- Additional Authors
- Found In
- Merce Cunningham Dance Foundation Collection.
- Description
- 1 streaming audio file (29 minutes) : digital, stereo
- Summary
- Based on mentions of the speakers' names, Charlie [Charles Atlas], [Gordon] Mumma, Meg [Harper], and other unidentified speakers, take field recordings of Nikola Tesla electric models at the Nikola Tesla Museum [Muzej Nikole Tesle] which are interspersed by background speaking, silences and footfalls; ca. 23:48, recording break followed by more field recordings; ends abruptly.
- Uniform Title
- Canfield (Choreographic work : Cunningham)
- Alternative Title
- Merce Cunningham Dance Foundation Collection. Audio materials.
- Genre/Form
- Machinery sounds.
- Soundscapes (Music)
- Note
- Contains source material of Nikola Tesla's electric models recorded for use in a performance on September 18, 1972 of Merce Cunningham's Canfield (1969) at the Atelier [Atelje] 212 theater in Belgrade. According to dancer Carolyn Brown's book [Chance and circumstance: Twenty years with Cage and Cunningham (2007, pg. 580-581)]: "The following night, in Atelier 212...we danced a full-length Canfield, chosen especially because the Oliveros score is dedicated to the Yugoslav engineer Nikola Tesla. John [Cage], David [Tudor], and Gordon [Mumma] had found some of Tesla's models at the museum and recorded their sounds, incorporating them into the evening's soundscape".
- Title, date, location and speakers provided by cataloger based on handwritten note on original cassette and container, and audition.
- Handwritten note on original cassette and container: "Tesla Museum, Belgrade ; 18972 ; stereo ; (original) ; 1) RTTY original ; 2) Mumma duplicate".
- The music for Canfield, Pauline Oliveros's In memoriam, Nikola Tesla, cosmic engineer, is described in Daniel Wolf's Renewable music blog as "where the musicians of the company (David Tudor, Gordon Mumma) [use] the theatre itself as an instrument. The musicians discuss, then venture out of the pit to test and measure the room, and finally, the hall is "played" with a sweep of low frequency oscillators in a search for a primary room resonance frequency".
- Sound quality is mostly good; there is a recording hum for the last ca. 3 minutes.
- Access (note)
- Patrons can access streaming audio only on site at NYPL Research Libraries.
- Indexed In (note)
- Daniel Wolf WWW site, accessed June 15, 2015
- Source (note)
- Merce Cunningham Dance Foundation
- Linking Entry (note)
- Forms part of the Merce Cunningham Dance Foundation Collection.
- Call Number
- *LTC-A 1487
- OCLC
- 913967537
- Title
Sounds of electric models at the [Nikola] Tesla Museum : source material for performance of [In memoriam, Nikola Tesla, cosmic engineer], 1972-09-18.
- Production
September 18, 1972.
- Playing Time
002907
- Type of Content
sounds
- Type of Medium
audio
- Type of Carrier
audiocassette
online resource
- Digital File Characteristics
audio file
- Indexed In:
Daniel Wolf WWW site, accessed June 15, 2015, Renewable music, Landmarks (6), July 19, 2005, http://renewablemusic.blogspot.com/2005/07/landmarks-6.html.
- Event
Recorded at the Nikola Tesla Museum, Belgrade, Serbia, 1972 September 18.
- Restricted Access
Patrons can access streaming audio only on site at NYPL Research Libraries.
- Original Version
Archival original: (1 audio cassette (29 minutes) : analog) in *LTC-A 1487.
- Linking Entry
Forms part of the Merce Cunningham Dance Foundation Collection.
- Local Note
Transferred from original analog cassette by George Blood Audio on March 26, 2015.
- Source
Gift; Merce Cunningham Dance Foundation, 2011-2012.
- Connect to:
- Added Author
Atlas, Charles, speaker.
Harper, Meg, speaker.
Mumma, Gordon, 1935- recording engineer.
Related to (work): Oliveros, Pauline, 1932-2016. In memoriam, Nikola Tesla, cosmic engineer.
Merce Cunningham Dance Company.
Muzej Nikole Tesle.
Merce Cunningham Dance Foundation, donor.
- Added Title
Related to (work) : Canfield (Choreographic work : Cunningham)
Merce Cunningham Dance Foundation Collection. Audio materials.
- Found In:
Merce Cunningham Dance Foundation Collection.
- Research Call Number
*LTC-A 1487