| Category: | Musical composition |
| Dated: | New York City, May 1991 |
| Instrumentation: | 4 performers: one or two pianos, twelve rainsticks, violin or oscillator and silence |
| Duration: | 30' |
| Premiere and performer(s): | June 20, 1991 at the Theater 11 in Zurich, Switzerland. Performed (with the choreography by Merce Cunningham) by David Tudor and others. |
| Dedicated to: | for the Merce Cunningham Dance Company |
| Choreography: | Merce Cunningham: Beach Birds / Beach Birds for Camera (1991) |
| Published: | Edition Peters 67407 © 1991 by Henmar Press. |
| Manuscript: | Score (holograph, signed, in ink - 12 lv.); Printed score (composer's copy with holographic annotations - 12 lv.); Sketches (holograph in ink - 2 lv.); Time bracket page (galley proof with holographic annotations - 1 p.), all in New York Public Library |
| The published score consists of 1 title page with written instructions on the back side, 1 page with empty (flexible)
time brackets, and 6 leaves with a chance-derived score called Extended Lullaby. The 6 leaves contain 12 numbered
pages with 4 single systems in traditional musical writing. Pages 1 and 7 have a title above it EXTENDED LULLABY.
All systems are notated using a treble clef. Four players perform 4 different actions, following the given time brackets. The activities to choose from are: 1. Silence. 2. The sound of a rainstick. 3. A sine wave (in the neighboorhood of c'''', played on an oscillator or on a violin). 4. Excerpts from "Extended Lullaby" 1-6 and 7-12, played on the piano(s). The "Extended Lullaby" is a set of 12 chance determined variations of the cantus firmus and the counterpoint of "Vexations" by Erik Satie. These variations were also used in Two6. The rainsticks are played by tilting them, taking care not to disrupt the continuity of sound. The oscillator (or violin) plays a high C, without vibrato. Everything should be played pianissimo and as slowly as possible. The list of time brackets may be read from any beginning point with da capo. Each player uses 2 stop watches. The work was commissioned by the Junifestwochen Zurich, Switzerland. Sources: Published score; Paul van Emmerik: A Cage Compendium; Paul van Emmerik: Thema's en Variaties; David Vaughan: Merce Cunningham - Fifty Years; New York Public Library online catalog; Daniel Charles: The Unison of Differences (Liner notes to CD: Mode 44); Steffen Schleiermacher: Make a plan, and it'll be unmade (Liner notes to CD: MDG 613 0798-2) |