Archive release

Horn / In Memoriam Edgar Varèse

Mario Davidovsky / Gordon Mumma · 1967 · Tape · US · 4

Released as part of the multimedia magazine "Aspen Magazine Vol.1 No. 4 Spring, 1967". "In Memoriam Edgar Varèse" used with permission of Marks Music Corp. This magnetic tape composition was done in the tape studios of the Columbia-Princeton Electronic Music Center. In contrast to "Horn," this composition was done directly on magnetic tape with each sound created and controlled entirely by the composer in the tape studio. "Horn" A coulisse from antiquity in the guise of an objet-trouvé by Gordon Mumma composer and performing musician with the ONCE group theater ensemble, the Sonic Arts Group and the Merce Cunningham Dance Company. "Horn" is a live-performance electronic "chance" composition. The sound source is a french horn fitted with a special mute containing a microphone. The sounds from the microphone are fed to two cybersonic consoles (transistorized sound modifiers). The consoles are operated by two performers who determine the continuity of the work during each performance, according to conditions specified by the computer. Thus, the composition changes at each performance. Monaural.