American Mavericks: Program 9: The Do-It-Yourself Composer



	Program 9: The Do-It-Yourself Composer (59:00s)

	Ignored by the concert music establishment, many maverick composers have taken matters into their own hands, refusing to be dependent on institutions. Inspired by composers like Conlon Nancarrow, who wrote all his music for player piano, and Partch, who built his own instruments and trained his own ensemble, a legion of self-sufficient composers arises in the 1960's, including singers like Meredith Monk who can perform her music solo; performers like Reich and Glass who form and maintain their own ensembles; and technicians like Mikel Rouse and Charles Amirkhanian who create their own music from electronic equipment they have at home. As the success of this music spreads, many of these composers have now been asked to write for orchestras and other ensembles, but the ability to become self-sufficient helped their music survive in the lean years.

"The Do-It-Yourself Composer"
An essay by music critic and author Kyle Gann.

Pamela Z and the BodySynth
DSL/Cable modem 56k Modem (3:26s)(1997, exerpt)
Pamela Z creates solo works combining operatic bel canto and experimental vocal techniques, with found percussion objects, spoken word, and sampled concrête sounds triggered with a MIDI controller called The BodySynth™, which allows her to manipulate sound with physical gestures.

Nick Didkovsky and Dr. Nerve
DSL/Cable modem 56k modem (7:14s) (2001, exerpt)
"Interview" (68:32s)
"The Monkey Farm" is guitarist/composer/facilitator Nick Didkovsky's setting for stories written by Chuck W Vrtacek. With theatre director Valeria Vasilevski reading and realtime voice warping using special software designed by Phil Burk, Robert Marsanyi, and Didkovsky. Performed with the ensemble Doctor Nerve.

Composers Mentioned in the Show

Conlon Nancarrow
Henry Cowell
Peter Garland
Charles Amirkhanian
John Cage
Terry Riley
Pauline Oliveros
Frederic Rzewski
Meredith Monk

Steve Reich
Philip Glass
Michael Gordon
Toby Twining
Nick Didkovsky
Pamela Z
Robert Ashley
Mikel Rouse

In addition to host Suzanne Vega and San Francisco Symphony Orchestra Music Director Michael Tilson Thomas, this show includes the voices of these composers, performers, and scholars:

Pauline Oliveros: "Interview" (60:15s)
Meredith Monk: "Interview" (30:43s)
Meredith Monk "Composers Voice " (29:00s)
Michael Gordon

Additional related interviews
Nick Didkovsky "Interview" (54:34s)
Mikel Rouse: "Interview" (43:59s)
Robert Ashley: "Interview" (12/04/79) (48:12s)
Philip Glass "Composers Voice" (59:00s)
Steve Reich: "Interview" (71:39s)
Frederic Rzewski: "Interview" (04/17/83) (33:27s)

IN TALK
If composers have become self-sufficient, in part, because most orchestras don't program much new music, tell us … what would get you to buy a ticket to a symphony concert with unknown music on it? If you had your own orchestra, what would you do to further the cause of American music … and still sell tickets? Or is a small ensemble the practical way to go?

Show Audio
Listen to the program (59:00s)

Music heard in the show:

Mexican folk music ("El Tocayito"/Playa Sound PS 65905)

JAMES P. JOHNSON: "Carolina Shout" (EPM Jazz Archives 111)

CONLON NANCARROW: Study No. 3A (Wergo WER 6907 2)

CONLON NANCARROW: Study No. 40A (Wergo WER 6907 2)

CONLON NANCARROW: Study No. 7 (Wergo WER 6907 2)

LUDWIG VAN BEETHOVEN: Symphony No. 7 (BerlinPhilharmonic/Von Karajan/DGG 429 036-2)

JOHN CAGE: "The Seasons," "Spring" (American Composers Orchestra/Davies/ECM 1696)

TERRY RILEY: "A Rainbow in Curved Air" (CBS MK 7315)

PAULINE OLIVEROS: "Horse Sings from Cloud" Lovely Music VR 1902)

SERGEI RACHMANINOFF: Piano Concerto No. 2

FREDERICK RZEWSKI: "The People United Can Never Be Defeated" (played by Rzewski /Nonesuch 79623)

MEREDITH MONK: "Atlas" (ECM 437 773-2)

MEREDITH MONK: From "Songs from the Hill," Lulluby #4 (Wergo SM 1022)

STEVE REICH: "Music for 18 Musicians" (ECM 422 821 417-2)

NICK DIDKOVSKY/DOCTOR NERVE: "Take Your Ears as the Bones of Their Queen" (Cuneiform Records RUNE 70)

TOBY TWINING: "Chrysalid Requiem" (Cantaloupe Music CA21007)

MICHAEL GORDON: "Thou Shall!/Thou Shall Not!" (CRI CD 636)

PAMELA Z: "Caught" (CRI CD 770)

ROBERT ASHLEY: From "Perfect Lives," "The Park" (Lovely Music LCD 4917.3)

MIKEL ROUSE: From "Dennis Cleveland," "We Deliver" (New World Records 80506-2)

KRONOS QUARTET (Thomas Oboe Lee: "Morango … Almost a Tango"/Elektra Nonesuch E2-79163)

CONLON NANCARROW: Study No. 3B (Wergo WER 6907 2)



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