Charles Amirkhanian Collection ➔ Composer-to-Composer Festival: Day 2 Discussions, Eleanor Alberga and Tom Zé (July 9, 1991), 2 of 4
Digital Audio
Event Type
Lectures and Panel DiscussionsOrigin
C AmirkhanianIdentifier
CTC.1991.07.09.BProgram Series
Composer-to-Composer FestivalProgram Length
100 minPart
2 of 4Dates
| broadcast| 1991-07-09 | created
Description
A recording of the private presentations with composers Eleanor Alberga and Tom Zé on July 9, 1991 during the Composer to Composer Festival in Telluride Colorado.Eleanor Alberga starts off by talking about her childhood in Jamaica, falling in love with folk music and Bartok simultaneously and her discovery of African dance. She also talks about movement and its influence on her music as well as how her diverse backgrounds have been influential to her work.
She plays a recording of her 1986 composition “Two Piano Suite” for the composers.
She then talks about her compositional process and that she has no formal training in composition and often thinks of her music in terms of movement and color.
The next piece presented is an orchestral work, “Sun Warrior” which was composed for the 1990 Chard Festival of Women in Music. Alberga plays and discusses the three movements.
After a fifteen minute break a discussion with Tom Zé begins by playing “Toc” a Samba by Zé from 1974 recorded on an 8-track recorder in São Paulo. The composers then inquire about the process of writing, recording, and producing the work.
Zé moves on to talk about the complexity of the Samba despite the perception that it is a simple form by many people working outside of it.
He then plays “Tatuarambá” which he recorded in his home in 1979 and recites the poetry from the work.
The next piece Zé plays is a work called “Os Anos 80” (The Years of the ’80’s), a work he composed using homemade instruments, including amplified vacuum cleaners played by turning microphones on and off with a keyboard.
The following musical example is “Um Oh! E Um Ah”.
Zé then talks about how he views string instruments and retunes them so they can function as percussive instruments rather than melodic or harmonic voices.
The next piece he plays is “Nave Maria”.
He then explains the origin of his song “Ui! (você inventa)” which was composed during the Watergate Scandal. The song is a tongue and cheek fictional letter to President Nixon.
After the song, Charles Amirkhanian talks to the composers about what they will be presenting during the public sessions and the composers depart the meeting and converse for about ten minutes on tape.
Genres
New musicMusical Selections
Two Piano Suite [excerpt] (1986) (10:48) -- Red Dawn [from Sun Warrior] (1990) (11:10) -- Mirrors of Blue [from Sun Warrior] [excerpt] (1990) (2:37) -- Golden Palace [from Sun Warrior] [excerpts] (1990) (5:20) / Eleanor Alberga -- Toc (1974) (2:57) -- Tatuarambá (1979) (3:33) -- O Anos 80 (2:50) -- Um Oh! E Um Ah (1973) (00:58) -- Nave Maria (1984) (3:23) -- Ui! (você inventa) (1976) (3:00) / Tom ZéPerformers
Eleanor Alberga, piano (Two Piano Suite)Unidentified orchestra (Sun Warrior)
Musicians from the Velha Guarda (Old Guard), São Paulo (Toc)
Tom Zé, guitars, custom instruments, percussion, vocals
Subjects
DiscussionsComposers -- 20th century
Unconventional instruments
Acknowledgment
Digitized with support from the National Recording Preservation Foundation, The Copland Fund, and the Association for Recorded Sound Collections.Related Event
Composer-to-Composer Festival, 1991Related place
Telluride (Colo.) (was recorded at)Related Entities
Composer-to-Composer FestivalTelluride Institute
Alberga, Eleanor
Zé, Tom, 1936-