SOURCE: Music of the Avant Garde

Davis and Sacramento CA: Composer / Performer Edition, 1973. First edition. Very good plus to near fine overall.. Complete eleven-issue run of this arguably the greatest publication to emerge from the mid-century experimental music scene. Elaborately-produced and edited by Larry Austin (UC-Davis instructor and director of its New Music Ensemble), SOURCE aimed not only to document the experimental music scene that centered primarily on the West Coast (Mills College, etc.), but to expand the very idea of the musical score: "Our idea of a 'score' is broad. To us it is transcribed information about the composer's music-making process and contains a way of imparting this information to those who might recreate the composition" (Austin, issue 1). Much like frequent contributor John Cage's 1969 book NOTATIONS, SOURCE argued in part that the score should be viewed as much as a visual art as a musical one. This was reflected in the magazine's production: a Dick Higgins score riddled with actual bullet holes, John Cage's "Not Wanting to Say Anything About Marcel" printed in color on glassine, and perhaps most infamously Nelson Howe's "Fur Music," which utilized actual tipped-in fur swatches and included the instruction "to focus attention on the exploration of the tactile qualities of fur, but with the added requirement that the tactile sensation be *heard*." Contributors across the run include: John Cage, Toshi Ichiyanagi, Harry Partch, David Tudor, Morton Feldman, Robert Ashley, Pauline Oliveros, Dick Higgins, Nam June Paik, Steve Reich, Harold Budd, Lejaren Hiller, Max Neuhaus, Larry Austinm, among many others. 11 numbers in 10 volumes, 10.77'' x 14''. Original spiral-bound pictorial wrappers all. Issues 7/8 printed tete beche. Various paginations. Printed offset throughout on various paper stocks, with numerous custom elements: die-cut and folded sheets, glassine inserts, and a variety of tipped-in items. Contents complete with all inserts, records, and like. Minor soil and rubbing here and there. Small dampstain to front cover of issue one. Occasional chipping to plastic binding. Overall, remarkably well kept.