Alternative Title

A Piece Played Only Once

Contributor(s)

John Cage, Kyle Gann, Christopher Anderson, Marcell Steuernagel

Publication Date

Spring 3-22-2022

Abstract

"A Festival of Form" was both an event at Bridwell and Perkins School of Theology and a conceptual piece of music that lasted several days. In this rendering, the "piece of music" was articulated in a fluid combination of activities that included works by other composers, including John Cage. The activities involved--from lectures, conversations, and meals to actual performances of both short works and especially the world-record breaking rendition of "Organ2/ASLSP" played by Christopher Anderson--comprise the entirety of "A Festival of Form" as performance piece. The challenge of this work is that unlike nearly any other music, it is purposely meant NOT to ever be repeated. In this sense, it serves almost like "anti-music," even as notions of the score are convoluted and compromised: is the score the 5-foot ink-and-foam manuscript given to Kyle Gann or is the score the space and buildings of Perkins Chapel and Bridwell Library? Experimental in style and nature, the work offers us a glimpse at ways we can expand the limits of understanding and approaching music in the 21st century.

Document Type

Other

Keywords

Musical Score; Art Theory; Music Theory; Performance; Literary Studies;

Disciplines

Aesthetics | Composition | Dramatic Literature, Criticism and Theory | Epistemology | Musicology | Music Theory | Other Music | Performance Studies | Philosophy of Mind

Notes

Further details related the entirety of Bridwell's "Festival of Form" may be seen at the following link, which contains the full 28-page PDF of the festival program, as presented to the public.

https://cpb-us-w2.wpmucdn.com/blog.smu.edu/dist/5/492/files/2022/02/Festival-of-Form-Booklet.pdf

Language

English; French;

Download

Share

COinS