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Cornelius Cardew (May 7, 1936 – London, December 13, 1981) was an English avant-garde composer, and founder (with Howard Skempton and Michael Parsons) of the Scratch Orchestra, an experimental performing ensemble. Events 558 - In Constantinople, the dome of the Hagia Sophia collapses Year 1936 ( MCMXXXVI) was a Leap year starting on Wednesday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian calendar. London ( ˈlʌndən is the capital and largest urban area in the United Kingdom. Events 1294 - Saint Celestine V abdicates the papacy after only five months Celestine hoped to return to his previous life Year 1981 ( MCMLXXXI) was a Common year starting on Thursday (link displays the 1981 England is a Country which is part of the United Kingdom. Its inhabitants account for more than 83% of the total UK population whilst its mainland Avant-garde (avɑ̃gaʁd in French) means "advance guard" or "vanguard A composer (literally meaning 'one who puts together' is a person who creates Music, usually in the medium of notation, for Interpretation and Performance Howard Skempton (born 31 October 1947) is a British Composer and Accordionist Since the late 1960s when he helped organize the Michael Edward Parsons (born December 12, 1938) is a British Composer. The Scratch Orchestra was an experimental Musical ensemble founded in the spring of 1969 by Cornelius Cardew, Michael Parsons and Howard Experimental music is a term introduced by composer John Cage in 1955 He later rejected the avant-garde in favour of a politically motivated "people's liberation music".

Contents

Biography

Cardew was born in Winchcombe, Gloucestershire. Winchcombe is a Cotswold Town in the Local Authority District of Tewkesbury, in Gloucestershire, England. History See also History of Gloucestershire Gloucestershire is a historic county mentioned in the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle in the 10th century He was the second of three sons whose parents were both artists — his father was potter Michael Cardew. Michael Cardew MBE, OBE (born 1901 in Wimbledon London - died 1983 in Truro) was a significant English studio potter. The family moved to Wenford Bridge Pottery Cornwall a few years after his birth where he was later accepted as a pupil by the Canterbury Cathedral School which had evacuated to the area during the war due to bombing. Michael Cardew MBE, OBE (born 1901 in Wimbledon London - died 1983 in Truro) was a significant English studio potter. Cornwall ( Kernow ˈkɛɹnɔʊ is the most southwesterly county of England, on the Peninsula that lies to the west of the River Tamar His musical career thus began as a chorister. From 1953-57, Cardew studied piano, cello, and composition at the Royal Academy of Music in London. The Royal Academy of Music in London, England, is a well known conservatoire and one of the leading music institutions in the world In 1957, he performed in the British premiere of Pierre Boulez's Le Marteau sans maître (having learnt to play the guitar for the occasion as no professional guitar player was available). WikipediaWikiProject Classical music#Biographical_infoboxes --> Pierre Boulez (pjɛʁ buˈlɛz (b Le marteau sans maître ( The hammer without master) is a composition by the French Composer Pierre Boulez. Having won a scholarship to study at the newly established Studio for Electronic Music in Cologne, Cardew served as an assistant to Karlheinz Stockhausen from 1958 to 1960. He was given the task of independently working out the composition plans for the German composer's score Carré, and Stockhausen noted:

As a musician he was outstanding because he was not only a good pianist but also a good improviser and I hired him to become my assistant in the late 50s and he worked with me for over three years. I gave him work to do which I have never given to any other musician, which means to work with me on the score I was composing. He was one of the best examples that you can find among musicians because he was well informed about the latest theories of composition as well as being a performer.

Most of Cardew's compositions from this period make use of the integral and total serialist languages pioneered by Boulez and Stockhausen.

Chance and the American Avant-Garde

In 1958, Cardew witnessed a series of concerts in Cologne by John Cage and David Tudor which had a considerable influence on him, leading him to abandon post-Schönbergian serial composition and develop the indeterminate and experimental scores for which he is best known. WikipediaWikiProject Composers#Lead section --> John Milton Cage Jr David Eugene Tudor ( January 20, 1926 – August 13, 1996) was an American Pianist and Composer of Experimental In Music, serialism is a technique for composition that uses sets to describe musical elements, and allows the manipulation of those He was particularly prominent in introducing the works of American Avant-Garde composers such as Morton Feldman, La Monte Young, Earle Brown, Christian Wolff, and Cage to an English audience during the early to mid sixties and came to have a considerable impact on the development of English music from the late sixties onwards. Morton Feldman (January 12 1926 – September 3 1987 was an American Composer, born in New York City. La Monte Thornton Young (born October 14 1935) is an American Composer and musician Earle Brown ( Lunenburg Massachusetts, December 26, 1926 &ndash Rye New York, July 2, 2002) was an American composer Christian Wolff may refer to Christian Wolff (philosopher (1679-1754 German philosopher and mathematician Christian Wolff (composer

Cardew's most important scores are Treatise (1963-67), a 192-page graphic score which allows for considerable freedom of interpretation, and The Great Learning, a work in seven parts or "Paragraphs," based on translations of Confucius by Ezra Pound. Treatise is a Musical composition by British Composer Cornelius Cardew (1936-1981 Musical graphic notation is a form of Music notation which refers to the use of non-traditional symbols and text to convey information about the performance of a piece of music Confucius ( lit " Master Kung " September 28, 551 BC - 479 BC) was a Chinese thinker and social philosopher Ezra Weston Loomis Pound ( Hailey, Idaho Territory, United States October 30 1885 – Venice, Italy November 1 1972 was an American Expatriate The Great Learning instigated the formation of the Scratch Orchestra. During those years, he took a course in graphic design[1] and he made his living as a graphic designer at Aldus Books, in Fitzroy Square, London.

In 1966, Cardew joined the free improvisation group AMM which had formed the previous year and included English Jazz musicians Lou Gare, Eddie Prévost, Keith Rowe, and one of his first students at the Royal Academy Christopher Hobbs. Free improvisation or free music is improvised music without any rules beyond the taste or inclination of the musician(s involved in many cases the musicians make AMM are an important British Free improvisation group founded in London, England in 1965 Lou Gare (born June 16, 1939) is an English Free-jazz saxophonist born in Rugby Warwickshire, perhaps best-known for his Edwin Prévost (born June 22, 1942 in Hitchin) is an English Drummer and Percussionist. Keith Rowe (born March 16, 1940 in Plymouth, England) is an English Free improvisation Guitarist and painter. Christopher Hobbs (September 1950 – Hillingdon, nr London is an English experimental Composer, best known as a pioneer of British Performing with the group allowed Cardew to explore music in a completely democratic environment, freely improvising without recourse to scores.

While teaching an experimental music class at London's Morley College in 1968, Cardew, along with Howard Skempton and Michael Parsons formed the Scratch Orchestra a large experimental ensemble, initially for the purposes of interpreting Cardew's The Great Learning. Morley College is an Adult education college in London, England. The Scratch Orchestra was an experimental Musical ensemble founded in the spring of 1969 by Cornelius Cardew, Michael Parsons and Howard The Scratch Orchestra gave performances throughout Britain and elsewhere until its demise in 1972. It was during this period that the question of art from whom was hotly debated within the context of the Orchestra, which Cardew came to see as elitist despite its numerous attempts to make socially accessible music.

Political Involvements

Following the demise of the Orchestra, Cardew became more directly involved in left-wing politics and abandoned avant-garde music altogether, adopting a populist though post-romantic tonal style. He spent 1973 in West Berlin on an artist's grant from the City, where he was active in a campaign for a children's clinic. West Berlin was the name given to the western part of Berlin between 1949 and 1990 During the 1970s, he produced many songs, often drawing from traditional English folk music put at the service of lengthy Marxist-Maoist exhortations; representative examples are Smash the Social Contract and There Is Only One Lie, There Is Only One Truth. Marxism is the political philosophy and practice derived from the work of Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels. Maoism, variably and officially known as Mao Zedong Thought ( is a variant of Marxism derived from the teachings of the late Chinese leader Social contract describes a broad class of republican theories whose subjects are implied agreements by which people form Nations and maintain a Social order In 1974, he published a book entitled Stockhausen Serves Imperialism, which denounced, in Maoist self-critical style, his own involvement with Stockhausen and the Western avant-garde tradition. Self-criticism (or auto-critique refers to the pointing out of things critical/important to one's own beliefs thoughts actions behaviour or results it can form part of private personal

Cardew was active in various causes in British politics, such as the struggle against the revival of neo-Nazi groups in Britain, and subsequently was involved in the People's Liberation Music group with Laurie Scott Baker, John Marcangelo, Vicky Silva, Hugh Shrapnel, Keith Rowe and others. The group developed and performed music in support of various popular causes including benefits for striking miners and Northern Ireland.

Cardew became a member of the Communist Party of England (Marxist-Leninist) in the 1970s, and in 1979 was a co-founder and member of the Central Committee of the Revolutionary Communist Party of Britain (Marxist-Leninist). The Revolutionary Communist Party of Britain (Marxist-Leninist (RCPB-ML is a British communist Political party. The Revolutionary Communist Party of Britain (Marxist-Leninist (RCPB-ML is a British communist Political party. His creative output from the demise of the Scratch Orchestra until his death reflected his political commitment. Cardew stated his attitude towards the avant-garde in Stockhausen Serves Imperialism:

I'm convinced that when a group of people get together and sing The Internationale this is a more complex, more subtle, stronger and more musical experience than the whole of the avant-garde put together. The Internationale ( L'Internationale in French) is a famous socialist, communist, and Social-democratic

Cardew's efforts to politicise culture in Britain were influenced by his relationship with Hardial Bains, the Canadian communist leader and a leading anti-revisionist politician. Hardial Bains ( August 15, 1939 &ndash August 24, 1997) was the founder and leader of the Communist Party of Canada (Marxist-Leninist In the Marxist-Leninist movement an anti-revisionist is one who favors the line of theory and practice associated with Marx - Engels - Lenin Bains contributed the lyrics to Cardew's signature song from his later period, We Sing for the Future.

Death

Cardew died on 13th December 1981, the victim of a hit-and-run car accident near his London home in Leytonstone. Leytonstone is an area of East London and part of the London Borough of Waltham Forest. The driver was never found.

The German musician and composer Ekkehard Ehlers published a Cardew-inspired work in 2001, titled Ekkehard Ehlers plays Cornelius Cardew, which was released on Staubgold Records. Ekkehard Ehlers is an artist working in the field of Electronic music.

A 70th Birthday Anniversary Festival, including live music from all phases of Cardew's career and a symposium on his music, took place on Sunday, 7 May 2006, at the Cecil Sharpe House in London. Year 2006 ( MMVI) was a Common year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar.

In popular culture

In 1999 Cardew's Treatise was performed by the experimental rock group Sonic Youth on their album SYR4: Goodbye 20th Century. Treatise is a Musical composition by British Composer Cornelius Cardew (1936-1981 Sonic Youth is an American Alternative rock band formed in New York City in 1981 SYR4 Goodbye 20th Century is a double album of covers of Avant-garde recordings by Sonic Youth and collaborators

"Cornelius Cardew" is the name of the unemployed pipe-fitter in Alan Moore's Skizz. Alan Moore (born November 18 1953 in Northampton) is an English Writer most famous for his influential work in Comics, including the acclaimed Skizz was a Comic book strip in 2000 AD which appeared in three installments across more than a decade [2]

Selected discography

Bibliography

References

  1. ^ Cornelius Cardew - composer
  2. ^ http://drhoz.livejournal.com/408120.html

External links

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