Musica Elettronica Viva

Musica Elettronica Viva (MEV) is a live acoustic/electronic improvisational group formed in Rome, Italy, in 1966. Defined as "something of an irregular institution, a band that has come together intermittently through the years",[1] Musica Elettronica Viva's founding members were Allan Bryant, Alvin Curran, Jon Phetteplace and Frederic Rzewski,[2] Richard Teitelbaum.[1] and Carol Plantamura.[3] Other members include Ivan Vandor and Steve Lacy.[4] Garrett List and George E. Lewis subsequently joined the group.[1]

Musica Elettronica Viva were early experimenters in the use of synthesizers. A 1967 performance in Berlin featured a rendition of John Cage's Solo for Voice 2 with Plantamura's voice transformed through a Moog synthesizer. At the end of the 1960s, they took part in the group Lo Zoo, founded by artist Michelangelo Pistoletto. They also used such "non-musical" objects as amplified panes of glass and motor oil cans.

Their performances achieved mainstream notoriety in Italy for generating vocal audience participation, occasionally resulting in riots, for example at the Musee d'Art Moderne in Paris, at Queen Anne's Hall in London where the police and the fire department kicked the group out, and at the Teatro Regio in Parma where the authorities shut the house lights down and emptied the hall, inspiring a street demonstration led by Jean-Jacques Lebel.

Musica Elettronica Viva disbanded in 2017 after a final tour, though at least two CDs were released subsequently. Among the many who performed with the group, Jon Phetteplace died decades ago, Steve Lacy in 2004, Maryanne Amacher in 2009, Garrett List in 2019, Ivan Vandor and Richard Teitelbaum in 2020, and Frederic Rzewski in 2021. [5]

  1. ^ a b c Perkis, Tim (Autumn 1994). "Musica Elettronica Viva: Frederic Rzewski (Piano), Alvin Curran (Piano and Sampler), Richard Teitelbaum (Electronic Keyboards), George Lewis (Trombone and Live Electronics): Mills College, Oakland, California USA, 12 February 1994". Computer Music Journal. 18 (3): 66.
  2. ^ Rzewski, Frederic; Verken, Monique (Autumn 1969). "Musica Elettronica Viva". The Drama Review. 14 (1). Cambridge, Massachusetts, USA: The MIT Press: 92–97. doi:10.2307/1144509. JSTOR 1144509.
  3. ^ Brody, Martin, ed. (2014). Music and Musical Composition at the American Academy in Rome. Eastman Studies in Music. Vol. 121. Rochester, New York, USA: University of Rochester Press. p. 271. ISBN 9781580462457.
  4. ^ Bernstein, David W.; Hatch, Christopher, eds. (2001). Writings through John Cage's Music, Poetry, and Art. Chicago, Illinois, USA: University of Chicago Press. p. 177. ISBN 0-226-04408-4.
  5. ^ Chinen, Nate (9 April 2020). "Richard Teitelbaum, Experimentalist with an Earth-Spanning Ear, Dead at 80". NPR Music. Retrieved 16 June 2020.