- Additional Authors
- Found In
- Merce Cunningham Dance Foundation Collection.
- Description
- 2 streaming audio files (66 minutes total) : digital, stereo
- Summary
- Streaming file 1, side 1: Unidentified speaker briefly introduces Richard Kostelanetz, ca. 0:00-0:16; Richard Kostelanetz remarks on the initiative of Wesleyan University to offer tenure to "Cageians" as well as the University's support of experimental musicians; he speaks about coining the term "polyartists" and defines it; his book on [László] Moholy-Nagy [Moholy-Nagy, New York: Praeger, 1970]; he lists those figures he considers to be "polyartists" as well as related artistic movements; Moholy-Nagy's artistic works and style [in relation to a slideshow displaying Moholy-Nagy's art]; he highlights a work by Moholy-Nagy from 1945 that responds to James Joyce's Finnegans wake; he relates the artistic forms of John Cage with those of Moholy-Nagy as non-centered and non-hierarchical; [ca. 20:48-22:12, plays excerpt from The 25-Year retrospective concert of the music of John Cage (1958), performance recording of Cage's Construction in metal (1939)]; he continues to speak about "Cageian" structure; [ca. 23:35-24:48, excerpt from Cage's Williams mix on The 25-Year retrospective concert of the music of John Cage]; several drawings by Cage that relate to Cage's music scores; Earle [Browne?], from the audience, tells a brief anecdote about the drawing; Kostelanetz continues to speak about the design of Cage's musical scores; [ca. 27:23-28:31, excerpt of Atlas eclipticalis (1961) played with Winter music (1957)]; attending the premiere performance of Cage's HPSCHD (1969) at the University of Illinois at Champaign-Urbana; [ca. 30:15-31:34, excerpt of Cage's HPSCHD]; Cage's "plexigram" sculptures, Not wanting to say anything about Marcel (1969); briefly, Cage's experimental writings, including A year from Monday [: New Lectures and Writings, Connecticut: Wesleyan University Press, 1967]; Cage's use of chance methods; the non-hierarchical structure of Cage's Notations, [New York: Foundation for Contemporary Performance Arts, 1969]; Cage's mesostic poetry; [ca. 39:33-40:22, excerpt from Cage's Mureau (1970)]; briefly, Cage's use of Henry David Thoreau's text for Mureau, and the subsequent, Empty words (1973-1978); [ca. 40:55-42:18, excerpt from Empty words, part 4 (1974)]; Kostelanetz describes Cage's reworkings of Finnegans wake, especially Roaratorio (1979); [ca. 43:18-45:07, excerpt from Roaratorio]; briefly, his assertion of Cage as a polyartist; he reads from a statement by Jackson Mac Low; ends abruptly.
- Streaming file 2, side 2: Begins abruptly, Richard Kostelanetz continues to read from a statement by Jackson Mac Low; he speaks about the ways in which John Cage's egalitarian politics are expressed in the form of his works; the Living Theatre's play Paradise now (1968) in comparison with Cage's works; a brief statement on Cage by Morton Feldman; Kostelanetz speaks about his admiration of Cage and his recent book: Conversing with Cage [New York: Limelight Editions, 1988]; he reads passages from the last chapter in Conversing with Cage to illustrate Cage's ethos about art and politics, especially in relation to anarchist politics of the 1930s; [ca. 15:37, audience applause]; [ca. 16:27-19:36, question and answer session with the audience]; ends abruptly.
- Alternative Title
- Merce Cunningham Dance Foundation Collection. Audio materials.
- Subjects
- Lectures
- Art and music
- Aleatory music > History and criticism
- Moholy-Nagy, László, 1895-1946, > artist
- Kostelanetz, Richard > Conversing with Cage
- Joyce, James, 1882-1941 > Finnegans wake
- Cage, John > Roaratorio
- Cage, John > HPSCHD
- Cage, John, > composer
- Genre/Form
- Lectures.
- Note
- Contains Richard Kostelanetz's lecture at Wesleyan University as part of the Cage Symposium celebrating John Cage's 75th birthday.
- Title, speaker, date, and location provided by cataloger based on handwritten and typed notes on original container and cassette, and audition.
- Handwritten note on original container: "Cage Symposium ; Richard Kostelanetz - T2". Typed note on original cassette: "Cage Symposium 2/24/88 ; Lecture - Richard Kostelanetz ; Wesleyan University ; Middletown, CT ; COPY".
- Sound quality is mostly good; the speaker is recorded at a distance from the microphone but is clearly audible.
- Access (note)
- Patrons can access streaming audio only on site at NYPL Research Libraries.
- Source (note)
- Merce Cunningham Dance Foundation
- Linking Entry (note)
- Forms part of the Merce Cunningham Dance Foundation Collection.
- Call Number
- *LTC-A 1661
- OCLC
- 933583031
- Author
Kostelanetz, Richard, speaker.
- Title
Richard Kostelanetz lecture at the Cage Symposium at Wesleyan University : "The anarchist art of the polyartist", 1988-02-24.
- Production
February 24, 1988.
- Playing Time
004607 001936
- Type of Content
spoken word
- Type of Medium
audio
- Type of Carrier
audiocassette
online resource
- Digital File Characteristics
audio file
- Event
Recorded at Wesleyan University in, Middletown, Connecticut, 1988 February 24.
- Restricted Access
Patrons can access streaming audio only on site at NYPL Research Libraries.
- Original Version
Archival original: (1 audio cassette (66 minutes) : analog) in *LTC-A 1661.
- Linking Entry
Forms part of the Merce Cunningham Dance Foundation Collection.
- Local Note
Transferred from original analog cassette by George Blood Audio on March 26, 2015; two preservation files were created based on cassette sides.
- Source
Gift; Merce Cunningham Dance Foundation, 2011-2012.
- Connect to:
- Added Author
Wesleyan University (Middletown, Conn.), host institution.
Merce Cunningham Dance Foundation, donor.
- Added Title
Merce Cunningham Dance Foundation Collection. Audio materials.
- Found In:
Merce Cunningham Dance Foundation Collection.
- Research Call Number
*LTC-A 1661