don't have a personal quarrel with any of the participants, I have no plans to give up either disc. The two 'IRMA's could be seen as exemplifying incompatible strains of English experimental music (the ultimately conservative minimalism formulated in Michael Nyman's book 'Experimental Music' / the formal and political radicalism of Cardew, the Scratch Orchestra and non-idiomatic improvisation.) Looking back from the year 2010, I'm not sure that the differences amount to all that much.
I have posted the Obscure CD in FLAC but am sharing the AMM CD as a 320 MP3 – while the latter disc is hard to find at the moment, it is sure to be available again from Eddie Prevost's artist-run Matchless label. Matchless CDs are available in the United States from Erstwhile (first choice) and Forced Exposure (second.)
IRMA by Tom Phillips – Obscure Records CD-R – FLAC with scans.
IRMA by Tom Phillips – Matchless CD – MP3 320 with scans.
Originally from Avant que j'oublie, ReBlogged by newmusicrebloggers on Sep 16, 2010 at 02:13 AM