Some of the riddle canons of Bach's Das Musikalische Opfer are examples of this particular kind of perpetuum mobile/ canon perpetuus. In some cases the repeats of a "perpetuum mobile" piece are at a different pitch, a modulation or a chord progression occurs during the repeatable part. Irrepressibly chirpy, irresistibly quirky and undeniably original, here is music to bring sunshine to a Sunday morning.Problems playing this file? See media help.Īs a distinct composition, perpetuum mobile can be defined as one in which part or most of the piece is intended to be repeated an often unspecified number of times, without the "motion" of the melody being halted when a repeat begins.Ĭanons are often intended to be performed in a moto perpetuo fashion, and can thus be called canon perpetuus. The PCO is a legend, and the music on A Brief History tells the story of an immensely creative and joyous force in music.
Need I say more?Ī review cannot really do credit to this album. Other evidence of Jeffes' eclecticism brought in as producer by Malcolm McLaren to raise Adam and the Ants from punk to pop and chart stardom arranged the strings on Sid Vicious' version of "My Way". In the 70s however the PCO was radical, even revolutionary, catching the attention of Brian Eno who signed them to his Obscure label. Today, Jeffes' music remains delightfully unclassifiable, whilst its accessibility makes it beloved of advertisers and Café del Mar chill-out album compilers alike. It's all in there, chirpy Celtic folk tunes, minimalist drones, choral chants and through it all, an almost hypnotic rhythmic repetitiveness which brings a dreamy, sleepy quality to even the livelier tunes. The PCO was the realisation of this dream, and A Brief History shows off the huge range of influences which shaped the PCO's charmingly unique and eccentric sound.
Or more precisely, him the Penguin Café Orchestra was founded in the mid 70s by one man, the late British composer Simon Jeffes, as a soundtrack for a fantasy café whose daily specials were the re-written laws of physics and music.Ī former music student, Jeffes' dream - which came to him during a bout of food poisoning in the early 70s - was to write and perform music which drew on styles and cultures all over the world. If you are in any doubt as to who The Penguin Café Orchestra are, think back to that quirky tune on the One2One advert made up of telephone dial tones and jerky violin ? Yes, that's them.
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