Transcript PPT - Music Library Association

Taking a bite out of John Cage
Greg MacAyeal
Acting Head
Northwestern University Music Library
[email protected]
John Cage Notations Collection
• 274 composers, 463 works, 279 folders
• High variety of kind, shape, size etc.
• First date of acquisition, Nov. 1973
Final Project
• Each student selects a graphically noted, text
or experimental work from Notations or
similar MSS from Special Collections or Music
• Create a performable edition, documenting all
notes/instructions, and performing for the
class
Learning Outcomes
• Experience in archives
• How to work with living composers
• Performance practice of 20th Century music
• Class example:
26'1.1499" for a String Player, John Cage
• https://vimeo.com/88960450
– Jason Rosenholtz-Witt, 26'1.1499" for a String Player, John Cage
• “This was my first real experience with archival work and I learned a lot
about how all of this material - a lot of it seemingly of no use - eventually
builds up a more complete picture of the scholarly subject, whether it's a
person or an era. Putting all of this together really led to some
breakthroughs and eventually, a publication - a chapter in [an]upcoming
Moorman book.”
“Special Collections are the Meal, not
the Desert” – Jay Satterfield, Dartmouth College
• Use of spec to be a mundane act (routine)
• “Like a really good meal at a casual diner”
• Strive for all students to have a meaningful
encounter with spec materials
– In their hands
– In close interrogation
– Learning from the object
“Special Collections are the Meal, not
the Desert” – Jay Satterfield, Dartmouth College
• Let go of the classroom
• Give up gatekeeper mentality
• Accept new roles as spec generalists
National Colloquium on Library Special
Collections: Acknowledging the past, forging the
future
(Case Western Reserve, 10/15)
http://library.case.edu/ksl/collections/special/colloq
uium
Thank you!
Greg MacAyeal
Acting Head
Northwestern University Music Library
[email protected]