Graphic Score by Rhodri Davies: Signed limited edition of 100
25cm x 34cm
2010
Four Lessons: Rhodri Davies (2010)
I can’t remember exactly why I made ‘Four Lessons’ but I know it was inspired by the work and writings of the visual artist Gustav Metzger. Metzger was an artist and political activist who instigated the Destruction in Art Symposium in 1966. He developed the concept of Auto-Destructive Art and the Art Strike. In 2007 I was fortunate to collaborate with him on a large-scale event in Glasgow and London called ‘Self-Cancellation’. We invited musicians, writers, artists, theorists and poets to explore in public the principles of self-cancellation in sound through performances, lectures and artistic interventions. We wanted to examine ideas of self-cancellation in the sonic arts, improvised and experimental music. Since then my work has been inspired by Metzger’s art and writings and has often explored the intersection between creation and destruction. We kept in touch after ‘Self-Cancellation’ and in 2010 he invited me to perform John Cage’s 4’33’’ as part of his lecture at the Baltic Art Gallery, Gateshead. He died in 2017 and I was asked to perform a solo at a memorial evening at the Tate Modern on what would have been his 91st birthday.
For ‘Four Lessons’ I printed out the first page of the piece ‘Four Lessons for harp’ (1761) by the Welsh harpist John Parry and then overlaid the same image multiple times so as to create a cancelling out or blurring of the original piece. I usually compose pieces out of need, for instance, when working with fellow musicians who are keen on exploring open, semi composed, graphic, text or object scores together. ‘Four Lessons’ formed a rare occasion when I made a piece for its own sake, then put it in a box with other unplayed scores. Nine years later, I was playing a mini tour with the experimental pop band Hen Ogledd and our friend Paul Stewart kindly drove us around the UK. There was little or no budget and knowing that the musicians in the band made visual art he asked to be paid in art works. I looked in my box of compositions and found ‘Four Lessons’, which I had completely forgotten about. I gave him the original and had some copies printed so as to give to friends.
Scores as open as ‘Four Lessons’ can sometimes confuse or intimidate some musicians, while others instinctively know how to approach such a score. I gravitate to pieces that confuse or complicate the relationships between composer and performer and I also like the idea of a composer and a performer sharing responsibly for a piece. When a performer realises an open score there is a generosity of spirit that repays the trust that is instilled in the piece when it is sent out to the world. Some may ask, if a piece is so abstract, has no specific directions from the composer and can be interpreted totally differently each time, then what is the point? Open scores give me permission to do something I would not have done otherwise. They can also give me permission to do something I might have done anyway. Seeking permission is not the objective, but after years of improvising and performing, I can sometimes find myself backed into an impasse of my own making. Open scores sometimes act to unlock something and to make a leap possible.
Magda Mayas' Filamental: Confluence (CD)
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SOUND AMERICAN No.26: THE OCCAM OCEAN ISSUE (Journal)
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Eliane Radigue: Intermediary Spaces (Book)
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An Air Swept Clean of All Distance – Compact Disc AMGEN 003
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Wound Response – Compact Disc AMGEN 002
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Telyn Rawn – Compact Disc AMGEN 001
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Telyn Rawn T-Shirt
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Bes (Bisu, Aha) ancient Egyptian god black badge
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Bes (Bisu, Aha) ancient Egyptian god white badge
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AMGEN T-Shirt
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Recordiau AMGEN Record label badge
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Rhodri Davies: Transversal Time (CD)
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Rhodri Davies: Transversal Time / Amser Trawsnewidiol (Booklet)
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Laura Cannell / Rhodri Davies / Peter J Evans / Mark Fell: Broken Telephone (4 x LP set)
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Hen Ogledd: Free Humans (Double LP)
£22.99 GBP
Hen Ogledd: Free Humans (CD)
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Hen Ogledd: MOGIC (LP)
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Hen Ogledd: MOGIC (CD)
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Richard Dawson: 2020 (Double LP)
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Richard Dawson: Peasant (Double LP)
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Richard Dawson: Peasant (CD)
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Richard Dawson: Nothing Important (LP)
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Richard Dawson: Nothing Important (CD)
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Richard Dawson: The Glass Trunk (CD)
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Rhodri Davies: Wind harp #2 and #3 (Postcard)
£3 GBP
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Rhodri Davies Swansea, UK
Rhodri Davies plays harp, electric harp, live-electronics and builds wind, water, ice, dry ice and fire harp installations. He has released four solo albums. His regular groups include: HEN OGLEDD, a duo with John Butcher, Cranc, The Sealed Knot and Common Objects. ... more
