[silence] atlas eclipticalis performance questions

[Caleb Deupree]

Hi,

I've been listening to the new Mode release of Atlas Eclipticalis, as  
well as the one on Asphodel, and I have a few questions about the  
piece.  I'm hoping that some of the people on this list have  
participated in Atlas performances  and are willing to share some of  
their experience.

At this point, the only exposure I have to the score is from the  
reproduced excerpts in Pritchett (a page from Cello 1) and the liner  
notes on the Mode release (a page from Flute 1 and Cage's  
instructions).  I have the score for Winter Music, and have given  
some thought on its performance.  With so many possible variations  
for a single chord, I've concluded that an approach like Tudor's,  
where he created a performance score or a realization, is the most  
practical.

The score examples from Atlas lead me to believe that there are as  
many questions for the orchestral performer to answer as there are in  
Winter Music for the pianist.  For example, the cello part in  
Pritchett has no clef -- should the performer use a tenor clef or a  
bass clef, and does this decision remain for the duration of the  
piece?   Where the chords are numbered (one number for short tones,  
the other for long tones), which notes get which duration?  The  
individual notes from a chord can be performed in any order.  Cage's  
instructions don't explicitly address stems that aren't straight --  
is there any significance to curved stems?  Cage specifies  
circumstances under which notes may be repeated -- how does the  
performer decide when to apply these rules?

All this suggests that the orchestral players would create  
performance scores that would contain answers to these questions  
(this doesn't preclude different answers for different  
performances).  But the liner notes on the Asphodel release  
explicitly state that "the piece has to be performed from the  
composer's manuscript," meaning directly from the score, although the  
conductor worked one-on-one with the musicians, presumably on the  
kinds of questions I've raised.  It seems to me that making these  
kind of decisions at performance time introduces some kind of  
improvisation, which Cage strenuously avoided.  So I'm a bit confused  
but intrigued.  Any insights would be appreciated.

Thanks.
---
Caleb Deupree
ctdeupree@sbcglobal.net
http://classicaldrone.blogspot.com