Research Catalog

Title

Martha Graham lectures about dance and music [sound recording].

Author

Graham, Martha.

Publication

[1951 or 1952]

Items in the Library & Off-site

Details

Additional Authors

• Oral history archive.
• Doris Duke Charitable Foundation, 2009-2010.

Description

2 sound discs (ca. 78 min.) : digital; 4 3/4 in.

Summary

• Disc 1 (ca. 40 min.). [Begins abruptly.] A male speaker [identified only as "Mr. Drapman"] introduces Martha Graham, referring to several of her recent works; Graham speaks (in most cases, briefly) about various aspects of dance, dancers, and music, including Yuriko; the body as the dancer's instrument; [the dancer's] form as a means of communication; years of training as the key to spontaneity on the stage; the reason dancers' faces tend to be long and thin; her theory regarding the origins of [the ballet movement] the batterie; the ordeal of being an artist; working with composers; sources of ideas for her dances, including Letter to the world and Appalachian spring; the process of creating a new work; her work Deaths and entrances; the universality of certain positions and movements in modern dance and ballet; her work Hérodiade, including the mirror in Isamu Noguchi's set; the elements essential to the dancer's art [ends abruptly but continues directly on the next disc].
• Disc 2 (ca. 40 min.). [Begins directly from disc 1. There are several short gaps in this part of the recording.]. Martha Graham continues to speak about the elements essential to the dancer's art, including the ability to listen to oneself; [very briefly] the contraction; the dancers' relationship to the musical accompaniment, including a reference to the music [by William Schuman] for her work Judith. Question and answer session: topics include the reasons Graham neither writes nor wishes to write the music for her dances; instances where the choreography was created prior to the composition of the music; movement, representation, and intelligibility in dance; understanding of movement as essential for composing music for dance; the question of music that because of its tonal nature could limit her choreography; performing a role that represents a specific character; her difficulties in creating Hérodiade; choreographing movements as the composer creates the music. Vincent Persichetti, the composer, is in the audience. [Graham's concluding remarks; applause.]

Subjects

• Audiotapes > Graham, M
• Music and dance
• Hérodiade (Choreographic work : Graham)
• Graham, Martha

Note

• Martha Graham lectures about dance and music to a live audience at the Juilliard School, in late 1951 or early 1952.
• Sound quality: Overall sound quality is good. Disc 2 has several short gaps, and the sound quality of the questions from the audience is fair.

Funding (note)

• Preservation was funded Doris Duke Charitable Foundation, 2009-2010.

System Details (note)

• Transferred from 1 sound cassette (ca. 78 min.; 1 7/8 in. per sec.; [original recording, probably in a different format, in 1951 or 1952], to wav file and compact disc formats in Apr. 2010.

Source (note)

• Estate of Benjamin Harkarvy;

Call Number

*MGZTL 4-2595

OCLC

639292513

Author

Graham, Martha. Speaker

Title

Martha Graham lectures about dance and music [sound recording].

Imprint

[1951 or 1952]

Funding

Preservation was funded Doris Duke Charitable Foundation, 2009-2010.

System Details

Transferred from 1 sound cassette (ca. 78 min.; 1 7/8 in. per sec.; [original recording, probably in a different format, in 1951 or 1952], to wav file and compact disc formats in Apr. 2010.

Local Note

Archival original: *MGZTCO 3-2595

Source

Gift; Estate of Benjamin Harkarvy; 2003.

Added Author

Oral history archive.

Doris Duke Charitable Foundation, 2009-2010.

Research Call Number

*MGZTL 4-2595