Music for Merce, Vol. 9 (digital only)
Liner Notes   Cat. No. 80712     Release Date: 2011-06-09
The late Merce Cunningham was renowned for his legendary collaborations with the most significant experimental musicians of the late 20th century. Particularly notable is his association with John Cage, who served as the founding musical director of the Merce Cunningham Dance Company until Cage’s death in 1992.

Spanning six decades from the early 1950s onward, these recordings capture the breadth of the Cunningham repertory and the rich diversity of Cunningham’s musical collaborations. Composers whose work features prominently in this collection include seminal figures of late-20th-century experimental music such as John Cage, David Tudor, Gordon Mumma, Christian Wolff, and Takehisa Kosugi, among others. For the most part, these compositions have not been recorded elsewhere and are making their first appearance on CD. This is a document of enormous historical import that will be a revelation to both listeners and scholars interested in the evolution of American experimental music over the past five decades. The box set includes a 124-page booklet featuring a 15,000-word essay by Amy Beal, one of the foremost scholars of contemporary American music.

Volume Nine includes:

1. John Cage (1912–1992) 108 and One8 (1989) [excerpt] 14:18
Dance: Interscape (2000)
Loren Dempster, cello; Orchestra del Teatro La Fenice, Arturo Tamayo, conductor
(Recorded September 29, 2000, Venice)

2. John King (b. 1953)
longtermparking (2002) [excerpt] 15:31
Dance: Fluid Canvas (2002)
John King, laptop
(Recorded September 10, 2002, London)

3. David Behrman (b. 1937)
Long Throw (2007) [excerpt] 18:25
Dance: eyeSpace (2007)
David Behrman, laptop; Takehisa Kosugi, electric violin; John King, electric guitar, viola; Christian Wolff, prepared piano
(Recorded October 22, 2007, Melbourne)

4. Annea Lockwood (b. 1939)
Jitterbug (2007) [excerpt] 20:19
Dance: eyeSpace (2007)
John King, electric guitar, viola, live electronics; David Behrman, laptop, zither; Stephan Moore, live electronics
(Recorded January 26, 2008, Stanford, California)

Various Artists

Music for Merce, Vol. 9 (digital only)

MP3/320 $9.99
FLAC $9.99
WAV $9.99
108 and One8¸ [excerpt]
John Cage
Buy
lontermparking [excerpt]
John King
Buy
Long Throw [excerpt]
David Behrman
Buy
Jitterbug [excerpt]
Annea Lockwood
Buy