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Space Voyage / Echoes Of Other Times [Sonambient 1023]
Harry Bertoia - Swift Sounds / Phosphorescence [Sonambient 1024]
Unfolding / Sounds Beyond [Sonambient 1025]
Gong Gong / Elemental [Sonambient 1026]
All And More / Passage [Sonambient 1027]
Energizing / Mellow Tops [Sonambient 1028]
Continuum / Near And Far [Sonambient 1029]
Swinging Bars / Vulcans Play [Sonambient 1030]
Ocean Mysteries / Softly Played [Sonambient 1031]
Here And Now / Unknown [Sonambient 1032]
Bellissima, Bellissima, Bellissima / Nova [Sonambient 10570]
Printmaker, sculptor & industrial designer, Arieto [Harry] Bertoia was born in 1915 in San Lorenzo, Italy & moved to the United States in 1920 after a brief stay in Canada. He studied and worked at the Cranbrook Academy of Art and settled near Bally, Pennsylvania where he died in 1978.
In the early 1970's Harry Bertoia & his son Val, made hundreds of sound sculptures. These sculptures represent Harry Bertoia's formation of Sonambient. Sonambient was Bertoia's term to describe the spatial and tonal environment created by these sound sculptures.
Harry Bertoia created these sculptures of different shapes, length and thickness in order to achieve a range of gentle and sharp sounds. He experimented as a way to seek harmonic balance with the metal, resulting in pure, unique tones. When touched, struck or brushed, these sculptures became abstractions of sound as they sway and knock against one another. The sounds are organic and mysterious, as tones resonate and flow into each other.
In the later period of his career, he began to focus on sculpture that interacted with viewers and/or the elements, like the wind and weather, and as he built smaller pieces in his studio, he began to explore the ways in which the metal and other materials could be manipulated by hand to produce sound. By stretching, bending, striking, and in other ways moving the materials, he made them respond to wind and/or to touch to create different sounds or tones, which he then taught himself to 'play' and recorded a series of pieces. He also performed with the pieces in a number of concerts. The completed Sonambient also consists of gongs and suspended sonic-bars. Within his renovated barn, Harry made more than 360 magnetic-tape recordings.
'Sonambient is also the name of a series of vinyl LP albums recorded, designed, produced and released by mid-century modern sculptor Harry Bertoia himself. Known for his architectural design as well as his sculptural-style art work. the LPs are very minimalist in design and very similar to [and perhaps even an influence on] the album design work of famous obscurantist musician Jandek. Each had a B&W cover of a photograph of one or more pieces of Bertoia's sculpture, often the one(s) used in the recording itself, or in one or two cases that of Bertoia 'playing' one of the sculptures.
The backside of each LP was very simple and all followed exactly the same design, obviously influenced by mid-century modernism: a circle, positioned near the bottom left side, similar in style to a vinyl LP itself, including the spindle hole in the middle, with "SONAM" on the left and "BIENT" on the right [hence 'SONAMBIENT'] in a black background band, and "Side 1" above with the title of that side below, and 'Side 2' below with the title of that side
In the right-hand bottom was found a copy of Bertoia's signature , and lower near the corner the catalog number of each release, in the format "F/W 10xx" where xx started at 23 (F/W 1023) and ending the series at 32 (F/W 1032), for a total of 11 LPs issued. The 1979 LP 'Bellissima, Bellissima, Bellissima / Nova' follows a slightly different cover scheme and employs a different catalog number [LPS 10570].' ~ wiki
my buddy op recently shared his vinyl rips of owl 11 sonambient lp's with us & i decided to pass em along to you in an effort to elevate awareness of this uncompromising visionary. whilst searching fer a clip to represent the set, i stumbled upon a decent documentary of bertoia here. a bit cheesy perhaps but better than nothing. 320 daps to saint op fer the definitive discography. we're not worthy
* bonus for serious completists: Halana 7' & an interview with Brigitta Bertoia
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