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Re: [microsound] acousmatic music



which brings to mind a show which totally changed the way i thought
about music...
this was in 1971, when i was a freshman in college at indiana university
in bloomington, indiana. as some of you may know, iu has a well -
respected music program, one of the best in the country. in addition to
the usual suspects - classical and jazz programs - there was a thriving
avant-garde scene as well. i saw some fantastic cage prepared piano
recitals there. the "recital" that i am recalling, though, was of an entirely
different nature. iannis xenakis was a composer-in-residence at iu at
this time, and he gave a faculty recital of his well-known electroacoustic
piece "bohor" in multichannel (17 or so speakers in a circle around the
space) surround. the stage was bare save for a large 1" multitrack tape
machine center stage, with a gray folding chair set beside it. xenakis
walks in with a large box of tape under his arm, walks over to the machine
and threads it up, hits play, and then sits down. while the amazing sound
of "bohor" washed over us for the better part of an hour, xenakis sat there
impassively, his scarred face displaying no emotion. unlike the cage piano
piece, which hews to the traditional context of a piano recital and skews
it from the inside out (pun intended) the xenakis piece blew away my
(admittedly underdeveloped, we're talking indiana here) concepts of
what a musical performance entails. i was engulfed in the wash of sound
and fascinated watching xenakis calmly sit there as it swirled around the
hall.
cheers
bruce


On Mar 17, 2005, at 5:41 PM, Kim Cascone wrote:

let's not forget the rich and deep legacy of acousmatic music as practiced in electro-acoustic circles for over forty years now...nor should we forget that often times novelty=spectacle=pop=emphemeral which I don't think holds much value for most acousmatic composers AFAIK...


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bruce tovsky
www.skeletonhome.com


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