On Stockhausen’s Kontakte (1959-60) for tape, piano and percussion A lecture/analysis by John Rea given at the University of Toronto, march 1968 Sur Kontakte de Stockhausen (1959-1960) pour bande, piano et percussions Une conférence/analyse de 1968

Abstract

A lecture/analysis given by John Rea at the University of Toronto, March 1968, discusses various topics in the composition such as: concepts (performance time, production time, subjective perception of time, moment time, moment characteristics), discussion of particular Moments, hardware, overall formal organization, definition of structure, parameter of space (an example), temporal transformation, and performance practice. The lecture text is also notable for the fact that Rea spoke to the pianist who had premiered Kontakte, David Tudor, who was in Toronto at that time to participate in a four and a half hour ‘happening’ known as Reunion (on March 5, 1968) organized by John Cage, and featuring Marcel Duchamp with whom he played chess on a photo-sensitive electronic chessboard.

Résumé

Conférence donnée par John Rea à l’Université de Toronto en mars 1968. L’auteur y analyse l’oeuvre sous différents angles : aspects conceptuels (temps d’interprétation, temps de réalisation, perception subjective du temps, caractéristiques du concept de Moment), organisation formelle, définition structurelle, paramètres spatiaux, interprétation, etc. Par ailleurs, l’auteur avait pu s’entretenir avec le pianiste David Tudor, interprète de la création de Kontakte, alors à Toronto pour participer à un happening connu sous le titre Reunion (5 mars 1968), organisé par John Cage, qui jouait aux échecs avec Marcel Duchamp sur un échiquier photo-sensible.

Notes

• [1] [Ed. note] Cf. Lowell Cross, “Reunion: John Cage, Marcel Duchamp, Electronic Music and Chess,” Leonardo Music Journal, vol. 9, pp. 35-42.
• [2] Texte zur Musik (Dumont-Buchverlag, Cologne)
• [3] See John Backus, “Die Reihe - A Scientific Evaluation,” Perspectives of New Music, vol. 1, no. 1 (Autumn 1962), pp. 160-171.
• [4] An adaption of a translation by Henry Weinberg in “Letter from Italy,” Perspectives of New Music, vol. 1, no. 1 (Autumn, 1962), pp. 192-196.
• [5] N.B. (2009): I asked David Tudor various questions that he very graciously answered while he unplugged equipment following his marathon performance at the Ryerson Theatre in Toronto on March 5, 1968. Entitled Reunion, this 4.5 hour event included John Cage, who conceived the work; Marcel Duchamp and his wife Alexina (Teeny); and composers David Behrman, Gordon Mumma, David Tudor as well as Lowell Cross (a graduate student at the University of Toronto then, and teaching assistant to Gustav Ciamaga in the electronic music course for which I wrote this analysis), who designed and constructed the electronic chessboard upon which Cage and the Duchamps had played. For the final hour, I was the only member of the audience remaining in the theatre, and I’ve always wondered since whether my presence had anything to do with the ultimate duration of the performance, as opposed to the reported fatigue of Marcel Duchamp! See Lowell Cross, “Reunion: John Cage, Marcel Duchamp, Electronic Music and Chess,” in Leonardo Music Journal, Vol. 9, pp. 35-42, 1999.
• [6] N.B (2009): Stockhausen wrote Harlequin for clarinet solo in 1975 for American clarinetist Suzanne Stephens. The score reveals details about dance movements notated together with the music.