Relâche Collection ➔ New Music America: 1987: Outdoor Works, Maritime Rites Pt. 2 of 2
Digital Audio
Event Type
MusicOrigin
RelàcheIdentifier
NMA.1987.10.04.S1.BProgram Length
32 minPart
2 of 2Dates
1987-10-04 | createdDescription
The 1987 New Music America Festival was held in Philadelphia during the first two weeks in October. Produced by the local ensemble Relâche, this 10 day extravaganza of adventurous musical programing featured over 20 concerts, lectures, and sound installations.The Festival’s first outdoor installation work was created by Alvin Curran and was co-produced with the Philadelphia Maritime Museum.
MARITIME RITES (Alvin Curran)
About 12 ships' horns or foghorns are installed at strategic locations on the Philadelphia and Camden sides of the Delaware River at Penn's Landing within a one mile area. These horns are pitched in a special system and activated either by individual musicians reading from a score and/or by a computer program activated by the composer. The tones generated by these horns sustain for relatively long durations, mixing with one another to create a rich musical texture engaging the listener on many auditory levels. As the horns create this texture, three barges containing small groups of musicians tack back and forth across the Delaware River, interacting with the ships' horns. Each group os highly amplified, their presence is continually felt as sounds fill the river and the shore.
In this short, second part of Maritime Rites we hear a rendition of "My Bonnie" (from the Scottish folk tune My Bonnie Lies Over the Ocean) by a group of horn players and the foghorns of nearby ships.
This event was held at Penn's Landing, on October 3 or 4, 1987. The recording was provided to Other Minds by Joseph Franklin who directed the 1987 New Music America Festival, and Werner Strobel who digitized the original tape recordings.
Genres
SoundscapesMusical Selections
Maritime Rites [Pt. 2]; My Bonnie (7:45) / Alvin CurranPerformers
Tugboat FleetVarious musicians
Subjects
Installations (Music)Foghorns
Ship sounds
Improvisation (Music)
Folk songs
Related Event
New Music America '87 (Philadelphia)Related place
Penn's Landing (was recorded at)Related Entities
Curran, Alvin S., 1938-New Music America (Festival)