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12” 45 RPM vinyl EP in a limited edition of 300 with printed inner sleeve
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Other Minds is proud to present The Possibility of a New Work for Electric Guitar, a new limited-edition 12” 45 RPM vinyl disc of music by Morton Feldman and Christian Wolff, performed by Wolff and Wendy Eisenberg. Side A features two performances of Morton Feldman’s The Possibility of a New Work for Electric Guitar, written for Wolff (who professes to be “not really a guitar player”) in 1966 as an experiment on the instrument.
On his way to perform The Possibility of a New Work for Electric Guitar a fourth time at Yale, after performances in New York, San Francisco, and at Harvard, Wolff’s guitar was stolen from his car, along with the only copy of Feldman’s score. In 2002, when the music archive of KPFA was being digitized by Other Minds, a recording of Wolff’s 1966 performance of the piece in San Francisco surfaced. This recording is included on Side A of this record, followed by a 2022 recording of the piece by Wendy Eisenberg performed from Seth Josel’s transcription of Wolff’s 1966 performance.
Side B includes Eisenberg’s recording of Christian Wolff’s 2004 piece Another Possibility, a homage to The Possibility of a New Work for Electric Guitar using a scrap of notation from that piece found in the Feldman archives at the Sacher Foundation in Basel by the Dutch electric guitarist Wiek Hijmans in the 1990s, before the rediscovery of Wolff’s 1966 recording. Another Possibility is a beautiful tribute to Feldman’s work, in Wolff’s words, “not like his music but maybe something he might have liked.”
In addition to liner notes by Christian Wolff, the record's insert includes a transcript of a conversation between John Cage and Morton Feldman about The Possibility of a New Work for Electric Guitar a few days after the first performance in New York, providing unique insight into Feldman’s compositional process.
credits
released March 1, 2024
Christian Wolff performance of The Possibility of a New Work for Electric Guitar recorded at the San Francisco Tape Music Center on July 29, 1966.
Wendy Eisenberg performances of The Possibility of a New Work for Electric Guitar and Another Possibility recorded at Wind Tide, Littlefield, TX on April 27, 2022, engineered by Andrew Weathers.
Executive Producer: Charles Amirkhanian
Producer, Mixing, Restoration, & Mastering: Andrew Weathers
Liner Notes: Christian Wolff
Artwork & Packaging Design: Mark Abramson
Other Minds is a global New Music community where composers, students, and listeners discover and learn about innovative music by composers from all over the world.
supported by 34 fans who also own “The Possibility of a New Work for Electric Guitar”
The uncertainty of the next moment and the perfect choice of expression, intensity and tension. This record is not only of historical value, it is the equivalent of seeing a phenomenon that has never been seen before. A fundamental thing. jiristepan
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supported by 32 fans who also own “The Possibility of a New Work for Electric Guitar”
Absolutely love this recording. I listen to it at work. I listen to it in the car on the way home from work. I listen to it while falling asleep. Curtis’ cello is so amazing. Just got the vinyl in the mail from Discogs the other day! Can’t wait to play on my hi-fi system! Dave Sewall