Friday, July 29, 2005

Landmarks (6)

Pauline Oliveros: In Memoriam Nikola Tesla, Cosmic Engineer (1969): commissioned as accompaniment to Merce Cunningham's dance Canfield, Oliveros wrote a piece where the musicians of the company (Tudor, Mumma) uses the theatre itself as an instrument. The musicians discuss, then venture out of the pit (1969: remember "extravehicular activity"?) to test and measure the room, and finally, the hall is "played" with a sweep of low frequency oscillators in a search for a primary room resonance frequency.