Music from the ONCE Festival 1961-1966 (Box Set)
Liner Notes   Cat. No. 80567     Release Date: 2003-01-01
Ann Arbor, Michigan, seems an unlikely site for the establishment of a major avant-garde festival that would shake the new-music community. Tucked away in America's heartland, the city is equally removed from the Eastern metropolises whose artists pride themselves on sensing the pulse of the times, and from the nonconformist West Coast. Yet during the 1960s Ann Arbor played host to one of the most extraordinary adventures in American music history: the annual ONCE Festival and its nexus of related activities.

The primary aim of ONCE's founders—Robert Ashley, Gordon Mumma, George Cacioppo, Roger Reynolds, and Donald Scavarda—was to create a forum for the presentation of cutting-edge music. To this end they were phenomenally successful. Performers and composers-whether little-known or renowned-embraced the endeavor, demanding almost nothing in return. Perhaps most important, however, ONCE acted as a creative stimulus for its organizers. Scavarda describes the adventure as an explosion of pent-up energy: "Suddenly we could write anything we wanted and have it heard." And they did. The ONCE composers-and many guest artists-wrote a host of new works, some experimental, others more traditional.

What united the ONCE composers was their exploration of sound, whether through the medium of extended techniques on traditional instruments, electronic (or electronically modified) timbres, or the intersection of musical sounds with those of the environment.

A major slice of ONCE's rich musical legacy-35 works constituting six hours of music-is presented here, almost all for the first time. These pieces are as diverse in style as they are compelling in expression. This landmark set, the most comprehensive document ever released of this legendary event, is an opportunity for anyone interested in contemporary music to hear history in the making. Included in the set is a 140-page booklet with a lengthy scholarly essay by musicologist and biographer Leta Miller and numerous rare photos of ONCE personages and performances.

Disc 1: 1961 [72:56] Robert Ashley - Sonata (7:44) 2/25/61 Donald Scavarda - Groups for Piano (1:03) 2/25/61 George Cacioppo - String Trio (10:23) 3/4/61 Roger Reynolds - Epigram and Evolution (8:50) 3/4/61 Gordon Mumma - Sinfonia for 12 Instruments and Magnetic Tape (12:03) 3/4/61 Donald Scavarda - In the Autumn Mountains (7:01) 3/4/61 Bruce Wise - Two Pieces for Piano and Chamber Group (6:23) 3/4/61 Robert Ashley - The Fourth of July (18:37) 2/25/61

Disc 2: 1962 [72:23] Donald Scavarda - Matrix for Clarinetist (9:07) 6/2/62 Roger Reynolds - Wedge (7:56) 2/10/62 Gordon Mumma - Meanwhile, A Twopiece (7:16) 2/10/62 Donald Scavarda - Sounds for Eleven (10:55) 2/16/62 Gordon Mumma - From Gestures II (13:14) 2/16/62 George Cacioppo - Bestiary I: Eingang (7:16) 2/16/62 Robert Ashley - Details (2b) (7:09) 12/16/62 Robert Sheff (aka Blue Gene Tyranny) - Ballad (8:31) 12/16/62

Disc 3: 1962-63 [74:21] Gordon Mumma - Large Size Mograph (8:09) 12/16/62 Robert Ashley - Fives (12:36) 2/9/63 Gordon Mumma - A Quarter of Fourpiece (4:56) 2/9/63 George Cacioppo - Two Worlds (6:02) 2/10/63 Roger Reynolds - Mosaic (9:38) 2/10/63 George Cacioppo - Pianopieces 1-3 (8:19) 2/16/63 Roger Reynolds - A Portrait of Vanzetti (20:27) 2/16/63 Gordon Mumma - Greys (3:19) 12/3/63 Stereo electronic music for the film/score Greys by Donald Scavarda

Disc 4: 1963-1964 [76:32] Philip Krumm - Music for Clocks (10:24) 2/17/63 Robert Sheff - Diotima (18:58) 2/28/64 George Crevoshay - 7PTPC (5:57) 2/29/64 Donald Scavarda - Landscape Journey (9:31) 2/25/64 George Cacioppo - Advance of the Fungi (15:54) 2/25/64 Robert Ashley - in memoriam … Crazy Horse (symphony) (15:12) 2/25/64

Disc 5: 1964-1966 [76:52] Bruce Wise - Music for Three (29:30) 2/26/64 George Cacioppo - Time on Time in Miracles (9:44) 2/12/65 David Behrman - Track (10:11) 2/13/65 Pauline Oliveros - Applebox Double (17:07) 3/28/66 Robert Ashley - Quartet (9:51) 3/28/66

Various Artists

Music from the ONCE Festival 1961-1966 (Box Set)

MP3/320 $49.99
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CD $79.95

Track Listing

Sonata
Robert Ashley
Buy
Groups for Piano
Donald Scavarda
Buy
String Trio
George Cacioppo
Buy
Epigram and Evolution
Roger Reynolds
Buy
Sinfonia for 12 Instruments and Magnetic Tape
Gordon Mumma
Buy
In the Autumn Mountains
Donald Scavarda
Buy
Two Pieces for Piano and Chamber Group
Bruce Wise
Buy
The Fourth of July
Robert Ashley
Buy
Matrix for Clarinetist
Donald Scavarda
Buy
Wedge
Roger Reynolds
Buy
Meanwhile, A Twopiece
Gordon Mumma
Buy
Sounds for Eleven
Donald Scavarda
Buy
From Gestures II
Gordon Mumma
Buy
Bestiary I: Eingang
George Cacioppo
Buy
Details (2b)
Robert Ashley
Buy
Ballad
Robert Sheff
Buy
Large Size Mograph
Gordon Mumma
Buy
Fives
Robert Ashley
Buy
A Quarter of Fourpiece
Gordon Mumma
Buy
Two Worlds
George Cacioppo
Buy
Mosaic
Roger Reynolds
Buy
Pianopieces: Pianopiece I
George Cacioppo
Buy
Pianopieces: Cassiopeia
George Cacioppo
Buy
Pianopieces: Pianopiece II
George Cacioppo
Buy
A Portrait of Vanzetti
Roger Reynolds
Buy
Greys
Gordon Mumma
Buy
Music for Clocks
Philip Krumm
Buy
Diotima
Robert Sheff
Buy
7PTPC
George Crevoshay
Buy
Landscape Journey
Donald Scavarda
Buy
Advance of the Fungi
George Cacioppo
Buy
in memoriam Crazy Horse (symphony)
Robert Ashley
Buy
Music for Three
Bruce Wise
Buy
Time on Time in Miracles
George Cacioppo
Buy
Track
David Behrman
Buy
Applebox Double
Pauline Oliveros
Buy
Quartet
Robert Ashley
Buy