KPFA-FM Music Dept. ➔ Ode To Gravity: Für Augen und Ohren (”For Eyes and Ears”), 1 of 2

Analog Audio

Event Type

Interview and Music

Origin

KPFA

Identifier

OTG.1980.05.19.c1.A

Program Series

Ode To Gravity

Program Length

122 min

Part

1 of 2

Dates

1980-05-19 | broadcast
| 1980-05-19 | created

Description

This program begins with excerpts from a 1980 recording titled “Word of Mouth” which features prepared talks by artists given on the island of Ponape in the Pacific Ocean. You will hear segments by Laurie Anderson, Joan Jonas, William T. Wiley, & John Cage. From Micronesia, host Charles Amirkhanian then takes us to West Berlin to participate in “Für Augen und Ohren”, a spectacular exhibition of mechanical and electronic music making devices dating from the past four centuries. Curated by René Block for the Akademie der Kuenste, the exhibition included seven large gallery halls of sound sculpture, early electronic devices of the 1930s and 1940s, and sound environments, many of which Amirkhanian recorded during a walking tour of the event. Hear the sounds of the installations and the visiting public, with pieces by Laurie Anderson, Dick Higgins, Allan Kaprow, Bernard Leitner, Oskar Sala, John Cage, Harry Partch, Luigi Russolo, Joe Jones, Milan Knizak, Stephan von Huene, David Tudor, and Harry Bertoia. Don’t miss Nam June Paik’s “Schallplatten Schaschlik” sculpture, the sounds of the 1930 trautonium, the glass harmonica, the 1790 vogelorgel, Erik Satie’s “Furniture Music”, and much more. (from KPFA Folio)

Genres

Mechanical music
Modern Art

Musical Selections

[excerpt of talk] (1980) / Laurie Anderson -- [excerpt of poetry] (1980) / Joan Jonas -- [excerpt of talk] (1980) / William T. Wiley -- [excerpt of reading] / John Cage -- [unidentified sound sculpture] / François and Bernard Baschet -- Rosebud Annunciator [sound sculpture ] / Stephan von Huene -- [unidentified sound sculpture] / Stephan von Huene -- [sound installation] (1980) / Bernhard Leitner -- Mechanical Music No. 1 [sound installation] (1959) / Dick Higgins -- Concerto grosso for 12 radios and 4 televisions [excerpt of sound installation] / John Cage -- [sound installation] / Allan Kaprow -- [sample of the Hupfeld Symphony Jazz Orchestra] -- Rainforest (1973) / David Tudor

Subjects

Art, Modern
Poetry -- Readings with music
Cut-ups (Literary form)
Sound sculpture
Electronic music
Musique concrète
Music, concrete
Conceptual art
Fluxus (group of artists)
Inter-media art
Aleatory music
Mechanical musical instruments
Mechanical musical instrument music

Acknowledgment

Funding for the preservation of this program made possible through a grant by Save America’s Treasures, a program of the National Park Service, U.S. Department of the Interior.

Related places

Berlin (Germany) (was recorded at)
Berkeley (Calif.) (was broadcast at)

Related Entities

Akademie der Künste (Berlin, Germany)
Amirkhanian, Charles
Anderson, Laurie, 1947-
Jonas, Joan, 1936-
Wiley, William T., 1937-
Cage, John
Baschet, Bernard
Baschet, François, 1920-
Huene, Stephan von, 1932-2000
Leitner, Bernhard, 1938-
Higgins, Dick, 1938-
Kaprow, Allan