Cornelius Cardew: at the Sources of British Minimalism
Article Sidebar
Main Article Content
Abstract
The article is devoted to examination of elements of minimalism in the music of contemporary British composer Cornelius Cardew. The name of Cardew has been justly connected by researchers with the ideas of the experimentalism and indeterminism of the 1960s. They have appeared for the first time in the music of John Cage, who exerted a certain influence on the British composer. In Cardew’s compositions the discoveries of Cage find an original interpretation, revealing themselves in the usage of non-traditional sources of sound, the transferal towards graphic notation, inclusion of improvisation, means of musical theater into the space of the musical oeuvres and other. In addition, Cardew advocated the mass accessibility of the art of music, which resulted in the creation of the unique musical ensemble, the “Scratch orchestra.”
Cardew does not have any minimalist compositions in the strict sense of the word, although the music of this directions is undoubtedly familiar to him (this is confirmed by the solo concert programs and the repertoire of the “Scratch Orchestra”). The applications of separate techniques common to minimalism (repetitive canons, phased shifts) are contained in his great work “The Great Learning” (1968–1970). Discussion of two paragraphs from this composition makes it possible to determine the specific features of the interpretation of minimalistic means in Cardew’s compositions.
The analysis made in the article, as well as the general conclusions of the position held by the figure of the
composer in the history of contemporary British music make it possible to consider Cornelius Cardew the forerunner
of minimalism in Britain.
Keywords: Cornelius Cardew, contemporary British music, experimentalism, minimalism, graphical notation,
indeterminism.
Article Details
Copyright
The rights on the results of intellectual activity and equated means of individualization are protected in accordance with Part IV of the Civil Code of the Russian Federation. The authorship, author's name, executor’s name, inviolability of the work and result of execution are protected by the rules of Part IV of the Civil Code of the Russian Federation of the author or executor, regardless of providing legal protection of such results of intellectual activity at the time of their forming.
Copyright laws regulate the civil legal relations for using works of science, literature and art. Such relationships are formed as the result of the author’s writing his or her texts. In this case the author can rightfully claim copyright of the work.
The author has certain rights to reuse the work (see: “Ethical Aspects in Terms of Multifold Publications).
Licenses
All copyrights on the articles belong to their authors. The author transfers the rights on using the article the publisher.
PDF versions of scholarly articles of the journal PMN are published by using the license Attribution Non-Commercial No Derivatives cc by-nc-nd, allowing loading and distributing works on the assumption of indicating the authorship. The works may not be changed in any way or used for commercial interests.
Criteria for Authorship, Co-authorship
The term “author” refers to all persons (co-authors) who have made a substantial contribution to conducting the research and creation of the manuscript and responsible for its content. The person (author) who has submitted the manuscript to the editorial board shall bear responsibility for the complete list of the group of authors and the changes made to the manuscript in accordance with the results of the peer reviewing and editing.
1. Authorship is based on the following criteria:
1) The author made a substantial contribution to the research activity and development of concept, collected the data, made analysis and interpretation of the data.
2) The author carried out the writing of the text of draft articles and edited it attentively and substantially.
3) The author approved the final version of the article prior to its submission.
4) The author bears responsibility for the integrity of all parts of the manuscript.
2. The authors shall guarantee that the submitted manuscript is the original work.
3. Scholarly reviews for some issue or other should be objective, present material in a wide range and at the same time take into account the views of the author of the review.
4. The authorship of scholarly publications is obligated to reflect accurately the contribution of individuals to the research activity, with specific information about the authors.
5. The authors may not mislead the readers by publishing acknowledgements of gratitude to people who were not actually involved in writing the work. Other persons who made contribution to the work, but are nevertheless not the authors, may be listed in the rubric of “Acknowledgements,” with indications of the type and extent of their activities.
6. Authors are obligated to provide a description of their contribution to the publication.
7. The order of authorship must be a joint resolution of co-authors. The authors should be ready to explain the order of their enumeration and listing.
8. The authors shall be entirely responsible for the correct definition of authorship acting in accordance with the rules adopted in their institution.
9. Investigators must ensure that only those persons who meet the criteria for authorship (that made a significant contribution to the work), shall be considered the authors, and the researchers who do not merit authorship will be excluded from the list of authors.
References
2. Kit Rou o begstve ot Tetcher, levoy ideologii, svobodnoy muzyke i Karavadzho: interv'yu O. Soboleva dlya izdaniya «Afisha Daily» [Keith Rowe about the Escape from Thatcher, Leftist Ideology, Free Music and Caravaggio: Interview Taken by O. Sobolev for the Publication “Poster Daily”]. URL: https://daily.afisha.ru/archive/volna/archive/ rowe/ (18.05.2018).
3. Pospelov P. G. Minimalizm i repetitivnaya tekhnika: sravnenie opyta amerikanskoy i sovetskoy muzyki [Minimalism and the Repetitive Method: A Comparison of the American and Soviet Musical Experiences]. Muzykal'naya akademiya [Musical Academy]. 1992. No. 4, pp. 74–83.
4. Sokolov A. S. Vvedenie v muzykal'nuyu kompozitsiyu XX veka: ucheb. posobie po kursu «Analiz muzykal'nykh proizvedeniy» dlya stud. vyssh. ucheb. zavedeniy [An Introduction to 20th Century Musical Composition: A Textbook for the Course “Analysis of Musical Compositions” for Students of Higher Educational Institutions]. Moscow: VLADOS, 2004. 231 p.
5. Sysoev A. Yu. Krizis muzykal'nogo yazyka i ego otrazhenie v tvorchestve Korneliusa Kard'yu [The Crisis of the Musical Language and its Reflection in the Works of Cornelius Cardew]. Dom Burganova. Prostranstvo kul'tury [Burganov House. A Space of Culture]. 2012. No. 2, pp. 200–214.
6. Sysoev A. Yu. Fenomen svobodnoy improvizatsii v muzyke XX veka: avtoref. dis. … kand. iskusstvovedeniya [The Phenomenon of Free Improvisation in 20th Century Music: Thesis of Dissertation for the Degree of Candidate of Arts]. Moscow, 2013. 33 p.
7. Tilberi Dzh. Kornelius Kard'yu: interv'yu A. Gorokhova. Iyul', 2004. Nemetskaya volna [Tilbury John. Cornelius Cardew: Interview taken by A. Gorokhov. July, 2004. The German Wave]. URL: https://muzprosvet.ru/ cardew.html (20.05.2018).
8. Anderson V. Chinese Characters and Experimental Structure in Cornelius Cardew’s The Great Learning. Jems: Journal of Experimental Music Studies. 2004. 17 March. 13 p. URL: http://www.experimentalmusic.co.uk/emc/ Jems_files/AndersonChineseGL.pdf (13.04.18).
9. Baker B. S. Cornelius Cardew – Composer. URL: http://www.musicnow.co.uk/composers/cardew. html#continue (8.05.2018).
10. Cardew C. The Great Learning. Score (Faximile). Distributed by Experimental Music Catalogue, 26 Avondale Pk Gdns, w11. 1971. 25 p.
11. Harris T. The Legacy of Cornelius Cardew. London: Routledge. 2016. 217 p.
12. Nyman M. L. Collected Writings. Edited by Pwyll ap Siôn. An Ashgate Book, 2013. 296 p.
13. Nyman M. L. Experimental Music: Cage and Beyond. Second edition. Cambridge University Press, 1999. 196 p.
14. Smith D. Following a Straight Line: La Monte Young. Originally published in Contact 18 (1977–78), pp. 4–9, and updated. Uploaded 21 June 2004. URL: http://www.experimentalmusic.co.uk/emc/Jems_files/Smithyoung. pdf (20.05.2018).
15. Taylor T. D. Moving in Decency: The Music and Radical Politics of Cornelius Cardew. Music & Letters. 1998. Vol. 79, No. 4. Oxford University Press, pp. 555–576. URL: https://www.jstor.org/stable/854626 (13.04.18).
16. The Ashgate Research Companion to Minimalist and Postminimalist Music. Edited by Keith Potter, Kyle Gann, and Pwyll Ap Siôn. Farnham, Surrey: Ashgate, 2013. XXVI, 431 p.
17. Tilbury J. Cornelius Cardew. Originally published in Contact 26 (1983), 4–11. Reprinted in the Jems: Journal of Experimental Music Studies. Uploaded 27 October 2004. URL: http://www.experimentalmusic.co.uk/emc/Jems_ files/Tilburycardew.pdf (22.05.2018).
18. 25 years from Scratch (The Booklet for the Anniversary). Edited by M. Parsons. Instant Print West One, 1994. 40 p.
19. Warburton D. A Working Terminology for Minimal Music. Integral. 1988. No. 2, pp. 135–159.