Ellen Fullman - Body Music (1993)

"Body Music is music for Ellen Fullman's unique Long String Instrument, an eighty-foot long instrument with approximately eighty strings. Fullman has been developing this instrument for longitudinally vibrating long strings over the past thirteen years. Having received a BFA in sculpture, her interest in music began with the resonance of materials used in making sculpture. When she started making the Long String Instrument, she saw it as "sculpture as music;" now she has come full circle in conceiving "music as sculpture." For the most part, the music in Body Music relies harmonically on the diatonic scale. Because of the prominence of overtone content, more complex harmony is suggested. Through her studies of extended harmony, Fullman has come to realize that harmony is "dimensional."

"Composer/sculptor Fullman has been developing the Long String Instrument since 1980. An 80-foot long ax with 80 strings, concert presentation requires two to four players and a large room. The title refers to the players' need to use their whole bodies in performance, walking around the instrument, stroking and stroking and striking the strings. Tuned in just intonation and relying harmonically on the diatonic scale, the long strings create a wash of drones and overtones. - Mark Sullivan, Option

Searing, shifting textures seep into the air. Shimmering webs of overtones evoke an otherworldly string section." ~ Josef Woodard, Option

"Five more astonishing compositions on long string sculpture-instruments, including the marvelously flowing "Work for 4," performed on a 145-foot-long string installation, already a modern classic. "Space Between" surprisingly produces some sounds normally associated with electronic music, and "Body Music" suggests a kind of celestial Delta-blues with its bar chording technique. A CD that will appeal to many listeners. ~ "Blue" Gene Tyranny, All Music Guide

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1. Bass Song (14:27)
2. Over and Under (1:31)
3. Work for 4 (20:00)
4. Space Between (3:50)
5. Body Music (19:12)
6. Departure (4:04)

© Ellen Fullman : 1987, 1989, 1992
1993 Experimental Intermedia Foundation, NYC.

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