"Scratch for SASSAS"
Compiled by Cindy Bernard from Scratch Music, Cornelius Cardew, Ed., 1972 and including original scores by Steve Roden and Andy Featherston
Cindy Bernard, Jorge Martin and Joe Potts, Conductors
Played by: Glenn Bach, Mitchell Brown, Ted Byrnes, Andy Featherston, William Harrington, Ian Henderson,
Anna Homler, Michael Intriere, Gregory Lenczycki, Dave Muller, Alan Nakagawa, Diane O'Rourke, Jasmine Orpilla, Corrina Peipon, Renee Petropoulos, Rick Potts, Steve Roden, William Roper
The Scratch Orchestra was an experimental musical ensemble whose ranks swelled to over 50 people in its brief existence. It was defined in its founding constitution as “A large number of enthusiasts pooling their resources (not primarily material resources) and assembling for action (music making, performance, edification).” The Scratch Orchestra arose from Cornelius Cardew's "Experimental Music" class at Morley College near London and reflected his musical philosophy at that time. This meant that anyone could join, graphic and text based scores were used (rather than traditional sheet music), and there was an emphasis on indeterminate composition.
Cardew, with co-founders Michael Parsons and Howard Skempton published A Scratch Orchestra: draft constitution in The Musical Times in June 1969. The constitution set out the framework, which would dominate the orchestra’s musical work for the first half of its existence. It proposed a fluid community where students, office workers, amateur musicians and some professional composers would gather together for performance, music making and edification. The Orchestra dissolved in 1974 due to the strains of Cardew's "reverse seniority" (whereby the most junior members in age would receive the first opportunities to direct the Orchestra),
tensions between musically-trained and non-musically-trained members, and Cardew's increasing interest in radical politics.
This ensemble was organized on the occasion of the Los Angeles premiere of "Pilgrimage From Scattered Points" by Luke Fowler which takes the Scratch Orchestra as its subject.
Camera: Alexandra Pelly, Doug Henry
Editing: Alexandra Pelly
LA에 있는 능동적사회공간실험종합예술음악연구집단 SASSAS (The Society for the Activation of Social Space through Art and Sound)가 후원해서 이루어진 Scratch Orchestra의 앙상블. 1972년에 Steve Roden and Andy Featherston에 의해 쓰여진 오리지날 스코어를 기반으로 연주하고 있다. 인위적인 빗소리(목걸이와 깡통을 이용한)와 신스의 노이즈를 블렌딩하는 부분이 상당히 인상깊다.
