Yet not to forget that extraordinary place where so much of the new and exciting performances at that most interesting time in New York, took place. There was a Theater there; and a place for the first Happenings. An Art Gallery… and later the famous Judson Dance Theater.
There was Philip Corner first performance. The concert was in early 1962, January 2nd, to be exact. Handwritten change on typescrpt: Yoko Ono’s studio, changed at the last moment to Judson Church. A lot of players; and a lot of pieces. Some of my old friends, like Toshi Ichiyanagi or Richard Maxfield. And a lot of new names from California, Dick Higgins and Alison Knowles, the connection between the old New York and this new scene.
The creation of the Dance Theater: Philip Corner involvement with it from the beginning. (that participation documented on Alga Maghen cd “On tape, from the Judson Years”, as most of Corner electronic music was made for dancers associated to the Judson).
Excerpts from the liner notes of Volume Two, written by Philip Corner:
“Everything Max Has” (1964), Max Neuhaus solo, recorded at the ONCE Festival, 1965. “A performance of Max’s taking down all of his stuff; tons of equipment filling entire stages”.
“Big Trombone” (1963), Jim Fulkerson improvisation over tape collage. “Over an electronic reworking of the raw material presented by a rock band, absorbing its rhythmic vigour without falling into its banality, the trombone indulges in an orgy of uninhibited outbursts”.
“Homage to Revere” (1962) for ensemble of copper-bottom kitchen utensils. “How not to use, for other than cooking, that great wedding gift of copper bottom pots, casseroles, skillets, and their covers… all sounding so good as if made for music”.
“Punkt” (1961) for ensemble of staccato sounds. “Since the critics were calling us the plink plunk school, I contributed a composition favoring only those punkts for centuries having defined and inhibited Western music”.
“Passionate Expanse of the Law” (1959) for ensemble, recorded at the Composers’ Forum, NY, 1972. Full lenght version.
“Expressions in Parallel” (1958) for ensemble. “From my earlies compositions I have been more enticed by an opening out towards greater possibilities, than in cheap and arbitrary limits of stylistic unity. Nevertheless, the mix here of expressively implicative phrases in no way destroys inner coherence”.
Digipack first press of 1000 copies, including a 12 pages booklet with liner notes, scores and original documentation.