Liner Notes
Cat. No. 80712
Release Date: 2011-06-09
The late Merce Cunningham was renowned for his legendary collaborations with the most significant experimental musicians of the late 20th century. Particularly notable is his association with John Cage, who served as the founding musical director of the Merce Cunningham Dance Company until Cage’s death in 1992.
Spanning six decades from the early 1950s onward, these recordings capture the breadth of the Cunningham repertory and the rich diversity of Cunningham’s musical collaborations. Composers whose work features prominently in this collection include seminal figures of late-20th-century experimental music such as John Cage, David Tudor, Gordon Mumma, Christian Wolff, and Takehisa Kosugi, among others. For the most part, these compositions have not been recorded elsewhere and are making their first appearance on CD. This is a document of enormous historical import that will be a revelation to both listeners and scholars interested in the evolution of American experimental music over the past five decades. The box set includes a 124-page booklet featuring a 15,000-word essay by Amy Beal, one of the foremost scholars of contemporary American music.
Volume One includes:
1. Christian Wolff (b. 1934)
For Magnetic Tape (1952) [pt. 1 of 4] 5:24
Dance: Suite by Chance (1952)
2. Christian Wolff
For Piano I (1952) 5:19
Dance: Untitled Solo (1953)
David Tudor, piano
(Recorded on tour in 1972)
3. John Cage (1912–1992)
Music for Piano 1–20 (1954) 16:13
Dance: Minutiae (1954)
John Cage, David Tudor, pianos
(Recorded in 1954)
4. Earle Brown (1926–2002)
Indices (1955)[excerpt] 20:51
piano reduction of Indices (1954)
for flute, french horn, trumpet, percussion, piano, amplified guitar, violin, violoncello, double bass (ballet version)
Dance: Springweather and People (1955)
David Tudor, piano
5. Bo Nilsson (b. 1937)
Quantitäten (1958) 12:31
Dance: Night Wandering (1958)
David Tudor, piano
(Recorded on tour in 1972)
Spanning six decades from the early 1950s onward, these recordings capture the breadth of the Cunningham repertory and the rich diversity of Cunningham’s musical collaborations. Composers whose work features prominently in this collection include seminal figures of late-20th-century experimental music such as John Cage, David Tudor, Gordon Mumma, Christian Wolff, and Takehisa Kosugi, among others. For the most part, these compositions have not been recorded elsewhere and are making their first appearance on CD. This is a document of enormous historical import that will be a revelation to both listeners and scholars interested in the evolution of American experimental music over the past five decades. The box set includes a 124-page booklet featuring a 15,000-word essay by Amy Beal, one of the foremost scholars of contemporary American music.
Volume One includes:
1. Christian Wolff (b. 1934)
For Magnetic Tape (1952) [pt. 1 of 4] 5:24
Dance: Suite by Chance (1952)
2. Christian Wolff
For Piano I (1952) 5:19
Dance: Untitled Solo (1953)
David Tudor, piano
(Recorded on tour in 1972)
3. John Cage (1912–1992)
Music for Piano 1–20 (1954) 16:13
Dance: Minutiae (1954)
John Cage, David Tudor, pianos
(Recorded in 1954)
4. Earle Brown (1926–2002)
Indices (1955)[excerpt] 20:51
piano reduction of Indices (1954)
for flute, french horn, trumpet, percussion, piano, amplified guitar, violin, violoncello, double bass (ballet version)
Dance: Springweather and People (1955)
David Tudor, piano
5. Bo Nilsson (b. 1937)
Quantitäten (1958) 12:31
Dance: Night Wandering (1958)
David Tudor, piano
(Recorded on tour in 1972)
