Glissotar CD is out

Blog Single

We are pleased to present our new CD 'Glissotar' with eight solo miniatures for glissotar by Brian Abbott, Bálint Bethlenfalvy, Turkar Gasimzada, Tom Gurin, Lawrence Galve Parcón, Etienne Rolin, Cristian Fernández Toro, Judit Varga. Dániel Váczi plays the glissotar. The new pieces are connected with improvisation by János Bali (forgató), Mihály Borbély (tárogató), Ajtony Csaba (electric organ), László Fassang (pipe organ), and Tsilumos Ensemble. 

The CD is available in hard copy and on the most important music-sharing platforms (some are collected here). 

Ajtony Csaba, artistic director of the project explained the concept in the following words: "The practice of improvisation plays a defining role in all music traditions that embrace the concept of exploration and novelty. It allows sounds and musical objects to exist at face value and acquire momentary contexts that suspend the hegemony of systematic musical structures. Western classical music and jazz grew out of improvisation, and their historic notation testifies to the fact that simply notated structures can enable complex sonic architectures through improvisation. This CD is the live recording of the site-specific concert titled "Reach," which took place on May 31, 2021, and featured the inaugural performance of these eight miniatures for the glissotar. To articulate the concert's guiding motto of exploration by reaching into the unknown and to promote the newly developed glissotar as a result of this exploration, the concert presents a symbolic act of accession—a musical ceremony meticulously conceived for the Reformed Church at Hold utca in Budapest. The baroque rebuilt pipe organ, electric church organ, electronically extended blockflöte, and tárogató represent the vast family of kindred instruments, creating a ceremony of musical acceptance and inclusion for this new member. The eight miniatures are seamlessly embedded in the fabric of a structured improvisation with the four other instruments."

Glissotar, the first continuous-pitch member of the glissonic instrument family, was created by Dániel Váczi and Tóbiás Terebessy, in cooperation with Hungary’s best-known tárogató-manufacturer, József Tóth. The cone-shaped instrument, played with a soprano saxophone mouthpiece, has no tone holes. However, it features a longitudinal slot on the tube, with a stretched magnetic ribbon. As Dániel Váczi put it in an interview: "The magnetic ribbon that is stretched string-like is fit to do the job because if we push it down, it will seal up the slot perfectly. Consequently, it can be played similarly to a violin but with eight fingers. In this way, it is quite easy to produce any glissando, tremolo or trills on it, but also other effects can be created, for instance, by plucking or tugging the ribbon." The glissotar is naturally well-suited to perform various types of music (classical, folk or café-house music), yet its novel potentials make it especially attractive for improvisation genres and contemporary music. Glissotar won first prize and the People's Choice Award at the 2023 Guthman Musical Instrument Competition.

If you are interested in having a copy or writing about the CD, contact us at office@sonus.foundation