Cornelius Cardew and
the freedom of listening
8 May – 25 June 2010
Edifício da Caixa Geral de Depósitos
Avenida dos Aliados, 104
4000-065 Porto, Portugal
culturgest [at] cgd.pt
The English composer Cornelius Cardew (1936-1981) is undoubtedly one of the major composers to have emerged in the second half of the twentieth century. His radical approach to composition and his political reflection on the status of music making led him, in the late sixties, to instigate one of the most important attempts to establish the democratic claims of avant-garde culture. The Scratch Orchestra, which grew out of classes Cardew taught at Morley College (an adult education college in South London) in 1968, radically questioned the social limitations of art and music making as realms of specialized knowledge and experience. Combining both trained musicians and non-musicians, the Scratch Orchestra not only transgressed the traditional boundaries and hierarchy separating the composer, performer, and listener, but also the boundaries dividing the realm of art into separate fields.
Since 2006, the seventieth anniversary of his birth, interest in Cardew’s work as a composer and political figure has gained a new momentum. In light of this interest, and in a historical moment when it is all to easy to sentimentalize “over the good old days of experiment and action,” as one recent review of Cardew’s writings has suggested, the exhibition Cornelius Cardew and the freedom of listening not only attempts to retrace the history of one of the most influential post-war twentieth century composers and the important avant-garde group he inspired, but also show why Cardew’s example is needed “to shake us out of our current “complacency and despair.”
Initiated by the Centre d’art contemporain de Brétigny in Spring 2009, before traveling to the Künstlerhaus in Stuttgart (September-November 2009), the exhibition brings together archives, photographs, scores, films and sound recordings generously loaned by Horace Cardew, IRCAM (Paris), The Modern Institute (Glasgow), Keith Rowe, Victor Schonfield, Stefan Szczelkun, Samon Takahashi, and Ruth Hilton. Throughout the program of events, various internationally renowned artists and musicians will be present at Culturgest to interpret Cardew’s scores and respond to his work in a variety of forms, thus testifying to both the enduring vibrancy of Cardew’s work as a major contribution to the history of experimental music and art and his current influence on contemporary artistic and musical practice.
Program:
Saturday, 8 May, 4.30 pm
Cornelius Cardew, The Great Learning, paragraph 7 (1969), conducted by Jean-Jacques Palix
Saturday, 8 May, 10 pm
Tania Chen, piano recital
Friday, 14 May, 10 pm
Cornelius Cardew, Treatise (1963-1967), concert by Keith Rowe with Heitor Alves, Sei Miguel and Vitor Rua
Saturday, 15 May, 4 pm
Michael Parsons, Walk (1969), performance directed by Jean-Jacques Palix
Saturday, 15 May, 5 pm
Talk with Carole Finer, Keith Rowe and Stefan Szczelkun on the Scratch Orchestra
Saturday, 15 May, 6.30 pm
Screening of films by Stefan Szczelkun (ex-Scratch Orchestra member) and discussion with the artist
Saturday, 22 May, 5 pm
Performance by Loreto Martinez Troncoso and António Júlio, 1001 Scratch Activities
Saturday, 22 May, 10 pm
Cornelius Cardew, Treatise (1963-1967), concert by Michel Guillet, Jean-Jacques Palix, Markus Schmickler and Samon Takahashi
Lectures, concert by Piotr Kurek
Friday, 28 May, 10 pm
Christian Wolff, concert resulting from a workshop with volunteers, and piano recital
Saturday, 29 May, 5 pm
Cornelius Cardew, The Great Learning, paragraph 5 (1970), directed by Lore Gablier, Annie Vigier and Franck Apertet
Saturday, 29 May, 10 pm
Walter Cardew Group (Horace Cardew, Walter Cardew, Androniki Liokoura), concert
Friday, 18 June, 10 pm
Cornelius Cardew, Volo Solo (1965), concert by Rhys Chatham
Cornelius Cardew, Tiger’s Mind (1967), concert by Nina Canal, Nadia Lichtig, and David Watson
Saturday, 19 June, 10 pm
John Tilbury, lecture and piano recital
Friday, 25th June, 10 pm
Terre Thaemlitz, Meditation on Wage Labor and the Death of the Album, piano recital
