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Variations on a Natural Theme for Orchestra (Book)
* Rare original artist' book - Music scores and instructions for performance * Variations on a Natural Theme (1982), as in Dick Higgins words, is a large orchestral work, in some ways a companion to the Ten Ways, since this time it uses gamuts (in this case selected by the individual musicians) and photo derivations made from a female model; she was insistent that she not be recognizable, since she was a teacher and was afraid that it would be damaging to her professionally if it were known that…
Sonata for Prepared Piano (Book)
*Rare original arist' book - Music scores and instruction for performance* Sonata for Prepared Piano (1982) is a short work which, again, uses photoderivations as parts of the notation—this time nature with incomplete figure photographs, mostly obscured by the natural objects around them. (Dick Higgins, "The Strategy of Each of My Books" from Horizons, 1984)
"Four movements make up this thirteen minute work. Each uses a very different method of interpreting its materials, a set of four phot…
Ten Ways of Looking at a Bird for Violin and Harpsichord (Book)
Rare original artist' book - Music scores and instructions for performance Ten Ways of Looking at a Bird (1981)...is a playful variation on the name of a poem by Wallace Stevens whose work I have always admired, though, goodness knows, there is no modern poet more different from myself. This is a piece for violin and harpsichord; the harpsichord part is developed in “live time” (that is, during the performance) from what the violinist is doing, according to a set of rules. The violinist uses mu…
Twenty-Six Mountains for viewing the Sunset from (Book)
Rare original artist' book - Music scores and instructions for performance ** Twenty-Six Mountains for Viewing the Sunset From (1981) is for a small ensemble, including three dancers. It is a different kind of notation, not using photographs but using an indication of what kinds of tex- tures and patterns are desired. The title comes from a trip I took late one night with a teenager from Vermont, who brought me to some of his favorite places to view the sunset from; it was magical evening…
Song for Any Voice(s) and Instrument(s) (Book)
* Rare original artist' book - Music scores and instructions for performance * This score by Dick Higgins consists of letters and arrows arrayed across one sheet of musical notation paper. A cover sheet provides the instructions for the four-minute, fifty-two second performance, stating that any number of people may interpret the score simultaneously if they do so independently of one another. Guidelines for interpretation are fairly specific, but the piece is different every time it is perform…
Dialoghi Nel Vuoto
When No Pussyfooting was released in 1973 by two great pioneers like Eno and Fripp, that first whisper of their artistic association surprised many critics and fans. Yet, that kind of minimalist ambient sonority carried out by the two appeared in the ear like something absolutely new and innovative. Although nowadays we might be more accustomed to creative operations of this type, we are still fascinated, while listening, by the still possible achievement of relevant moments of musical epi…
Memory in Motion: Percussion in Surround
“Memory in Motion: Percussion in Surround” was a research project developed to examine how percussionists memorize musical actions within ensembles. As part of this research, director Aiyun Huang commissioned new works to compliment selected existing repertoire. Zihua Tan wrote Sorites to compliment Iannis Xenakis’ Persephassa and Alcides Lanza wrote mnais mnemes to compliment his own earlier composition sensor VI. In both cases, the composers were asked to use the identical setup and notational…
Haunted Bedrooms
Jilk are a UK based collective of musicians, fusing a bewildering collage of home-found sounds with the ambient soundscapes of washy synths, exquisite strings, insect-like clicks and cuts, and huge gorgeous waves of all encompassing experimental noise. Collaboration and open minded exploration are at the centre of all that they do.A year on from their debut release for Castles In Space, Jilk present their new album; “Haunted Bedrooms”. Eight diverse tracks exploring themes of rebellion, protest,…
Ritual: A Book of Primitive Rites and Events (Book)
** 2021 Stock ** This collection of event scores and descriptions adapted from a range of ethnographic sources also implicitly functions as an examination of the Happenings movement in an expanded historical and anthropological context. Rothenberg’s translations, along with the restriction of information on his sources in the table of contents, leave ample room for cultural and historical ambiguity, giving each event a strong foothold in the here and now. Ritual stands as a direct predecessor to…
The Twin Plays: Port-au-Prince & Adams County Illinois (Book)
** 2021 Stock ** This pamphlet is comprised of a pair of structurally identical plays, each composed by means of chance operations around the time of the editing and publication of An Anthology of Chance Operations by Mac Low with La Monte Young. Each play is made up of five partially improvised conversations in which the dialogue is derived from a highly restricted lexicon: the first uses words made from the letters that spell out the word “Port-au-Prince” to construct nonsensical “pseudo-sente…
A Book About Love & War & Death: Canto One (Book)
** 2021 Stock ** This first section of Higgins’ major work, A Book About Love & War & Death, a sprawling prose poem meant to be read aloud. The text evolves modally, cycling through language games and experiments, oblique autobiography, and vocabulary drawn from an Indonesian dictionary, with a use of a chance method that is both elaborate and informal. The guiding principle of the work is, above all, what Higgins saw as a density of conceptual imagery—a density to be unraveled somewhat in what …
The Destructive Character (Book)
The Destructive Character by the Dutch composer, multimedia artist and theorist Dick Raaijmakers (1930) treats of a subject which, when considered from the aspect of the constant media coverage on destruction -- whether ecological, military, or economical -- should still be our very present and pressing concern. The Destructive Character is a commentary on an essay form 1931 by Walter Benjamin bearing the same title and included in this publication. In his reaction, Raaijmakers focuses on the fa…
Oh, Tongue (Book)
A new revised version of the notebook of the legendary American dancer, artist and choreographer Simone Forti in which she shares her poetry as well as her thoughts on dance, the body, writing, the state of the world. A collection of experimental texts, imagined dialogues, news animations and poetic thoughts on life and politics. The book contains an afterword by Fred Dewey and a postscript by poet and Fluxus artist Jackson MacLow. American dancer and choreographer Simone Forti (born 1935 in Flo…
Days Off
**Edition of 200 copies, 4-page insert of photos** Alex Twomey’s Days Off, the second full length album under his own name, pronounces his evolving compositional approach. Following The Entertainer (Recital, 2019), this new album features a more intimate ensemble of piano, strings, bass, and guitar. Written between 2019 and 2021, the arrangements resemble pop-structured songs within the margins of sedate orchestral music. Twomey’s use of electric guitar is also unique; more as a blurred harmoni…
Sensorialité excentrique (Book)
"All that man has undertaken and done until today was: only failure !!!! A New Civilization! urgently!"
Palestine, first name Charlemagne – Meshugga Land
A biographical essay which explores the origins and influences of Charlemagne Palestine, as well as themes related to his life and artistic practice—spirituality, music, performance, avant-gardism—together with an acute analysis of his main works. The study is followed by an interview with the artist, which provides a clever balance between personal anecdotes and reflection.Born Chaïm Moshe Palestine in Brooklyn, 1947, Charlemagne Palestine joined as a child the Stanley Sapir Jewish choir to low…
Gesti Sul Piano
Edition of 250 copies, historical recordings from 1975 and 1980. Giuseppe Chiari was one of the leading names associated first with Fluxus (being the only Italian member of the interdisciplinary art group since 1962) and later with Conceptual and Performance Art as well as Sound art. Coming from a background of different disciplines, he established new theoretical and practical standpoints in relation to music and art: his approach was always irreverent, walking the tightrope between to do or no…
Sonic Meditations (Book)
First published in 1971 and long out of print, 'Sonic Meditations' is now reprinted by Pauline Oliveros Publications & Ministry of Maåt Publications. 25 meditations for musicians of all ages and skill levels, to help them learn how to focus on, listen to, and produce sound naturally. An important work in the development of Oliveros' Deep Listening. A "must" for any music library!
"One of the most seminal works in late 20th century avant-garde musical thought, Sonic Meditations not only departs …
Music Without Musicians
Paul Panhuysen, Het Apollohuis in Eindhoven, was invited by De IJsbreker in Amsterdam in 1997 to curate a program of mechanical orchestras. This book documents the orchestras created by the six artists Trimpin, Frédéric Le Junter, Ulrich Eller, Ad van Buuren, Pierre Bastien and Harald Kubiczak. The CD features original recordings of each of the six orchestras. The accompanying essays by Kitty Zijlmans and Leon van Noorden use the programmatic title of the project, ’Music Without Musicians,’ as a…
Paradiso Amsterdam 1970
Tip! Space is the place! That classic piece - in a historically early version without lyrics - opens the album Paradiso Amsterdam 1970, which shows how the Netherlands was first introduced to Afrofuturism. A pivotal moment in the Dutch jazz experience. It was always thought that the recordings of the long-awaited first concert that the Sun Ra Arkestra gave in the Netherlands were useless for an album release.After all, the entire Arkestra, booked by Hans Dulfer, marched among the massive crowd a…