A displaced Californian composer writes about music made for the long while & the world around that music. ~ The avant-garde is flexibility of mind. — John Cage ~ ...composition is only a very small thing, taken as a part of music as a whole, and it really shouldn't be separated from music making in general. — Douglas Leedy ~ My God, what has sound got to do with music! — Charles Ives
Wednesday, December 09, 2009
What's buried behind Lufkin's diner?
This is Charles Olson reading his poem "The Librarian" in 1966 (hat tip Ron Silliman). The rhythm of this performance is so compelling, especially the way the caesuras are articulated and those insistent lines at the end ("Where is Bristow? When does 1A get me home? I am caught in Gloucester. What's buried behind Lufkin's diner? Who is Frank Moore?") are intoned as if they are the most urgent matters in the universe. Some poems need to be heard to be believed.
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2 comments:
Olsen's piece on projective verse
http://www.angelfire.com/poetry/jarnot/olson.html
is the best concept for musical composition i have ever read. A return to 'inner necessity'.
Holy crap, that's amazing!
Thank you for posting it.
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