Alvin Lucier papers

1939-2015

The Alvin Lucier papers, dating from 1939 to 2015, strongly represent all aspects of Lucier's career as a composer, conceptualist, and pedagogue over five decades. Most of the collection consists of scores, sound recordings, moving images, subject files, photographs, correspondence, and programs. Also present are datebooks, diaries, posters, notebooks, and clippings. See the container list for a description of the sound recordings and moving images.

The scores, dating from 1952 to 2015, document most of Lucier's work, including compositions, installations, and music created for theater and dance. The earliest and most recent scores are in traditional notated format, but most of the others are "prose scores," consisting of directions on how to realize the piece in question. Notated scores can include sketches, full scores, and parts. Many of the scores include contextual material such as notes, stage diagrams, correspondence, programs, technical information, or brief AIFF sound files. Some compositions contain further documentation in the subject files.

Many of the prose scores are duplicated in digital form (but may differ from the print versions if they were revised at a later date). Lucier's own list of his works, which includes instrumentation for each, is viewable as an additional resource through the archival portal. That list does not include all the compositions documented in the collection. Notes in the container list supply instrumentation for compositions not on Lucier's list.

The subject files document topics or events such as compositions; installations; collaborative projects; people; recordings; and tours. The files contain correspondence; technical notes; program notes; contracts; writings and lectures; an engagement file holding programs, clippings, and other information; databases of concerts and reviews; Lucier's CVs; and personal records such as diplomas, yearbooks, and wedding papers. Some subject files also have photographs.

Two of the largest components of the subject files document the books Chambers: Scores by Alvin Lucier and Music 109: Notes on Experimental Music, both of which contain multiple drafts, interview transcripts, or class transcripts. The files for Chambers consist primarily of raw and edited transcripts of Lucier's conversations with Douglas Simon that formed the bulk of the book. Also present in the subject files are transcripts of interviews and conversations between Lucier and John Cage, William Duckworth, and James Tenney; correspondence and other notes regarding the Sonic Arts Union; special projects such as Solar Sounder I; and files regarding Lucier's career at Brandeis and Wesleyan Universities. These document courses he taught there, the 1994 Collaborations festival of his work, and his retirement celebration.

The folders on the Sonic Arts Union primarily contain correspondence regarding performances and tours, as well as letters from the composers Gordon Mumma and Robert Ashley. The files on John Cage, Pauline Oliveros, Morton Feldman, La Monte Young, and Robert Wilson hold correspondence, notes, programs, and, in some cases, Lucier's essays on them.

Most of the subject files are in paper form. Some portions are duplicated in digital (as Microsoft Word files for Windows or Mac), while others, such as the Filemaker databases of concerts and reviews; grant and career narratives; some correspondence; and a few lectures, are in digital form only.

The correspondence is mostly organized chronologically, with a small amount filed by name. These include letters from David Behrman, Gordon Mumma, and Frederic Rzewski. A separate file titled "Composer Letters" includes letters from Morton Feldman, Karlheinz Stockhausen, Luigi Dallapiccola, John Cage, John Adams, Anthony Braxton, James Tenney, Roger Reynolds, John Tilbury, Christian Wolff, Quincy Porter, Pierre Boulez, and Niccolò Castiglioni. Some letters from these individuals can also be found in the chronological correspondence, as well as in the subject files. The chronologically-arranged correspondence is with presenters, funders, musicians, and friends, and relates to particular works, installations, concerts, exhibitions, or other events. Some contracts can also be found in the correspondence, though most are in the subject files. Researchers should consult both the correspondence and the subject files for information on particular topics or people.

The photographs are arranged by topic, event, or composition, and consist of prints, negatives, contact sheets, and digital images. They show rehearsals; performances; recording sessions; installations; lectures; seminars; formal and informal portraits of Lucier; Lucier with his teachers Aaron Copland, Lukas Foss, and Milton Babbitt; collaborators and colleagues such as John Cage, Christian Wolff, Robert Ashley, Robert Wilson, and Steve Reich; and Lucier with family and friends. Digital photographs are mostly in JPG, but also include TIFF and Photoshop files. Some of the digital photographs are scans of analog originals, some of which may not be present in the collection. The print photograph files may also hold letters, programs, notes, or clippings.

Some compositions or events have photographs from multiple performances and locations. These include Bird and Person Dyning, Chambers (the composition), Music for Pure Waves, Bass Drums, and Acoustic Pendulums, Music for Solo Performer, Music on a Long Thin Wire, Queen of the South, and meetings and tours of the Sonic Arts Union.

The datebooks, calendars, and diaries cover the 1960s to the late 1990s, and consist primarily of datebooks. The diaries mainly document travel. Clippings date from the 1960s to the 2000s and include profiles of Lucier, performance and recording reviews, and articles by Lucier. The notebooks include initial sketches and ideas for compositions and notes on acoustic phenomena. The concert programs are comprehensive, covering nearly Lucier's entire career. The posters, dating from the 1960s to the 1990s, advertise performances and other events in the United States and Europe.