December 8, 1988: Alvin Lucier's "Silver Streetcar for Orchestra" performed by Brian Johnson, world premiere
And all of its wonderful permutations since then
Brian Johnson, still dingdingdingdingdingdinging in 2011:
A different Brian Johnson version appearing on a 2007 compilation of Lucier works, Ever Present, recorded 12 June 1991, Crowell Concert Hall, Wesleyan University, Middletown, CT.
Explanations in this (seemingly student) video presentation, though I’m not sure if “Zewen Sensei” (the one who posted it) is a person’s name or y2b pseudonym. The paper cited (link below video) on the other hand is written by Tim Bausch, and since it’s about Lucier in general, I’ll only cite the section on this work from the Journal of Experimental Music Studies:
Much like I am Sitting in a Room, Silver Streetcar for the Orchestra exploits the resonant capabilities of an object—here the resonant object is a percussive triangle instead of a room. The beauty of this piece’s indeterminacy lies in the fact that the triangle is considered an instrument without a definite pitch. Neville Fletcher and Thomas Rossing describe the triangle:
Because of their many modes of vibration, triangles are characterized as having an indefinite pitch. They are normally steel rods bent into a triangle (usually, but not always, equilateral) with one open corner. Triangles are suspended by a cord from one of the closed corners, and are struck with a steel rod or hard beater.
Triangles are typically available in 15-cm, 20-cm, and 25-cm (6-, 8-, and 10-in.) sizes, although other sizes are also used. Sometimes one end of the rod is bent into a hook, or the ends may be turned down to smaller diameters than the rest of the triangle to alter the modes of vibration. The sound of the triangle depends on the strike point as well as the harness of the beater.
With its property of indefinite pitch, the triangle is often reserved as a supplement in an orchestral setting. Alfred Blatter even characterizes the triangle in his Instrumentation and Orchestration book as an additive texture describing it as a “bright, perky, high-pitched bell sound that can add brightness to any ensemble.” In bringing the triangle to the forefront in Silver Streetcar for the Orchestra, Lucier exposes the audience to the true intricacies of this relatively unexplored instrument. Lucier gives the player the task of manipulating five performance parameters: muting location, muting pressure, striking location, striking strength, and tempo.
The player manipulates only one parameter at a time and does so gradually and imperceptibly, thus allowing different acoustic characteristics of the triangle to emerge. As a result, the repetitive strikes—coupled with performance-specific manipulation of performance parameters —results in a magnification of the stereotypical ding associated with the triangle. Moreover, the repetition provides the listener with an experience rich in overtones that swirl around the performance space.
reviews:
Downstaging minimalism's reductivism, there were also a number of one-note pieces played, including Alvin Lucier's somehow mesmerizing etude for solo triangle.
- Josef Woodard, Downbeat, March 1989
*
A lot can be said in the space of one note, of course; witness the insidious potency of Alvin Lucier's Silver Streetcar for the Orchestra: the piece required of percussionist Brian Johnson a steady hand clanging a triangle for 15 minutes. Within the seeming repetitive sameness of the sound, a surprising variance of overtones generated a melodic form of its own volition.
Physics of sound play a central role in the piece.
- Josef Woodard, Option, March 1989
*
Lucier's work consists of a performer striking a triangle for approximately 15 minutes. The work was tedious and repetitive to the point that one member of the audience trapped in the crowded center engaged a fire door (and momentarily set off a fire alarm) to escape.
- James Chute, Orange County Register, "New Music Fest Goes To Extremes" December 18, 1988
*
To be bored by Feldman's music is to miss the point entirely, and likewise with Yasunao Tone's multi-media Molecular Music, Alvin Lucier's Silver Streetcar for the Orchestra and John Cage's Five Stone Solo.
Lucier's oddly titled Streetcar consists of little more than 20 or so minutes of incessant banging on a triangle. But what a fascinatingly complex sound comes from this simple instrument, especially when the player's free hand hovers closely around its vibrating legs. Percussionist Brian Johnson looked as though he were ''mesmerizing'' the triangle, and in the process he cast a potent spell over most of his audience.
- James Wierzbicki, St. Louis Post-Dispatch, "Festival Floods Senses with Examples of New Music", December 18, 1988
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You can own your own copy! Makes a great ringtone, especially when you leave your phone behind!
Alternate download possibility, Claire Edwardes version:
What no one mentions is the awesome (and slightly scary) effect upon the audience after leaving the room/performance. When we went to the lobby right after the piece, we were surrounded by a hundred or so people, all whose listening had been re-formed - with none of us (I presume) had any upper frequency range hearing ability, and so every person talking came out with an entire crowd talking in the lower registers! Imagine a pack of mumbling baritones… - gd
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Martin Lorenz, 2022 self-posting:
Matt Sharrock of the Equilibrium Ensemble at Boston Conservatory on Sunday, March 13, 2016. Amplification by David Ibbett.
Bart de Vrees undated, self posted:
Ha ha, I actually don’t recommend headphones, and when I present the work, I usually ask for people to check where their canines might be!
William Winant, 2021, The Tank Center for Sonic Arts, Colorado:
William Winant, 2012 at Mills College (from the audience phonecam)
David Shively with a rarely shown display of empty seats in the front rows, November 4, 2015 at the Athenaeum, Chamber Music Hall in Bucharest, Romania:
Brad Mayer self posting, six minutes short version:
Juan Antonio Miñana. El Sauzal:
Hakon Stene from 2013:
A version without video, but downloadable, Kaja Farszky Live performance, Zagreb, February 2015
A strange 3:45 version shot outdoors it seems by “ItsBensMusic”. Well, it at least shows what an acoustic version would sound like, outdoors.
Zeitkratzer (“and Lucier”) from a 2010 release:
Derek Kwan, 2010, part 1 only
“Percussion Caleb” is the only credit here, a 2010 performance, part 2 only:
Lê Quan Ninh, maybe 2018
Dominguez from FLEA (Florida International University Laptop and Electro-Acoustic [FLEA] Ensemble graduate Carlos Dominguez), short version:
Matthias Kaul and at 19:19, I believe this is the longest version displayed here , from Hannover, Germany, 2015:
Christopher Clarino, November 23, 2013 - Staller Center Recital Hall - Stony Brook, NY:
A short excerpt from a memorial tribute version in an echoey room:
Nick Hennies at CentralTrak Artist Residency and Gallery, U of Texas at Dallas, April 15th, 2013 (short version):
Short version self-posted by Logan Ball: