Influenced by the ecstatic pure melody of the Japanese Shakuhachi and the soft, infinitely subtle tones of Javanese Gamelan, Anne Boyd's Angklung is music of radical simplicity: it employs only four notes (one of which can be retuned to a non-tempered F-flat) and their octave extensions. Boyd once described Angklung - which was premiered by Roger Woodward at the 1974 Edinburgh Festival - as `the only perfect piece I ever wrote' and its meditative atmosphere invites performers and listeners alike to tune themselves into the exquisite beauty of the subtly shifting sounds it presents.
`Full of hypnotic beauty'
The Guardian (Denis Smalley), 6 September 1974
`A gentle, rapturous essay in pianissimo shades, after the sound of the bamboo Javanese instrument of the same name.'
The Financial Times (Dominic Gill), 28 September 1974
- ISBN: 9780571501137 (0571501133)