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These texts are supplemental to those that appear in Leonardo Music Journal Vol. 9 (1999). See the full list of online materials and the LMJ9 Table of Contents. De-composing Opera/Re-composing Listening: John Cage's Europeras David Ryan (26 Adelina Yard, 20-22 Adelina Grove, Whitechapel, London E1 3AD, U.K. ENGLAND) Abstract The author examines John Cage's Europeras in the light of his practice and the critical context of his work. In doing this, he addresses several key issues: the question of tradition and Cage's attitude to European traditions in particular; the use of chance operations within the broader framework of the Europeras; and the specificity of listening in Cage's work in conjunction with the figuring of what we might call a "non-intentional" expressivity. The author argues that Cage is ultimately much more complicit with the relics of tradition than previously thought. Contrary to Heinz-Klaus Metzger's view of the Europeras as a kind of Hegelian "sublation"---and, therefore the symbolic death of opera as medium and practice---the author examines how the Europeras, taken as a whole, form a movement towards an increased empathy with the found materials of opera as a genre. As a commission from Frankfurt Opera to mark John Cage's seventy-fifth birthday, the Europeras 1 and 2 seemed an unlikely vehicle for a composer who hardly appeared sympathetic to the genre of opera at all; this, according to legend, is partly why he was asked in the first place. In an interview with Joan Retallack shortly before the composer's death, the following dialogue took place. Ownership and Control of the Creative Process in the Composition and Performance f Electroacoustic Music Peter Manning (Department of Music, University of Durham, Palace Green, Durham, DH1 3RL, United Kingdom. E-mail: p.d.manning@durham.ac.uk) Abstract The evolution of electroacoustic music has been significantly shaped by the functional characteristics of the technologies used to produce it. These external influences materially affect the working environments of those who work in this medium, and in turn raise important questions about the ownership and control of the creative process--particularly, the extent to which such ownership and control must be shared between composers and technology developers. The author examines these issues from an historical perspective, highlighting the significance of features directly attributable to the evolution of the technology itself, during which the acquisition of increasing power and operational versatility has generally been associated with growing levels of complexity in its musical application. The imaginative use of variable speed tape recorders to loop and process sounds, and the extensive application of laboratory test gear to generate electronic material in the early pioneering days both provide important examples of musicians taking command of their own destinies through the exploitation of audio tools not specifically engineered for such purposes. With the development of custom-designed equipment and the advent of a commercial manufacturing sector during the 1960s, technology ceased to be an essentially passive agent and became a highly proactive and influential force in the development of the electroacoustic medium. The author also examines the nature and significance of the resulting partnerships between artists and technologists in the context of ownership and control, leading to the proposition that the development of a mass culture in terms of generally available technical resources has not wholly benefitted the creative process. Whereas an initial assessment points to the greater accessibility which has been achieved for all those who seek to exploit the medium, a number of important objectives have not yet been fully delivered. Sophisticated and versatile system designs have often come at the expense of direct contact with key processes that lie at the heart of the underlying technology; the author pays particular attention to the effects of this disengagement upon the creative process. The opportunities to work with sound within the electroacoustic medium have no precise parallels to conventional music-making, where creative discourse continues to be expressed in terms of sound-producing agents whose physical design and functional characteristics have changed very little for several centuries. The electroacoustic composer not only has to contend with the challenges of directly generating and modifying sound material, but also the processes of constant change in the functional characteristics of the technology itself. These interdisciplinary partnerships raise fundamental questions of empowerment, which the author evaluates within the broader tradition of music composition and performance. Information Systems Development and Music: The Exploration of a Parallelism Sasan Rahmatian (5245 N. Backer Avenue, Fresno, CA 93740-0007, U.S.A. E-mail: sasan_rahmatian@csufresno.edu). Abstract The author examines numerous parallels between information systems and music. Roles played by individuals involved in the creation and performance of music are shown to correspond to parallel roles in the creation and implementation of information systems. Examples include correspondences between the user, in information systems, and the audience, in music. Similarly, many processes or elements---such as analysis, design and programming, among others---are common to both domains. For instance, thematic transformation in music composition can be seen to correspond to a form of programming logic in information systems. The author also notes that while many elements of information systems can be mapped onto musical functions, the analogy does not hold in all instances; in particular, the importance of subjectivity and interpretation in music does not have a parallel in information systems, where the complete objectivity of the computer and reproducibility of results are paramount. ***** Jim Horton's Involvement With Playing Music works of jim horton written in aug 1996 in progress With Introduction by John Bischoff Abstract John Bischoff introduces a autobiographical text, covering a span of 30 years, by the late composer Jim Horton (1944--1998). Horton's text was written in 1996 as documentation of the composer's artistic activities, musical thought and philosophical outlook. Horton was a computer music pioneer who was active in the San Francisco Bay Area. He was the first composer to postulate the idea of using computer networks to make music and created the first network music performance, with artist Rich Gold, in 1977. With John Bischoff and Rich Gold, he co-founded the world's first computer network band, the League of Automatic Music Composers, in 1978. He was also one of the first composers to use a computer to experiment with just intonation. FULL TEXT |