(check one)      _____ yes

                 _____ no

A performance may be of any duration.

If pianists are used, I personally would prefer only one or two.

Theatre is the art of space and sound in time. Music is also in time. (In time for what?) That is why they are so closely related, and also why so many people try to keep them apart (except for opera and its derivatives). They are afraid they might turn out to be the same thing.

The design of this composition was finished at 7:13:30 p.m. on November 30, 1970 in Evanston, Illinois.

The audience may be handed cards with the yes/no question about intermedia and asked to respond. One of the readers then collects the cards and 1) tabulates the results and announces it to the audience, 2) tears up all the "no" cards, 3) tears up all the "yes" cards, 4) tears up all the cards, or 5) uses his imagination to devise something else to do with the cards.

Art is any man-made event/object that is practically and pragmatically useless that was/is conceived and executed with some aesthetic purpose in mind. See also -- music, theatre, plastic arts.

Small instruments like bamboo flutes, kazoos, recorders, wind chimes, and the like by all performers ad libitum.

"There Is Comfortism..." for any number of pianos by Glenn R. Sogge "There is comfortism in the knowledge that hate on first hearing comes of love by second sight."    James Joyce, Finnegans Wake Select any six of the twelve pitch classes (at least one must change for each performance). Assign the numbers one through six to them. The symbols of the score represent the pitch contect of each event (symbol numbers to be read from top to bottom, i.e., top number --- top pitch, etc.) The pitches may be in any register as long as they conform to the previous sentence. Never play above mf. All pitches in the event should be played as close to simultaneously as possible (in a very wide sonority, some pitches may be played as slightly slow grace notes). Sustain pedal engaged throughout. The next event may be played any time after the dynamic level of the preceding one has diminished to approximately one-half its initial level. In ensemble performances, all players do not have to begin or end together. Start anywhere in the score and proceed in order -- left to right, top to bottom. Stop anywhere.

Nosotros Is Do Matchbook Triad Flesh Necessity is Once Again Patch(work) Polyethylene (yugen) Preparatory To Anything

The performers may fromally (sic) structure this piece in any way they wish (if they wish).

If you are confused about this piece, continue reading. If you are still confused after doing all the reading (or as much as you have decided to do), stay that way.

Throughout the performance area should be scattered several step ladders of various heights. Seated on these are people who read these pages. They may read these pages in any order and as many times as wanted. Each person should also be equipped with one or two flashlights to illuminate his reading material and, also, to shine around the performance area and on the audience. The performance area may include where the audience is seated also.

"There Is Comfortism..." page 2 4 2 4 3 1 2 2 6 1 6 6 2 6 3 1 5 2 1 4 2 1 6 2 3 4 6 7 2 1 6 5 6 3 2 4 2 5 1 3 2 2 4 6 6 5 4 4 4 1 2 3 2 6 3 3 6 2 4 4 5 1 1 3 4 3 4 2 2 1 4 6 1 5 4 3 5 5 4 6 4 5 3 4 3 5 5 6 4 3 5 5 1 1 3 1 2 1 1 4 1 4 5 3 1 2 2 6 3 2 2 2 6 3 6 3 4 5 4 6 1 3 2 2 6 6 5 2 5 3 4 2 3 4 3 4 6 5 2 6 1 5 5 5 2 3 4 6 3 1 6 5 2 4 6 6 2 6 1 3 1 2 4 2 4 2 4 6 2 1 3 4 5 6 3 1 3 4 1 2 5 4 3 3 4 2 2 1 1 6 5 2 4 1 5 3 4

Theaicfesto may also be performed as a one-man lecture, with or without musical accompaniment.

Music can be conceived as wanted sound. Noise is unwanted sound. Sound is the absence of silence. What is unwanted silence?

The only light in the performance (and audience) area should be from the flashlights and the pianists' lights.

"There Is Comfortism...", for any number of pianos, may be performed for all or part of Theaicfesto. Follow the instructions in the score. The score may also be read like all other pages.

FORWARD Walk in the direction of your nose.

Musicians, vocalists, readers, dancers, etc., do not have to remain within those roles for all performances or even for all of one performance. That is, a pianist may become a reader, and a dancer a vocalist, and so on.

If vocalists are used, they should either pick up phonemes, words, or phrases from the readers and develop them musically, with or without the use of melodies or pitches, or they may phonetically (or wordly or phrasely) interpret any page(s). Thear are free to move around the performance area as long as they move dramatically and/or like a dancer.

Much art is of the plastic variety.

Empty contents of this can into saucepan or casserole. Heat and serve.

Not more than one of the readers may also read from that day's newspaper as he wishes.

DEDICATION To Luciano Berio, Dick Higgins, and Daniel Spoerri.

Ideally, this piece should be the only thing on the program, or else the last thing, so it can be of any length. This makes it convenient for the audience to leave whenever they wish.

Dancers should respond to the pianos, if used, or else to the ambient sound level --- not isolated events within the sound continuum. Some of their actions should result is sounds --- ex., clapping, stamping, tickling another person (from the audience?), etc. If a dancer does not want to react to sounds, he may respond to the movements of the light from the flashlights. The dancers should make no vocal sounds unless they are tickled, and then only when necessary. See also the page on role changing which could possibly negate the previous sentence.

Back to THEAICFESTO Cover Page        

[ Return to Quiet Fire Main Page ]
Send comments to the webmaster@quietfire.com.
Last modification: 04/17/98