The first 80 minutes of an 11 week minimalist piece. Inspired by the Seagram Mural Project paintings of Mark Rothko.

Rothko (excerpt)

for two simultanious tape loops: (a) 40'19" & (b) 44'31"
'total' duration: 10 wks, 4 days. 18:45'49"

(beginning mix)

Original tape version 9 Feb.'82, London, the re-mastered mix
realised: 16 Oct.'99 - Pyhra.
Environmental music inspired by the Seagram Mural Project paintings by Mark Rothko, hung in the 'Rothko room' in the [original] Tate Gallery, London. Painted in 1958 and '59 they were given to the gallery in 1968-69 and the director later wrote "This gift was both an honour and a responsibility, since the artist was always extremely concerned that his paintings should be displayed in such a way as to
create a mood of contemplation." The original sketches for this piece were written in the gallery during several visits throughout the winter of '81/'82 and, for me at least, it captures this 'mood of contemplation' (and does some strange things to the passing of time as a side effect).
The first public 'performance' was for 14 hours (an excerpt) in the foyer of the Jack Lyons Concert Hall in York, as part of the York Spring Festival of Contemporary Music, on 15 Mar. 1986. For this performance the piece was recorded onto two cassettes, spliced to the correct duration - the reason being that turning over a cassette is much quicker than rewinding reel-to-reel tape. The two cassette machines for this were situated at the top and bottom of a flight of stairs, and as, in those days, reverse-play machines were rare and we didn't have any, I spent the day with an alarm clock in each pocket, keeping very fit and giving a fairly good impression of a theatre piece. So much for contemplation.
Mastering to cassette is a very iffy business and when I re-mastered the piece on computer I was able to get a much more accurate result, editing closer to the original intention. The music on this CD is a mix from the new version and if you would like to hear the end five minutes it's on the CD 'Details #1', track 10: 'Several Days Later'.