A concurrent preoccupation was a strong influence of Duchampian dadaism. His 0’00”, a satire of John Cage, has been described as the briefest composition ever written, and Cage is said to have been deeply offended; The Future of Music (1961) is scored for a mute speaker in front of an audience. But the most celebrated piece in this vein, the Poème symphonique of 1962, for 100 metronomes, is both a provocation and a peculiarly plastic expression of machinery gone awry, an idea incorporated ‘compositionally’ in several works to memorable effect, the most famous example being the Meccanico movement of the Chamber Concerto, written some nine years later. -from http://www.sospeso.com/contents/composers_artists/ligeti.html
The premiere [of Poeme symphonique] in Holland in l963 caused a great scandal. -from http://www.binaural.com/binnews2.html According to the Sony web page, Ligeti worked at the West German Radio electronic studio from 1957 to 1959, which makes sense as his two electronic works date from this time. Paik was there from 1958 to 1963. There doesn't seem to be much info online about the interestion of these two artists. -Josh Ronsen in Austin, Texas Need a new email address that people can remember Check out the new EudoraMail at http://www.eudoramail.com
