JOHN TAVENER The Whale 1970 UK APPLE 1st PRESS ONE PLAY/Nr MINT
£
160
$
212
£ 160
Sold For
Nov 21, 2013
Sold Date
Nov 11, 2013
Start Date
£ 22
Start price
17
Number Of Bids
Great Britain
Country Of Seller
eBay
Auctioned at
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Description
JOHN TAVENER The Whale 1970 UK APPLE 1st PRESS ONE PLAY/Nr MINT
BEAUTIFULLY CLEAN COPY OF THIS STUNNING WORK
JOHN TAVENERThe Whale
UK APPLE (SAPCOR 15) FIRST PRESSING (September 1970) OF JOHN TAVENER'S ASTONISHING PIECE "The Whale"
ONCE PLAYED AND DELIVERING BEAUTIFULLY CLEAN SOUND THROUGHOUT
It was the premiere of The Whale, in January 1968, which made Tavener's reputation.
The first performance was given by the newly formed London Sinfonietta under David Atherton.
The piece, a cantata for soloists, chorus, tape and 'men with loud hailers', was enthusiastically received, with Tavener being hailed as the boy wonder of British music.
In 1970 Ringo Starr was given a tape of 'The Whale' and Tavener met with Ringo, John and Yoko for a dinner and music evening in Kensington - the next day Lennon decided to issue Tavener's music on the newly formed Apple label
PRESSED WITH THE FIRST DARK GREEN APPLE LABELS
MATRICES: SAPCOR 15 A-1U / SAPCOR 15 B-1U
MOTHERS/STAMPERS: 1/A and 1/R
THE RECORD IS HOUSED IN THE ORIGINAL MATT GATEFOLD SLEEVE "Printed and made by Garrod & Lofthouse Ltd. Patents pending"
COMPLETE WITH THE ORIGINAL APPLE INNER SLEEVE
The work is loosely based on the biblical allegory of Jonah and the Whale, although Tavener admitted that "the 'fantasy' grew and perhaps at times nearly 'swallowed' the biblical text: so the swallowing of Jonah became almost 'literal' in the biblical sense."
The libretto includes the words of an encyclopaedia entry describing certain facts about the whale, and this is contrasted with themes within the music which attempt to portray the reality of the whale itself, whose existence is greater than the sum of all the facts about it.
The Whale comprises three main sections:
Opening (Biblical Narrative)
Melodrama and Pantomime (Storm)
Prayer (In the belly of the Whale).
It was premiered at a Proms concert on 1 August 1969, with the London Sinfonietta under David Atherton with soloists Anna Reynolds, Raimund Herincx, Alvar Liddell and the composer playing pipe and hammond organs.
In July 1970, The Whale was recorded in Islington, London with the same musicians and released by The Beatles' Apple Records label later that year
Side A: The Whale (Part 1) 18:23
Side B: The Whale (Part 2) 13:15
LABELS: NEAR MINT/MINT
Clean, factory-fresh labels - one tiny spindle trace on one side, none on the other
VINYL Visual: NEAR MINT
Both surfaces shine like new with just one harmless hairline mark on Side One and two thin light misting marks on Side Two
VINYL Audio: MINT/NEAR MINT
Beautifully recorded this piece has a huge dynamic range - from the loudest crescendos and cacophonous walls of sound to complete and utter silence - a real challenge to the vinyl medium but my play-check at loud volume found very little to fault - just a touch of surface on the first part of Side Two - nothing major - otherwise, an exceptionally clean copy and in my opinion the finest you could wish for
SLEEVE: EXCELLENT+
The matt gatefold is clean and unmarked with little wear to speak of - light storage rub to the bottom edge and slight discolouration to the white spine but a all text is clear and bold - very fine example
INNER SLEEVE: EXCELLENT
Unmarked - no seam splits - just some natural age-related discolouration
POST & PACKING:
A PROTECTIVE POLY SLEEVE, NEW INNER SLEEVE WITH ANTI-STATIC LINER, QUALITY BOX (NOT ENVELOPE) MAILER AND AMPLE STIFFENERS ARE ALWAYS USED TO ENSURE THAT YOUR RECORD ARRIVES SAFELY
UK: £4.50 (1st Class Recorded Delivery)
EUROPE: Airmail: £13.00 (International Signed For delivery)
INTERNATIONAL: Airmail: £17.00 (International Signed For delivery)
PAYMENT IS BY PAYPAL ONLY SO IF YOU WOULD LIKE TO PAY BY SOME OTHER METHOD PLEASE CONTACT ME FIRST
I will combine postage for items purchased within any 10 day period.
However, at the end of each 10 day period, all outstanding items will need to be paid for in full and will be posted to you.
Any items purchased after payment will be included in the next 10 period.
I am continually adding new items which may be of interest to you and it is impractical for me to allow payment to be postponed indefinitely in the expectation that you might wish to bid on future items.
Thank you for your understanding and cooperation
Guarantee: The record is unconditionally guaranteed and I will offer a complete, no quibble refund upon return of the item should you not be pleased with it in any way I will email you when payment has been received to let you know when the item will be posted. Please leave feedback upon receipt of the item so that I know you have received it safely. Any problems please email me. Thanks 525 (GS 6.6.5 (525))
