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Title of the book
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David Nicholls
Avant-garde and experimental music
David Nicholls
The Cambridge History of American Music
0521454298
Cambridge University Press
Cambridge, UK
1998
517-534
ig.
5I8
DAVID NICKOLLS
music and experimental music actually are. T h u s t h e present chapter proceeds f r o m t h e assumption t h a t , at any given time, b o t h exist at t h e foref r o n t of contemporary music t h o u g h t and practice (and are therefore de
facto likely to d i s t u r b rather t h a n reassure, challenge rather t h a n comfort);
and t h a t w h a t distinguishes t h e m is t h e e x t e n t to which they take t h e Eurocentric art music tradition as a reference point. T h u s , very generally, avantgarde music can be viewed as occupying an extreme position w i t h i n the
tradition, while experimental music lies outside it. T h e distinction may
appear slight, b u t w h e n applied t o such areas as institutional s u p p o r t ,
"official" recognition, and financial reward, t h e avant garde's links w i t h
tradition - however t e n u o u s - can carry e n o r m o u s weight.
Before W o r l d W a r II
Although t h e compositional roots of Charles Ives (1874-1954) lie t o a
considerable extent in t h e European R o m a n t i c tradition (see chapter 9), he
also "deserves pride of place as one of t h e first composers of experimental
music" (Burkholder 1990, p. 50). In general terms, Ives's experimentalism
manifests itself in t w o ways. First, he w r o t e a n u m b e r of overtly experimental pieces, in which he tried o u t particular compositional techniques
including extreme chromaticism, tone clusters, polytonality, polyrhythm,
polymetre, polytempo, stratification, and spatial separation. T h e pieces
containing these experiments range f r o m psalm settings and o t h e r quasireligious w o r k s (mainly dating f r o m the 1890s on) t h r o u g h t o secular
instrumental pieces (mostly w r i t t e n after 1905). N o t e w o r t h y examples of
t h e f o r m e r include Psalm 24 and t h e second of the Three Harvest Home
Chorales-, and of the latter From the Steeples and the Mountains,
The
519
C o m p o s e r s ' Guild
(operative
520
DAVID N I C H O L L S
(July
521
i m p o r t a n t period in American musical radicalism's first wave. T h e concerts of the N e w Music Society and PAAC were seminal in bringing new
pieces to public a t t e n t i o n , in places as far apart as San Francisco, N e w York,
Havana, Paris and Budapest. Founded in 1
, Cowell's journal
Mzwz'c
Composers
Wallingford
Riegger
(1885-1961),
and
Dane
Rudhyar
(1895-1985). T h e range of music t h a t benefited f r o m these various initiatives was impressive. T h e PAAC tackled t h e Eurocentric establishment on
its h o m e g r o u n d , p r o m o t i n g concerts on the East Coast of America and in
Europe. T h a t given in Paris on June 6 , 1 9 3 1 , was typical: conducted by
Nicolas Slonimsky (1894-1995), it included Cowell's Synchrony (1930),
Ives's First Orchestral Set (in its n e w chamber orchestra version), Ruggles's
Men and Mountains,
Quar-
talents
as
Ray
Green
(1908-1997)
and
William
Russell
(1905-1992).
T h e radical o p t i m i s m of the period following World W a r I found its
antithesis, however, in the legacy of pessimism and u n e m p l o y m e n t
bequeathed by t h e Wall Street Crash. A l t h o u g h o p p o r t u n i t i e s for performance and publication appear - if anything - to have increased d u r i n g
these years, many composers began to question the relevance of their
earlier, ultra-modern, aesthetic beliefs. I t is significant, for instance, t h a t
Varese completed no n e w pieces d u r i n g t h e decade b o u n d e d by Density
21.^ for solo flute (1936) and t h e unpublished, speculative. Etude pour
Espace (1947). R u t h Crawford - w h o s e brilliant essays at t h e farthest
reaches of dissonant c o u n t e r p o i n t include the String Q u a r t e t (1931) and
the Three Songs (1930-1932) - dallied w i t h political texts, in the TwoRicercari (1932-1933), before becoming involved in folk music. H e r polemical
views w e r e shared w i t h o t h e r members of the left-wing Composers' Collective of N e w York, including Copland and Charles Seeger. Cowell, t o o .
522
DAVID N I C H O L L S
523
(1931),
Cowell's Ostinato Pianissimo, and pieces by several Latin American composers. Harrison's tack piano (in w h i c h t h u m b tacks are pushed into t h e
hammers) and Cage's prepared piano (in which mutes of various kinds are
applied to t h e strings) are conceptually beholden to Cowell's string piano.
Such timbral innovations can be viewed as part of the broader radical
trends - notably t h e move t o w a r d transethnicism - described above. B u t
they also precipitated a loosening of the traditional Western bonds
between n o t a t i o n , execution, and perception: because t h e notation of
music for percussion o r altered piano c a n n o t be intrinsically linked w i t h a
consistent (recognizable) timbral result, t h e score begins t o become indeterminate o f i t s performance. Equally, intonational issues come to t h e fore.
A t this stage. Cage's radicalism was almost exclusively prospective: his
1937 lecture-manifesto " T h e F u t u r e of Music: C r e d o " is a typically bold
s t a t e m e n t of i n t e n t , in many ways prophetic of his later w o r k (Cage 1961,
pp. 3-6). T h u s , in response to t h e perceived need for " m e t h o d s of w r i t i n g
m u s i c . . . which are free f r o m t h e concept of a f u n d a m e n t a l tone," f r o m t h e
First Construction (in Metal) (1939) until t h e early 1950s, Cage contained his
timbral innovations w i t h i n a formal apparatus which - t h r o u g h its basis in
duration - was able to encompass b o t h sound (whether pitched or
unpitched) and silence. (It should be n o t e d , however, t h a t this so-called
"square-root f o r m " is clearly derived f r o m Cowell's earlier formal experiments, as typified in t h e United Quartet and Pulse) Square-root f o r m
proved t o be an extremely flexible resource. Cage was able to utilize it
w h e n w r i t i n g for i n s t r u m e n t s b o t h conventional and unconventional; it
also made possible collaborative work: the percussion ({rnvtetDouble Music
(1941) was w r i t t e n jointly w i t h Harrison. M o r e importantly. Cage could
adapt it to his changing aesthetic needs. His studies w i t h Cowell n o t w i t h standing, Cage's dependence on t h e prepared piano d u r i n g t h e 1940s
524
DAVID N I C H O L L S
Eastern t h o u g h t , " notably that of Ananda K. Coomaraswamy and - ultimately - Z e n Buddhism (Pritchett 1993, pp. 36-37). As a result, Cage was
encouraged in t h e pursuit of an unusual quarry: "giving up control so t h a t
sounds can be s o u n d s " (Cage 1961, p. 72). In t h e Sonatas and Interludes
(1946-1948) Cage's taste - in t h e guise of "considered improvisation"
(Cage 1961, p. 19) - played an i m p o r t a n t p a r t in d e t e r m i n i n g t h e progression of musical events; in s u b s e q u e n t w o r k s , however, such decisions were
increasingly devolved to impersonal processes. T h u s in t h e Strin Quartet
in Four Parts (1949-1950) t h e musical material is restricted t o a g a m u t of
thirty-three sonorities, while in t h e first t w o movements of t h e Concertofor
Prepared Piano and Chamber Orchestra (1950-1951) t h e sounds are contained on grid-shaped charts, a b o u t which Cage " m a d e m o v e s . . . of a "^thematic n a t u r e ' b u t . . . w i t h an 'athematic' r e s u l t " (Nattiez 1993, p. 92). In
t h e final m o v e m e n t of t h e concerto - and most remarkably in t h e Music of
Changes (1951) - however, t h e moves w e r e determined n o t by Cage b u t by
chance, t h r o u g h a process derived f r o m t h a t used t o consult t h e ancient
Chinese book of oracles, the I Ching.
In January, 1950, Cage had w r i t t e n to t h e French composer Pierre
Boulez t h a t " T h e great trouble w i t h our life here is t h e absence of an intellectual life. N o one has an idea" (Nattiez 1993, p. 50). Yet w i t h i n a year, his
situation had changed dramatically, as a result of his meeting t h e o t h e r
members of the so-called N e w York School -
M o r t o n Feldman
525
5 andMusicforCarillonNo.
526
DAVID N I C H O L L S
527
528
DAVID N I C H O L L S
529
530
DAVID N I C H O L L S
earlier minimalist w o r k combined Indian additive and subtractive rhythmic procedures w i t h traditional Eurocentric scales and arpeggios. Even
m o r e so t h a n his colleagues, he used amplification and electric keyboards
in a conscious allusion to c o n t e m p o r a r y popular music practice.
As Glass has n o t e d , " [ b y 1967] I w o u l d say there w e r e roughly t h i r t y
composers w o r k i n g i n a very similar style"; a m o n g those he names are Phill
N i b l o c k (born 1933), Frederic Rzewski (born 1938), Tom Johnson (born
1939)5 Terry Jennings (1940-1981), and Meredith M o n k (born 1943)
(Strickland 1991, p. 113). However, it is the music o f Y o u n g , Riley, Reich
and Glass himself t h a t has tended t o monopolize scholarly and media
attention. Of t h e four, Reich and particularly Glass m i g h t be considered to
have abandoned radicalism since t h e m i d - i 9 7 0 s (see chapter 20) b u t Riley
and Young have remained true to their original precepts. Riley's album
Cflme/(i976;released 1980) consists of f o u r solo improvisations, made
using a specially adapted electronic organ in just intonation w i t h an elaborate digital delay system. T h e music is cast in t w o basic layers - a backg r o u n d of interweaving, pulse-like ostinato patterns, and a foreground of
freer, ornate, melodies. Young's self-confessed fanaticism has resulted in
his overall concept of t h e Dream H o u s e - "in which t h e composition,
performance, p r o d u c t i o n . . . and performance space are integrated into
a single artistic experience" (Farneth 1986, p. 580) - and such visionary
meta-compositions as The Tortoise, His Dreams and Journeys (1964- ) and
The Well-Tuned Piano (1964- ).
Despite t h e predominance of retrospective and extraspective tendencies, however, prospective radicalism apparently remained a p o t e n t force
in c o n t e m p o r a r y music. By 1988, Conlon N a n c a r r o w ' s series o f s t u d i e s for
player piano(s) - commenced in t h e late 1940s - totaled a r o u n d fifty. Some
degree of their complexity may be gleaned f r o m t h e (relatively mild)
subtitle of no. 27 - " C a n o n - 5 % / 6 % / 8 % / i i % . " T h e music of B r o w n ,
Feldman, and Wolff continued t o challenge convention in various ways.
Feldman's late works made extensive use of repetition and w e r e often of
epic proportions: Three Voices (1982) lasts ninety minutes, and For Philip
Guston (1984) four hours. Wolff's pieces, meanwhile, became increasingly
indeterminate in nature. T h e 1960s and early 1970s w e r e an i m p o r t a n t
period for radicalism in all its guises and m a n y composers disseminated
their w o r k t h r o u g h specialized journals, including Source - Music of the
Avant Garde. Composers also t o o k advantage of a n e w generation of performers, b o t h virtuoso and - sometimes - unskilled, in groups as different
as O N C E , Fluxus, Musica Elettronica Viva, and Speculum Musicae.
531
ip6^
532-
DAVID N I C H O L L S
described by its composer as t h e first rap symphony, and combines elements of hip h o p w i t h extended orchestral resources.
In W o o d y Allen's 1977 film Annie Hall, t h e schoolboy Alvy Singer
explains to a psychiatrist w h y he no longer sees any p o i n t in doing his
homework: " T h e universe is e x p a n d i n g . . . Well, t h e universe is everything,
and if it's expanding, someday it will break apart and t h a t will be the end of
everything." Has o u r musical universe broken apart, or rather stopped
moving altogether? Is M o r t o n Feldman's view of Cage's w o r k - that he
"stepped aside to such a degree t h a t w e really see t h e end of the w o r l d , the
end of a r t " (Feldman 1985, p. 92) - accurate? Have w e truly reached " t h e
end of everything"? N o t even musical cosmologists can answer such questions w i t h certainty; b u t w h a t is clear is t h a t t h e limitless musical universe
of Cage's Variations IV lies very close to t h e postmodernity which other
composers, f r o m quite different traditions, currently espouse. T h e British
composer Robin Holloway could hardly be considered a fellow-traveler
w i t h Cage: yet in 1989 his o w n perspective was t h a t " M o d e r n i s m is everyone's immediate past: and any remoter past can only be reached t h r o u g h it.
Meanwhile, w e have the present: infinite possibility, dislocated like a
wrecked mosaic that has been incorrectlyrestored"(Holloway i 9 8 9 , p . 66).
T h e c o n t e m p o r a r y musical situation in which w e find ourselves need
n o t be viewed quite so pessimistically as this, t h o u g h . An alternative is
simply t o try and accept it: as Lou Harrison once remarked in another
context " d o n ' t u n d e r r a t e hybrid musics BECAUSE THAT'S ALL THERE IS"
(quoted i n V o n G u n d e n 1995, p. 201). And there may even yet be t w o areas
of American music in w h i c h prospective radicalism continues t o play an
i m p o r t a n t part (although it is significant t h a t b o t h areas involve interaction w i t h o t h e r universes, one real b u t parallel, t h e o t h e r coextensive b u t
synthetic). T h e first (and less convincing) exists w h e r e music is joined
w i t h one o r m o r e of t h e o t h e r arts, n o t conventionally (as in opera, ballet.
533
done for s o u n d ; and almost all of Cage's scores for C u n n i n g h a m ' s dances
w e r e conceived w i t h o u t reference t o t h e choreography (and vice versa).
This lead was followed avidly d u r i n g t h e 1960s, particularly by those associated w i t h groups such as Fluxus and O N C E . For example, La M o n t e
Young's Piano Piecefor David Tudor #1 (1960) opens w i t h t h e instruction
"Bring a bale of hay and a b u c k e t of water o n t o t h e stage for t h e piano to
eat and d r i n k " ; in Solofor Violin Viola Cello or Contrabass (1962) by George
Brecht (born ?i926) t h e p e r f o r m e r polishes, rather t h a n plays, his instrum e n t ; Kittyhawk (1964) by R o b e r t Ashley (born 1930) combines music,
movement, and theatre in an early condemnation of the oppression of
w o m e n . Since 1970, such multi-media theatricality has become increasingly c o m m o n : examples include Glass's collaboration w i t h R o b e r t
Wilson, Einstein on the Beach (1976); United States (1983) by Laurie Anderson (born 1947); Ashley's P e j / e c i i f m (Private Parts) (1977-1983) a n d ^ t o lanta (Acts of God) (1982); Steve Reich's The Cave (1993); t h e w o r k of
Meredith M o n k , including the quasi-operatic Atlas (1988-1991); and
Pauline Oliveros's Nzinga the Queen-King (1993).
T h e second (and m o r e promising) area of continuing radicalism is
electroacoustic music. Radical composers have, since t h e early years of t h e
century, enthusiastically explored t h e possible uses of electrical means,
b o t h pure and in combination w i t h acoustic resources. By 1922, Varese
was already calling for "an i n s t r u m e n t t h a t will give us a continuous
sound at any pitch. T h e composer and t h e electrician will have to labor
together to get i t " (quoted in Ouellette 1968, p . 76). Typical early examples of such i n s t r u m e n t s include t h e t h e r e m i n , developed by Russian
inventor Lev Termen w h o was resident in America d u r i n g 1927-1938;
and t h e r h y t h m i c o n , built in the early 1930s by Termen to a design by
Cowell. Cage followed Varese in advocating "a music produced t h r o u g h
the aid of electrical i n s t r u m e n t s " (Cage 1961, p. 3): among o t h e r w o r k s ,
the Imaginary Landscape No. 1 (1939) has parts for frequency discs, played
on t w o variable-speed turntables, while Credo in Us (1942) and Imaginary
Landscape No. 4(1^^1)
utilize radios.
534
DAVID N I C H O L L S