Lightness: Music for the Marble Palace
Encyclopedia
Lightness: Music for the Marble Palace – The State Russian Museum, St. Petersburg is an ambient
Installation
album from British
musician Brian Eno
, released in 1997, and re-released in 2000.
This album should not be confused with a 1976 bootleg named Music For Palaces. In May 2005, Eno premiered his then-new album, Another Day on Earth
, at the same venue.
The music on the album was made for an Installation
- a show featuring music and visuals - that took place at the Marble Palace
in Saint Petersburg
, which accommodates permanent exhibitions of the State Russian Museum
, from November to mid-December 1997.
After the release of his 1997 album The Drop, Eno relocated to Saint Petersburg for a short sabbatical and began working on music specifically for installations. The event's music was generated by three CD players, and like his previous album of the same year, Extracts from Music for White Cube
, it used the generative capabilities of Koan Pro by layering
more than two stereo pairs of sound sources, via the CD players.
The show was hosted in a large, neo-classical, newly-renovated chamber, and Eno was free to design it as he wished. At one end, computer-programmed projectors threw randomized, colourful patterns on a series of screens, while the rest of the room was dark.
He described the Marble Palace event as a "mixture of cinema, fireworks display, environmental music and installation". The edited highlights that feature on the CD are described as "a 1-hour selection of a hypothetically endless piece".
Ambient music
Ambient music is a musical genre that focuses largely on the timbral characteristics of sounds, often organized or performed to evoke an "atmospheric", "visual" or "unobtrusive" quality.- History :...
Installation
Installation art
Installation art describes an artistic genre of three-dimensional works that are often site-specific and designed to transform the perception of a space. Generally, the term is applied to interior spaces, whereas exterior interventions are often called Land art; however, the boundaries between...
album from British
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
musician Brian Eno
Brian Eno
Brian Peter George St. John le Baptiste de la Salle Eno , commonly known as Brian Eno or simply as Eno , is an English musician, composer, record producer, singer and visual artist, known as one of the principal innovators of ambient music.Eno studied at Colchester Institute art school in Essex,...
, released in 1997, and re-released in 2000.
This album should not be confused with a 1976 bootleg named Music For Palaces. In May 2005, Eno premiered his then-new album, Another Day on Earth
Another Day on Earth
Another Day on Earth is an album by Brian Eno, released in 2005 on Hannibal Records.-Overview:This is the first Eno album to chiefly contain vocals in more than two decades. Speaking of the album, Eno said, "The first one I've done like that for a very long time...25 years or so"...
, at the same venue.
Overview
An Opal release, with no catalogue number, this title is only available from EnoShop.The music on the album was made for an Installation
Installation art
Installation art describes an artistic genre of three-dimensional works that are often site-specific and designed to transform the perception of a space. Generally, the term is applied to interior spaces, whereas exterior interventions are often called Land art; however, the boundaries between...
- a show featuring music and visuals - that took place at the Marble Palace
Marble Palace
Marble Palace is one of the first Neoclassical palaces in Saint Petersburg, Russia. It is situated between the Field of Mars and Palace Quay, slightly to the east from New Michael Palace....
in Saint Petersburg
Saint Petersburg
Saint Petersburg is a city and a federal subject of Russia located on the Neva River at the head of the Gulf of Finland on the Baltic Sea...
, which accommodates permanent exhibitions of the State Russian Museum
Russian Museum
The State Russian Museum is the largest depository of Russian fine art in St Petersburg....
, from November to mid-December 1997.
After the release of his 1997 album The Drop, Eno relocated to Saint Petersburg for a short sabbatical and began working on music specifically for installations. The event's music was generated by three CD players, and like his previous album of the same year, Extracts from Music for White Cube
Extracts from Music for White Cube
Extracts from Music for White Cube, London 1997 is an ambient Installation album from British musician Brian Eno, released in 1997.- Track listing :# Notting Hill, Feb 20 - 11:45# Old Brompton Road, Feb 20 - 3:09# The Oval, Feb 24 - 7:07...
, it used the generative capabilities of Koan Pro by layering
Algorithmic composition
Algorithmic composition is the technique of using algorithms to create music.Algorithms have been used to compose music for centuries; the procedures used to plot voice-leading in Western counterpoint, for example, can often be reduced to algorithmic determinacy...
more than two stereo pairs of sound sources, via the CD players.
The show was hosted in a large, neo-classical, newly-renovated chamber, and Eno was free to design it as he wished. At one end, computer-programmed projectors threw randomized, colourful patterns on a series of screens, while the rest of the room was dark.
He described the Marble Palace event as a "mixture of cinema, fireworks display, environmental music and installation". The edited highlights that feature on the CD are described as "a 1-hour selection of a hypothetically endless piece".
External links
- Financial TimesFinancial TimesThe Financial Times is an international business newspaper. It is a morning daily newspaper published in London and printed in 24 cities around the world. Its primary rival is the Wall Street Journal, published in New York City....
article on the Installation, Dec. 6, 1997 - Malcolm Humes review
- Beep discography entry
- Discogs.com entry