Dane Rudhyar 1917"His [Dane Rudhyar's] music does not have to
be explained; it is the explanation of a puzzle of human existence; it
is an answer to a question that was never asked." Nicolas Slonimsky
Now, 25 years after Rudhyar's death (9/13/85
in San Francisco), Other Minds presents a celebration of the work of
this "seed man" of the avant-garde, with performers David Abel and Julie
Steinberg (violin and piano), Sarah Cahill (piano), and the Ives
Quartet. The September 27 program will also include a pre-concert panel
discussion with the composer's widow Leyla Rudhyar Hill, and biographer
Deniz Ertan (University of Nottingham), moderated by Other Minds
Artistic Director Charles Amirkhanian. A special exhibition of Rudhyar's
paintings, manuscripts, and correspondence will be displayed at both
concerts.
Dane Rudhyar (18951985) was a unique figure
in 20th-century American culture: a composer, thinker, painter, poet,
novelist, and the pre-eminent figure in astrology. Rudhyar was American
modernism's proto-multiculturalist. He connected dissonance to his
studies in comparative religion, theosophy, and metaphysics, was a
leader and mentor to fellow composers Henry Cowell, Ruth Crawford Seeger
and Carl Ruggles, and later influenced a new generation including John
Cage, Lou Harrison, James Tenney, and Kyle Gann.
Concert Program* (same for both dates):
Poem for Violin and Piano (1920)
Works for solo piano:
Transmutation, tone sequence in seven movements (1976)
Stars from Pentagram No. 3 (1925)
Granites (1929)
Crisis & Overcoming (String Quartet No. 2) (1979)
PERFORMERS
David Abel & Julie Steinberg (violin and piano)
Sarah Cahill (piano)
Ives String Quartet (Bettina Mussumeli, Susan Freier, Jodi Levitz, Stephen Harrison)
*Music sales and rentals available from ACA