In C

In C is a musical piece composed by Terry Riley in 1964 for an indefinite number of performers. He suggests "a group of about 35 is desired if possible but smaller or larger groups will work". A series of short melodic fragments, In C is a response to the abstract academic serialist techniques devised by Schoenberg that dominated Western university composers for many decades and is often cited as the first minimalist composition (though La Monte Young's drone compositions preceded it by several years, In C had a greater impact on public consciousness).

Technique

In C consists of 53 short, numbered musical phrases, lasting from half a beat to 32 beats; each phrase may be repeated an arbitrary number of times. Each musician has control over which phrase they play: players are encouraged to play the phrases starting at different times, even if they are playing the same phrase. In this way, although the melodic content of each part is predetermined, In C has elements of aleatoric music to it. The performance directions state that the musical ensemble should try to stay within two to three phrases of each other. The phrases must be played in order, although some may be skipped. As detailed in some editions of the score, it is customary for one musician ("traditionally... a beautiful girl," Riley notes in the score) to play the note C in repeated eighth notes, typically on a piano or pitched-percussion instrument (e.g. marimba). This functions as a metronome and is referred to as "The Pulse". Steve Reich introduced the idea of a rhythmic pulse to Riley, who accepted it, thus radically altering the original composition by Riley which had no rhythm.

In C (album)

In C is an album by Acid Mothers Temple & The Melting Paraiso U.F.O., released in 2001 by Eclipse Records as a vinyl record and in 2002 by Squealer Music on CD. The Squealer release contains a bonus track. The title track is a cover of the Terry Riley piece of the same name.

A follow-up album, titled In 0 to ∞, was released in 2010.

Reception

In C made Pitchfork Media's Top 50 Albums of 2002 at #45.

Track listing

Personnel

Personnel as listed on Acid Mothers website.

Technical personnel

References

Prayer in C

"Prayer in C" is a song by French-Israeli folk pop duo Lilly Wood and the Prick, originally released on their album Invincible Friends in 2010. German DJ and producer Robin Schulz remixed the song, and in June 2014, he released it as a single. Schulz re-mixed the song, using a CD of Invincible Friends as the source. He initially made his remix available as a free download, to the consternation of the copyright owners, Wagram Music.

The Schulz remix topped the charts in Austria, Germany, Switzerland, Luxembourg, France, the Netherlands, Belgium (both Flanders and Wallonia regions), Greece, Italy, Hungary, Czech Republic, Slovakia, Poland, Croatia, Denmark, Finland, Norway, Sweden, Portugal, Spain, Ireland, and the United Kingdom. This track also reached the top 10 in Australia and New Zealand and charted in the top 40 in Canada and United States. In September 2014, Kiesza covered the song on BBC Radio 1's Live Lounge.

Track listing