"When the American composer James Tenney wrote the score for "Having Never Written A Note For Percussion," he did so on the back of a postcard. The directions are almost too simple: an extended roll is played on an undefined percussion instrument for a "very long" time. It must rise from silence to a quadruple-forte peak, then return again to silence. That's it.
On this LP, Rrose performs the piece twice. Both recordings are around half an hour long, and played on a 32-inch gong two conditions that must have made these performances physically demanding. First up is a studio recording, dry and relatively soft. The focus is on the shimmering sound of the instrument: initially just a low thrum of bass frequencies, then the rising complexity of the overtones. The piece doesn't reach its crescendo in a straight line, but in fluctuating waves that almost imperceptibly gain intensity. It's a great recording powerful, textured, rich."