I've been tagged by my dear friend and colleague Molly Sheridan (of NewMusicBox, Mind the Gap and other worthy endeavors) for the latest blog meme making the rounds. Here are the rules:
1. Pick up the nearest book.
2. Open to page 123.
3. Find the fifth sentence.
4. Post the next three sentences.
5. Tag five people, and acknowledge who tagged you.
And so:
Erickson is not as well-known as he deserves; during the time when he was recreating the whole concept of college-level music education, ransacking the environment for new sounds for his own musical use, and turning them into music with instruments and gadgets of his own invention, he didn't bother much with playing the establishment game. Now, when he has more time on his hands, he has neither the strength nor the stomach to send out press releases or give TV interviews. Someone needs to rebuild his revolutionary instruments -- which were damaged when the university's music department moved into new quarters -- so as to revive the whole repertory of cool fantasy that they were designed to play.
From So I've Heard: Notes of a Migratory Music Critic by Alan Rich (Amadeus Press, 2006). The excerpt comes from "Erickson: Local Sounds," an LA Weekly column from March 1996.
The "Erickson" in question is Robert Erickson, a composer about whose music I know embarrassingly little. The university Rich mentions is the University of California at San Diego, where Erickson taught. He also exerted a tremendous influence as the music director of KPFA-FM, a free-form radio station operated by the Pacifica Foundation. When Rich wrote this in 1996, Erickson had been bedridden for most of a decade due to lupus; he died just a little more than a year after the column appeared. Compelled by Rich, I've just ordered a copy of Thinking Sound Music, a biography by Charles Shere.
Tough to find bloggers who haven't already been tapped for this exercise, but I'll tag Bruce Hodges, Pete Matthews, Hank Shteamer, Elisabeth Vincentelli and David T. Little.
Playlist:
Judas Priest - Unleashed in the East (Columbia)
Steve Reich - Daniel Variations - Los Angeles Master Chorale/Grant Gershon; Variations for Vibes, Pianos & Strings - London Sinfonietta/Alan Pierson (Nonesuch)
NĂ©meth - Film (Mosz)
Robert Erickson - Recent Impressions; Two Songs; High Flyer; Summer Music - Continuum (Naxos)
Speaking of the Rich book, the last essay in there got me into a CD store faster than you can say 'K448'.
Posted by: Bryant Manning | May 06, 2008 at 05:58 PM
Steve, going back to your earlier post where you talk about being somewhat disillusioned (?) with blogging...I realize that one reason I picked up a copy of Alex Ross' The Rest Is Noise is in part due to the relentless blogging about it. And I'm glad I did.
So that said - and taking note that you've used this "tagging" nonsense to bring another book to the attention of your readers - will you be posting anything about George Lewis' new book A Power Stronger Than Itself: The AACM and American Experimental Music? This seems like a very important book - one that may even be revelatory to many composers who visit and comment on your site. I also believe - from reading some excerpts as well as interviews with George Lewis - that its content has the potential generate a lot of healthy discussion within the so called "new music" community. However, I have this sinking feeling that the more prominent sites that talk about contemporary experimental music will sleep on this.
I could throw up a post on my blog about the book - but it's safe to say you get a lot more readers than I do. Not that its your job to promote other people's writing - but a valuable by product of your "blog" is bringing attention to important contemporary writing on the subject of composition and/or experimental music.
CB
Posted by: Chris Becker | May 07, 2008 at 12:39 PM
Chris, I'm very, very hopeful that I'll find time to read and digest Lewis's extremely important book on the AACM soon -- and I completely agree with you about the extreme importance of this long-in-the-making volume. In the mean time, watch this space tomorrow for a plug.
Posted by: Steve Smith | May 07, 2008 at 01:38 PM
These quasi-oulipian Internet chain letter processes always seem like they're going to be interesting, but for instance when I tried this one I got this:
"Black opened the Queen Bishop file for himself when he played 3...PXP in the opening. Now he develops the Queen Rook to this half-open file, where it exerts pressure against White's Queen Bishop Pawn. For the time being this pressure is masked, but the game can easily take a turn after which the pressure will become direct."
Posted by: Reuben Radding | May 13, 2008 at 01:03 PM