KPFA-FM Music Dept. ➔ Spoffy Nene by Charles Amirkhanian

Analog Audio

Event Type

Music

Origin

KPFA

Identifier

P.AMI.CHA.02

Program Length

7 min

Dates

1971-03-23 | created

Description

This work is one in a series of word-tape compositions by Charles Amirkhanian. It was premiered at the Hansen-Fuller Gallery in San Francisco on March 26, 1971, during an evening of sound poetry that also featured works by Liam O’Gallagher, Anthony Gnazzo, John Payne, Clark Coolidge, and others. While fairly basic in it elements, consisting of just a few words recited in seemingly random fashion by a number of different speakers, the piece obtains its beauty and complexity from the layered interplay between each individual part as they go in and out of phase with each other. In some senses this work has more in common with a Steve Reich composition than it does to any sort of traditional poetry.

The final mix was realized at KPFA Radio, March 18, 1971. © 1971 Arts Plural Publishing (BMI)

Genres

Sound poetry

Musical Selections

Spoffy Nene (1971) (6:17) / Charles Amirkhanian

Performers

Charles Amirkhanian, voice
Anthony Gnazzo, voice

Subjects

Sound poetry
Text-sound compositions

Acknowledgment

Funding for the preservation of this program made possible through a grant by the GRAMMY Foundation.

Related places

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

Related Entities

Amirkhanian, Charles