ARC Ensemble - Chamber Works - COMPACT DISCS [CD]

The Alan Parsons Project I Robot, widely regarded as one of the greatest concept albums of all time, is re-issued in a variety of different formats including a 180gm classic black vinyl, half-speed remastered by Miles Showell at Abbey Road studios.The Alan Parsons Project second studio album was originally released in July 1977, draws conceptually on author Isaac Asimov's science fiction Robot stories, exploring philosophical themes regarding artificial intelligence. The album was a worldwide hit selling in excess of two million copies, achieving platinum and gold status in numerous countries. Like other Alan Parsons Project albums, there were a variety of different lead vocalists employed including Steve Harley, Allan Clarke, Lenny Zakatek, Peter Straker, Jack Harris and Jaki Whitren. Plus, a selection of session musicians such as guitarist Ian Bairnson and drummer Stuart Tosh with arrangements by Andrew Powell.For most APP albums Eric Woolfson had duplicate analogue tapes run on a second master machine, tapes that were hardly played. These vinyl formats were cut from a high-resolution archive transfer made from rarely played masters. About The Alan Parsons ProjectThe Alan Parsons Project was a progressive rock music entity comprised ofengineer/ producer Alan Parsons and songwriter, musician and manager EricWoolfson. They released 10 concept albums which focused on subject matter suchas science fiction, supernatural, literary and sociological themes between 1976 -1987 and have sold in excess of 55 million albums world-wide. - 180gm heavyweight classic black vinyl - Featuring a half-speed remaster by Miles Showell at Abbey Road Studios- Insert contains a sleevenote featuring quotes from Eric Woolfson

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The ARC Ensemble's Music in Exile series continues with this exploration of chamber works by Ernest Kanitz. Born into a wealthy Viennese family in 1894, he was encouraged in music by his mother, started piano lessons aged seven, and was composing within a year. Persuaded by his parents to study for a degree in Law, Kanitz also studied piano, music theory, and composition (with Franz Schreker, who also served as a mentor). His reputation grew steadily, his works promoted by conductors such as George Szell and Clemens Krauss. In 1922 he gained a position as a teacher at the New Vienna Conservatory, and in 1930 established the Vienna Women's Chamber Choir, which quickly gained a reputation across Europe for it's performances of Kodaly, Honegger, and Stravinsky (as well as Kanitz!). Although he had converted to Christianity in 1914, his Jewish ancestry necessitated emigration from Austria in 1938, following the annexation of Austria by National Socialist Germany. After a short spell in New York, Kanitz and his wife, Gertrude, moved to Rock Hill, South Carolina, where he had secured a teaching position. Following Gertrude's early death from cancer, Kanitz moved to California, where he established a successful teaching career at the University of Southern California. Retirement from USC in 1960 gave him much more time for composition (although he was still teaching and lecturing), with successful premieres given by the Philadelphia Orchestra, Los Angeles Philharmonic, and San Francisco Symphony, among many others. Following his death in 1978, his music, like that of so many emigre composers, has been forgotten.