Chapter 17, John Cage in the United States

Episode 156

Chapter 17, John Cage in the United States. Works Recommended from my book, Electronic and Experimental Music 

Welcome to the Archive of Electronic Music. This is Thom Holmes.

This podcast is produced as a companion to my book, Electronic and Experimental Music, published by Routledge. Each of these episodes corresponds to a chapter in the text and an associated list of recommended works, also called Listen in the text. They provide listening examples of vintage electronic works featured in the text.

The works themselves can be enjoyed without the book and I hope that they stand as a chronological survey of important works in the history of electronic music. Be sure to tune-in to other episodes of the podcast where we explore a wide range of electronic music in many styles and genres, all drawn from my archive of vintage recordings.

There is a complete playlist for this episode on the website for the podcast.

Playlist: EARLY ELECTRONIC MUSIC IN THE UNITED STATES

Time

Track Time

Start

Introduction –Thom Holmes

01:25

00:00

1.     Louis and Bebe Barron, “The Bells of Atlantis” (1952), soundtrack for a film by Ian Hugo based on the writings of his wife Anaïs Nin (who’s voice you will hear). Tape composition produced at the Barron’s studio (New York).

09:01

01:38

2.     Williams Mix (1952) by John Cage. Tape composition produced at the Barrons’ studio (New York).

05:42

10:40

3.     Otto Luening and Vladimir Ussachevsky, “Moonflight” (1952) Tape composition produced at the composer’s Tape Music Center at Columbia University, the precursor of the Columbia-Princeton Electronic Music Center.

02:54

16:20

4.     Henry Jacobs, “Sonata for Loudspeakers” (1953-54). Tape composition produced at radio station KPFA-FM in Berkeley.

09:29

19:12

5.     Jim Fassett, track “B2” (Untitled) (1955). From the album, Strange To Your Ears. Tape composition produced at CBS radio.

08:15

28:38

6.     Harry F. Olsen, “The Well-Tempered Clavier: Fugue No. 2” (Bach), “Nola” (Arndt) and “Home, Sweet Home” (1955). Disc composition created on RCA Mark I Music Synthesizer at Princeton University.

05:26

36:54

7.     John Cage, “Fontana Mix” (1958). Tape composition produced by Cage at Studio di Fonologia of the Italian Radio (Milan).

11:33

42:33

8.     Tod Dockstader, “Drone” (1962). Tape composition produced privately by the composer (Los Angeles).

13:24

54:06

9.     Kenneth Gaburo, “Lemon Drops (Tape Alone)” (1965). Tape composition produced at the studio for Experimental Music of the University of Illinois.

02:52

01:07:30

10.   Jean Eichelberger Ivey, “Pinball” (1965) from Electronic Music (1967 Folkways). Tape composition produced at the Electronic Music Studio of Brandeis University.

06:12

01:10:20

11.   Pauline Oliveros, “Bye Bye Butterfly” (1965). Tape composition produced at the San Francisco Tape Music Center.

08:05

01:16:32

12.   Olly W. Wilson, “Cetus” (1967). Tape composition produced at the studio for Experimental Music of the University of Illinois.

09:18

01:24:36

 

Additional opening, closing, and other incidental music by Thom Holmes.

My Books/eBooks: Electronic and Experimental Music, sixth edition, Routledge 2020. Also, Sound Art: Concepts and Practices, first edition, Routledge 2022.

See my companion blog that I write for the Bob Moog Foundation.

For a transcript, please see my blog, Noise and Notations.

Original music by Thom Holmes can be found on iTunes and Bandcamp.