The Spider’s death and Epitaph

GROUP 180 new music ensemble (1979-1989) over 400 concerts all over Europe. (Cooperation with Steve Reich, Petr Kotik, Alvin Curran, Chris Newman, György Szabados, László Vidovszky and others. Various Music Festivals, Hungarian Radio, Süddeutscher Rundfunk, Hessischer Rundfunk, Radio France, Hungarian TV, ORF/Austria, etc.). Tibor Szemző (b. 1955) is a native of Budapest. His compositions for live performance incorporate spoken word, film, and other media, but a considerable part of his output is for use as soundtracks for films - both his own productions and those of others. As a musician, Szemző was the founder of the acclaimed Hungarian modern ensemble Group 180 during the 1980s; his current performance group, The Gordian Knot, was founded in 1998. This double CD-set is the companion to the final book reporting on the activities of Het Apollohuis. The recordings on these CDs give an idea of the music and the sound art presented in concerts at Het Apollohuis in the priod from 1980 through 1997. Out of a total of 500 performances I chose 38, from which exceprts of varying lenght have been included in this anthiology. These have been arranged in chronological order. The diversity of the selected pieces is characteristic of the programme of Het Apollohuis. Only limited number of composers and musicians who performed can be heard in brief fragments o these discs. Consequently a considerable number has been excluded. There simply was no way to include them all (this selection does not imply we value one above the other). The choice of the particular musicians has been my responsability (P: Panhuysen). liner notes: René van Peer sound selection: René Adriaans mastering: Frank Donkersgoed design: Tom Homburg, Marcel d'Anjou (Opera)