| Category: | Musical composition |
| Dated: | Stony Point, August 1973 |
| Instrumentation: | Ensemble of any size with and without 3 conductors and a tape with sounds of the environment in which the materials were written. |
| Duration: | indeterminate |
| Premiere and performer(s): | November 6, 1973 at the Opéra in Paris, France. Performance by the Paris Opera Ballet, together with the choreography. |
| Dedicated to: | --- (?) |
| Choreography: | Merce Cunningham: Un Jour ou Deux (1973) |
| Published: | Edition Peters 6812 © 1973 by Henmar Press. |
| Manuscript: | Parts (copyist's manuscript in ink - 59 p.); Notes and worksheets (holograph in ink and pencil - 7 lv.), both in New York Public Library. |
| The materials provided are for flute, oboe, clarinet, bassoon, trumpet, horn, tuba, strings, 6 percussionists
and 2 pianos. The ensemble may deviate from this setup as substitutions, additions and subtractions may be made.
The musicians begin playing without conductor and move at their own option to one of three stations, each provided with
two, three or four chairs. When a station is fully occupied, the conductor starts beating. Pitch and rhythm are not specified, but rhythm is notated in space, to be read horizontally. Dynamics are notated conventionally. The conductors 'scores' are without notes, but contain metrical structures. Except for their own instruments, the ensemble also plays on non-resonant cardboard boxes, tapping on them, the sounds resembling the rustling of leaves and the patter of raindrops, thus refering to his environmental pieces like Branches and Child of Tree. The tape with sounds of birds, wind and distant traffic, recorded by David Behrman, adds to this reference. |