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DANCE OF DAWN for Stereo or Quadraphonic Tape (Recorded Sounds), 1974
Duration: 22:23
“Thunderous sun roaring away the abyss, / Riotous life-noises scream the air senseful. / Rougeyellow leers white light eye-prying / Footfall din is lost in / the jeers of the catmoon”. This poem by Priscilla McLean was written for DANCE OF DAWN, her first major electronic work. The three-movement work was realized in the Indiana University of South Bend, IN Electronic Studio, using the new British Synthi-100 wall-to-wall analog synthesizer and analog-to-digital sequencer, a very new innovation at the time (1974). For this, McLean was appointed resident composer at the studio. The music was originally created for quadraphonic sound, a loudspeaker in each corner of the room, and was premiered as such on October 13, 1974 at the University of Akron, OH. The stereo version was premiered on Sept. 19,1974 at St. Mary’s College, Notre Dame, IN, which was the first McLean Mix concert, beginning the duo’s long history of touring.
Priscilla McLean invented the term “imago-abstract” to illustrate her method in DANCE OF DAWN of creating electronic sounds that blur the conception of “real” and electronic sounds. She described this in an article called “Fire and Ice: A Query”, published in “Perspectives of New Music” (Fall-Winter 1977), reproduced later in the book “On the Wires of Our Nerves—The Art of Electroacoustic Music”, edited by Robin Julian Heifetz (with permission from “Perspectives…”),1989, pp. 148-154. DANCE OF DAWN was and is one of McLean’s most popular electronic works, and has been on several recordings: Composers Recordings, Inc. (*CRI) SD 335 Stereo: American Contemporary with “Spirals” by Barton McLean, 1975; Folkways Records Album FXM 36050: Electronic Music From the Outside In: each of the four composers describes the music (a teaching album) and then the music is played: Mvt. 1 of DANCE OF DAWN, 1980; CRI CD 764: The McLean Mix & The Golden Age of Electronic Music, 1997.
The YouTube video is a photo of the original record album cover, and a good way to hear the music.
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