 John Cage wrote his 18 Microtonal Ragas after years of immersing himself in Indian music and philosophy. Nearly forty years later, Italian-German dhrupad singer Amelia Cuni, with extensive training in both the European and Indian classical traditions, interprets this work that could have been written for her special artistry. She will perform the complete Solo 58 from Song Books, combined with numerous performances of other solos from the same collection, with percussionists Raymond Kaczynski and Federico Sanesi, and Werner Durand establishing both the traditional Indian drones specially created to accompany the microtonal ragas, and performing on electronics.
“Amelia Cuni’s world premiere of Cage’s 18 Microtonal Ragas was certainly on the outer fringe of experimentation ... Illustrating a unique relationship between tradition and experimentation, the performance pointed a way out of the ghetto of serious art music in an investigation of cultural cross-fertilisation between east and west.” —Deutsche Welle Kulturmagazin, 2006
“Amelia Cuni and her accompanists turned the cycle into an enjoyable and humorous Happening. They offered up Cage’s music in such a wholehearted way that both devotees of Cage and Indian music were equally satisfied.” —Deutschlandradio Kultur, 2006
“These pieces seem to be written for Amelia Cuni: a classical trained Indian singer, who is able to improvise on ragas in a new music context—a very rare combination indeed!” —Ulrich Krieger
Excerpts • About Solo for Voice 58 • About the Performers
Excerpts
 Other Minds will release the studio recording of Solo for Voice 58: 18 Microtonal Ragas, realized and interpreted by dhrupad singer Amelia Cuni, with Raymond Kaczynski and Federico Sanesi, percussion; and Werner Durand, drones/electronics, in celebration of the 95th anniversary of the birth of the composer, John Cage, on September 5, 2007. You can place an advance order here. The CD can be picked up at the concert on November 2.
Excerpts from our forthcoming recording:
Raga 5
Raga 14
Raga 16
About Solo for Voice 58
During the 1940s, John Cage came in contact with Indian music and philosophy and started applying some of its principles to his own work. Indian thought influenced Cage’s music mostly on a conceptual, theoretical level, but these 18 Microtonal Ragas represent an exceptional and uniquely practical example of Cage’s own approach to this rich and stimulating musical tradition. “Solo for Voice 58”, 18 separate and independent parts, is an indeterminate work; the challenge for the performer is to develop ragas out of tonal material which has been composed non-traditionally. This apparent contradiction has been the driving force behind Amelia Cuni’s intensive engagement with this work for the past few years.
Cuni first performed this Solo during the rendition of John Cage’s Complete Song Books at the Theater Bielefeld in Germany in May 2001, in collaboration with Christian Kesten and the new music vocal ensemble Die Maulwerker. She then went on to deepen her involvement with this unusual work, feeling that this was a unique opportunity to further her own understanding of the relationship between tradition and experimentation, confronting East and West in a process of de-conditioning perfectly fitting her personal history as a European dhrupad singer.
John Cage uses the word raga (melodic module) and tala (rhythmic cycle) in his directions for Solo 58, so the pieces are treated as such, although they do not echo any traditional Indian raga because of several musicological divergences. These discrepancies trigger a vast series of questions and challenges to the common understanding of Indian music. They introduce a valuable outsider perspective and suggest possible future developments for an ancient but lively tradition.
Two basic concepts are embodied in this realization of the complete Solo 58: the meaning of raga, “to color the mind”, and chance operations, a typically Cagean tool. Together, they will inform the sonic result. Following Cage’s instructions, other Solos for Voice and Solos for Theatre (with or without electronics) will be integrated or superimposed on the 18 microtonal ragas. The overall outcome of Amelia’s interpretation of Solo 58 is recognizable as a raga, although it cannot be defined as exclusively Indian. In these scores (series of graphically notated microtones from which the performer can select raga pitches), Cage leaves open a vast range of possibilities encouraging the interpreter to reflect, question, choose and create in an experimental way. Solo 58 embodies some of the most far-reaching and lesser-known traits of John Cage’s work
Performers
 |
| Amelia Cuni |
|
Amelia Cuni was born in Milan and lived in India for more than ten years studying dhrupad singing from the renowned masters R. Fahimuddin Dagar, Bidur Mallik, and Pt. Dilip Chandra Vedi. She was awarded scholarships by the Indian Government for four years. She also studied kathak dance and pakhawaj drumming. She composes and performs her own music with international ensembles. Her works are featured on several solo CDs. She has recorded for radio and TV productions. Amelia’s projects are traditional as well as experimental and she collaborates with artists from various backgrounds (Early and New Music, electroacoustic, ambient, experimental, jazz, folk, dance and theatre). With her own works she has taken part in international festivals in the UK, Germany, Italy, France, Switzerland, Belgium, Holland, Poland, Spain, USA, Canada, Brasil, India, China. Together with Werner Durand she was awarded an Artist-in-Residence grant at the Podewil Zentrum für Aktuelle Kunst, in Berlin for 1999. Their multimedia performance Ashtayama: Song of Hours was co-produced by Podewil and the Zentrum f. Kunst u. Medientechnologie (ZKM) in Karlsruhe. Composers such as Terry Riley, Roland Pfrengle, Maria de Alvear, Chico Mello, Fernando Grillo have written for her voice. She teaches Indian singing at the Vicenza Conservatorium in Italy, and lives in Berlin. |
 |
| Werner Durand |
|
Werner Durand performs his own music on saxophones, Iranian ney and self-made wind instruments. Besides various projects with Amelia Cuni, he plays with ArmchairTraveller. He was the founder of The 13th Tribe and has collaborated with numerous composers/performers. He has recorded for X-tract, Rec/ No Man's Land, Tzadik, Table of the Elements, Staalplaat, Barooni, Amiata a.o. |
 |
| Raymond Kaczynski |
|
Raymond Kaczynski is a percussionist and composer living in Germany. He studied at Central Michigan University and at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. He learnt mrdangam and South Indian rhythmfor five years with Ramnad V. Raghavan. His work is based on dance, literature, and music composition. He plays his own sound sculptures, percussion and electronics and has performed in Europe, Asia and America. |
 |
| Federico Sanesi |
|
Federico Sanesi is a percussionist and composer living in Milan, Italy. He has done classical studies at Milan Civic School of Music with D. Searcy and at the IIMC in Venice. Since 1980, he has been learning from tabla master Shankha Chatterjee; later on, also South Indian drumming from Anil Kumar at Kalakshetra. His work is focussed on integrating various musical languages and cultures through poetry, dance, theatre, cinema and visual arts. He has played with artists from many parts of the world, and participated in numerous international festivals and CD productions. |
|
|
Other Minds would like to thank its generous sponsors:
 |
 |
 |
| Instituto Italiano di Cultura |
Goethe Institut San Francisco |
Andrew W. Mellon Foundation |
|
|
