Works » By Title » E » exercise I [1965-V] (8:45 / 1965, rev. 1969)

exercise I [1965-V] was realized at the Columbia-Princeton Electronic Music Center [today the Columbia University Electronic Music Center]. This was the first electronic composition created by alcides lanza [then a graduate student in Vladimir Ussachevsky's electronic music class]. In 1969 and at the suggestion of composer Luciano Berio [during a radio interview that took place at Columbia University radio station, NYC, 1968] the work was extended to its present length. All the sounds used in this composition were of electronic origin, but have a definite musique concrete coloration. A very fine third-of-an-octave filter [the famous Albis filter] was an essential tool for the realization of this piece. exercise I was conceived with an optional version with “self-developing choreography”. The composition intends to express the solitude of man within crowds… the individual lost in the sea of civilization. exercise I was premiered on December 10, 1965, during lanza's Composer Forum concert, at the Donnell Library Auditorium, NYC. The first performance of the choreographed version took place in Rochester, NY, with dancers from the Mary Fulkerson Dance Co., in 1971.