untitled (for Howard Skempton)

by Simon Opit

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Simon Opit - untitled (for Howard Skempton) 33:30

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The last part of untitled includes a cut-up version of a composition I wrote with my then collaborator, Ben Morison, written for the 25th anniversary celebrations of the Scratch Orchestra at the ICA in London on the 20th November 1994. The recording used is of this first performance, played by the Et Cetera ensemble.

The Scratch Orchestra was Cornelius Cardew’s great experiment in collective music making and was founded by him and Howard Skempton in 1969.

This recording had for me, remained a great example of how sound can collapse time into an ever present now - as after only a few bars of this music I am repositioned back to the time and place of that evening. And like many memories, it is itself contained within an ever-expanding context which both manages to illuminate those feelings but also somehow, freezes them into some kind of distilled form. The material I have chosen to work with was selected in order to reflect something of this distortion, but I believe it also carries with it its own integrity and possibilities.

I cherish the memories I have of traveling up from London to see Howard for my composition lessons and so it is, that collapsed within a recording of a performance from many years ago, an opportunity presents itself to mark the fact. Hopefully too, it’s opportunity to say thank you, for though small in number, those hours spent in his company have somehow sustained me for the remainder of my life.

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released December 16, 2021

Simon Opit: acoustic guitar, piano, electronics, objects, field recordings
(Howard Skempton; spoken voice (taken from BBC interview)

Musicians sampled on this track are:
Louis Opit, piano and bass guitar and the Et Cetera ensemble: Ben Morison, piano; Clair Roff, violin I; Catherine Morgan, violin II; Peter Sulski, viola; Zoe Martlew, cello.

Cover graphic taken from a photograph by Louis Opit

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Simon Opit Edinburgh, UK

sound art, field recordings

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