Cornelius Cardew’s Music for Moving Images: Some Preliminary Observations

Abstract

Cornelius Cardew’s music for moving images has so far not been written about. This might be owing to the lack of access to primary sources (films and documentaries, scores and other relevant materials). This contribution gives an overview of Cardew’s ‘film music’ projects, and considers sketches, manuscript music and other sources for A Search for Strindberg (1971; British Library, Music Collections, Add. MS 70759), and Sugar (1976; BL, Music Collections, Add. MS 70760).