Christian Wolff lecture on experimental music

[petrarch]

Very interesting lecture by Christian Wolff on experimental music, recorded last May at the University of London:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3I6WwY4ftdI

That series of videos is generally worthwhile, with interviews and lectures on, with or by Maxwell-Davies, Birtwistle, Ferneyhough, and others.

[Artem]

Thank you for this. I enjoyed listening to him talk and especially his idea of good music = experimental music and vice versa.

By the way, how's it that there's no individual topic for Christian Wolff's music? This should be it, i think.

[torut]

Thanks, it's really nice to hear, in Wolff's own words, about the influences on his music, studying with Cage, each of his musical stages, etc. The lecture is also fun (especially how a clarinetist couldn't stop playing a note.) It's interesting that his view of Wandelweiser composers is not so sympathetic. (He regarded it as just a second generation of what had been done.)

By the way, how's it that there's no individual topic for Christian Wolff's music? This should be it, i think.

There is a short thread The 'Downtown' New York School & Beyond but the posts are mostly negative. I too think Wolff deserves a dedicated thread. He is one of the original New York School composers who is still actively composing. I like his piano works very much and want to learn more about his music.

[brewski]

A beautiful tribute to Christian Wolff by Steve Smith for The New York Times (free article).

Wolff turns 90 on Friday, and will appear at a New York concert in his honor next Saturday.

-Bruce