The Happy End Problem

The Happy End Problem
Studio album by Fred Frith
Released	2006 (2006)
Recorded	2003 and 2004
Genre	Experimental rock
Length	51:13
Label	Fred (UK)
Producer	Fred Frith
Fred Frith chronology
Impur (2006) The Happy End Problem (2006) Back to Life (2008)
Music for Dance series chronology
Accidental (2002) The Happy End Problem (2006) Nowhere, Sideshow, Thin Air (2009)

The Happy End Problem (Music for Dance Volume 5) is a studio album by English guitarist, composer and improvisor Fred Frith, and is the fifth of a series of Music for Dance albums he made. It comprises two suites composed in 2003 by Frith "for flute, bassoon, gu zheng, percussion, violin and electronics"^[3] and was recorded in 2003 and 2004.

A reviewer at Sea of Tranquility summed up the album with the following comment:^[4]

"Overall two highly accomplished and fascinating pieces of music, more perhaps for the classical enthusiast than the progger."

Background

The two suites on the album, "Imitation" and "The Happy End Problem" were composed by Frith for small ensembles of six and seven musicians. They were originally commissioned in 2003 by choreographer Amanda Miller for two dances for her The Pretty Ugly Dance Company. Both suites premiered at the Stadttheater in Freiburg, Germany, "The Happy End Problem" in May 2003 and "Imitation" in April 2004.

In "The Happy End Problem" Frith drew on elements from Igor Stravinsky's 1910 ballet, Firebird Suite. "Imitation" focused on Oriental elements and played on the Western world's perception of Japan. At the time, the shakuhachi player, Kikutsubo Day was a student of Frith's at Mills College in the United States, and he constructed "Imitation" around her playing.

Track listing

1. "Imitation"
   1. "Ukon" (Frith) – 6:18
   2. "Kira" (Frith) – 5:37
   3. "Kio" (Frith, Scanlon) – 2:33
   4. "Tan" (Frith, Scanlon) – 3:05
   5. "Shi--o" (Frith) – 1:33
   6. "Beni" (Frith) – 3:52
   7. "Kasumi" (Frith) – 2:15
   8. "Sumi" (Frith) – 1:12
   9. "Hanabira" (Frith, Scanlon) – 3:48
2. "The Happy End Problem" (Frith) – 21:00

Personnel

• Fred Frith – guitar, bass guitar, laptop instruments
• Kikutsubo Day (1-9) – shakuhachi
• Carla Kihlstedt – violin
• William Winant – percussion
• Theresa Wong (1-9) – cello
• Patrice Scanlon – electronics, clarinet
• Sheela Bringi (10) – flute
• Heather Vorwerck (10) – cello
• Wu Fei (10) – gu zheng

Sound and artwork

• "Imitation" recorded at Guerrilla Recordings, Oakland, United States, February 2004
• "The Happy End Problem" recorded at Guerrilla Recordings, Oakland, United States, February 2003
• Engineered, mixed and mastered by Myles Boisen
• Artwork by Tom Kurth

References

External links

• The Happy End Problem at AllMusic
• The Happy End Problem at Discogs.
• Fred Frith discography