Mobilis in Mobili

Terry Riley’s “In C” is viewed as a modern serialist masterpiece, but say there isn’t a performance happening near you any time soon, indeed I’ve only seen it live once, where are we to go to hear the best recording?

My money is on this amazing record by the Shanghai Film Orchestra, where we can truly appreciate this monumental triumph of minimalism.

Simple shapes form a vast shimmering complexity – like light at dusk falling across a giant crystal calabi-yau manifold or hearing the drip off every leaf in a forest after rain. There’s something about the use of classical Chinese instrumentation – the bells, the zithers, the mouth organs, the mangluo gongs, that just sweeps you away. If I had synesthesia this is what the melting of the morning frost would sound like.

This recording was the first modern Western piece recorded in China, on the 25th anniversary of the composition of ‘In C’ – they certainly started off extremely strong.

The Riley composition is followed by two classical Chinese works – Music of a Thousand Springs and Zen of Water. This provide appropriate downtime after the sensory overload that is the Chinese Film Orchestra tackling serialism will full gusto. After the wave of delightful disorientation we get the slow chill room of water dripping down a cave wall, the soft droplet fall in slow motion.

Essential listening for modern classical enthusiasts, and to me the greatest version of “In C” recorded to date.