Tod Machover

with Jack Vees

MIT (Cambridge), Massachusetts

August 7-8, 1997

Table of Contents

DAT 1 begins

Side a:                                                                                                                        pp. 1-18

Family history, mother and father--musical structures--Brian Ferneyhough on American music--playing piano, then cello--listening to varied music--Beatles--interest in rock music and blues--William Sydeman--Roger Reynolds--composing under Sydeman--inters in serialism--Richard Bach--UC Santa Cruz--teachers at UC Santa Cruz--Ursual Oppens--move to Florence--Boulez--job in Florence--Dallapiccola--[school in Florence where he went]--Pisa--meeting Boulez--applying to Juilliard.

Side b:                                                                                                                       pp. 18-35

Acceptance at Juilliard--study with Jacques Monod, Carter, Sessions, Howe--String Trio--Sessions and Carter as teachers--Vees Piano Trio--cello with Mose Habibi [sp?]--job with National Opera of Canada--living with a family in India--traveling--invitation for a residency at the Pompidou Center with Boulez--IRCAM--Berio’s electro-acoustic department--Jean-Claude Risset and computer music--Vinko Globokar and instruments--Gerald Bennett and the Diagonal Deparment [sp?]--summer at Stanford--Boulez Poésie pour pouvoir.

DAT 2 begins

Side c:                                                                                                                                    pp. 35-51

Boulez explosante-fixe--new version of explosante-fixe with Machover assisting--York Höller’s Arkus--Berio--Max Matthews--G. Di Junio [scientist]--design of the Synclavier--Balt Trumpie’s work for the 4A Machine [sp?]--Berg’s Lulu--Stockhausen’s piece at Donaueschingen--Machover as spokesman for IRCAM--work on explosante-fixe--revising deparmental structure at IRCAM--ambience, agendas at IRCAM--Intinéraire [sp?] ensemble--French School of Contemporary Composers: Tristan Murail, Gérard Grisey, Mikhail Laidinas [sp?], Hugues Dufourt--Rene Thom--Composers at IRCAM: Stockhausen, Ferneyhough, Birtwistle, Cage--Cage’s Roaratorio-hierarchical nature of French culture and artistic life--Glass’ Einstein on the Beach--Nicholas Snowman.

Side d:                                                                                                                       pp. 52-68

Machover as lyrical composer--Chanson d’Amour--Espace Libre at IRCAM--composition marathon--return to U.S. to start Media Lab at MIT--purpose of MIT--MIT vs. IRCAM: problems, accomplishments--teaching load at MIT--funding the Media Lab--Project: Things That Think--hyper-instruments--MIDI: gains and losses--work with Yo-Yo Ma--measureing acoustic sounds and physical gestures--advances over MIDI--musica ideas shaped by tools.

DAT 3 begins

Side e:                                                                                                                        pp. 68-80

Compositional process--instruments--cello bow built for Yo-Yo Ma--concert pieces--the experience of concert music--Brain Opera--future projects--influence of Cage--Glenn Gould--where we are at the end of the twentieth century--economics of commercial music--future project with Yo-Yo Ma.