Musica Elettronica Viva (MEV) is a live acoustic/electronic improvisational group formed in

Rome , established_title = Founded , established_date = 753 BC , founder = King Romulus (legendary) , image_map = Map of comune of Rome (metropolitan city of Capital Rome, region Lazio, Italy).svg , map_caption ...

Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical re ...

, in 1966. It is "something of an irregular institution, a band that has come together intermittently through the years". Its founding members have been reported variously as Allan Bryant,

Alvin Curran Alvin Curran (born December 13, 1938) is an American composer, performer, improviser, sound artist, and writer. He was born in Providence, Rhode Island, and lives and works in Rome, Italy. He is the co-founder, with Frederic Rzewski and Richard ...

, Jon Phetteplace, and

Frederic Rzewski Frederic Anthony Rzewski ( ; April 13, 1938 – June 26, 2021) was an American composer and pianist, considered to be one of the most important American composer-pianists of his time. His major compositions, which often incorporate social an ...

; Rzewski, Curran, and

Richard Teitelbaum Richard Lowe Teitelbaum (May 19, 1939 – April 9, 2020) was an American composer, keyboardist, and improvisor. A student of Allen Forte, Mel Powell, and Luigi Nono, he was known for his live electronic music and synthesizer performances. He was ...

; Curran, Phetteplace, Bryant, and Carol Plantamura; and Rzewski, Teitelbaum, Plantamura, Bryant, Phetteplace, Ivan Vandor, and Steve Lacy.

Garrett List Garrett List (September 10, 1943 – December 27, 2019) was an American trombonist, vocalist, and composer. List was born in Phoenix, Arizona. He studied at California State University, Long Beach, and the Juilliard School. He was a member of Ital ...

and

George E. Lewis George Emanuel Lewis (born July 14, 1952) is an American composer, performer, and scholar of experimental music. He has been a member of the Association for the Advancement of Creative Musicians ( AACM) since 1971, when he joined the organization ...

subsequently joined the group. MEV were early experimenters with the use of synthesizers to transform sounds: a 1967 concert in

Berlin Berlin ( , ) is the capital and largest city of Germany by both area and population. Its 3.7 million inhabitants make it the European Union's most populous city, according to population within city limits. One of Germany's sixteen constitue ...

included a performance of

John Cage John Milton Cage Jr. (September 5, 1912 – August 12, 1992) was an American composer and music theorist. A pioneer of indeterminacy in music, electroacoustic music, and non-standard use of musical instruments, Cage was one of the leading fi ...

's ''Solo for Voice 2'' with Plantamura's voice transformed through a

Moog synthesizer The Moog synthesizer is a modular synthesizer developed by the American engineer Robert Moog. Moog debuted it in 1964, and Moog's company R. A. Moog Co. (later known as Moog Music) produced numerous models from 1965 to 1981, and again from 20 ...

. At the end of the 1960s, they took part in the group Lo Zoo, founded by artist

Michelangelo Pistoletto Michelangelo Pistoletto (born 23 June 1933) is an Italian painter, action and object artist, and art theorist. Pistoletto is acknowledged as one of the main representatives of the Italian Arte Povera. His work mainly deals with the subject mat ...

. They also used such "non-musical" objects as amplified panes of glass and

olive oil Olive oil is a liquid fat obtained from olives (the fruit of ''Olea europaea''; family Oleaceae), a traditional tree crop of the Mediterranean Basin, produced by pressing whole olives and extracting the oil. It is commonly used in cooking: f ...

cans. Their performances achieved notoriety in Italy for their ability to generate riots. The final MEV tour was in 2017.

Discography

* ''Spacecraft'', recorded in Cologne in 1967 by Bryant, Curran, Rzewski, Teitelbaum and Vandor * ''Unified Patchwork Theory'', recorded in Zurich in 1990 by Curran, Rzewski, Teitelbaum, Steve Lacy, and

Both of the above first issued in 2001 on CD as "Spacecraft/Unified Patchwork Theory" (Alga Marghen, Plana-M 15NMN.038). * ''Friday'', recorded in London in 1969 by Curran, Rzewski, Teitelbaum, Franco Cataldi and Gunther Carius, reissued 2008 (ALGA 073CD) * ''The Sound Pool'', recorded 1969, reissued 1998 (Spalax CD14969) * ''MEV 40'', recorded 1967-2007, a 4-CD set of previously unpublished performances issued by

New World Records New World Records is a record label that was established in 1975 through a Rockefeller Foundation grant to celebrate America's bicentennial (1976) by producing a 100-LP anthology, with American music from many genres.AMM Amm or AMM may refer to: Entertainment Music *AMM (group), British free improvisation group Television *Amy's Mythic Mornings, an educational show on APTN Kids Video games * Automated MatchMaking, in the context of the Warcraft III Ladder system ...

. The first CD is a studio recording in a joint session in

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

on April 30, 2004 featuring MEV's Curran, Teitelbaum and Rzewski with the three members of

AMM Amm or AMM may refer to: Entertainment Music *AMM (group), British free improvisation group Television *Amy's Mythic Mornings, an educational show on APTN Kids Video games * Automated MatchMaking, in the context of the Warcraft III Ladder system ...

. This is the first occasion that the two ensembles have performed together, but not the first time they have shared a split release - each outfit filled a side of the LP Live Electronic Music Improvised, released on a US label (Mainstream) in 1968. The second CD consists of the performances that each group gave at a festival held in

London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

on May 1, 2004.

References

External links

*
Musica Elettronica Viva siteAlvin Curran's web site
— includes numerous MEV photos and several essays about the group

— Friday Recording, out of print
Radio Eclectus #42: MEV live in Seattle
— 2016 appearance in Seattle during MEV's final tour, broadcast by Radio Eclectus,

KHUH-LP KHUH-LP is a Freeform and Variety formatted broadcast radio station. The station is licensed to Seattle, Washington and serving the Capitol Hill, Cherry Hill, Downtown, Eastlake, Leschi, Madrona, Mount Baker, Pioneer Square, Queen Anne ...

{{Authority control Italian electronic music groups Experimental musical groups Musical groups established in 1966 Music in Rome BYG Actuel artists 1966 establishments in Italy Free improvisation ensembles

Discography

References

Further reading

External links