Repudiation and Sacrifice

For SoNu

Repudiation and Sacrifice is a meditation on the musico-political aspirations of British composer and improviser Cornelius Cardew, and an interrogation of the possibility of revolutionary politics and revolutionary political musics in the twenty-first century. The work was commissioned by and is dedicated to the group SoNu, whose performance palette spans improvisation, notated composition and indeterminacy, and which works very much in the spirit of the young Cardew. Yet despite the musically liberatory potential of such a pluralistic approach to music-making, it is precisely this celebration of individual freedom and musical democracy that Cardew gave up in his idealistic and rather naive attempt at fermenting social revolution through music. A thread weaving through Repudiation and Sacrifice is Cardew’s plaintive song We Sing for the Future, of which he writes:
 
I have discontinued composing music in an avant-garde idiom for a number of reasons: the exclusiveness of the avant-garde, its fragmentation, its indifference to the real situation in the world today, its individualistic outlook and not least its class character. … We Sing for the Future is composition based on a song. The song is for youth, who face bleak prospects in a world dominated by imperialism, and whose aspirations can only be realized through the victory of revolution and socialism.

Also in the piece are quotations from Cardew’s writings, which make it clear that Cardew’s concerns are not only timely but even more pressing than when he was alive. The forms of imperialism are more sophisticated and pervasive than ever, in their economic and military expressions. Meanwhile, the failure of the revolutionary politics of Cardew’s generation to oppose economic globalization leaves open the question of the political role of art in the modern era. What must be sacrificed to achieve true democracy? As Cardew wrote: “The message of the times is clear. What is our role?”

Repudiation and Sacrifice was commissioned by the improvising ensemble SoNu. Versions for variable instrumentation possible. Four players are required, and the woodwind part may be realized on a variety of instruments singly or in combination. The electronics part may be adjusted according to the equipment available, in consultation with the composer.

11×8.5 PDF score (16 p.)
$15

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(ASCAP) and © Christopher Adler (ASCAP)