La Marièe mise à nu par ses cèlibataires même. Erratum musical. ("The Bride Stripped Bare By Her Bachelors, Even. Musical Erratum.") is from a manuscript in two parts, largely without explanations, among the many notes and projects that led to Marcel Duchamp's legendary Large Glass sculpture (1915-1923). One part of the manuscript is an unfinished piece for a mechanical instrument "player piano, mechanical organs or other new instruments for which the virtuoso intermediary is surpressed" (Duchamp). The score is written in numbers instead of notes, but it is easy to transcribe. The other part of the manuscript contains a description of a compositional device consisting of funnel, connected open-top cars or small wagons, and numbered balls (notes): "An apparatus automatically recording fragmented musical periods". These notes and apparati have been used to realize the musical sound in various ways by several performers (Petr Kotik with the S.E.M. Ensemble, percussionist Donald Knaack as a solo piece, and others). "Sculpture Musicale (Musical Sculpture)" is an example of what later came to be known under many names "music without notes", "instruction piece", "verbal notation", etc. - indications (poetic, exact, suggestive or something else) to create a performance of some sort ("event", "happening", "construction", etc.) which led to sound-creating activities.
In the 1960's, groups such as Fluxus, the ONCE Group, and others, individuals such as artists Yoko Ono and Mary Ashley, composer La Monte Young, artist Ray Johnson (creator of "mail art") and many others created and expanded on this freedom. Duchamp's piece was included in his piece "Green Box" and reads: "sons durant et partant de différents points et formant une sculpture sonore qui dure". Among other possibilities, this has been realized by John Cage as a "mesostic" and a piece for music boxes by Petr Kotik. All of these pieces are beautifully direct, unique and spare - interesting for more than just their "historical value." [allmusic.com]
◇ Duchamp: "Erratum Musical" - YouTube
http://youtu.be/BYwrvHTgepY
◇ La marie mise a nue par ses célebataires, même: Erratum musical - Marcel Duchamp (1913) on Vimeo
https://vimeo.com/54930332
◇ Marcel Duchamp - Erratum Musical - 7 Variations On A Draw Of 88 Notes (CD, Album) at Discogs
http://www.discogs.com/Marcel-Duchamp-Erratum-Musical-7-Variations-On-A-Draw-Of-88-Notes/release/1032740
