Charles Amirkhanian Collection ➔ Composer-to-Composer Festival: Day 1 Discussions, Tom Johnson (August 15, 1989), 2 of 4

Digital Audio


Event Type
Lectures and Panel Discussions
Origin
C Amirkhanian
Identifier
CTC.1989.08.15.B
Program Series
Composer-to-Composer Festival
Program Length
79 min
Part
2 of 4
Dates
| broadcast
| 1989-08-15 | created
Description
A recording of the second composer presentation at 11:00am with Tom Johnson on August 15, 1989 in Telluride, Colorado during the 1989 Composer to Composer Festival.

Tom Johnson leads a discussion of his music, focusing particularly on his use of algorithm, combination, and permutation methods. After a short introduction by Charles Amirkhanian, Johnson begins by introducing his, then newly composed work “Music for 88”. He explains the work ties to the ideas of the mathematicians Eratosthenes, Leonhard Euler, Marin Mersenne, and Blaise Pascal and demonstrates each of the mathematical proofs in the context of the piece on the piano.

He moves on to talk about his complicated relationship with computers and his perceived benefits of allowing the human brain and body to do this mathematical work and replication. He finishes the discussion by talking about how he embraces non-intentionality in his work and his personal theology.

We hear the composers leave for lunch, at which point a radio host from the local public radio station, KOTO, interviews Charles Amirkhanian and Annea Lockwood.
Genres
Minimalism
Performers
Tom Johnson, piano
Subjects
Piano music
Minimal music
Mathematics
Interviews
Acknowledgment
Digitized with support from the National Recording Preservation Foundation, The Copland Fund, and the Association for Recorded Sound Collections.