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Items Sounds of electric models at the [Nikola] Tesla Museum

Sounds of electric models at the [Nikola] Tesla Museum: source material for performance of [In memoriam, Nikola Tesla, cosmic engineer], 1972-09-18

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Library division & collection with this item:

LIBRARY DIVISION
Rodgers and Hammerstein Archives of Recorded Sound

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COLLECTION
Merce Cunningham Dance Foundation Collection. Audio materials

This Item

Sounds of electric models at the [Nikola] Tesla Museum

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Title
Sounds of electric models at the [Nikola] Tesla Museum: source material for performance of [In memoriam, Nikola Tesla, cosmic engineer], 1972-09-18
Additional title: Canfield (Choreographic work : Cunningham)
Names
Merce Cunningham Dance Company (Associated name)
Atlas, Charles (Speaker)
Harper, Meg (Speaker)
Mumma, Gordon, 1935- (Recording engineer)
Oliveros, Pauline, 1932- (Contributor)
Muzej Nikole Tesle (Host)
Collection

Merce Cunningham Dance Foundation Collection. Audio materials

Dates / Origin
Date Created: 1972-09-18
Library locations
Rodgers and Hammerstein Archives of Recorded Sound
Shelf locator: *LTC-A 1487
Topics
Machinery sounds
Genres
Field recordings
Music
Notes
Content: Contains source material of Nikola Tesla's electric models recorded for use in a performance on September 18, 1972 of Merce Cunningham's Canfield (1969) at the Atelier [Atelje] 212 theater in Belgrade. According to dancer Carolyn Brown's book [Chance and circumstance: Twenty years with Cage and Cunningham (2007, pg. 580-581)]: "The following night, in Atelier 212...we danced a full-length Canfield, chosen especially because the Oliveros score is dedicated to the Yugoslav engineer Nikola Tesla. John [Cage], David [Tudor], and Gordon [Mumma] had found some of Tesla's models at the museum and recorded their sounds, incorporating them into the evening's soundscape".
Content: Title, date, location and speakers provided by cataloger based on handwritten note on original cassette and container, and audition.
Content: Handwritten note on original cassette and container: "Tesla Museum, Belgrade ; 18972 ; stereo ; (original) ; 1) RTTY original ; 2) Mumma duplicate".
Content: The music for Canfield, Pauline Oliveros's In memoriam, Nikola Tesla, cosmic engineer, is described in Daniel Wolf's Renewable music blog as "where the musicians of the company (David Tudor, Gordon Mumma) [use] the theatre itself as an instrument. The musicians discuss, then venture out of the pit to test and measure the room, and finally, the hall is "played" with a sweep of low frequency oscillators in a search for a primary room resonance frequency".
Venue: Recorded at the Nikola Tesla Museum, Belgrade, Serbia, 1972 September 18.
Acquisition: Gift; Merce Cunningham Dance Foundation, 2011-2012.
Physical Description
Audiocassette
Extent: 1 audiocassette (29 minutes) : analog
Sound quality is mostly good; there is a recording hum for the last ca. 3 minutes.
Description
Based on mentions of the speakers' names, Charlie [Charles Atlas], [Gordon] Mumma, Meg [Harper], and other unidentified speakers, take field recordings of Nikola Tesla electric models at the Nikola Tesla Museum [Muzej Nikole Tesle] which are interspersed by background speaking, silences and footfalls; ca. 23:48, recording break followed by more field recordings; ends abruptly.
Type of Resource
Sound recording
Identifiers
RLIN/OCLC: 913967537
NYPL catalog ID (B-number): b20732936
Universal Unique Identifier (UUID): fb190390-b8fa-0133-10c7-60f81dd2b63c
Rights Statement
This item is protected by copyright and/or related rights. You are free to use this Item in any way that is permitted by the copyright and related rights legislation that applies to your use. For other uses you need to obtain permission from the rights-holder(s).

Item timeline of events

  • 1972: Created
  • 2024: Found by you!
  • 2025

MLA Format

Rodgers and Hammerstein Archives of Recorded Sound, The New York Public Library. "Sounds of electric models at the [Nikola] Tesla Museum" The New York Public Library Digital Collections. 1972. https://digitalcollections.nypl.org/items/fb190390-b8fa-0133-10c7-60f81dd2b63c

Chicago/Turabian Format

Rodgers and Hammerstein Archives of Recorded Sound, The New York Public Library. "Sounds of electric models at the [Nikola] Tesla Museum" New York Public Library Digital Collections. Accessed April 24, 2024. https://digitalcollections.nypl.org/items/fb190390-b8fa-0133-10c7-60f81dd2b63c

APA Format

Rodgers and Hammerstein Archives of Recorded Sound, The New York Public Library. (1972). Sounds of electric models at the [Nikola] Tesla Museum Retrieved from https://digitalcollections.nypl.org/items/fb190390-b8fa-0133-10c7-60f81dd2b63c

Wikipedia Citation

<ref name=NYPL>{{cite web | url=https://digitalcollections.nypl.org/items/fb190390-b8fa-0133-10c7-60f81dd2b63c | title= (sound recording) Sounds of electric models at the [Nikola] Tesla Museum, (1972)|author=Digital Collections, The New York Public Library |accessdate=April 24, 2024 |publisher=The New York Public Library, Astor, Lenox, and Tilden Foundations}}</ref>

Sounds of electric models at the [Nikola] Tesla Museum