RFG Inventions for Cello and Computer by Peter Zinovieff & Lucy Railton
In what is sure to be one of the most unexpected but inspired collaborations of 2020, the newest PAN release sees experimental cellist and rising star Lucy Railton in deep conversation with legendary music technician and sound designer Peter Zinovieff. Despite this being billed as Zinovieff's first true album, his influence over the British avant garde looms large, both as the inventor behind EMS synthesizers and because of his close connection with the BBC's Radiophonic Workshop. Railton similarly finds herself in an enviable position, coming off the back of her critically lauded debut on the reputable Modern Love, as well as perfomances at notorious experimental festivals like Norberg and Berlin Atonal, where this album was conceived. 'RFG inventions for Cello and Computer' sees Railton's expressive and textural playing refracted by Zinovieff through custom software. Railton subsequently responded and reacted to this stimuli unadorned by digital abstraction. This cyclical, back and forth process of creation and response creates the impression of an infinite number of possible sonic permutations (and indeed, the single 35 minute piece displays many in its diverse movements) whilst also maintaining rigourous cohesion in style and intention, reminiscent of Roland Kayn's seminal experiments in generative, 'cybernetic' computer music. However, as in the work of Kayn, the complex processes behind 'RFG...' are not intended to be fauned over, quantified or understood; they serve as parts within an artistic vision, venerating the humanism inherent to abstraction, boldly ploughing forward in the exploration of new and complex emotion in sound.


















