Title: Cybersonic arts :
Authors: Mumma, Gordon,; Fillion, Michelle,; Wolff, Christian,
Date: 2015
Publisher: University of Illinois Press,
Physical description: xxxiv, 339 pages : illustrations, music ; 23 cm.
Language: English
LC classification: M
Abstract: "Composer, performer, instrument builder, teacher, and writer Gordon Mumma has left an indelible mark on the American contemporary music scene. A prolific composer and innovative French horn player, Mumma is recognized for integrating advanced electronic processes into musical structures, an approach he has termed "Cybersonics." Musicologist Michelle Fillion curates a collection of Mumma's writings, presenting revised versions of his classic pieces as well as many unpublished works from every stage of his storied career. Here, through words and astonishing photos, is Mumma's chronicle of seminal events in the musical world of the twentieth century: his cofounding the Cooperative Studio for Electronic Music; his role in organizing the historic ONCE Festivals of Contemporary Music; performances with the Sonic Arts Union; and working alongside John Cage and David Tudor as a composer-musician with the Merce Cunningham Dance Company. In addition, Mumma describes his collaborations with composers, performers, dancers, and visual artists ranging from Robert Ashley and Pauline Oliveros to Marcel Duchamp and Robert Rauschenberg. Candid and insightful, Cybersonic Arts is the eye-opening account of a broad artistic community by an active participant and observer." -- Publisher's description
Contents: Foreword / Christian Wolff -- Introduction / Michelle Fillion -- Preamble. Gordon Mumma: a short biography / Michelle Fillion -- Unmarked interchange : Ann Arbor and the ONCE years (1960-66). Editor's introduction ; Music's avant-garde: what's new? ; Manifestations: light and sound: Milton Cohen's Space Theatre ; An electronic music studio for the independent composer ; The ONCE Festival and how it happened ; The ONCE Group's Unmarked interchange and Night train -- Cybersonics and the sonic arts (1966-75). Editor's introduction ; Creative aspects of live-performance electronic music technology ; Alvin Lucier's Music for solo performer 1965 ; Two cybersonic works: Horn and Hornpipe ; Music in America 1970: points of view ; A brief introduction to the sound-modifier console and Sun(flower) burst ; What we did last summer: a commentary on ICES 1972 ; Two decades of live-electronic music, 1950-70 ; Witchcraft, cybersonics, and folkloric virtuosity --^ In the Cunningham circle. Editor's introduction ; A day on the road with the Cunningham Dance Company ; From where the circus went ; Robert Rauschenberg in the creative fields of the Cunningham Dance Company ; With Tudor the organist ; David Tudor the composer along the path to Rainforest -- Not wanting to say anything about John (Cage). Editor's introduction ; Cage as performer ; John Cage, electronic technology, and live-electronic music ; Twenty-five minutes with John Cage -- Latin America. Editor's introduction ; Innovation in Latin American electro-acoustical music ; Briefly about Conlon Nancarrow's Studies for player piano ; Uruguayan diary: the Cuarto Curso Latinoamericano de Música Contemporánea, Cerro del Toro, Uruguay --^ An American gallery. Editor's introduction ; Nelson mix for Gordon Mumma ; Gordon Mumma's Stovepipe for Richard Nelson ; Good times up on the farm ; Merce and Ludwig ; On the Ives Railroad ; A visit to Mount Olympus with David Tudor ; On George Cacioppo ; Earle's worlds ; Three Sonic Arts Union sketches: Speaking Robert Ashley; Crossings with David Behrman; Becoming Alvin Lucier ; Working with Pauline Oliveros -- Mumma on Mumma. Editor's introduction ; Notes on my creative procedures -- Appendix. Selective list of Gordon Mumma's musical compositions.
Notes: "Selective list of Gordon Mumma's compositions" (pages 283-295).
Subject headings (LCSH): Avant-garde (Music)--United States--History--20th century.; Computer music.; Electronic music--United States--History and criticism.; Electronic music.; Mumma, Gordon, 1935-; Music--United States--20th century--History and criticism; Music--United States--20th century.