Applied Art: LPs

The size of the 33 rpm record, a square of a bit more than 30 cm, offers a lot of opportunities for designers. Since vinyl records are a commercial product, visual attractiveness is important. The design of LPs with classical music is usually very traditional and contains a lot of text. Roughly one can say that the cover is either a reproduction of a painting or a portrait of the soloist or composer. But it can be different. The text on the cover designed by Octave Landuyt is limited so that it approaches a graphic work. Also nice is the op-art effect of the covers of Prospective 21st siècle with recordings of Les Percussions de Strassbourg. These covers say clearly: "What you see, is what you hear”, namely new, contemporary music, even a bit metallic.

This LP fits the concept of Projections from Miroglio. Here too, the work is dedicated to an artist, who has also designed the cover, in this case Octave Landuyt (° 1922). The title of the work is called Monography Octave Landuyt. It is a concerto for alto sax and orchestra by the Belgian composer Jan Decadt (1914-1995). B-Bc BV-LP-00014.

 

The covers from the 1950s of these two LPs do not lie: with an image of the Matterhorn the listener knows that he can expect Swiss music. The modern, stylid landscape also gives a clear hint: this could be contemporary. Indeed, composers such as Conrad Beck (1901-1989) and Bernhard Reichel (1901-1992) are Swiss and their style is neoclassical. B-Bc E-LP-00180-181. The covers from the 1950s of these two LPs do not lie: with an image of the Matterhorn the listener knows that he can expect Swiss music. The modern, stylid landscape also gives a clear hint: this could be contemporary. Indeed, composers such as Conrad Beck (1901-1989) and Bernhard Reichel (1901-1992) are Swiss and their style is neoclassical. B-Bc E-LP-00180-181.

 

The design of this 1961 LP is a visual counterpart to the music. Where the composer Carl Orff (1895-1982) made a contemporary adaptation of medieval goliard songs from the Carmina burana, the designer started from the medieval miniature style to arrive to a modernist design. B-Bc E-LP-00179.

 

A recording of music by Alban Berg (1885-1935) with a quantum mechanics-like cover. In other words, expressionism in combination with science. Does this make sense? Stylistically this can raise questions, but historically it fits. Quantum mechanics dates from 1926, precisely the period in which Berg wrote his works. B-Bc E-LP-00171.

 

Five LP covers with a glossy op-art effect. These must be the sixties. The Prospective 21st siècle series was launched by Philips in 1967 specifically for new and electronic music. The ensemble Les Percussions de Strassbourg dates from the 1960s and is still the leader in contemporary music. B-Bc E-LP-00172-176.     Five LP covers with a glossy op-art effect. These must be the sixties. The Prospective 21st siècle series was launched by Philips in 1967 specifically for new and electronic music. The ensemble Les Percussions de Strassbourg dates from the 1960s and is still the leader in contemporary music. B-Bc E-LP-00172-176.     Five LP covers with a glossy op-art effect. These must be the sixties. The Prospective 21st siècle series was launched by Philips in 1967 specifically for new and electronic music. The ensemble Les Percussions de Strassbourg dates from the 1960s and is still the leader in contemporary music. B-Bc E-LP-00172-176.

Five LP covers with a glossy op-art effect. These must be the sixties. The Prospective 21st siècle series was launched by Philips in 1967 specifically for new and electronic music. The ensemble Les Percussions de Strassbourg dates from the 1960s and is still the leader in contemporary music. B-Bc E-LP-00172-176.     Five LP covers with a glossy op-art effect. These must be the sixties. The Prospective 21st siècle series was launched by Philips in 1967 specifically for new and electronic music. The ensemble Les Percussions de Strassbourg dates from the 1960s and is still the leader in contemporary music. B-Bc E-LP-00172-176.

 

The portrait of Johann Sebastian Bach on the LP with Rhoda Scott (° 1938) on Hammond organ is not the most friendly one of the German composer, but it is mainly the reference to racism that makes the image strong. The title is also well found: ‘Come Bach to me’. B-Bc E-LP-00177.

 

MagnifiCathy, the many voices of Cathy Berberian, an LP with interpretations of contemporary repertoire by the singer Cathy Berberian. Wergo, 1971. B-Bc E-LP-00178